December 18th, 2005
I received this info from Alison Kent originally, but wasn’t sure if it could be posted. Now that I’ve seen this from Angelle Trieste, I suppose it’s okay. These are the ‘NEW’ Harlequin word counts for the lines. (Blaze used to be 70-75K) BTW you should check out the blog conversation Alison has going on about Harlequin. It’s very eye-opening.
Here are the new Harlequin line requirements:
| Line | (Thousand words) | Book pages | pages at 250 wpp count |
| Desire | 50-55 | 192 pp | 200-220 |
| Intimate Moments | 60-65 | 256 pp | 240-260 |
| Special Edition | 60-65 | 256 pp | 240-260 |
| Bombshell | 70-75 | 304 pp | 280-300 |
| Love Inspired | 60-65 | 256 pp | 240-260 |
| Everlasting | 70-75 | 304 pp | 280-300 |
| American Romance | 60-65 | 256 pp | 240-260 |
| Blaze | 60-65 | 256 pp | 240-260 |
| Intrigue | 60-65 | 256 pp | 240-260 |
| Superromance | 70-75 | 304 pp | 280-300 |
| LI Suspense | 60-65 | 256 pp | 240-260 |
***Follow these guidelines loosely. That said, I wouldn’t aim for anything below these numbers.
I rarely ever read category, and I’m not targeting it, so the changes don’t really affect me. But I can see how it could be worrisome for writers and readers.
I think it demanded a great amount of skill and talent to tell a *fulfilling* love story within the guidelines/wordcounts that they already had in place–nevermind the other needs of the various imprints, ie suspense subplots, or heightened sexuality. This cutback is going to make things just that much more challenging.
For a reader like me, who is always looking for *more* in her reading (more depth, characterization, emotion, plot, etc) this cutback in wordcount–where an author would have the room to develope these thing–pretty much insures that I won’t ever become a regular reader, since the only way to get compensate, is either to cut back on story/character depth and/or add a lot of info dumps & backstory exposition. ugh. :-/
by jaq December 18th, 2005 at 1:09 pmThese numbers, FYI, aren’t written in stone. My Blazes come in at around 285 ms pages, and my editor told me to just keep doing what I’m doing. So don’t assume every book is going to be shorter!!!
by Jo Leigh December 18th, 2005 at 2:12 pmJaq, I think it really depends on the author. Some authors are wonderfully adept at creating a full story in a short amount of pages. I wouldn’t be too quick to rule out an entire publishing arena.
by Jordan December 18th, 2005 at 5:47 pmJo, Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that the editors were still allowing the longer books in the various categories. (Alison and I had a dialogue about that since my book is over 280 pages right now.) I just wanted to note the changes and create a dialogue. Thanks for reminding me.
by Jordan December 18th, 2005 at 5:48 pmNot ruling out the entire arena at all, Jordan. Just saying the chances of me becoming a *regular* reader have been reduced. As I said, it takes a tremendous amount of skill and talent to master writing ’short’ as it is. You just can’t tell the same story–one that already has fairly tight parameters–with 10K cut out of it.
On the other hand, Jo is saying nothing will essentially change with her mss. It could be the same for others, so this big change, may only affect a small percentage of writers.
by jaq December 18th, 2005 at 6:34 pmJaq, My guess is it’ll affect the writers just coming onto the scene who are submitting their work to Harlequin.
by Jordan December 18th, 2005 at 7:08 pmeep! New writers, like yourself?
::headdesk:: Sorry for being insensitive, of course you’d be concerned on how this affects your submission. I’m so thick at times. lol. I just got caught up in the discussion. You’ve proven your talent with your previous releases, Jordan. And you’re no stranger to writing ’short’ with the BRAVA novellas under your belt.
::slinking away::
by jaq December 18th, 2005 at 7:37 pmHmmm, my question is…why?
If HQ is still going to produce the same number of pages and just make the font larger (I’m assuming the cost of the book will remain the same)…why are they making these changes?
by Patrice Michelle December 18th, 2005 at 8:55 pmJaq, LOL! It didn’t even occur to me that you would think that. Seriously. *g* I had my panic moment with Alison a couple of days ago. She told me exactly what Jo said (I don’t have to cut my book by twenty-five pages.), so I was fine. I set out to write the kind of Harlequin Blaze that I’d want to read, so there’s no offense taken. I’m actually ‘happy’ about the lower word counts. It makes things MUCH easier for me. So no need to slink away.
by Jordan December 18th, 2005 at 9:06 pmPatrice, Alison said it had something to do with the fact that some of the longer books squish a lot of words onto the page, making them hard to read. Also, and this is my opinion, the boomers are getting older and need the larger print.
by Jordan December 18th, 2005 at 9:08 pmVery funny Jordan - how did you know I had started to squint at those pages?
What you said before was true - I don’t think the length of a book has a lot to do with the quality - Steinbeck’s “The Red Pony” for example - not that I’m trying to equate the series with “high” literature (although I do - just who decides what’s literature?) but to say that a good writer can tell a great story no matter what the length. I’ve been reading series since I was 14 and I’ll be 45 this week and I can tell you unequivically that the series has some of the finest writers around.
by Eve December 19th, 2005 at 8:01 amI don’t write for HQ but I do read them on occasion and I have to admit - even though I have perfect vision, they do tend to give me a headache. Interesting stuff going on over there on several counts. Can I steal this for the January Valley of the Sun market news, Jordan?
by Tina Gerow December 19th, 2005 at 8:38 amJust to stir up the ‘controversy’ a little more, H/S author Susan Gable gave Cathy Clamp permission to post the same message on the paranormal loop, except she is telling everyone that writers are being asked to change their current manuscripts now. She said the word count goes into effect immediately. Sigh. Help, Jo & Alison.
by Jordan December 19th, 2005 at 10:11 amEve, *g* First off, Happy Birthday!!! I agree with about the quality of the writers in category romance. There are some amazing authors writing category. I’ve read a lot of REALLY good short stories. Did I wish they were longer? Sometimes, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the work.
by Jordan December 19th, 2005 at 10:15 amTina, I’m guessing that would be okay, since it just got posted on the paranormal loop. I really have no idea who you’d need to ask. :-/
by Jordan December 19th, 2005 at 10:17 amYeah, good writers - I have Minute by Minute on the bedstand right now - can’t wait to get started.
by Eve December 19th, 2005 at 10:50 amI can only comment on what I know for sure, and that’s what my editor told me. She said they were concerned with the bleedging edges - the books that are so long, the type goes into the gutters. When she looked at my Blazes, she saw none of them did, so she saw no problem with my word count. I typically write between 280 and 290 pages. That’s more than the 260 they listed, but hey, she’s my editor, and if she says I can go longer, then cool. Maybe because I write a lot of dialogue, and therefore have a lot of white space? Don’t know. But you can be sure I’m not the only exception to the rule. My recommendation to authors is talk to your editor about your work. My recommendation to readers? Don’t let this word count thing change your reading habits. For all we know it could mean better, tighter books.
by Jo December 19th, 2005 at 10:55 amOh, Eve. We cross posted. Cool! Hope you like it!
by Jo December 19th, 2005 at 10:57 amEve, I have Minute by Minute too, along with Goes Down Easy.
by Jordan December 19th, 2005 at 2:38 pmThanks Jo!!! I tend to write dialogue heavy, so I’m hoping that will help my submission.
by Jordan December 19th, 2005 at 2:38 pmAre the prices staying the same? If so, the reader is getting less of a story for the same money. That’s not fair. They’re cheating their consumers.
by Silma December 19th, 2005 at 7:34 pmSilma, I have no idea, but I’d assume so.
by Jordan December 19th, 2005 at 10:03 pm