I'm excited to share with you, one of my very first writing world friends, Keli Gwyn. Keli is one of the sweetest ladies you could ever hope to meet and today she shares her insider view of writing for Love Inspired Historical. Leave a comment below to enter for your chance to win her release (out this month!) Family of Her Dreams.
The
ever-gracious Casey Herringshaw invited me to tell you about my experience
writingfor Love Inspired. While I aim to presentthe benefits as well as the
challenges, I must warn you that because I’m thrilled to be a Love Inspired
Historical author, my bias is apt to show.
Since my
debut novel, A Bride Opens Shop in El
Dorado, California, was a trade-length book with a CBA publisher and Family of Her Dreams is a mass-market
series romance with Harlequin, I’ll be making comparisons. My goal isn’t to advocate
one route to publication over another. Both result in getting God-honoring
stories in readers’ hands.
Now that
we have that out of the way, let’s dive in.
Book Length
A LIH is
70-75K words. My Barbour book was 100K. The shorter length enables me to write
more
stories in less time. There are limits, though. I can’t include secondary
plot threads as I didin my debut novel. My focus must remain on the hero and
heroine.
Some romance
readers prefer shorter books. I’ve heard people refer to LI titles as “quick
reads” that are just the thing when they want to relax but don’t have a huge
block of time.
On a
practical note, the smaller size saves money on postage. The boxes of books I
buy for inventory and promotion don’t take up as much room in my garage either.
When it
comes to entering a LI book in contests, length can be a factor. Some believe
LI titles are at a disadvantage if there aren’t categories specifically for
series romances, forcing them to compete against longer books. I disagree. A
well-told story will rise to the top no matter the length. Case in point: Katy
Lee’s LIS, Grave Danger, is a 2015
RITA finalist! Not only did Grave Danger
compete with longer stories, but Katy’s book finaled in the Romantic Suspense
category along with mainstream titles by well-known authors such as J.D. Robb
(aka Nora Roberts)!
Shelf Life
A LI
title gets one month in the spotlight. My LIH will hit shelves in select
Walmarts and Kmarts around June 2nd and be replaced when the July titles show
up.
Because
I’ve worn a path to the book section of my local Walmart, I’ve watched many
books come and go. Guess what the average stay of a CBA title is?Yup. One
month. When the new month’s titles are released, the previous month’s releases
are returned to the publishers. A CBA title often stays on the shelves of
B&N much longer, though.
When it
comes to online booksellers, there’s little difference. Whilethe printed
version of aLI titlewill have a limited life, the e-book version of my story
will be available for years to come.Since my CBA book went out of print less
than a year after its release, it’s possible print copies of my LIH will be
available to booksellers longer than my debut novel was.
Editorial Input
I’ve
been blessed with excellent editorial input at both houses. At Barbour I dealt
with an associate editor, who was quick to answer my questions or forward them
to someone who could. A fantastic freelance editor performed theedits on my
story. I was able to interactdirectly with her.
At LI my
primary point of contact is my awesome editor, Emily Rodmell. She’s available
to answer questions I might have about my story, her revision notes, my book’s
cover, etc. If I need to talk by phone in order to get clarification on Emily’s
editorial feedback, she’ll schedule a call. And does she ever know her stuff! I
eagerly await her revision notes and line edits.
Marketing&
Promotion
From
what I’ve seen, most CBA authors are expected to do a good deal of the
promotion of their stories. It’s different when one reaches star status, but
little fish like me swimming in a large sea are responsible for doing all we
can to help our book make a splash.
LI
appreciates anything an author does to help with promotion, but I can’t come
close to having Harlequin’s reach. Their name is well known, although I do have
to educate my friends unfamiliar with their Love Inspired lines.
Harlequin
gets our books out there in a big way. The LI editorial team does a lot to
spread the word. My fellow LI authors are great about promoting one another’s
books, too, on social media and on two different LI author blogs I’m a member
of.
• • •
About Keli...
Award-winning
author Keli Gwyn, a native Californian, transports readers to the early days of
the
Golden State. She and her husband live in the heart of California’s Gold
Country. Her favorite places to visit are her fictional worlds, historical
museums and other Gold Rush-era towns. Keli loves hearing from readers and
invites you to visit her Victorian-style cyber home at www.keligwyn.com, where
you’ll find her contact information
Question for you:
It's great to see you here, Keli! Thank you so much for the inside scoop on LI. My experience with them so far has been wonderful. I'm frantically trying to finish my book to meet the deadline for the blurb to book contest. Whatever happens in the end, it's been a fantastic journey so far. Congratulations on your book. By the way, I loved the video of you watching your book go on the shelf at Walmart. You were so cute!
ReplyDeleteJill, I wish you well as you complete your Blurb2Book manuscript. Kudos on making it to this stage. I look forward to the day we're LIH buddies.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not a writer but I certainly enjoy reading & reviewing some wonderful books.. Congratulations on your new book Keli :)
ReplyDeletedkstevensne AToutlookDoTCo M
Deanna, we writers love our readers and greatly appreciate those who take time to post reviews. Those reviews help us immensely. Thanks for all you do to support authors.
ReplyDeleteThank you Keli. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Keli,
ReplyDeleteI am in the middle of reading your book and am loving it! So happy you've found a new home for your stories! I also love writing for Harlequin LI and in fact I am sitting on an HQ Author panel tomorrow (with the lovely Sandra Orchard) as part of a writers conference in Toronto! Little nervous, but it should be fun!
Best of luck with your release!
Sue
Sue, how neat that you and Sandra get to represent LI on a writers conference in Toronto. Will you get to tour the Harlequin offices there. It would be so cool to see where our covers are designed. I wish you all the best.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm glad you're enjoying Tess and Spencer's story.
Keli,
ReplyDeleteThis is so insightful and helpful as people try to understand the dynamics between the two!
Wow! I learned a lot.
And I'm SO EXCITED for you!!!
Thanks for sharing in my excitement, Pepper, and for your kind words.
ReplyDeleteuseful content, I think so. so nice to read your blog. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteJill and I are in the same boat--almost literally :) I'm working on my manuscript for Blurb2Book as well and am having so much fun (except when I'm not!). The editors at Harlequin have been great, although this is my first book-length work and I have nothing else to compare it to.
ReplyDeleteAnd I saw that video of you as well, and spent a few minutes dreaming of the day I might do the same! Great post, Keli!
Glynis, I'm glad you're having fun with your Blurb2Book manuscript--most of the time anyhow. I so get that. Some days the words flow, and I have a blast. Other days getting words on the screen is a challenge, and I push on through, knowing better days are coming.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well as you race toward your deadline. I look forward to the day we're LI buddies.
Keli, I appreciate how you compared and contrasted the two kinds of novels. Great information. I haven't thought about writing a love-inspired, but maybe I will consider that. And I'd love to stay in contact. Here's my email address: rechanjo@yahoo.com.
ReplyDeleteRose, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you found the post helpful.
ReplyDeleteIf you do decide to write a story for one of the Love Inspired lines, I wish you well. I'm learning a lot about what goes into one. There's a lot more to it than my fifteen-year-old self realized. =)
Rose, I forgot to say that I was fifteen when I first discovered the sweet Harlequin romances of the 1970s, devoured them by the stack and dreamed of writing a story like them. Here I am forty years later doing just that. =)
ReplyDelete