Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Spotlight on...Harlequin Single Title

The editors featured the following lines during their presentation - MIRA, HQN, Harlequin Teen, LUNA & Spice.
  • Harlequin accepts agented submissions only.
  • Harlequin Teen is aimed at the 13-18 year-old market, all genres accepted. They're looking for exception writing and a strong voice.
  • MIRA is their main core romance imprint - historical fiction, thrillers, paranormals, commercial literary fiction. They publish in paperback, trade size, hardback and e-books.
  • HQN is their single title romance line - contemporary romance, historical romance, western romance, romantic suspense and paranormal romance. Must be fulfilling, romantic reads. 90-100K word length with a unique premise and strong voice.
  • LUNA is their single title fantasy with romantic elements line. this line publishes 12 titles/year in trade paperback size. Must have a strong female protagonist, believable world building, single book or series or loosely linked stand-alones OK. They're looking for fresh voices in the following genres - urban fantasy, other-world or fantasy. Manuscripts must be between 90-120K word length. Submissions must have a query letter, 3 chapters & synopsis. Please see website for elements required in a LUNA imprint, see the titles being published now and in the past - these are not your typical romance book.
  • Spice is their single title erotic fiction sold in trade paperback size. They're looking for all genres. Can be erotic romance or erotic only. Tone is very sexy, steamy, language is explicit - no euphemisms please, feel free to push the envelope with romance/sex scenarios, all variations accepted. Not necessarily a happily ever after ending but must be satisfying. While this is an erotic imprint the stories must be good and well told.
#NB: While these facts are as up to date as possible the author strongly advises anyone to check the Harlequin website before submitting work. They are the best source of accurate information.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing the info, Kylie!

    I pitched one of the MIRA editors at a local conference this year -- Adam Wilson -- a really nice, bright guy. One of his authors talked about how much she liked working with him in her workshop in Orlando. They don't do a lot of SFR, but always worth a try!

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  2. Thanks for posting, Kylie.

    I pitched to a Harlequin Single Title editor at the conference. She warned me SFR was a hard sell but she was willing to read the full. We just have to keep storming the gates!

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  3. Exactly! Conferences are great opportunities for this, I think. There's something about selling your story face-to-face. (Painful as it can be sometimes!)

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  4. Good on you guys for continuing to push into the big houses - I'm pitching to Alex Logan from GCP (if memory serves me correctly - so many conference, getting details all mixed up). I hope they'll be interested enough to at least request a partial.

    Yes, we just have to keep putting ourselves and SFR out there!

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  5. Informative post, Kylie. Thank you.

    Susan Grant is an HQN author, although her SFR novels are labeled as Paranormal Romance (and the recent covers don't give much of a clue that the novels are SFR).

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