What does Harlequin tolerate?

Posted by kristie911:

I've readied my partial for Harlequin Superromance, taking the time to clean it up a bit in terms of swearing. But it does have some violence in it. My MC flees an abusive relationship and the prologue covers that...in some detail. He beats her up and she runs. Then the story starts. I'm not sure how well that's going to be recieved. Though my synopsis spelled it out and so did my query letter and they still requested it.

Any advice? It's been years since I've read Harlequin books.

I know, I know...I haven't even sent it out and I'm already stressing out!!

Posted by Cathy C

My advice:

a) Pick up some recent Harlequin/Silhouette books and read them. Each line is very specific as to what they want and those wants change from year to year. You need to have a good idea what line to approach and can't do that if you're not familiar with what's out there now.

b) Graphic violence is always a tricky sell in romance. It can be done, but it has to be done VERY well for an editor to allow it---in any publisher's line.

c) I'll leave it to annie and Susan for more specifics about the Superromance line.

Posted by L.Jones

c) I'll leave it to annie and Susan for more specifics about the Superromance line.

YIKES!

I don't know Supperomance. But that should be a hint to the writer. You can cash checks from Harlequin for a decade and not know much about the other lines because each line is unique and it's all one can do to keep up with the changes in your own line.
Harlequin "tolerates" one thing in one and much more or less in another, and from one author to the next, they can differ. We often compare notes on what editors don't want from one author but encourage in another.

So line, author voice, editorial vision are all factors. You should read some Supers, at least the opening chapters Hit the used bookstore and stock up on the latest ones, see if your work has the right feel. You're put some work into the story, go ahead and put a wee bit more research before you send.

annie jones
aka Luane Jones

Posted by Cathy C

Oops! Sorry, annie. I thought you wrote for that line.

I do know a couple of Superromance authors off-list and could ask them but, like you said, it's an author-by-author thing. The ones I know can probably get away with just about anything if they wanted, simply because they've been in the line for so long.

Posted by Sassenach

Quote:
Originally Posted by kristie911
I've readied my partial for Harlequin Superromance, taking the time to clean it up a bit in terms of swearing.

:::::::Snipped:::::::::
Any advice? It's been years since I've read Harlequin books.

I know, I know...I haven't even sent it out and I'm already stressing out!!


It seems ill-advised to submit to a line you're not very familiar with.

Posted by Susan Gable

Swearing - hell and damn are acceptable, as long as they're not used every other word. (One ms I had, I swear, I must have been in a bad mood as I wrote it because there were a too many hells and damns in it. <G> But my editor just pointed that fact out ot me and had me clean it upa little bit.) I've been allowed to use sh**. Just don't overuse that one, either. I don't know if the F-word is allowed. Probably not. I've never tried to push that one.

Violence...well...that depends. Take a good look at that prologue. Are you absolutely certain that it's necessary? And just because it's mentioned in the query or synopsis doesn't mean anything - the editors may not realize from those that this is an actual, on-screen thing. Seriously, I'd take a long, hard look at that prologue. The reader may not need to "see" the beating at all.

Good luck!

Susan G.

Posted by kristie911

I don't know. I've deleted the prologue and then put it back in because I didn't like the feel without it. I makes you so much more sympathic to the MC. And later things are referenced to it, such as certain body movements that frighten her and shows how far she's come during the ending.

I guess I'm just going to leave it in and hope for the best. I hate to compromise the story just to fit the line, since it wasn't exactly geared toward them in the first place. I cut it down and took out a lot already.

Thanks for the advice...I was going to send it out today but I'm headed to the library to see if they have any recent Superromance books I can read. I've read a lot of them but it seems that the older ones are a lot different than the newer ones.

Then I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best...it's all I can do, right?!

Posted by reph

eharlequin.com has free samples to read online. For most books, the sample is the first chapter.

Posted by NCwriter

Originally Posted by kristie911
I've deleted the prologue and then put it back in because I didn't like the feel without it. I makes you so much more sympathic to the MC.


I don't think the reader really needs to "see" it to be sympathic. They just need to know that it happened. That's just my personal opinion though

Posted by Susan Gable

I don't think the reader needs to see it, either. And this way, you can also make the reader wonder a bit. Why does she react like that? What exactly happened to her? You don't need to show the hand too early.

The story I'm working on right now, the heroine has some interesting backstory. I could show that backstory right up front, in a prologue. But I'd rather leave the reader guessing for a while. Let the reader discover bits about her as things move along.

But that's just my thoughts.

Did you find some new Supers to read?

Susan G.

Posted by kristie911

I haven't...the library doesn't carry them and I can't afford to just buy a bunch from the website. And I haven't been able to make the trip to the closest B&N that would carry them. It's almost an hour away...gas prices, you know!

But I did send the partial today...I'm braced for rejection which is normally how I feel whenever I send anything out. I racked up so many of them that I actually send it and just sit around waiting for the rejection...I don't have my hopes up at all. I guess I'm just a pessimist at heart!