And not one of the kinky kind, although there's some bondage-lite.
I've been lurking here for a while, saving some of CC's excellent advice so I can read it offline and reading some of the other threads.
I've written my masterpiece. Well, something a couple of people say I should definitely submit.
It's definitely a romance, maybe chick lit on the outside. Rich alpha male hero, strong female heroine, rugby theme/scenes (inspired by the M&B recent line but that's one of my interests anyway). Locations include international and glamorous, but also in a rugby club, watching games, in the pub, curry house...normal British occupations.
There's a fair bit of sex in it, especially in the first three chapters. Apparently it's 'tastefully done' though.
It's currently 53k words with wiggle room for more. I've been looking at submitting it unagented to Mills & Boon (M&B) Modern (I'm in the UK if you hadn't guessed) or to Little Black Dress (imprint of Headline) which looks for 60-80k.
My queries are:
- How picky will M&B be about the 'international locations bit'? Are they going to get sniffy about the pub? My heroine drinks pints but is quite well-mannered.
- Should I look for an agent first? If a publisher wants it, will I get screwed without an agent?
Would an agent take on someone specifically writing M&B? (I have a list of agents to approach with a couple recommended for chick-lit type stuff but not for M&B.)
- And...err...(the dirty question)...how does the money compare between going with M&B/Harlequin to going to around 80k with someone like Headline or anyone mainstream? I've read that being a M&B/Harlequin author is quite prestigious, but do you have to rattle them out to make a living?
Btw, I've written over 25k for the sequel (secondary characters from the first) but I've been putting off doing anything about the first because...I'm scared! But my mother's pestering me to get it in and you know what they can be like.
I've been lurking here for a while, saving some of CC's excellent advice so I can read it offline and reading some of the other threads.
I've written my masterpiece. Well, something a couple of people say I should definitely submit.
It's definitely a romance, maybe chick lit on the outside. Rich alpha male hero, strong female heroine, rugby theme/scenes (inspired by the M&B recent line but that's one of my interests anyway). Locations include international and glamorous, but also in a rugby club, watching games, in the pub, curry house...normal British occupations.
There's a fair bit of sex in it, especially in the first three chapters. Apparently it's 'tastefully done' though.
It's currently 53k words with wiggle room for more. I've been looking at submitting it unagented to Mills & Boon (M&B) Modern (I'm in the UK if you hadn't guessed) or to Little Black Dress (imprint of Headline) which looks for 60-80k.
My queries are:
- How picky will M&B be about the 'international locations bit'? Are they going to get sniffy about the pub? My heroine drinks pints but is quite well-mannered.
- Should I look for an agent first? If a publisher wants it, will I get screwed without an agent?
Would an agent take on someone specifically writing M&B? (I have a list of agents to approach with a couple recommended for chick-lit type stuff but not for M&B.)
- And...err...(the dirty question)...how does the money compare between going with M&B/Harlequin to going to around 80k with someone like Headline or anyone mainstream? I've read that being a M&B/Harlequin author is quite prestigious, but do you have to rattle them out to make a living?
Btw, I've written over 25k for the sequel (secondary characters from the first) but I've been putting off doing anything about the first because...I'm scared! But my mother's pestering me to get it in and you know what they can be like.