Harlequin Presents -- going to 12 per month

[Susan Gable]

Heads' up! Harlequin Presents is going to 12 books per month. That means they're activiely looking for submissions and new authors. (Personally, I can't read 'em, so there's no way I could write 'em, but hey, that's why we have so many DIFFERENT lines - different strokes for different folks.)

They will be running a contest, and they are NOT taking any rights from entrants. Read about it here: http://www.iheartpresents.com/

One word of caution - for those of you who read the Show Me the Money charts and use that to say, HEY, WOW, these guys make good money, I'm going to write for THEM. == When lines move to more books per month, it's usually good for the company to make more money, but it's not good at all for the individual authors. Individual authors see their per-book income go DOWN. (Documented fact - have seen it happen with several lines then they went from 4 - 6 per month.) So take that into consideration when you look at the Show Me the Money information.

Anyway... if you love Presents, GO FOR IT! And good luck!

Susan G.

[Josie]

Thanks Susan.

I have great respect for people who write them ...but I can't.

My goodness, 12 stories a month!!! And the more the books the smaller the royalties??

Cheers, Josie

[smlgr8]

Hating to show my Harlequin ignorance but what exactly is the Harlequin Presents line? Yes, I write historicals and erotics so I guess I can say I've never read the Presents line. I did link to the contest to see what the heck it was but all I could tell was that they were supposed to be "passionate", well, duh, it is a romance, shouldn't there be passion in all of them?

Sorry to be clueless. Just curious I guess

[MissLadyRae]

I found this website (http://www.lynnemarshallweb.com/articles/SpotlightonHarlequin_LMarshall.pdf) from an author who attended an RWA conference featuring HQN editors and upcoming guidelines. It's pretty recent and looks to be an invaluable resource for what each line is looking for. Here's what she had to say about HQN Presents:

PRESENTS – New set of stories aimed at younger reader (Known as Modern Extra in UK – Example: Mistress on Trial by Kate Hardy) will come here as Presents younger sister. Hero Alpha male. Young, strong, charismatic, uncompromising on what he holds dear. Three dimensional and occasionally audacious. Great body. Fun. Flirty too. He might be climbing up the ladder of success with further to go. Think sexy, passionate, strong sensuality. Heroine is urban in outlook and lifestyle. Club hops. Global setting. Context of her life, what she feels about her life. Tone: sparky, smoldering, sensual. Hint of humor and wit. Looking for new writers. 50,000 words. Wants synopsis of 1-2 pages and three chapters.


Hope that helps!

[dolores haze]

Here's the link to Harlequin, and the guidelines for their various lines.
http://www.eharlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=538&chapter=0

[smlgr8]

Ah...I see. Interesting.

[Susan Gable]

Okay, I just went to that webpage that Dolores posted and there seems to be a difference between Presents and Presents Collection. Presents doesn't stipulate 20-somethings, while Presents Collection does sound like that's what they're looking for (although they say 18-35). After looking at the new guidelines for "Harlequin Romance", I won't be buying those anymore either. There's a whole list of nots and "family-oriented" is right near the top. Talk about forgetting your demographic. Jeesh. None of the new lines sound that promising to read--too "urban" and alpha-male CEOs. How many CEOs do they think there are to go around? Obviously, the editors at HQ haven't looked at any of them lately. The young ones are hideously ugly nerds. (I've worked with enough of them.) Talk about an anti-hero.

Yeah, but the beauty of the Harlequin approach is that they DO offer a wide variety.

If you like "family oriented" stories, then you need to look at the "Home and Hearth" lines - Superromance, American, Silhouette Special Edition. (Ummmm...I don't know if there's another one. <G>) We specialize in family stories. Actually, Super has a wide variety, but we're under the Home and Hearth umbrella.

We have more of the beta heroes. :)

Presents offers those who love the alpha heroes a chance to get their fix.

That's why I said I don't read them, and therefore couldn't write them, but I don't begrudge anyone else THEIR preferred reading material. Different strokes...

Believe it or not, there are plenty of 30-40-50-something women who LOVE Presents, love those alpha CEO heroes, etc. That's why HQ is expanding the line.

The Nora category books you're reading are all old. You have to always, always, bear copyright date in mind when you're trying to evaluate a line or publisher.

Susan G.

[Bubastes]

I agree with Susan. I personally don't like romances that are too family-oriented and avoid stories that have anything to do with babies, so I'm glad to see such a wide variety in HQ. I like the alpha CEO heroes, but I think so much more can be done with them. The money, power, glamour (all idealized escapist fantasies, of course) -- what's not to enjoy? :D

[Susan Gable]

I agree with Susan. I personally don't like romances that are too family-oriented and avoid stories that have anything to do with babies, so I'm glad to see such a wide variety in HQ. I like the alpha CEO heroes, but I think so much more can be done with them. The money, power, glamour (all idealized escapist fantasies, of course) -- what's not to enjoy? :D


And as a reader, you're able to zero in on which books you WILL enjoy by buying (or NOT buying) a certain line. :)

That works well, I think. That's why this system has served HQ well all these years.

This is also why one cannot disparingly say, "Bah, HARLEQUIN NOVELs. Blech. They're all the same. Hate them. Yuck."

Because...they're not all the same. Granted you will find an amount of sameness WITHIN a line, but...that's the POINT! :)

Susan G.

[Susan Gable]

lol. Actually, none of my Nora Roberts are that old (all post-2000) and none are series/category. It's just her books all start to sound the same--different place, different names, but stereotypical challenges, similar plots, etc. At least she writes well. They're easy to read, just repetitive. I guess that's got to come with the territory of having written so many.

I quit reading Danielle Steele YEARS ago because of that very reason. <G> But funny, I haven't felt that way about Nora. Guess I'm just a Nora fangrrrril. <G>

The problem with HQ isn't that they have variety, it's that they're shrinking the types that I like and expanding the ones that I hate. That leaves nothing left to read at HQ. The only categories that encompass what I would like are SuperRomance and Silhouette Special Edition, but I see no 'Home and Hearth' series under the new categories.

Ohhhhhh, okay. Gotcha. Well, I think they (HQ) are pulling back to only that which they know works. They tried Next, which didn't work. Tried Everlasting Love, which didn't work.

They already know that Presents works. :Shrug:

Give me a heroine who wears glasses, is going through menopause, or is a single parent. And a hero who isn't perfect, but is redeemable. Throw in a few obstacles, and I'm there. :)

Amen, sistah. You are singing my song. :)


Let's hope Meowgirl has friends who read HQ. If you're a twenty something, then you're perfect for their new demographic. lol.

As an insider, how are their actual sales and are they doing paper anymore? When you posted that they were going epub, I thought they were doing away with paper, but they have six months worth of supers coming up on Amazon that you can preorder. Are they doing both? I must admit I feel badly for the HQ authors. I hope they can get other gigs. :)

Oh, yeah, they're not doing away with paper books. Nope. Too many of our readers till prefer paper over electronic. Not to mention that about two weeks ago, I was comparing the prices for the books at eHarlequin, and the ebooks, and believe it or not, I could buy the "real" book for LESS than the ebook. Makes no sense to me. <sigh>

As for how the sales are going...that's always hard to say. I think we've lost shelf space, and that's not helping sales figures. When we have discussions with folks looking at small presses, etc. around here, we always say to look at the distribution. Distribution is king. But when you start losing some of your shelf space... well, that makes it harder to sell books, right?

But I think sales are down all over these days.

Susan G.

[Susan Gable]

:) I've worked with too many CEOs to be even remotely interested in one as a hero. Can't suspend my disbelief on that one. ;)


LOL_ I know a lot of women who say the same exact thing about cowboys. <G>

Susan G.

[Bubastes]

Let's hope Meowgirl has friends who read HQ. If you're a twenty something, then you're perfect for their new demographic. lol.


Would you believe I'm almost 40? :D

I do agree, though, that HQ does seem to be becoming more narrow and more rigid in their lines. I also find the shrinking wordcount frustrating. It will be interesting to see how much tweaking they do in the future based on market results.

[Bubastes]

It doesn't really bother me, but I do have to be in the right mood for them. I think I don't pay all that much attention to the ages of the characters, which probably helps.

I'm with you, though. I would love to see more stories with older women and younger men. I have an index card in my idea box that calls for a jaded female exec who starts out being a sugar mama before falling in love with the guy. I'm not sure how marketable that is, but it's fun to think about.

[smlgr8]

See I am 40 something and I don't particularly want to read about someone like me. It's a fantasy. I don't mind reading about a heroine in her 20s. Maybe that is because I write historicals and most women were dead by their 40s, LOL.

My heroes are alphas all the way too. Oh well. Different strokes!

[smlgr8]

I don't care what the hero does as long as I love the story. CEO, Lawyer, Cowboy (or in my case Regency Lord or Medieval Warrior), doesn't matter. I'd even take the doctor, LOL, as long as I love the romance.

Anything can sound cliched, no? LOL

[Khazarkhum]

HQ seems to be shutting down its lines faster than I would think wise. They gave Next what, 2 years? When you consider how long it takes to go from accepted to on the shelves, that seems awfully quick.

[Irysangel]

Does it ever bother you when you read about twenty something heroines? You're the first 40 something that I've met who liked them.

I'm 31 and I'd rather read about CEOs and princes and sheikhs than small towns, cowboys and babies. *g* It's all a matter of taste.

[AnneMarble]

I'm 31 and I'd rather read about CEOs and princes and sheikhs than small towns, cowboys and babies. *g* It's all a matter of taste.
I go in cycles. One day, I'll want to read about CEOs and princes. (Not crazy about sheikhs.) Another day, I'll want romantic suspense. The next, I'll want to read a more "home and hearth" story. However, I'm not crazy about the emphasis on small towns, and I wish the home and hearth stories could take place in suburbs or cities and didn't always involve babies. :D I have bought some of the Kimani romances because the heroines always seem to have the coolest jobs. Looking on my shelf, I see one with a heroine who's a judge, and one with a heroine who's a publicist. I've heard that people who want more variety in their series romances have been buying Kimani and other multicultural lines. I can't tell you about the writers as I haven't gotten to them yet. (In single title, however, I do recommend Beverly Jenkins' Sexy/Dangerous.)

I also wish the CEOs and princes could meet more "alpha heroines." Now that would be fun.
:whip:

[johnnysannie]

Give me a heroine who wears glasses, is going through menopause, or is a single parent. And a hero who isn't perfect, but is redeemable. Throw in a few obstacles, and I'm there. :)
. :)

Me, too. Give me realism rather than jet setting heroes and fashion model heroines!!!!!

[AnneMarble]

Okay, I love that whip icon. Where'd you pick that one up? I know where to find whips in a local store, just can't get my husband to stay still long enough to use it... :)
It's one of the smilies from this site. I've used it often enough that I can remember how to type it, although it usually takes a couple of tries because the smilies are case-sensitive. I think it's : whip : without the spaces. Let's see...
:whip:

ah, didn't know Kimani was multicultural. I just read the description that said "African-American". I guess I'm not politically correct enough...
No, they're African-American. I'm just used to calling them multicultural romances because ... I dunno, some site or another used that to refer to all the ethnic romances -- African-American, Latino, etc. Nowadays, people tend to call them AA romances or African-American romances. (The Latino romance line didn't work out, so it field is pretty much AA romances.) But when I see AA romances, my first thought is "Oh! It's a romance about alcoholics in recovery!" :ROFL:

[kristie911]

But when I see AA romances, my first thought is "Oh! It's a romance about alcoholics in recovery!" :ROFL:

Geez, I'm glad I'm not the only one that automatically thinks that same thing! :D

By chance, does anyone know if Harlequin takes paranormal in any line besides MIRA?

[AnneMarble]

Geez, I'm glad I'm not the only one that automatically thinks that same thing! :D
:D
By chance, does anyone know if Harlequin takes paranormal in any line besides MIRA?
I've seen Blazes and Intrigues with paranormal elements, such as Blaze titles with vampires. Also, if you include Silhouette, there's Silhouette Nocturne (a paranormal line). Now, off the top of my head, maybe Silhouette Romantic Suspense is open to paranormals. I don't think I've seen paranormals in the "home and hearth" lines. Also, I'm pretty sure Harlequin Romance, Harlequin Presents, and Silhouette Desire don't take paranormals.

[Gillhoughly]

This thread seems to have drifted into what one likes to read as opposed to what one is able to write.

Granted, it's a GOOD idea to read and enjoy the genre you're writing in--makes things less of a chore when you're at the keyboard. ;)

Keep in mind that for all the flaws one may see in Harlequin that it is a big honking huge business geared toward making profits. They buy books that fit into their marketing slots from writers who can meet the required word count and deliver on deadline. With a bit of practice that's not too terribly difficult to do.

They're the only publishing website I've found that actively tries to help writers improve their craft. They have excellent advice on writing, promote their own writers like crazy, and are highly supportive to the neos coming up. It is from that pool that the next generation of HQ writers will emerge.

They are after a specific product for each of their lines, and have been doing it for a long, long time. If you write oranges it won't fit into their apples slot. That's when you go elsewhere with your proposal.

We may mock them, but by golly their writers sell books worldwide. If a writer gains readers, those readers may look for non-Harlequin books by the writer. Walk into any supermarket, mom & pop store, Wal*Mart, chain pharmacy, or regular bookstore and you'll find HQ books on the racks. Their distribution is staggering in scope.

One of my friends had two books in their now defunct Bombshell line, and after their release she noticed a clear jump in sales for her titles at another house. That sales jump led to her getting two new contracts with Roc Publishing. The time she spent writing for HQ was well spent. It was better than paying for advertising space in a trade magazine, better than doing a hundred signings.

My friend--who is as professional as they come--was impressed with the speed and efficiency of the edit job and the follow-up production of the HQ staff. I'd never seen anything that sharp and streamlined in operation at any other publishing house. Nor have I seen a galley-edit like theirs before. THEIR way of doing it made sense!

I've been to one of the big HQ parties when they were passing out sterling silver pins to select authors. These women were being honored for writing 25-50-150-200-250 titles for H. AND MORE.

Damn-- we may not like all their books, but you can't argue against the kind of money that they raked in for that volume of wordage.

Sitting at my table, proudly holding a lovely silver pin of the HQ logo set with a ruby was a an under-30 who'd written and sold at least 25 to them. Fast worker and dedicated.

She had my instant respect.

I've been writing professionally since 1986 and am still 3 books short of cracking the 25-novel mark.

Readers are buying a specific product from them and have specific expectations from that product, which HQ faithfully delivers. If there is a deviation from the formula, sales go down.

When you go into a McDonalds for fries, you want fries, not mashed potatoes with gravy.

HQ is throwing out a remarkable supply of fries, and damn--readers are gobbling them up and asking for more.

Yes, mock them for selling the same story over and over again ad nauseum--but keep in mind that they ARE making whacking great gobs of moolah.

It ain't art, but people are buying.

Royalties may drop for the writers of the Presents line, but it's still better money than I'd get at any other job. There's damned-few jobs for which I am qualified that would allow me to sleep late, wear bathrobe and slippers to work, and take a day off any time I feel like it.

I am not calling it selling out so much as cashing in.

Susan Gable--THANK YOU for posting the notice about the Presents line. I've passed it on to others, and took a look at them myself.

While at Wal*Mart---they had racks of H titles there, most of them down to one copy since sales were clearly brisk.

The Presents line does not appeal to me in the least, but I DO like their Intrigues. Always have. So I picked up a copy I thought I'd enjoy to see their editors are buying.

It's about damned time I wrote one! :D

[job]

Oh, here here.

I remember, when I was living overseas ... I was a member of RWA ONline. I'd be in a supermarket in Paris or Bonn ... and there would be my RWA-chapter friends' names on the covers, translated into French and German and Spanish, selling worldwide.

That said ... I'm not sure I could write one. 'Performing Swan Lake in a phone booth,' I think Nora Roberts called it.

[Susan Gable]

Yes, mock them for selling the same story over and over again ad nauseum--but keep in mind that they ARE making whacking great gobs of moolah.

Royalties may drop for the writers of the Presents line, but it's still better money than I'd get at any other job. There's damned-few jobs for which I am qualified that would allow me to sleep late, wear bathrobe and slippers to work, and take a day off any time I feel like it.

I am not calling it selling out so much as cashing in.

Susan Gable--THANK YOU for posting the notice about the Presents line. I've passed it on to others, and took a look at them myself.

While at Wal*Mart---they had racks of H titles there, most of them down to one copy since sales were clearly brisk.

The Presents line does not appeal to me in the least, but I DO like their Intrigues. Always have. So I picked up a copy I thought I'd enjoy to see what getting bought.

It's about damned time I wrote one! :D

LOL! Yeah! Go for it!

Harlequin wouldn't have upped this line if it wasn't selling. If the numbers aren't good, they don't UP a line. So yeah, they know about the category stuff.

And kudos to you for knowing the proper way to do Harlequin "homework." I was speaking to someone today, and she was looking at Intrique -- only the copyright date on the book she had was 2004.

EEENNNDDDTTTTT! Wrong. You pick up the books that are on the shelf THIS MONTH. And next month. Because even THOSE books were purchased by an editor a year ago. In the publishing world, that's FOREVER ago. Things change. You want the "freshest" look at what they're buying as you can get.

It's not just a ploy to sell books when the eds say, READ OUR STUFF to see what we're looking for. It's a homework hint.

Gil, good luck to you. And I'm glad you passed the information on. Like I said, I can't write them, but damn, I sort of wish I could. <G>

Oh, and hey, my favorite Presents authors are: Kate Walker, Sandra Martin (sp?), Lucy Monroe, and accckkk...I'm blanking on the last name. I can see her face so clearly. Oh. Jane Porter. :) Yep. For those of you who want to do some Presents homework. :)

Susan G.

[lrs]

Well dang! Now I want to write for Harlequin!

[lrs]

I'm trying to figure out these Harlequin guildelines. For the Presents line, you send them to England? Anyone sent stuff over there, do we have to have a special envelope for that? thanks!

[dolores haze]

I'm trying to figure out these Harlequin guildelines. For the Presents line, you send them to England? Anyone sent stuff over there, do we have to have a special envelope for that? thanks!

Yes, submissions for HP go to the London address (I called to check). I bought a post office envelope because they're tough, and I didn't want the envelope getting ripped on its way across the Atlantic. Cover letter, synopsis, and first three chapters is what you should send. When they recieve it they send you a very polite letter stating they have recieved it, and giving you a reference number if you should call to check on your ms. Then you wait, and wait, and wait, and wait. Good luck!

[lrs]

Thank you so much for the help!

[dolores haze]

Molly - I really don't know anything about the Super line. I don't want to steer you wrong, so hopefully someone else will come along and advise you properly. I know HP wants an exclusive submission. I think it's great that you don't need an agent to submit to many of the Harlequin lines, but that also results in massive slush piles, so it's a double edged sword.

I like the second chances line you're suggesting, but I think that is what the Next line was all about. The first thing I heard about the Next line was that it was closing. Such a shame! It sounded really great, and then it was gone.

Good luck with your queries.

[Bubastes]

I thought the Next line was going to be relaunched in 2008? Or did I hear wrong?

[johnnysannie]

Maybe we could approach Harlequin with a new line to consider where the heroines are older (30s-40s):
Second Chances
Starting Over
New Leaf
.... I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea. :Lecture:

Great idea! Maybe if enough readers approached Harlequin, it could happen. If they know there is enough of a market, it is possible.

[Bubastes]

Ah, here it is, from MissLadyRae's post earlier in the thread. According to these notes from the 2007 conference, Next will be doing a soft relaunch in 2008. It looks like they're reworking the brand.
http://www.lynnemarshallweb.com/articles/SpotlightonHarlequin_LMarshall.pdf

ETA: after reading these book blurbs for Next, I'm seriously at a loss on which line to write for now. It's like being at a buffet with too many goodies!
http://www.eharlequin.com/store.html?vcname=backlist&cid=357

[Susan Gable]

Yes, Molly, Next WAS Harlequin's attempt at doing "older" heroines, but they weren't all romances, they were more women's fictiony. And that's where, once again, they made, IMHO, a misstep.

If it says HARLEQUIN or SILHOUETTE on it, readers expect a ROMANCE. (That's what wrong with Bombshell, too.)

Not enough people bought these books new off the shelves, and so the line has folded. The soft relaunch has yet to be seen, and we'll see what happens when they DO that.

Everlasting also had "older" heroines because they told lifetime love stories.

However, I have to tell you, you CAN find "older" heroines in a number of the lines, including at Super. Only one of my heroines has been in her 20's, and she was in her late 20's. We've even had a Super that featured a couple in their <gasp> 50's.

This is what I'm talking about when I say DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Don't make blanket statements before doing a little research. Next's crash and burn was fairly recent.

You do not give up any rights to anything when you submit work to Harlequin.

Susan G.

[Susan Gable]

On submitting to Super in Canada:

Tell them to recycle the partial, and just send them $1.00 to cover the postage for the small SASE. Those IRC's (International Reply Coupons) are a MAJOR pain in the neck for everyone involved.

Super prefers a partial right off the bat because they can't tell anything about your writing from a query letter, so they choose to skip over that step.

No multiple submissions means you can only send them ONE ms at a time. They want you to learn from your mistakes. So if they reject one ms, and they take the time to write some notes about where you went wrong, they want you to not make those same mistakes with the next ms. So if you have more than one in the house already, you can't do that. (Because you may have made the same mistakes in that ms BEFORE you read what the editor had to say about it.)

Susan G.

[Susan Gable]

Thanks, Susan. As for "doing your research", few can afford to buy every HQ that comes off the presses (at least I don't know anyone) and I think you've set the bar there a bit high. You're an insider. I'm not.

Molly, the way I learned about category romance when I was first starting out was by going to the store and buying them and reading them. That's how you get the nuances of each line. I'm not asking anyone to do anything that I didn't do myself. I'm not saying go out and buy every single book that HQ prints. Good grief. None of us has that much money OR time. <G> But homework is a part of learning process. For all of us.

I wasn't born "an insider." <G>

Which is supposed to be what this forum is helpful for--learning. And I think all of us are entitled to our opinions, regardless of whether they agree with each other. :)

Absolutely. :)

They said to send a check to cover postage; can you just send an American dollar bill?

You know, I'm not sure. I think i've heard of people doing that, though. But I'm not sure at all.

Harlequin probably prefers a check just because it makes life easier for the accounting department. :)

Susan G.

[Irysangel]

Thanks, Susan. As for "doing your research", few can afford to buy every HQ that comes off the presses (at least I don't know anyone) and I think you've set the bar there a bit high. You're an insider. I'm not.

You can research without buying all of the novels that come out in a month. :) The Harlequin website is actually pretty indepth as to the offerings and they show all the titles for the month. I know there used to be a Bombshell authors blog, and I know there's a Harlequin Historicals blog...I bet a bit of digging would turn up Presents authors doing something similar.

There's lots of ways to research without opening your wallet. :)

[Susan Gable]

Oh, yeah, and BTW, eHarlequin.com is having a BIG 50% off sale today. So if you want to get some new books, holiday themed books, and you want to save money, go check them out today.

Plus if you spend $25.00, you get free shipping. And you don't have to pay today -- they'll bill you with the shipment.

Susan G.

[Susan Gable]

You can research without buying all of the novels that come out in a month. :) The Harlequin website is actually pretty indepth as to the offerings and they show all the titles for the month. I know there used to be a Bombshell authors blog, and I know there's a Harlequin Historicals blog...I bet a bit of digging would turn up Presents authors doing something similar.

There's lots of ways to research without opening your wallet. :)

Absolutely, Jill. Thank you for pointing that out. eHarlequin.com is a great resource. And they also offer excerpts, too, so you can get some tastes of the writing, too.

Yes, most of the authors for the various lines have a group website (paid for by the authors, BTW.) www.SuperAuthors.com (http://www.SuperAuthors.com) is another one.

Susan G.

[Susan Gable]

. I haven't seen anything about submitting to NEXT, but that would definitely be a place I'd submit to, even if (as Susan said) it was mostly chick lit. I'd rather see it more romance though. ...

Molly, I think HQ figured out that being more women's fictiony was hurting NExt. I'm pretty sure they DID revamp guidelines to make them more romancy.

S.

[Susan Gable]

That was my point. ;)

But...if you find a line you are interested in, there really is no substitution for reading the line...and that means the newest releases you can get your hands on.

If you want to know what the subtle differences are between Superromance and Silhouette Special Edition - you have to read a bunch of both.

If you want to know the subtle differences between Harlequin Intrigue and Silhoutte Romantic Suspense, you have to read a bunch of them.

So while there are lots of ways to do preliminary research, you have to read them to do quality, in-depth research.

You can beg, borrow or buy used, to make it easier on the wallet. :)

Susan G., a former elementary teacher who still believes that homework must and should be done. <G>

[MissLadyRae]

Ooh! There's also a great message board at eharlequin.com (http://community.eharlequin.com/) that's pretty cool. Some of the entries are a bit old, like the one for Intrigue, but there's some interesting tidbits from the writers and aspiring writers there. Plus they have a few chats coming up and I hear they invite aspiring writers to ask questions there.

Here's the series board (http://community.eharlequin.com/WebX?14@454.Q8YJbcbbeMl.0@.3b9c0b53).

[lrs]

Dang! I didn't even think about how to get a reply back when you send it overseas. So whats the general guideline for that? Is it posted somewhere on Harlequins site?

[dolores haze]

Dang! I didn't even think about how to get a reply back when you send it overseas. So whats the general guideline for that? Is it posted somewhere on Harlequins site?

They actually...gasp...pay for the stamp...wait for it...THEMSELVES!

[Stlight]

I enjoyed Next partly because the stories were stronger on action and character development than the romance. The romance was there, but the romance didn’t define the character as I’ve found it does in some of the other lines. I’m glad see they plan another shot at it. But then I enjoyed the Luna and Nocturne lines. Now I will not buy “trade paper” backs. I don’t like the size the feel or the cost of the “trade paper back oversized paper backs and I think bringing out some of the books in that form rather than mass paper will hurt sales. Aren’t these the books we bought because they fit in pocket books and were easy to read on the bus to work?

Another problem which may just be me is that I have yet to successful make the shopping on the eHarlequin website work. I end up having to email my order in a couple of times before it gets through. This I do not understand. Harlequin is huge in the world of selling and they can’t get their website to function for the sale of books! What’s going on there? I can honestly say that if I could buy on line I’d probably buy $25 worth a month. That may not be much in the scheme of things, but then how many others are there like me out there?

Stlight

[Josie]

Hey Stlight! :)

I use the eHarlequin quite often to shop for their books...have for a couple of years. What problem do you have with it exactly? Maybe I can help you.

I also buy some of the ebooks, but truthfully I love traditionally published books more. Mostly when desperately desperate I buy the ebooks...or go downtown to the bookstore.

Susan: I'm in to writing/completing one of my ideas for HI and yes I am reading the latest ones as much as I can. I enjoy romantic suspense and like a lot of the Intrigues. :)

Cheers, Josie

[Stlight]

Josie,
Thanks for offering to help.

The problem is seriously weird. I login - I’ve tried this after I pick out the books and it drops my entire order, so I login first make my order and then when I get to the end of filling out my order it asks me to login. I login again and it drops my order. Once it dropped part of my order and then refused to let me add any more books to the order. It was all very strange and has happened several times over the last year. In fact the only time the system worked for me was last year - once - then they had to fix it for some reason.

If it works for you I would suspect that my address has gotten tangled up in the workings somehow. Though that doesn’t make much sense, since I can get emails with the orders through usually on the second try. *When I want a book I keep trying.* It would be simpler to order by phone but I have trouble hearing on the phone and just don’t want to go there.

If it’s just me, then maybe I have a book I could write for Nocturne.

I prefer books I can carry around and read wherever, okay, the bath. Once the draught is over and we get to have bathes instead of showers again.

Stlight

[Josie]

Stlight

Oh Yeah. That must be very frustrating for you on eHarlequin.

Right now I've discovered they are "upgrading" the whole site so even if you wanted don't try anything on there for a while.

Eventually maybe you should get another login name - maybe.

I think telephoning or emailing them at customer service with your problem is best.

Keep me posted.

Cheers, Josie :)

[Stlight]

Josie, thanks.
I'll resist for awhile and do as you suggest. After all email is easy.

Stlight

[lrs]

Are there any Harlequin lines that offer time travels? I'm trying to search the site, but can't figure it out. I'd love to email an editor and ask, but again, I can't find any emails for editors. Can anyone help? Thanks!