How to Write a Brilliant Romance: The Easy, Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Romance (Go! Write Something Brilliant) (30 page)

For
example,
in
my
query
letter
for
Happily
Ever
After
,
I
wrote:

Mona
Reynolds
longs
for
two
things:
forgiveness
and
Jonah,
the
hero
from
her
favorite
book.
But getting
either
is
about
as
likely
as
her
father
rising
from
the
dead.
Instead,
she
runs
home,
to
Deep Haven,
MN,
to
open
her
dream
bookstore.
Joe
Michaels
has
never
stopped
running.
He
is
merely slowing
down
to
visit
a
brother
he
barely
knows.
When
Mona's
dreams
begin
to
crumble,
Joe
is conveniently
there
to
save
her.
But
when
dreams
turn
to
disaster,
is
Joe
the
man
she
hopes
he
is?
Or is
he
someone
much,
much
different?

The
key
here
is
to
not
give
away
the
details,
but
to
think
like
a
marketing
person
and
find
the
juiciest tidbits.
Think
of
the
blurbs
on
the
back
of
books.
They
grab
you,
and
much
of
the
time,
based
on that
100
word
summary,
you
purchase
the
book.
That
is
the
response
you're
aiming
for.

1. Summarizing your book.
   

What
are
the
theme
and
the
take-away
message
of
your
book?
You
must
get
very
creative, descriptive,
and
frugal
in
this
section
of
your
query
letter.
The
key
is
to
say
as
much
as
possible about
the
book,
in
terms
of
its
content,
in
two
to
four
sentences.
Query
letters
should
be
one
page only.
The
editor
just
doesn't
have
time
to
read
more
than
that.

Here
is
what
I
wrote
for
Happily
Ever
After
:

Through
a
myriad
of
disasters,
including
a
family
of
roaches,
a
house
fire,
a
saboteur,
and finally
the
unveiling
of
Joe's
secrets,
Joe
and
Mona
discover
that
when
they
turn
their
hopes over
to
the
Lord,
He
will
satisfy
their
wildest
dreams
and
fulfill
the
longings
of
their
hearts.

1. Where does your book fit in the
   market?
   

Is
your
book
a
stand
alone?
The
first
in
a
series?
Why
is
it
unique?
This
is
the
paragraph
where
you really
sell
your
book.
Go
ahead,
tell
the
editor
why
it
is
great,
and
tell
him
or
her
where
it
will
fit
in their
lineup.
Definitely
do
some
research
and
know
what
the
publisher
offers.
Don’t
try
and
sell
a romance
to
a
publisher
who
doesn't
publish
romance.
Then,
pump
up
those
traits
your
book
has, the
ones
you
know
they
want.

Here
is
my
marketing
paragraph.
Note
that
I
am
selling
the
series,
as
well
as
book
one. Set
in
the
fictional,
picturesque
tourist
town
of
Deep
Haven,
northern
Minnesota,
Happily Ever
After
is
the
first
in
a
three-part
collection
entitled,
"The
Deep
Haven
Series."
Each
book tells
the
story
of
a
woman,
running
from
the
storms
of
life
and
searching
for
a
home,
who discovers
true
love
and
the
inner
peace
that
only
a
deep
relationship
with
God
can
bring.

The
series
combines
the
threads
of
mystery,
suspense,
and
spiritual
searching
with heartwarming
tales
of
love,
and
weaves
them
into
satisfying
romances
set
in
a
town
we'd
all love
to
visit.
Attached
is
a
short
summary
of
the
series
and
the
titles
in
the
collection.

1. Who are you and why can you write this
   book?
   

In
one
or
two
sentences,
highlight
your
publishing
credits.
If
you
don't
have
any,
list
the
reasons why
you
are
an
authority
to
write
this
story.
Obviously,
I
could
pull
off
Russian
stories
with
some degree
of
authenticity
because
of
my
missionary
experience.
And
my
first
book
with
Tyndale
was
a "found
my
true
love
in
Russia"
story.
I
spent
my
childhood
in
an
idyllic
town
in
northern
Minnesota, so
I
was
able
to
write
with
some
legitimacy
about
the
state’s
north
shore.

Here’s my authority
statement:

I
am
a
missionary
in
Far
East
Russia,
who
grew
up
on
the
beautiful
north
shore
of
Minnesota.
I’ve published
numerous
devotionals
and
articles,
and
this
story
won
first
place
in
an
online
contest.

1. The mechanics.
   

This
paragraph
simply
explains
how
long
the
book
is,
how
much
you
have
written,
whether
your proposal
is
out
to
other
publishers
as
well,
and
details
the
items
you've
included
in
your
package. And,
of
course,
don’t
forget
to
thank
the
editor
for
his
or
her
time
in
reading
the
proposal.

Here’s
how
I
finished
my
query
letter:

Happily
Ever
After
is
a
completed
manuscript
of
90,000
words.
Currently,
this
is
a
simultaneous submission.
(Note:
“Simultaneous
submission”
means
you’ve
sent
the
manuscript
to
other
editors and/or
agents
at
the
same
time.
Check
your
each
publisher’s
or
agent’s
policy
on
this.)
Attached please
find
the
story
synopsis
and
the
first
three
chapters.
Thank
you
for
your
consideration.

Those
are
the
basics
of
a
good
query
letter.

In
short,
the
query
letter
hooks
your
editor
on
your
idea
and
the
synopsis
hooks
them
on
your
ability to
weave
a
story.
And,
of
course,
the
sample
chapters
hook
them
on
your
writing
ability.

Your
proposal
is
nearly
finished!
You
have
your
well-threaded
synopsis,
knockout
first
paragraph, and
a
compelling
query
letter
that
hooks
your
editor.
Now,
all
you
need
are
the
sample
chapters!

Sample
Chapters:

Every
proposal
package
includes
sample
chapters
for
the
story
you
are
proposing.
Even
if
you
are
a multi-published
author,
you
will
have
to
write
sample
chapters
for
new
contracts
with
new publishers,
so
it
is
wise
to
learn
how
to
write
them
now.

When
new
authors
read
“Sample
Chapters”
in
the
submission
requirements
of
an
editor’s
or publisher’s
website,
sometimes
they
are
tempted
to
think,
“I’ll
pick
my
best
chapters:
chapter
one, chapter
eight,
and
chapter
twenty-two.”
Delete
that
thought.
Editors
do
not
want
to
see
a
set
of random
chapters.
They
want
to
see
the
first
three
chapters
.
They
want
to
see
how
the
story
flows,
they want
to
hear
your
voice,
and
they
want
to
know
how
you
develop
characters.
So,
when
you
see
the words
“Sample
Chapters,”
think:
first
three
chapters.
If
you
have
a
short
prologue,
you
can
include
it. If,
however,
you
have
a
prologue
that
is
five
pages
long
(and
really,
you
shouldn’t,
but
that’s
another discussion),
include
it
as
one
of
your
first
three
chapters.

Think
of
the
synopsis
as
your
editor's
first
introduction
to
your
writing,
the
teaser,
so
to
speak.
The sample
chapters
make
an
editor
fall
in
love
with
your
style.

When
you
prepare
your
sample
chapters,
refer
to
the
publisher's
guidelines
to
know
how
to
format it.
Some
want
a
specific
type
style
and
margins.
Always
put
a
header
on
the
top
left
with
your
name and
the
name
of
the
manuscript.
Add
the
page
number
in
the
upper
right
hand
corner.

I
usually
spend
at
least
two
weeks
on
my
sample
chapters,
making
sure
they
are
compelling, introduce
enough
conflict,
and
make
the
editor
want
to
turn
the
page.
It
pays
to
take
the
time
to
get it
right,
so
don’t
rush
it.
Usually
it
takes
me
one
month
to
compile
a
good
proposal.
One
week
for market
research,
another
two
for
sample
chapter
polish,
and
one
more
for
synopsis
and
query polish.
Don't
rush
it.
Once
an
editor
reviews
your
work,
if
he
or
she
turns
it
down,
it
is
hard
to
get
a second
chance.

The
writer’s
life
is
at
once
exciting
and
lonely.
No
one
else
is
inside
your
brain
with
you
as
you create.
No
one
else
feels
the
same
triumph
when
you
get
the
scene
right,
or
when
your
characters are
finally
overcoming
their
trials.
I
have
a
friend
who
calls
me
and
occasionally
she’ll
hear
a
long silence
and
know
that
I’m
in
the
middle
of
a
big
scene.
She’s
a
good
enough
friend
to
say,
“Uh,
I’ll call you
later.”

I’m
a
huge
fan
of
finding
a
writing
partner
to
journey
with
you.
Not
a
critique
partner,
but
a
craft partner,
someone
who
will
commit
with
you
to
helping
each
other
become
better
at
craft
elements (dialogue,
storyworld,
hook,
emotional
layering,
etc.).
Critique
partners
often
have
different
voices, and
may
critique
a
manuscript
based
on
their
own
tastes.
A
craft
partner,
however,
focuses
on developing
writing
skills
and
allows
the
voice
of
a
writer
to
flourish.

How
do
you
find
such
a
partner?
There
are
a
number
of
romance
communities
starting
with
the largest,
the
Romance
Writer’s
of
America
(RWA).
(
www.rwa.org
).
They
have
a
national
organization as
well
as
a
yearly
conference.
In
addition,
they
have
chapters
all
over
the
world
where
a
writer
might find
community
for
general
romance
writing.
Furthermore,
they
have
chapters
for
particular
genres, both
online
and
offline,
and
host
one
of
the
most
prestigious
writer’s
contests:
the
RITA
awards.

Membership is
annual.

If
you
tend
toward
a
more
inspirational
taste
in
your
romance,
I
highly
recommend
the
American Christian
Fiction
Writers
(ACFW).
(
www.acfw.org
).
Originally
started
as
the
American
Christian Romance
Writers,
it’s
the
largest
community
for
inspirational
novelists
in
the
world,
and
many
of their
members
write
romance.
They
have
many
of
the
same
benefits
as
RWA,
including
local chapters
and
an
annual
conference.
ACFW
membership
is
also
annual.