Harlequin Query Question

cmckenziemitchinson · Mar 27, 2007

Hi guys!!
(Susan?? Are you out there?? How about you Crinklish??)
Okay, so here goes...
I am about to query to Intrigue and I have 2 questions.

1. I wrote a Q based on an example I found on eHarlequin ages ago which was as follows:
*Para 1= Intro
*Para 2= Heroine
*Para 3= Hero
*Para 4= Suspense
*Para 5= Credentials
*Para 6= Thanks, etc.
(And before you ask, they are short paragraphs and the Q was only 1 page- took a while to get it that way though :tongue

)
Then earlier this month I entered the SRS Editor Pitch contest. I was not chosen, but after it was over Rae posted a link for how to write the blurb and I found out why (I had no idea what I was doing-- not all 10 points, morbidly obesse at 281 words

). In the 'how to write a blurb' it says that this blurb should be the 'pitch' in your Q. (Like Para 1= Intro, Para 2= Blurb, Para 3= Thanks, etc.).
What I'm wondering is, do the Harlequin/Silhouette editors prefer the 'blurb' query? It has been a while since I found the sample query, in fact, I can't even find it now.

2. Can I submit to Silhouette Romantic Suspense & Harlequin Intrigue at the same time with the same MS? (Probably a stupid question, but oh well...)

Thanks for any info you can give me.
Christy

Susan Gable · Mar 27, 2007

cmckenziemitchinson said:
Hi guys!!
(Susan?? Are you out there?? How about you Crinklish??)

Then earlier this month I entered the SRS Editor Pitch contest. I was not chosen, but after it was over Rae posted a link for how to write the blurb and I found out why (I had no idea what I was doing-- not all 10 points, morbidly obesse at 281 words ). In the 'how to write a blurb' it says that this blurb should be the 'pitch' in your Q. (Like Para 1= Intro, Para 2= Blurb, Para 3= Thanks, etc.).
What I'm wondering is, do the Harlequin/Silhouette editors prefer the 'blurb' query? It has been a while since I found the sample query, in fact, I can't even find it now.

I happen to use the intro, blurb, creds, thank you, format. Always have. That doesn't mean one method is better than another. That's just what I've always used. You want to entice them into asking for material. <G> Make sure you have your hook, etc. in there. I can show you some examples that I've used if you want.

2. Can I submit to Silhouette Romantic Suspense & Harlequin Intrigue at the same time with the same MS? (Probably a stupid question, but oh well...)

Thanks for any info you can give me.
Christy

First of all, there are no stupid questions. If you want the answer, you should always ASK!

The answer is no, you should not submit to both of those at the same time. That's a no-no. There is a definite difference in the tone of these two lines. Which one is your book better suited for? Choose one line and target that one.

Good luck with the submission!

Susan G.

cmckenziemitchinson · Mar 27, 2007

Thanks Susan.
I figured the double submission was a bad idea, but thought I'd ask just in case.
About the query, I have rewritten to use the 'blurb' format, but I'm not sure I like my blurb. I may have just fallen in love with my first Q because I tend to be a bit on the descriptive side. Could I possible send them to you and see what you think?? I understand if you don't have time. I would like to see some of yours, though.
Thanks again,
Christy

Susan Gable · Mar 27, 2007

cmckenziemitchinson said:
Thanks Susan.
I figured the double submission was a bad idea, but thought I'd ask just in case.
About the query, I have rewritten to use the 'blurb' format, but I'm not sure I like my blurb. I may have just fallen in love with my first Q because I tend to be a bit on the descriptive side. Could I possible send them to you and see what you think?? I understand if you don't have time. I would like to see some of yours, though.
Thanks again,
Christy

Sure. You can send them to me via private message here.

Susan

Susan Gable · Mar 27, 2007

Okay, here was my cover/query letter for my first ever Super. I'm sharing this one because, hey, I didn't have any publishing creds at that point. <G> The blurb contains key marketing hooks. For category romance, it's really essential to point out that you know what the marketing hooks are and that your story has one of them. You'll also see that I was upfront with them that this ms had been seen in the other side of the house, at Silhouette.

Dear Ms. Soriano:

What kind of a man sends a "daddy résumé" to a woman? A man with a plan.

THE BABY PLAN is a completed sensual contemporary romance of approximately 82,000 words, a surrogate story in the tradition of Brenda Novak's Baby Business.

The Baby Plan is the story of architect Broc Manning, a man with a plan to obtain a child of his own while avoiding the messy emotional entanglements of a woman. Women, he knows from experience, always leave. Talented mechanic Harley Emerson fell through the cracks of an overworked foster care system as a child. Her secret dream is to be part of a real family, but for now, she seeks self-worth and social acceptance, which she believes come with a college degree and a high-powered business career. Although she first refuses Broc's proposition to act as his surrogate, the man's persistence and way with children changes her mind. Maybe she can give one child the kind of home she always dreamed of. Harley has a few conditions of her own for the baby's sake: a marriage of convenience and an old-fashioned conception. What will happen when Harley realizes that the sham marriage and family is what she wants for real? Will Broc get his baby and more? Or will he lose them both?

This manuscript placed fourth in the Barclay Sterling contest. Originally written with an eye towards SSE, Silhouette looked at the full. Using the editor's comments, I have revised it, tailoring The Baby Plan more towards Super.

I am an active member of RWA, Pennwriters, and belong to several critique groups. I've also been a voracious reader all of my life. I enjoy SuperRomance novels, particularly new authors Anna Adams and Fay Robinson. I'm really rooting for Fay and A Man Like Mac to grab the Best First Book Rita this year.

I let them know that I'd been reading the line, and I already had my particular favorites.

Susan G.

Susan Gable · Mar 27, 2007

Here's just a blurb I used for my third book, Whose Child?

Four years ago, scared and alone, Lexie Jacobs arrived in the little town of Mill Creek, Montana with $24.63 in her pocket and a baby she’d sworn to protect in her belly.
The money was hers.
The baby...wasn’t.
And now Daddy’s found them.

If I were writing a query letter on that, I'd call it a twist on the secret baby story. (Which it was.) Secret Baby is a category marketing hook. This was quite a twist because it was the mother that everyone thought was the real mother of the baby, and she wasn't.

Also a good phrase to use on this was "runaway surrogate" who "kidnapped the baby in-utero."

Grab their attention.

Make them want to ask for more.

Susan G.

Susan Gable · Mar 27, 2007

Blurb from my cover letter for my last book, The Pregnancy test:

Enclosed please find The Pregnancy Test -

Two pink lines mean pregnant. Two sets of two pink lines mean Sloan Thompson's life will never be the same again, no matter what choices are made. With his girlfriend and his teenage daughter both expecting at the same time, Sloan's struggling to find the right thing to do, and not sure he's going to survive The Pregnancy Test.

Susan G.

Harlequin Query Question

cmckenziemitchinson

Christy Kate McKenzie

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

cmckenziemitchinson

Christy Kate McKenzie

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales

Susan Gable

Dreamer of dreams, teller of tales