Ask An Editor: Submissions
This month, for something different, we’re going to answer a trio of short questions on the topic of submissions. Be sure to read below to find out how you can win a download of Partners by Cricket Starr, a special treat from Red Sage Presents.
Okay, so you’ve written the next New York Time’s Best Seller! Great…right? How in the devil do you break down a mammoth 102,000 word count of complicated characters and complex plot lines into a teeny-tiny, member of the Lollipop Guild sized 150 word blurb that is guaranteed to make your book so enticing that the reader uses her Victoria’s Secret emergency panty fund to purchase your book instead of that water bra thing? Thanks for your wisdom.
~Pauline Allan
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Great question! Truly, you don’t have to write this particular blurb. Most publishers have in-house marketing people to do that for you. Remember, your first sale — the first one you hope to make with your submission — is to the editor, not to the bra-buying public. So your 150 words should be geared toward the needs of that first editorial reader.
How do you hook this editorial reader? You start by showing her that the book suits her editorial line, and then you show the one or two ways that your book will stand out from the pack. It’s the old “same but different” mindset. We need to see both the sameness (the suitability for the line and the breadth of the book’s appeal) and the differences (why your book is special). Save the complexity for the synopsis, but even there, please keep in mind that you don’t get to the bra-buyers unless you win over the overworked, eyestrained editor.
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I’ve been pitching my book to agents as science fiction, but after reading some of your posts I’m thinking that perhaps paranormal romance would be a better fit. Can you suggest a resource where I could find agents that are interested in that particular sub-genre? I’m familiar with QueryTracker and AgentQuery, but their searches don’t include sub-genres.
Thank you,
S. King
I’m not an agent, but in my experience, if an agent represents one kind of romance, she will probably represent the other kinds, too. This isn’t iron-clad, but more like a general tendency. If an agent intends to build relationships at romance houses, there’s little sense in doing that and then excluding entire groups of stories from consideration.
But there will always be personal tastes involved, such as an agent who gets squeamish over blood (vampires!) or one who loves historicals to the exclusion of all other romance types. The best way to suss out these kinds of personal preferences is to follow the authors an agent represents. Does she rep 40 romance authors, and not a single bloodsucker among them? That might be a clue. Do all of her authors write dialogue-heavy, super-pacey stories? That might be another clue.
By the way, you can mention this sort of thing in your query. “I noticed you represent Annie Author and Brenda Bestseller. Although my story is a different subgenre, its fast pace and tight focus are similar to books written by them.”
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What are the prospects for someone who’s not an established writer and is trying to sell a futuristic romance? And if you have the time, please tell us what you think separates a futuristic romance from a science fiction story that has a significant amount of romance in it. Or is there a difference?
Sincerely,
Mary Anne Landers
I’ve been keeping a close eye on this corner of the market for the past year or two. There is a core group of loyal science fiction romance readers, and there is the potential that these books will break through to a broader romance readership. (Also, just as a personal thing, I really enjoy these books, especially the world-building and the philosophical questions.) Will it happen? Eh. Maybe. Time will tell. I hope it will, though, because scifi romance submissions have been looking fresh and interesting lately. They deserve a broader readership.
How hard is it for a new writer to break in? This might sound like a non-answer, but the difficulty will be relative to how good the book is and how many slots are available. At my house, for example, we publish a few erotic scifi romance stories every year. For every one we publish, we probably get 30 or 40 submitted. (There are relatively few writers submitting these, which increases your odds.) You have no way of controlling the competition, but you can control the quality of your submission. Make the story as dynamic and engaging and thought-provoking as you can, and then make each sentence as well-written as you can.
When is it scifi romance, and when is it scifi with romantic elements? This question is probably harder to answer for scifi/romance than for other hybrids, if only because scifi frequently examines social organization, and the formation of romantic units and families is one way we organize societies. That said, if the core story is about the formation of a romantic attachment, then it’s romance. If the story ends when the lovers unite in some form of HEA-bond, then it’s romance. But if that bond is never achieved, or if it’s achievement is but one step in the middle of the plot, then you’re probably dealing with scifi with romantic elements.
On the topic of science fiction romance, I have a question for RU’s readers. The conventional wisdom is that science fiction is mainly appealing to teens and young adults who are awakening to the kinds of big questions raised in these stories. After about the age of 25, readership (it is claimed) drops off to a core, loyal audience, and the youthful scifi reader moves on to other story types. Has this been your experience? Did you read more science fiction in high school or college than you do at present? Why do you think that’s so?
Answer the question in the comments, and you’ll be entered to win a download of Partners by Cricket Starr, an erotic science fiction novella from Red Sage Presents. I happen to think this story is a great representative of the genre. Read it and see if you agree with me!
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A huge thanks to Theresa, Pauline, S. King and Mary Anne!!
Join us on Monday for our Romantic Suspense sub-genre segment with multi-published author Roxanne St. Claire and literary agent Jill Marsal. Find out what’s hot and what’s not!
Theresa’s Bio:
After earning degrees in creative writing and law, Theresa Stevens worked as a literary attorney agent for a boutique firm based in Indianapolis where she represented a range of fiction and nonfiction authors. The lure of the courtroom led to a nine-year hiatus from the publishing industry, but now Theresa is back as Managing Editor for Red Sage Publishing, a highly acclaimed small press. Her articles on writing and editing have appeared in numerous publications for writers. Visit her blog at http://edittorrent.blogspot.com/ where she and her co-blogger share their knowledge and hardly ever argue about punctuation.
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Thanks to Theresa, Pauline, S. King and Mary Anne for a great post.
One of the hardest things I’ve come up against during the submission process is when an agent doesn’t have a web site. It’s difficult to figure out who they represent without this resource. However, a determined writer can generally track down information through other sources like Publishers Marketplace, AgentQuery.com and Romance Writers of America.
I’m probably going to get blasted to perdition, but science fiction isn’t my thing. The few I’ve read had way too many strange names to remember and left me hanging at the end. Maybe a romance sci-fi would take care of the “left me hanging” part.
Thanks, Tracey
Hi, Tracy! Not all scifi is unpronounceable names. When I evaluate a scifi manuscript, if something like that sticks out, I always ask whether there’s a reason it’s done that way. Maybe, for example, there’s some symbolic relevance to an unusual name that will become apparent as the story unfolds. In that case, it’s something more than a gimmick, something more than window dressing, and it might be worth preserving.
You might enjoy some scifi romance. It’s probably not what you expect.
Hi, ladies!
Thanks for the great post.
Another way to get info about agent prefs is to look for online interviews, especially on writing related blogs. We have several here at RU under the tag “agent interview.”
Also – just an FYI on the header picture today. Those are camels from Oman. We used to see a camel herd out our back window!
Thanks, Theresa, and have a great weekend all.
Kelsey
Kels, I couldn’t resist selecting that picture!
Thanks for a great post, Theresa!
And Tracey, I’ll accompany you to perdition…I’ve never gotten into science fiction. To tell the truth, I’m not much into paranormal either. Lucky for me there are so many other genres of romance to choose from!
morning all!!
thanks Theresa, Pauline, S. King and Mary Anne…great reading material there….and sorry, but I don’t read sci fi or paranormal, and I’ve never worn a water bra (but now I’m going to have to look up to see what one is!), but tons of great advice there!
=)
carrie
Theresa -
I forgot to answer the sci fi question. I read a great deal more in high school than I do now, but I am a paranormal rom fan. Also read Ender’s Game recently for the first time. Not sure of it’s true genre.
K-
Ender’s Game is generally reckoned one of the great science fiction novels.
Hi, Theresa. Thank you for a great post. Unfortunately, I’m not a sci-fi reader either. I am impressed with sci-fi authors though because of the depth of their imaginations!
Then you must try Linnea Sinclair. She doesn’t try to wow you with the complex depth of her worlds. Rather, she reveals it to you as you need to know it. You never feel confused, or that you need to go back and reread stuff to figure out what’s going on. Plus, the characters are awesome and the romance is fairly steamy.
You s old me, Laurie!
Great information again ladies!
Whew! I knew I was in good company when I decided to hang out over here. I am not a sci-fi reader either. I really know I should expand my horizons, but I am so hooked on the amazing historical authors out there! Have a wonderful weekend!
P.S. I passed CJ’s query class! Had a blast and LOVED it!!
Yay, Jane. Good for you. It is a great class!
I loved CJ’s class too!
I love historicals, too, and read loads of them. In fact, it’s probably my go-to genre for a comfort read.
Would it surprise you to hear that I find a good s/f romance to have many of the same qualities as a good historical? World-building, a strong central romance, good conflict, and that feeling of total escape from reality — you’ll find that in both genres.
Interesting stats, because I did read a lot more fantasy/science fiction in high school and college than I do now. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t seem to have the patience to wade through the bizarre names and confusing worlds. To the current me, this often comes across as the author being self-indulgent, rather than it being necessary to the story. Now, I gravitate toward more emotional stories with a strong relationship arc. But because I’ve never really lost my love for complex worlds and fantasy elements, I read a lot of paranormal romance.
Regarding science fiction/fantasy romance, I love anything by Linnea Sinclair and Lois McMaster Bujold. In fact, LMB has a recent series (The Sharing Knife) in which she consciously decided to combine the fantasy and romance genres almost as an experiment. She found it interesting to read the comments from fans on both sides. The sci-fi people say there’s too much romance, while the romance fans say there’s not enough. (I was on the not-enough side, but I still loved it.)
The same kind of comments are generally made about SFR. Pure science fiction readers don’t mind some exploration of romance as a cultural aspect, but it’s not quite the same as what a romance reader wants from a story.
When I evaluate SFR stories, my first question is always about the romance and the characters and their relationship. Then, after I’m satisfied that the romance works, I evaluate the science fiction aspects. The key question is always, “Does this matter?” If the prose goes on about some technology or setting or social convention that has little or no relevance to the plot, then we either have to trim it or rework it to make it matter. So that’s how I try to go about integrating these two very different story types.
Thank you, Theresa, Pauline, S. King, and commentators; and to Kelsey for explaining those dromedaries.
I loved SF when I was a teen, tween, and twenty-something. It’s been a while, and I still do.
But it makes up less of my reading diet nowadays because it’s hard to find the kind I like best, what I call space opera for the thinking reader. By that I mean adventure with colorful characters that revolves around wondrous, mind-expanding concepts. A strong romantic element helps; sledgehammer naturalism does not (i.e., I don’t care for the idea of the nastier the characters and situations, the more realistic).
And if I can’t find enough of this type of fiction, what do I do? You guessed it; I write it!
I find that now I reach for SF or SFR mainly to cleanse my reading palate. A good one can really shake me awake and break any developing rut. This isn’t to say that SFR or SF are somehow lesser or less enjoyable, just that different things cause me to reach for one now. When I was 20, I read them because I found the philosophy and big story questions really compelling. Now at age, er, more than 20, it’s not about the philosophy. I already know what I think about most things by now, after all. It’s really just a different kind of escapism now.
Wow – this has ramped up my excitement for some new reading. Laurie, I have a Linnea Sinclair on my iPod that I haven’t read yet, so she’ll be next in line. Theresa, I’m not sure if Susan Grant is considered paranormal or somewhat SciFi, but I love her work.
Kels
PS – Mary Anne, I figure Tracey chose the camels to symbolize getting over the sumbmissions “hump!” (And absolutely no puns intended!)
Laurie London,
Congratulations! You’ve been selected to receive a download copy of Partners by Cricket Starr, courtesy of Red Sage Presents. Please contact me at tracey@romanceuniversity.org in order to receive your wonderful gift.
Tracey
Thanks so much! And thanks to Red Sage too. I can’t wait to read it.
Laurie