Hi! My name is Katie and I have always wanted to be a writer. Its true, I wrote it on a gingerbread man in kindergarten. (Okay, to be fair someone else wrote it down for me, but it’s what I wanted). On another note, I’ll be honest when I say I can’t correctly use a comma to save my life, but I can make people laugh. Several months back I finished my first manuscript, which touches on so many genres that I felt my head spinning. Yes, I am one of those confused souls that tragically became genre confused. I sent out query letters and now I am a bit daunted, so I’m stepping back. Once I recover, I will screw my head on straight and try, try again. Next round I will squarely label my book and insert it into the romance genre, with elements of suspense, mystery, and science-fi. Really, it’s an all encompassing everything under the rainbow book in terms of a genre, but I will eventually figure out how to package it (hopefully!). On a side note, no one knows what my title means, so I’m thinking about being a little less original. I am also working on a second romance novel, which needs some serious edits and revisions to overhaul it. (I think it’s decent, but I just finished the first draft, so cut me some slack). While I think my first book has a stronger storyline, I feel like the second may make for a stronger query letter. Anyway, hello Internet forum people! I look forward to posting my queries at a later date, so you can lick your chops and shred them apart. Hope you’re hungry! I’ll be ready to roll up my sleeves and revamp my inquiries at a later date.
Welcome. What do you feel the primary story line is best categorized. My understanding (and someone can correct me) is that Romance publishers are looking for the romantic plot to be central. I’ve read some romance that crosses into fantasy and SF and is marketed as such, but the romantic story line is always dominant in the ones I’ve read. Good luck with the manuscript.
Steerpike, initially it didn’t seem obviously tied to one, but when I’ve thought about it more that’s the most central piece, so probably what I should align with. Still mulling it out. Thanks for the advice!
I agree that romance publishers are looking for the romance to be the structural centre of the story - and I agree that it can sometimes be a bit difficult to be sure if this is the case! For me, it helps to look at things from a fairly structural perspective - is the final conflict, the climax of the story, based around the personal relationship, or something else? If it's based around the relationship (and the relationship is a romantic one!) you've got yourself a romance.
