GREYHAUS IS CHANGING WHAT THEY WANTS (Updated 3/12/2011)
Greyhaus is now looking for the following stories. Please email if you have questions!
Stories must be at least 75,000 words in length. The only exception are stories targeting Harlequin lines. Make sure your word count fits the exact line you are looking at.
Writers who are currently at Harlequin and want to continue there and/or advance the career are in high demand here at Greyhaus.
Contemporary - Real romances set in present day. I want the stories real and not manufactured. I want this just like our friends around us that fall in love. We don't need a psychotic past but something real. Especially looking for single title stories.
Inspirational - I am willing to look at these stories but the stories are only targeting the Harlequin Love Inspired lines. I will not market inspirationals anywhere else. When it comes to these stories, I think you need to know where I am coming from. I am a big believer in Paul and the idea of "justifcation by faith." With this in mind, I am not a big fan of the stories where the characters are Bible quoting, being reminded of a particular verse, or praying over everything. I want to see the faith coming through in how they act and how they behave.
Women's Fiction - O.K. So apparently we have a little confusion out there regarding women's fiction. What I am looking for is a story that is character driven. I want a story about real people with real issues. The goal of this story is to simply follow the female journey and learn what it takes to be a female. The ultimate goal is to really allow the female reader to relate to the characters and be able to say, "hey, that happens to me." This should be powerful literature and I am not looking for a story that is simply lacking romance. Please focus on a single issue and don't wear the reader out with so many issues that it sounds like a soap opera. This is where the story needs to avoid being plot driven. If, for example, the story is about a woman learning how to work in a male driven profession, then show that. We don't need to add in illness, stalkers, deaths in the family and so on. Keep it focused.
Historicals - I have a very full house of historical authors right now. My historical writers are doing amazing and I do not believe in having competing authors out there. I would love to see historicals that demonstrate a strong knowledge of the time period you are writing. I don't want writers that have to rely on very basic source books or Wikipedia level knowledge of history.
Paranormals - The market is struggling to find something new. Until the market figures out where it is going, I am limiting my search for this genre! The paranormal element must be really strong and really take a central role in the story. This is part of the reason why the whole psychic thing really struggles. It tends to be used mostly used for fixing problems quickly or simply as a plot device. As far as my likes and dislikes, I am not a fan (right now) of the vamp and were stories. Along the same lines, angels and demons, tend to read as the same vamp and were stories just with different names. Impress me. If you are doing time travel, then make sure that the time travel plays a significant role and is believable.
Romantic suspense - I want something different. You better do your research in this genre. Right now, everyone is doing the same thing. Impress me. Remember though, the romance must be the central theme. The characters should not have baggage and I want the story REAL. I want it believable. I want this border line thriller where we are really worried that the characters might not make it.
Harlequin Lines - I love working with the editors at Harlequin and the writers who love these lines. I am especially interested in writers who plan on writing for Harlequin for a while. If you think this is nothing more than a "training ground until you land the big deal" then I won't be able to help you. If you want to write for any of the Harlequin lines, you must:
a) Know the line you are targeting
b) Have at least one story in that line done
c) Have at least 2-3 more stories outlined and/or planned out for stories in that line.
Please also be aware that if I sign an author to market for a Harlequin line, we will ONLY submit that story to that house and if it is rejected, the contract will be over. Writers can have additional books in single title though.
I am especially looking for writers for the Mills and Boon lines!
I am acquiring for the Love Inspired!
I am not acquiring for Carina Press!
WHAT I WILL CONSIDER
- Stories may be linked but please, be able to pitch them as stand-alones.
- Submissions after an established publisher has offered a contract. We might not be able to do much with the first one but subsequent deals with that publisher can certainly be entertained.
WHAT I DO NOT WANT
- Urban Fantasy - Sci Fi
- Fantasy - Inspirational (except for Love Inspired) - Literary fiction - Futuristc - Erotica (although stories can be hot in any of the above
categories)
- Writers targeting e-pubs
- YA
- I tend to pass on stories that have been previously published. This is especially the case of writers that have self-published.
- I will not work with authors that want to strictly self-pub or e-pub.
- I don't want stories that really fall in another genre. Just because it has a female in it doesn't make it "women's fiction."
