Writing Romance

April 3, 2009

 

Mary Rosenblum:  I wanted to talk about writing romance tonight.  Romance is the 1000 lb gorilla in the world of fiction.  Not even Stephen King makes as much as Nora Roberts.  And it's an insatiable market,  But of all the fiction genres out there, Romance has the most 'rules'.  It's simply not enough to throw a little romance into your novel and try to market it as a romance.  Actually, the quality bar is set regretfully low for a lot of romance.  For that reason, it has acquired kind of a bad reputation among writers, and a lot of published authors assume a pen name when they write romance.
What exactly defines a romance Mary?
Mary Rosenblum:  Good question, Claryce.  Many writers receive rejections for their romances because they're not what the market defines as 'romance'.
I have noticed they are the same as well, are they written with a specific format?
Mary Rosenblum:  This is a very formulaic genre.
So what is the formula for a "romance"?
Mary Rosenblum:  Ingrid, a romance is first and foremost a romance. You can weave in history, mystery, fantasy, what have you, but the central plot that runs the story must be the romance. Boy meets girl, boy and girl are separated, boy and girl get back together.  If you're going to write for the romance marketplace, that romance is the most important part of the book.  And in every romance, something comes between the boy and girl.  It might be a person, family history, circumstance, miscommunication.  Something makes the readers think that the romance will fail.
Can romances be written differently, made not like all the rest?
Mary Rosenblum:  Bss, in the romance marketplace you can find every genre represented.  BUT.  And this is a BIG 'but…'  The ROMANCE HAS TO COME FIRST.  It has to be more important than the mystery/sf/fantasy, what have you.   If you look at what is called 'category romance', the plot lines are very narrowly defined.
Mary, isn't it a case of the would-be couple being attracted to each other despite often being an opposite sides of what they percieve as a problem?
What is a category romance?
Mary Rosenblum:  Those are the multiple lines, such as Harlequins, where the nature of the stories are pretty well spelled out.
I have sent a historical book to a publisher, chapter one is basically about the girl chapt 2 the boy and they meet in 3  the publisher wants me to kill the first second and 1/2 of the third chapter
Mary Rosenblum:  Semi, you are probably going to have trouble with most publishers because the meeting is way too late. Generally, the publishers want that meeting early.
I have had to trash the first 76 pages and interweave them in the story
Mary Rosenblum:  Editors can sure ask for that kind of change. They do want the ‘magic meeting’ early.
How intense a plot must a romance be? Most of them seem superficial, especially the Harlequins
Mary Rosenblum:  You have 'levels' of lines. At the 'bottom' are the category romances. The plots don't differ much, the pace of what happens when is pretty much the same. Then you have the 'upmarket' lines, where you get authors like Nora Roberts.  These are larger, more complex plots, longer books. Romance is always first here, too. And these 'upper' lines do pay more, Darcee.
  I can't write what I won't read, so i have to shoot for something more.
Mary Rosenblum:  What Darcee said is very important. If you are a novice writer and you don't read romance for pleasure, don't write it.  You're not going to get it right. It's hard to write something that you don't really like, particularly if you're a new writer.
Mary Rosenblum:  It's not, ingrid. Not entirely.  It’s still girl meets boy, they fall in love, bad stuff happens, they get back together, but every line has its own specifics.    And this is another place where you need to do your homework.
By lines you mean, Harlequin versus Nora Roberts?
Mary Rosenblum:  Harlequin has many lines, Ingrid.  You have lines that are very chaste and lines that border erotica.  You have historical, gothic, and so on. In romance, a line is defined by certain specifics that every book in it shares.  Steeple Hill is inspirational, for example. , Harlequin is not hard to break into, as long as you give them what they want to publish. They encourage submissions from new writers.
Is the romance category locked up by the heavyweights?
Mary Rosenblum:  Ingrid, not at all. The  romance publishers are always looking for new writers.  You don't need an agent to submit to the big gun of the genre: Harlequin-Silhouette. All the major NY publsiehrs do romance lines, but there you will need an agent.
What is Steeple Hill , Mary?
Mary Rosenblum:  Claryce, that's an inspirational line published by Harlequin.
So, historical and gothic romance would supposedly have more substance or plot and therefore pay better?
Mary Rosenblum:  Sami, you don't need an agent if you publish with Harlequin-Silhouette. Their contract is fair and ironclad. They won't let an agent change much.
Mary, what do you think the market is like for inspirational
Mary Rosenblum:  Ozzie, if you go to the Christian marketplace, it's quite big.  But there, too, the 'rules' for what can and cannot be includedin a CBA approved romance are pretty hard and fast.
CBA?
Mary Rosenblum:  Christian booksellers Association. If you don't have CBA approval you will not appear in a Christian bookstore.
When is the best time to query a publisher? when synopsis and 1-3 chapters are done?
Mary Rosenblum:  No, celtic.  Unless you have a track record for turning in satisfactory manuscripts completed on time, you will have to have finished the novel before anyone will consider it. Many people start novels, not many finish them.
Do you think there is a market for a western romance novel these days?
Mary Rosenblum:  There is obert.  It was quite robust for awhile, but I hear it's fading a bit.  Romance fads come and go.  For awhile nobody wanted paranormal.  Now, with the success of True Blood and Twlighlight, it's all vampire paranormal romance.  That’s a hot market.

Is there any difference between ebook and print publishing?
Mary Rosenblum:  Mudhen, no 'formal' difference in content between ebook and print. Usually, an author publishes in print first, then ebook later.
Mary is E publishing the best current market?
Mary Rosenblum:  No, ebook is not yet a hot market. Actually, romance has more ebook readers than any other genre. BUT, the numbers that authors publishing in ebook, even those who have published in print first, are seeing are pretty dismal.  The ebook day will come, but probably not while kindle costs 300$
Mary, if I am talking romance with mystery, who is the best house to sell to?
Mary Rosenblum:  Ingrid, you'll have to go look at the guidelines for the major romance publishers. I  would check the NY houses, too.  As I said, every major NY publisher has romance lines.  I know Harlequin has an historical line.
Mary, you referenced CBA earlier. What is that?
Mary Rosenblum:  The CBA is the Christian Booksellers Association.  This is a publishing association that approves -- or not -- publishers.  A Christian bookstore only carries books published by a CBA approved publisher.  You won't find specific guidelines for fiction on the CBA website. But if you want your romance to end up in the Christian bookstore, you must publish with a CBA approved publisher.
Has anyone dealt with American rose?
Mary Rosenblum:  : Sami, is that one of Wild Rose Press's lines?
yes
Mary Rosenblum:  Wild Rose Press is a new publisher, ebook and print.
American Rose is the historical line for Wild Rose
Mary Rosenblum:  They're working hard to get under way and are very interested in new writers.  They have quite a few lines with 'rose' names.
What genre is your story, if your writing a love story that is?
Mary Rosenblum:  Darcee, much of mainstream fiction is a love story. But usually that love story is part of a larger conflict, internal or external.  That's your division between romance and everything else. So to sum up here, if you want to market a novel as a romance, you need to start with the romance and the romance itself must be the main conflict....will it survive or will it fail?
Something MUST come between hero and heroine so that readers think it's all over.
You can add mystery, fantasy, sf, suspense, but the 'will they get together' has to dominate that secondary conflict.
One last question Mary, how often do they need to be intimate? or does it not matter
Mary Rosenblum:  It depends entirely on the line, Sami.  Some lines want sex, other lines want nothing more than a kiss and anticipation. It's not sex that makes romance it's that 'happily ever after' that's implied if they get together. It’s not sex that makes romance it's that 'happily ever after' that's implied if they get together.
I'm not sure where to take my next step, i am very interested in writing romance with mystery and romantic comedy. Where do I go from here, Mary?
Mary Rosenblum:  Well, if you want to aim for the mainstream market, and I would, then just write the book.  Mainstream is very open. Essentially it is 'anything that is not genre'.  And it includes mystery, romance, sf, fantasy, and suspense. There are no specific 'this way' or 'that way' guidelines like you have in romance.

 

Thanks for coming, all. Have a great weekend!