Writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon

redmel1621

Hi

I spotted this thread a long while back, and just noticed it again.

Not sure if it has been mentioned but there are quite a lot of mills and boon books free on amazon kindle.
There is also one called 'secrets uncovered - blogs, hints and tips from editors and authors' which is also free.

hth xx

Jei-jei

Hi all,

Just dropping back to see what's up. Whoo! I've just completed a 40k word erotic fantasy in about three weeks! I've had two paragraph letters that have taken me longer to write!

@likes to write, thank you for your comments re my HMB manuscript. I'm not holding my breath on it though. Sounds like you've got some good ideas for working on something.

We could throw some ideas in the ring and see what gives. I have one or two that I'm not going to do anything with right now. But will have to dig them up.

I didn't realise Penny Jordan had died either. she really was a prolific writer, wasn't she? And even if she was re-working an old idea it's still hard work. Perhaps even more so than doing an original.:D

Anyone completed a romance or any other genre, don't forget you can put it on ivanovella and add another (zero commission) platform for your stories. Or just drop by and give it a 'like on the facebook icon. Which would be much appreciated.

wouldbeqaulitymoneysaver

I would aim to be a proper writer and not one that only wrote Romantic Fiction esp Mills and Boon.
Surely good writing skillz would extend to Mills and Boon and their ilk.

SlopingBird

wouldbequalitymoneysaver

I'm not a published author yet (short stories only to date) but I think it's a little unfair to suggest that Mills and Boon authors are not 'proper' authors. I don't read huge amounts of romantic fiction but I do think romantic novels are, almost without exception, very well-written and carefully plotted and I'd be as pleased as punch to be a published author of a Mills and Boon novel. One of the reasons I (and many others) target M & B is that they will read unsolicited submissions from new writers and not many publishers still do this. I don't think that means we are not 'proper' writers and that we aren't able to turn our hand to other types of novel.

Likestowrite

Anglea wrote: »

Hi all, long time since I've been here, I've been busy writing.

An additional point to note apart from a book being marketable, is a case of luck and timing.

This is what happened with my book, the editor really liked it but said they already had accepted a set amount with that particular theme for upcoming publications...

That's interesting. I wonder if it would pay to resubmit at a later date when they might be looking for a story with that theme.

Likestowrite

Jei-jei wrote: »

Hi all,

Sounds like you've got some good ideas for working on something.

We could throw some ideas in the ring and see what gives. I have one or two that I'm not going to do anything with right now. But will have to dig them up.

Ooops. I meant ideas about what elements a M&B story needs. Story ideas are too valuable to share.

M&B seem to be having a lot of opportunities to pitch to the editors on-line or send just in one chapter and synopsis as part of their fast track offer. They've revamped the message forums too

http://community.harlequin.com/forumdisplay.php/25-Talking-to-Editors

Jei-jei

Likestowrite wrote: »

Ooops. I meant ideas about what elements a M&B story needs. Story ideas are too valuable to share.

M&B seem to be having a lot of opportunities to pitch to the editors on-line or send just in one chapter and synopsis as part of their fast track offer. They've revamped the message forums too

http://community.harlequin.com/forumdisplay.php/25-Talking-to-Editors

no worries.

I think that the common themes are in most of their genres guidelines. Once you've got those covered, it is about what ideas you're putting into your story so it becomes a more individual thing.


@ Slopingbird, you must be a sainted angel.:A
It never fails to surprise me how some people turn up on a thread that they proclaim to have no interest in, only to make a snarky comment, and then promptly shoot themselves in the foot.

SlopingBird

Thanks Jei-jei

I know exactly what you mean. I've always considered a 'proper writer' to be someone who actually produces written work, whether fiction or non-fiction, romantic or otherwise. My partner and I edit one another's work regularly - he edits my chapters, short stories and scripts and I edit his non-fiction, literary reviews and walking articles. We recognise merit in different forms of writing, i.e. one type isn't superior to another.

Jei-jei

Hi all,

I'm looking for someone(s) to read a couple of the first chapters of an erotic fanstasy I've just finished (mentioned in an earlier post here) and give their opinion.

Its written in an archaic style with a considerable element of passion and mystery, so it might help (although it's not necessary), if you're interested in the above themes and genres. The overall theme is true love - but bear in mind that it does have an extremely erotic storyline.

Please PM me if you're interested and I'll give you a bit more detail.


Jei-jei

LuckyLucy11

Just to say I sent my manuscript off on 28th May!
They just sent a standard response along with the ref #

It's not quite right and I'm not sure it'll be accepted but I'm working on the next couple now: Gladiator and Vampire.

Being very methodical in my approach this time round, before I just made notes, typed them up and re-drafted.

This time I'm laying each chapter out step-by-step, reading only relevant material, dating & colour coding everything.

I'm going to write it out with all the intros, cliches, hooks and bare bones and then embellish it with imagery, psychology, themes in the re-draft.