Welcome to the Sweetheart Line of
The Wild Rose Press. February is a great month to dust off that sweet contemporary you have tucked under your bed, because we’re actively looking for submissions, and fresh, new voices.
Before you hit send we’d like to talk about a few things guaranteed to get you a second look.
- Make sure it’s line appropriate.
Just because there isn’t a fully consummated sex scene in your story doesn’t mean it belongs in Sweetheart. Characters who depend on swearing for characterization, use degrading terms for the other people in your story, and can’t stop obsessing about the hero’s crotch are not a good fit. Keep the focus on the growth of the
emotional bond between the hero and heroine.
- Make sure your hero or heroine isn’t married or engaged to be married.
You wouldn’t want your spouse or fiancée to mess around on you and we don’t want that either. The hero or heroine in a Sweetheart Rose must be available and free of formal obligations.
- Create a fresh spin on traditional stories.
There are a lot of bed and breakfast owners out there in the world, and most of them end up in Sweetheart. If you have a secretary/boss romance, accountant-biker, or CEO and nanny story, find a way to put your own personal spin on it.
- It’s not about the details. It’s about the pertinent details.
If your heroine gets up, takes a shower, savors breakfast, picks out her clothes, and drives to work, it does nothing to advance the story line. You don’t have to start with the action, but it helps to start closer.
Most people don’t look at a friend and go into immediate flashback, or reflect on why they wanted a cat. Be ruthless. If it’s not pertinent, leave it out and trust your reader.
- Remember, it’s all about the people.
Even if you have the most gorgeous world-building and killer grammar, you need people a reader can identify with. Show us the insides of your characters, and why we should care about them.
We’d love to see your stories.
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