Have you written a Love or Romance Novel/Novella?
Here’s how you can tell:
- There’s a love story (one heart meets another)
- If you took the love story out of the manuscript, the plot of the whole book would fall apart
- It has a happy ending or a happy-for-now ending (romance) or the ending is not so happy and the parties are not together (love story) – Hint Romio and Julliet is a tragic love story, not romance
All genre writing revolves around preconceived notions or tropes and reader expectation.
A reader of mystery may like:
- who-done-its
- catch the killer
- sleuth with the detective (or curious civilian – cozy)
- gritty crime/suspense
- etc.
A reader of fantasy may like:
- the chosen one arc
- the epic quest
- the anti-hero
- saving the world (or the only village they’ve ever known)
- taking on the tyranious villan
- etc.
A reader of romance or love stories might be looking for one or more of the following:
- Cinderella/Pretty Woman (rich guy/poor girl)
- Teen Sweethearts
- Reunions
- Hidden Baby
- Arranged Marriage
- First Kiss/Love
- Bad Boy/Good Girl (and every human variation in between)
- Cowboys (historical and modern)
- Famous and the Help
- etc.
Just because there are common themes and threads within genre writing, and romance writing in particular, doesn’t mean they are formulaic. The magic of romance and love happens with relatable and deep characters that are motivated by more than just sex/love.
We accept Young Adult (YA), New Adult (NA), and Adult (A) romances that can include crossover fiction, as long as the romance or love story is a fundamental main thread in the story.
Note 1: We accept all heat-levels except Erotica Romance. However, if an erotic sex scene (or any sex/hot scene) helps advance the plot and reveals more about one character or another, then that is a legitimate expression of love.
Note 2: Please no Fanfiction. If you change the names of the characters, the setting, etc. and only allow your favourite stories to inspire your writing, instead of being an exact copy of someone else’s, this is acceptable.