Do You Write Series Romance?

So You Think You Can Write is gearing up again for 2013, and it's a great opportunity for one of Harlequin's nineteen category series lines.

But do you write series? And should you, if you want an opportunity to be in front of 50 NYC editors from Harlequin?

Something to think about, but take it from someone who thought she could do it. Think twice if you don't read a lot of category. Do you love to read category? Then definitely try your hand and write and enter!

Is all you read single title? Think again. Some authors think it might be "easy" to break into category and then turn that into a single title career. But it's not simple to break into category. It takes a very special set of skills that happens to be quite different from those needed for single title.

There are some very specific requirements for category, and if you regularly read them, you'll know. For one thing, hero and heroine must be on the first page together, or very shortly thereafter. There is very little room for unique and quirky secondary characters. The storyline stays very tightly around the hero and heroine and their goal, motivation and conflict. One editor even opines that the hero and heroine should never be apart (in the entire story) for more than two scenes.

Categories are also shorter, ranging from 55,000 words to about 60,000 with the exception of the new Heartwarming line (75,000) and Superromance, the highest word count category.

If you think you can write category, there is no better opportunity coming around than So You Think You Can Write 2013. Good luck to all who enter!

And after you do, you know where to find me. Drop on by, I'll pull up a chair and you can tell us all about your experience.