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Summer is coming, and so are the romance conventions, most notably the Romance Writers of America convention to be held in New York City beginning at the end of June. It’s the premiere convention for hopeful writers who attend workshops and panels in the hope of learning the craft and making a sale.
To these aspiring writers I offer the following tips I’ve compiled over my roughly thirty years of editing and agenting romance novels.
- Remember that the main plot is the changing and developing relationship between the hero and the heroine. I have seen writers create a synopsis of what they say will be a romance that contains no romance. The story is about other things. “The romance part is understood!” they say. That won’t work. It means the romance isn’t important enough to be actual plot. The romance is the plot.
- Keep background to a minimum, not just at the beginning of your novel but throughout. Background slows down your story. Definitely keep it out of chapter one, but also spoon feed it to us beyond chapter one. Tell us only what we need to know to understand what is happening now in your story.
- Keep minor characters to a minimum. Romances have low word counts so there’s not much room for anything beyond the main story—the relationship between your hero and heroine (see #1).
- Make your novel the same as but different from romances you’ve read. The same in that your book will also be in the third person, it will have the correct level of sensuality, it will not introduce elements never seen in this line—for instance, a short contemporary romance should not include vampires—and it will end with happily ever after. Different in terms of your story’s situation, plot twists, perhaps the occupations of your hero and/or heroine.
- Don’t hold back on emotion. Your characters’ emotions are as important to your story as their actions. Emotion is plot! Develop your characters’ feelings fully and describe these feelings fully. Emotion is one of the things readers want most in a romance.
- Know exactly what line of romances you’re targeting. Harlequin Desire? Romantic Suspense? Special edition? Ideally it will be the type you most enjoy reading and are therefore most familiar with. Later, when you submit your novel to a publisher, be sure to mention which line you have targeted.
- Word count is extremely important! Find out the required word count for the line you’re targeting and make sure your manuscript is the correct length.
- The largest romance publishers such as Harlequin and Mills & Boon accept manuscripts written in English only. If you decide to submit to one of these publishers and English is not your native language, hire an editor to smooth out your work, or don’t bother submitting here.
- If you need to query a publisher before submitting your manuscript, put adequate effort into your query letter. A query letter is a one-page business letter in which you: give your novel’s title, its word length and the line you’ve targeted; briefly describe your story; give your background and credentials if relevant (previous publishing credits, or you’re a nuclear scientist and that’s the occupation you’ve given your heroine); and a request for action: “May I send you my complete manuscript? Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
- Many romance publishers happily consider unagented material, so don’t let the lack of an agent stop you. Follow publishers’ submission guidelines carefully.
