Posts tagged pubtip

I tweeted some advice about synopsis a couple nights ago while I was struggling to write cover copy for Carina Press from a not-very-complete synopsis. Since it got retweeted a bunch, thought I’d share and expand on my thoughts a bit here. The original tweets are in bold.

“Trying to write copy for a romance novel when the synopsis doesn’t include a lot about the romance & characters’ emotions is very difficult.”

This happens way more often than you’d think. Authors sometimes get too caught up with plot or external conflict details and don’t mention enough about their internal conflict and how their relationship develops alongside the other action.

“For acquisition and copywriting, synopses that cover both plot & characters’ emotional journey are much more helpful.”

For romances, my personal preference is a roughly 50/50 split between plot and emotion — something happens, followed by the characters’ reaction to it and how it impacts their relationship.

Tell us why the characters are attracted to each other (besides good looks), too.

We know the h/h will find the other attractive…but that’s not enough to convince us or the reader that the characters are unique and that they will have an HEA. Phrases like “their attraction grows” are too general. What makes it grow? What about the h/h’s personality appeals to the other?

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Harlequin editors also wrote a great post about writing synopses for So You Think You Can Write. Read it here.

Last week was Harlequin’s “writing boot camp week”, So You Think You Can Write. Yesterday I posted links to my favorite events and advice but But out of everything, my biggest tip for aspiring Harlequin romance writers is:

Know the line you want to write!

Probably the most frequent question to our editors was “My story has X, will it fit Y series?”

It’s an understandable question for writers attending the SYTYCW events to learn more about Harlequin, especially since Harlequin series romances have their own requirements but can seem very similar to one another (e.g. Harlequin Intrigue and Harlequin Romantic Suspense).

Other times an aspiring author would talk about a series they were targeting in their manuscript, but then say something that gave away they didn’t really know what kinds of books that line published. For example, someone asked if there could be sex in our inspirational romance series when there never is. It was clear that the writer didn’t actually read the imprint they were trying to write for. Reading the line extensively will help build an instinct for the tone, subject matter, and heat level of the series.

How to determine which series is right for you:

1) Read the writing guidelines.

2) Listen to Meet the Editor podcasts.

3) Read the “What Series Am I?” chat transcript.

4) Ask yourself which series you like to read the most — chances are that’s what you will write best.

5) Read, read, read! Not sure if your story will fit the series? Read that line extensively — a variety of titles and authors because each writer and book is different, even if they fit they same general guidelines — to get a sense of what that line publishes.

Last week was Harlequin’s “writing boot camp week”, So You Think You Can Write and the writing contest is now open at www.sytycw.com (winner gets a publishing contract!). All past events (blog posts, chat transcripts, videos, etc.) can also be found in the SYTYCW archive.

Here are the events I liked the best and thought have some really useful advice:

1) How to Find the Essence of Your Plot in Two Sentences: Blog by editor Emily Rodmell about how to really zero in on what your story is about in order to write a great query or pitch. Read the comments for critiques of real pitches by Emily.

2) The Dreaded Synopsis: A blog post with advice on writing a strong synopsis, a challenge even published authors struggle with!

3) Looking for Love blog and chat: Some information about 3 newer Harlequin series in need of new writers (though all series are looking for new talent!) and transcript of a chat with their editors.

4) Let’s Talk About Sex chat transcript: Everything you wanted to know about sex in series romance from some people who weren’t afraid to ask! Definitely the most fun event :)

5) Editor Turn Ons and Turn Offs: 3 editors share their pet peeves and what catches their eye in submissions in a Twitter chat transcript.

6) Making the Most of Your Happy Ending: Blog post by editor Patience Bloom about how to write a great romance ending while avoiding cliches.

This is a follow-up to a post I did back in August 2011, Why Some Manuscripts Get Rejected. Since then, I’ve received more editorial reports with some new insights about why some books didn’t make the cut:

• Book is way, WAY off the writing guidelines. There was a contemporary romance submitted to a historical romance line, for example.
• Poor and unrealistic dialogue.
• Historical slang is used poorly and awkwardly.
• Writing is over-the-top, too melodramatic, purple prose.
• “Too violent.” This cropped up in a couple submissions. While those types of stories can have a place with another imprint or publisher, I believe this is a case of the authors not having a strong grasp of the tone of the imprint and should read more of the books from that line to refine future submissions.
• Too much backstory presented up front, exposition.

Some positive comments from submissions:

• One submission didn’t have many love scenes, but what there is was hot and had some unusual elements (I don’t know what, exactly :) ). This is a good example of quality of a sex scene trumping mere quantity.
• Sex was minimum, but had good build up. Sexual tension can be hot!
• “Writing was excellent until approximately [half-way mark] where it becomes stale and repetitive.” This submission was sent on to the editors for further review. Though it obviously needs some work, the author could benefit from an editor’s notes and encouragement. This particular submission may not be acquired, but if the author can do revisions (and hopefully the polished first half is a good sign), perhaps a revised version or a future submission will!
• “Author draws you in and makes it believable that only after a few hours the hero is proposing marriage.” A tricky premise that the author sold to the reader.

For some reason I can’t reblog Query Quagmire, but I did want to share this post where someone asked how a new author can query a series of books when publishers traditionally don’t commit to a series of books from a newbie author without some serious representation. Read QQ’s response here.

What I liked about this answer is that other than stating the obvious to pitch one book at a time (similar to what I’ve said here), QQ gives a few different scenarios about how to approach the issue including advice on how to mention that you a plan a series if you really want to that without scaring off the editor/agent.

1) A leaked document from Hachette posted at Digita Book World lays out their arguments why publishers are still relevant.

2) Author Chuck Wendig, who has self-published six novels, explains why self-publishing something to get it out quickly isn’t always the best move in his post “The Seduction of Self-Publishing” (via Angela James).

3) Carina Press freelance editor Deborah Nemeth is interviewed at Loveahappyending.com about Carina Press and what kinds of manuscripts she’s looking for.

4) There are now 8 days left to enter Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write writing contest…

5) The Harlequin Historical authors are doing their second annual massive Advent Calendar giveaway. Details and calendar here.

6) And speaking of Angela James, she did another #editreport on Twitter today. Read all the tweets on Storify here.