My notes from RWA National 2007 from the Harlequin/Silhouette Spotlight. Any errors and misinterpretations are my own…
Desire:50,000 words
“guilty pleasure”, like soap opera, reality TV, escapism.
Power, passionate, & provacative
HERO-wealth & power, successful
heroine- wealthy or not
luxury, glamour, cinderella experience
fully consummated love scene, sensual
-now a conflict driven line. More than one conflict in a book.
Looking for new authors, wants a commitment of several titles a year. A career with them.
Harlequin American
60,000 computer count
bought 2 new authors this year from the slush pile
home, family, community
twins, babies, brides, cowboys.
Western settings popular (not just Texas)
sense of place.
Hero/heroine age 25-40 – a few older recently.
Harlequin Romance
50,000 to 55,000 words
6 titles a month now
traditional romance
new look
emotional depth-not tradgedy
sexual tension, can have sex before marriage, no details
more notes in my next blog post. See you then.