On Writing Romance_ How to Craft a Novel That Sells - Leigh Michaels [7]
Word count: varies by project
Long Contemporary: A category romance set in current times, frequently featuring sensuality as a strong element. Long contemporary has a higher word
count, allowing for more subplots, more intense conflict, strong mystery and suspense elements, and a larger cast of characters. Long contemporaries often allow more latitude in the types of main characters and in the scope of their problems—for instance, they can accommodate a hero with a mental illness—because there is more time to create reader empathy for the character.
Each long contemporary category has a very specific identity and unique requirements. Different publishers' books vary widely in sensual content, amount of subplot, preferred viewpoints, and overall type of story.
The main factors distinguishing long contemporary category books from single-title books are length (long contemporaries are usually shorter than single-title romances) and packaging (long contemporaries are marketed as part of a group with similar cover designs rather than as stand-alone titles).
Word count: 70,000 to 85,000
See also Single Title
Mainstream: Stand-alone novels (not published as part of a defined category) in which a romantic element is present but not paramount. This story is primarily the heroine's, and even if the romantic elements were removed, the story would still be complete.
Word count: 100,000 or more
See also Single Title, Women's Fiction
Medical Romance: Emphasizes medicine as a significant part of the conflict or as a way to bring hero and heroine closer together. At least one of the main characters should be a medical professional. Medical romance is a story about medicine as well as love; it isn't simply a romance that happens in a clinic or hospital, or in which one main character gets a disease.
The most successful medical romances don't focus on just one case; they include several patients' stories as a background to the romance. It's particularly important in medicals to tie up loose ends. If a patient has been important within the story, the readers will want to know how she's doing at the end. While it's not realistic for every case to have a Pollyanna-style happy ending, many can be left on a positive note and still be believable.
Medicine changes so quickly that it's risky to go into too much detail about particular procedures, treatments, or even diseases, yet editors want to see enough specifics to evoke the feel of a real hospital, clinic, or emergency room. A wise author combines medical knowledge and background with timeless elements common to other types of romances.
Medical romance has been a steady seller for more than fifty years, though it's more popular overseas than in the United States. It used to be known as doctor-nurse romance, with—of course—a male doctor and a female nurse in the starring roles.
Wold count: 50,000 to 55,000
Miniseries: Books within a romance category that carry on a theme, usually published one per month for a predetermined period of time. Examples include stories set in a particular geographic area, like the Australian outback or the Great Lakes; stories that feature a specific type of hero, like Latin lovers or single dads; or stories that feature a certain plot device, like a surprise baby or a hurry-up wedding. Other than the common theme, the books are not related; each story has a separate set of characters and must stand independently. Some miniseries are written by a single author, but most include a number of different authors.
Most miniseries ideas originate with editors, who ask established