WRITING A REVIEW...TIPS.

I've been asked to explain how I compose my reviews and give some tips, as some people are reluctant to write or post them on their blog, in case they get it wrong or receive backlash. This is how I do it. I have no idea how others do theirs but here we go...

Firstly, you can never get it wrong, it is your opinion. Second, a review can be 20 words long on Amazon. It would take a reader 1 minute to type 2 sentences in the review section e.g. 'I loved this story. It made me laugh, cry, swoon and fall in love with the authors style of writing.' See easy! Anyone can do it. The problem is, they often don't as they assume it has to be in depth and they don't have time. Other assume you need a degree in English or be an expert on the subject matter. Nope, a review is purely what you thought of it. Examples:

'It was good. I enjoyed it. I really like the end as it was action packed. Can't wait for the next book.' 5*

'I liked it but felt there were too many questions left unanswered. I am hoping they get covered in the sequel.' 4*

'It took me a while to get into the story as the first few chapters were a bit like a history lesson as opposed to a historical romance.' 3* 

It can be as simple as that. I am not a review snob. I don't care who the publisher is or the author. When I review a book it is based on the shelf appeal and blurb, whether is be online or in a shop. An author wants reviews, they don't expect you to be a wordsmith. As an author myself I get the best reviews from mums at home with a baby in one arm and an ereader in the other or people sneak reading at work or school. 

NETGALLEY

I also review ARC's via NetGalley which I was invited to join last year as a professional reader. I can request a copy of a story I am interested in but I also receive requests from publishers and authors as me to review a story. You then download as a file or send to your kindle as a 'personal document'. You have a certain number of days or weeks before it is archived by the publisher and you can no longer read it. Sometimes you can request a story and the publisher refuses as you have not got enough feedback from others for them to judge if you are any good at reviews.  

I mainly review at the authors request. When I am sent ARC's by the author or publisher my reviews are more in depth. They are for feedback. I point out plot holes and highlight typos etc. When I write a review I do it honestly with a positive mindset and ensure any feedback is constructive and not destructive critique. If I don't like certain sections of the story I'll tell the author/publisher why. 

I won't review a story I don't find interesting. I will suggest other reviewers as an alternative if I know someone would enjoy reading it. 

I will repeat what I said before 'You do not have to be a professional reader, have a degree in English Literature or be a writer to review a story. Anyone who reads a story can review it.' 

MY RULES FOR REVIEWING

My number one rules is... start out positive. My mindset from the beginning is 5* as the author has taken the time and effort to write a story. It is their baby. They have been through the conception, which is always the best bit. They have carried the story around with them for months, sometimes years and been through the horror of editing labour.

They are finally showing us their baby, dressed in a posh book cover, name blazing across it and asking 'is it beautiful?'. No one wants to be told their baby's ugly, the names stupid and it stinks. Leave that to the trolls, manners cost nothing. 

STARTING WITH 5* IS MY CHOICE

Some reviewers like to build up to it, there is no hard and fast rule. I am basically giving the author a 'high five' for completing a novel. I only take away stars if something really niggles or confuses me and I have to step out of the world they created to get my bearings e.g. flicking back a few pages or google something I know to be factually incorrect. 

Throughout the process I jot notes on a pad of what I love, hate or spot as an error. I remove a star if they lose me e.g. can't work out who is talking or we change location half way though a conversation. Also if they take too long describing something, as it loses the momentum, especially in a battle scene. I hate poorly thought-out sex scenes where it ends up being more like a game of people jenga/twister as opposed to an erotic/romantic scene. You'd need tits on your back and the flexibility of a contortionist to get into some of them. 


I often spot where the editor has removed a scene but referred to it later on, I point those out in a private message. Not in the review. 

A story will lose a star if it's full of plot holes or races to the end for the sake of 'word count' and leaves me with questions. So many try to cram in 50,000 or 85,000 words. Pay attention to the page count as you can review 3 stories in your TBR pile if the page count is e.g. 47 or 56, where as another is 287. Some are just one shorts and 10 pages. Get it out the way. 

HONESTY

I always tell the author the parts I didn't enjoy or where they confused me, in a private message not on the review. If it is published and I will allude to finding areas confusing but I won't be specific in my review as I would have already fed back to the author. Most importantly I tell them the parts I loved and if it is a series, what I am looking forward to reading in the next. I will also explain where they lost or regained a star and why. I give stars back for awesome bits! 

I don't post reviews lower than 3* in public, but I do feedback to the author direct. They have always been grateful and agreed on areas of improvement. I've never had anyone object to my reviews. I am often asked to read drafts to help other authors with document blindness or writers block. That is how I started reviewing. 

PROMOTING YOUR REVIEWS

If I like a story and think it is worth reading I will post my review on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, blog etc but only when the story is published. Not before. If I don't like a story I won't post a review. Simple. 

Enjoy reading the story and only at the end write the review, don't keep stopping. Yes, I note things down but it's nothing more than 'pg89 typo, 3rd line, Out not Our'. Those notes go to the publisher not in the review. 

DON'T POST SPOILERS

You are reviewing a story. Not retelling it. If your review contains a spoiler post a warning on it. 'This review contains spoilers' as there is nothing worse. Don't become a numpty like those who spoilt Harry Potter and Bridget Jones for people. 

5 STARS - WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

You are supporting an author with a review. It doesn't have to be 5*'s to be a great review, people see the scale very differently and it can vary depending on the site you are using. Don't feel pressured to give 5*'s. No matter how popular the book, it will never get straight 5's. In fact the more popular a book gets, the more outspoken the reviewers. Yes it's true that publishers don't often promote a review unless it is 5*'s but that's not important, an honest review is. 

In my mind (1) is poo, (2) is Meh, (3) is 'yeah it's ok', (4) is 'read it you'll like it, (5) can be varying things 'Read it, I want to discuss it with you' or 'I loved the shit out of this book'.

To other reviewers it could be (1) is 'WTF', (2) is 'Absolute Crap', (3) is 'Hours of my life wasted', (4) is 'It was ok but I hated most of it', (5) 'Loved the shit out of this book!'  

So as you can see, you can't go wrong. It's an opinion. Your opinion. Your version of the 1-5* and if everyone liked to read the same thing there would be no need for reviewers. Be your own person, give an honest and fair review. Be conscious that there is a person on the receiving end of the words you type. I use the 'granny rule' don't say something in your review that you are not willing to say to a granny. For the record I know some pretty frisky grannies but if you are rude to them, their cat will scratch your eyes out ;) 

Enjoy reviewing! It only needs to be 20 words.

KISMET - THE STORY BEHIND THE SUBMISSION

I posted a status on facebook a few weeks ago where I admitted that I had sent a manuscript to a publisher back in May but have heard nothing from them. A few people messaged me saying they would never be brave enough to admit that, especially on Facebook, as they saw it as a 'failure'. I don't see why, as that is the journey all writers face and I am happy to share my failings as well as my successes...and here is why.

I submitted a story to a publisher and that is something to be proud of. Some people can't even finish a novel but I've completed 16 since October 2009 and have several in progress. My work has been read millions of times on-line, been number one in Romance, Chicklit, NonTeenFiction charts. It had received both good and bad feedback. That prepares me for the critics.

One of those stories is made it to the top 25 of Harlequins SYTYCW (So you think you can write) contest on Wattpad, where there was a chance to win a 3 book deal. Regardless of whether I 'won' or not, I still entered. I wrote the story in 23 days and designed my own book cover. People enjoyed reading it and it received over a million reads in a month.

The same goes for my story 'Kismet'. I had a story in my head, I typed it out and let people read it for free so I could get feedback. I designed the book cover for the entire series and that is another string to my bow.

So I've decided to share this books journey in the hope you will see why anyone who submits a story should be patting themselves on the back and not hanging their heads in shame. For the record the only time I hang my head is to look at new shoes, talk to small children and animals... or when I am drunk ;)  

Where it all began:

I started posting draft work on a writing site called Booksie in October 2009. At the end of 2010 I started to write a story called 'Kismet'. It was written in the style of a soap opera and in first person so the readers could feel like they were the character and become emotionally attached. I updated it several times a week, writing a couple of chapters after work and posting them. A bit like telling a tale around a camp fire before bed. Every morning I would find comments from readers all around the world who loved it and begged for more. They started to call themselves 'Kismet Junkies'.

I wrote 4 books in the series between 2010 and 2012, along with several other stories. It became one of the most popular books on the writing site I was using. This led to the site owners contacting me and expressing an interest in publishing it. As well as owning Booksie, Booksie Silk (adult), they also own 'The Next Big Writer' and have laughed a publishing company. However, I declined as it wasn't ready yet and I didn't feel that they were the right publisher for the series. At the same time I received offers from other publishers of the same standard, who I felt were again not aiming at my target audience or offering me anything I couldn't do for myself via self publishing.

(For those who don't believe, here is proof with anything that could identify people blurred out)

Instead of accepting the offers, I started to edit the series in-between writing other stories and working full time. I wanted to be ready to publish if a deal came along worth accepting. I also started to post Kismet on another writing site called Wattpad for more feedback. I started receiving offers on that site from Independent publishers, and again I said no. I want a romance publisher as that is my target audience and the editor would be one with a passion for romance and not figures. For the record publishers are not allowed to create accounts to contact members on Wattpad, so were quickly tapped on the shoulder and asked what they were up to when I received mine. They soon disappeared which speaks volumes for their professionalism. Eeek!

In September 2012 I was given the heads up that Harper Voyager were looking for submissions. Unfortunately I was in hospital having surgery so didn't have time to meet the deadline. I hadn't finished editing Kismet and wasn't sure which of my novels they would prefer given the publisher was more sci-fi, fantasy than romance. I asked them to choose and they chose 'Marriage Made in Heaven' a Supernatural Romance. They told me not to worry if I couldn't get it through to them as a submission as they would take a look at it on Wattpad. I couldn't believe my luck. What a lovely thing to do!

Unfortunately, that didn't happen as they were inundated and obviously the submissions took priority. However, a couple of months later I received a message saying 'Just to give you the heads up, we are launching a new brand called HarperImpulse and they are looking for Romance submissions'. There was no deadline so I shared the news with all my writer friends and gave Kismet the once over.... deciding it needed more editing.

I set about editing Kismet and stopped writing anything else. I booked time off work and got my head down. Unfortunately everyone who said they would help me with editing got caught up for whatever reason, in other aspects of their life, and I was left to do it alone. The wasn't the first time that has happened so I figured 'you wrote it alone, you can edit alone,' and that is what I did.

I spent a week editing, sitting up until god knows what time in the morning. On one occasion I noticed it was 7:00am as I was going to bed but my phone alarm went off and reminded me I had a 9:00am appointment so I went without sleep that day, and was still up editing at 6:00am the following morning. I would go to bed for 4-5 hours and get up to start again. I also redesigned the book cover, and for the first time ever put my 'real name' on the front, as apparently 'Maria' is far more romantic... but I'm not sharing my full name on this blog.

Things were coming together but like most amateur writers I can't afford an editor. Plus they would need to be British, as I use English Dialogue and UK spelling. There is nothing worse than sending off a chapter and getting it back weeks later... Americanised! 

In May I finally submitted it to HarperImpulse but by this time, they were inundated with submissions from authors who were far more prepared.Some were already signed with other publishers, others were self published or ready to click submit the day submissions opened. They were 'polished' and could helped launch the brand immediately. That meant Kismet had to take a seat in the email box gathering dust in HarperImpulses office.

I was happy to leave it there and started talks with Avon Books, Harlequin, Beachwalk Press etc. The only issue was my stories were too long. They had to be 50,000 words or 65,000 max. We agreed I would write something for them instead as I didn't want to cut my current stories in half. Also Harlequin US were referring me to the UK branch but the UK branch replied saying they only accept series from their 'own' office. In the end I spent far too much time trying to get one office to talk directly to the other and gave up. I decided to focus on writing new stories to the 50K word count instead. 

The word count started to niggle at me and got me thinking about Kismet and how I wasn't happy with the end of book one. I discussed it with others and agreed a new place to end book one which would lower the word count. That meant I had to withdraw it from HarperImpulse but I didn't think they would mind, as it had been sat in their inbox for 5 months... it was now September and I'd bet a case of wine they hadn't even looked at it. 

I advised them that I wanted to change the end of the first book and transfer it to the beginning of the second. This would lower the word count. They agreed, I fixed it, formatted it with the help of another author and sent it back. I also had 4 other stories ready to go. I wasn't sure if they wanted them so asked and they said 'Ooo yes please'. I got them ready and sent a quick email asking if they needed to be one email or separate. They were 'excited' to receive them and each was sent separately. I felt better about this submission... until my laptop connection went 'tits up' and I wasn't sure they received them. Lucky for me I received email confirmation. Job done... move on!

It has been 8 months since my initial submission and 4 months since my resubmission, with the 4 additional works. I have not heard anything from HarperImpulse other than the automatic email response. I haven't sat back and worried about it or convince myself they don't like it, as I know they will. That is not to say they would ever publish it, just that I have confidence that should they take the time to read it they would probably wonder why they left it there so long. 

Kismet is realistically still sat in an email box with a pile of other stories... 4 of which are mine, and the chances of it being read this year, zero.  I know authors who HarperImpulse have already published, who have sent through their next novel as requested and been told don't expect to hear back for a few weeks as they are a small team and very busy. I know other who have been given 'the call' and are busy working with the publisher to get their novel released. 

KISMET will have it's day! (As will my other stories), at the moment it is 'my friends' day. 

I don't sit on my bum worrying about it. During Kismet's stay in the HarperImpulse inbox I've wrote three new books, finished two others, carried out reviews and entered writing competitions for the first time in my life. I've met hundreds of other authors on line and built wonderful friendships. Been given advice to help me becoming a better writer and been read millions of times. 

HarperImpulse have published some great stories this year. To do that they have had to read countless submissions, agreeing offers, cover art design, editing, marketing, attending lush award etc. I bet there are days when they don't want to see another bloody submission. They want to go get drunk and talk about anything so long as it isn't 'Romance Novels'. 

I am not sitting waiting on them to open my email and read my story. That would be foolish and unambitious. I am carrying on as normal. Writing, editing, cover designing, entering competitions, researching other publishers so when they are looking for submissions I am ready like the others were before. Not forgetting my personal and work life that demands attention and isn't as easily sated by 'wifi' as my writing life.

I am not putting all my eggs in one basket either. Next week I have two more stories going to a publisher one of which took me a weekend to write and is about to be featured on a writing site, it is called 'Love In Bloom'. I wrote it in the space of one weekend. 

A few weeks ago Harlequin asked for the full MS of 'Do Not Touch' for SYTYCW which took me 23 days to write. I let readers chose the names etc... all except one. Annie, as the book is dedicated to my aunt who passed away a short time before I started to write it. The story didn't win SYTYCW but Harlequin are going to send me 'feedback' and were impressed with the high standard. That in itself makes it worth the submission.

I also participated in NaNo again this year and won with over 70k word count, despite a late start due to SYTYCW and designing covers for others who were taking part in NaNo. Wattpad have a competition where you can win £2k for being part of NaNo and sharing your story on their site :) I'll have some of that thank you.

So as you can see there is nothing for me to feel a failure about. Plus I have received this from Wattpad! Mae Day has achieved a 'milestone' as one of their 'Most Read' in 2013 with nearly two million reads. I didn't even know there was such a thing but I still screamed and clapped like a sea-lion when I read it. It made my day! 

Then I received another email from them announcing I had achieved another Milestone. 'Love is in the Heir' was also one of their Most Read of 2013. It has over two million reads and was used to celebrate the Royal Birth, which made me one proud Brit!

I was so proud of my stories success that when I received the next email congratulating me on being one of Wattpads Most Active Members e.g. Followed, posting stories and interacting with users via comments sections on my stories etc, I was stoked!

In reflection, Kismet may be sat in that 'Inbox' waiting to be read but it is also on Wattpad users phones, tablets, Laptop etc all over the world. It is being read at this very moment by someone who doesn't care if it is sat waiting in a publisher inbox. They are just happy to read it for free as some of them don't have access to libraries or money to buy books. That is why I post on writing sites like Wattpad because now I can truly say I have been read by millions of people, worldwide from every background. At present I have nearly 12,000 followers (fans) and that is the best focus group any writer can ask for. :)

Here is to another successful year! (Pats self on back and holds head high!)

UPDATE: I still hadn't heard anything by the end of January 2014. As such I figured it's been 9 months and that is long enough to leave a story in an email box, let alone the 4 other stories. I didn't receive a reply to three emails asking if they had been received ok. Also enquiring if the time to hear back was still 3 months', one in November, December and January.

I spent a sleepless night pondering over a decision I had wanted to make the previous week but held off as I didn't want it to be 'knee Jerk' reaction. The next morning I was absolutely positive I wanted to do it and withdrew my submissions.  I've had no reply to my email to withdraw them either.

I felt much better for the decision. I was taking the power back instead of waiting and waiting... it was like exam results. Was your work up to scratch? When I made the decision I shared it on my social network, several authors congratulated me on being brave enough to do it. Some even shared their own experiences and it confirmed I have made the right choice.

I am now going to use my time to edit and consider serial publishing. It is far more productive than waiting in an email box. Wish me luck! 

Sinfully Summer (Aimee Duffy) - Book Review

Well slap my sunburn and pour me another! 

A nice afternoon read in the sunshine, which will have your inner monologue saying 'he is a sexy she should jump him', 'What a B******D', 'Why is she letting him get away with that', 'She needs to go out with her mates and pull that will teach him',.... 'Oh shag already!' etc.

They drive each other crazy and the sexual tension is present throughout. The POV is switched so you can tell what he is thinking and why he is so guarded. He is a sexy, angst ridden Spaniard who has to be rich to afford the cemetery he hides all his skeletons in. You want him to have his heart broken just so he can learn some manners. He rides rough shot over the female protagonist all the time. She is hen pecked by him which drove me insane as I wanted her to grow some woman balls and beat him over the head with them. Yes every now and then she bitched at him but it was more showing her claws than tearing him a new one. I wanted blood and she was just pinching!

He is so cocksure of himself that I wanted him to 'want and need' her so badly that it made his crotch twitch even at the mention of her name!I then wanted her to say 'No, you treated me like poo and that will not do'... enter stage right a new man to make him realise he is a king sized dick and would have to crawl back to her on all fours with a pair of Jimmy Choos hanging from his drooling chops before she would even give him the time of day.

When there is sex (yup there are rude bits), you think 'Gah awkward', 'No don't let him near your hoo har', 'he doesn't deserve to play down there!'... effectively you want him put on rations and for her to make him beg! The sex gets better and you think 'Awww how cute'. I liked that the author writes it from both POV's so I can pretend I have a willy!

All in all a good afternoon read that makes you long for a holiday, some make up sex and a party on a boat... all washed down with a couple of cocktails and a boogie to 'She wore an inchy wincy teeny winnie yellow polka dot bikini'.

So why not 5*... I don't get why it was called 'Sinfully summer' as there wasn't any real 'Sin' in it. I assume it is because 'Ric the dick' would never be approved by the publisher. I also got confused with the dialogue lay out and sometimes we had moved onto another day or a couple of days ahead and I had to check back to see where the switch happened. Nothing too annoying but it did set me back a little as a reader. 

FACEBOOK AUTHOR LIKE FOR LIKE - DO THEY WORK?

Recently I have been invited to some author 'like for like' events. I decided to partake and see if it really worked. Were authors really going to support each other or did you end up liking others and get zilch in return?

I also set up my own event https://www.facebook.com/events/482826078461796/

I discovered Facebook hates these events. It will allow you to 'like' a few pages and then it will start asking you to enter a verification code for each one you want to like thereafter.

After doing that several times it logs you out and states your account seems to been accessed by someone Phishing and is now suspended. I had to enter a new password. There was no other option.

A week later I discovered event organisers and participants could avoid this by allowing people to post a 'preview' picture of their page so people can hover over it and click 'Like'.

They can also use the '@' sign and type their page name as a link so you can hover over it as well. It stops people having to open page after page.

Don't keep commenting on each post to say you have liked it, just click 'like' under the post to show you have. You will show up on their page and they should return the 'like' just as this person is.

I gave my event longer as 'a day' is too short and people were getting slammed in 'Facebook Jail' for rushing their likes or commenting with a link which facebook sees as spam. I would suggest other do the same. I also left it open for people to still click like when it was 'closed'... all I did was remove the ability to post comments. Simple. 

Friend requests

I had a list of friend requests from authors who wanted to start a dialogue and continue to support each other. I thought that was lovely and went down the list clicking accept. 

What I didn't realise is some people had 'suggested' friends and I hadn't noticed the 'add friend' instead of 'confirm'. I just rushed through clicking them all. This resulted in FB telling me off for adding people I don't know 'in real life' and threatening me with account suspension. Now I scan the list and click 'ignore' first on all suggestions, then I go through and click confirm.

If you don't do that a message appears saying 'You must know the people you send friend requests to in real life outside of Facebook'. It then gives you the option to cancel all outstanding friend requests or gamble.... this means identifying 'friends' in photographs, a bit like an ID parade. 

It showed me several pictures from a persons page and gave me names to chose from. I had to click the right person or my account would be closed. It was like a really shit game show.

I easily identified my friends from multiple pictures and what did I win... not a sausage! Facebook do not have a problem with you 'following' someone you do not know but they object to you 'friend requesting' someone you have no personal connection with outside of FB. 

As an author I am not going to know each person personally so I accept all friend requests unless they look really dodgy, alas the odd pervert and fruitcake still get through but they are blocked and reported.

So do these events work?

I've liked approx 1000 pages from various events using my author page, books pages etc over the past two weeks and I've had approx 475 returned  http://www.facebook.com/AiramAuthor  So yeah it is working but there are the odd ones who just post their link on every event but never 'return' that 'like for like'. What I intend to do it collate a list of links of people who returned the 'like for like' on my page and post it on my blog so you can see who played by the rules. 

I've had authors point out that you need to 'like' from your author page not from your personal or book pages as they don't count. I've also noted several times my likes have disappeared on my author page and I have to go back through a 're-like'. someone. I know I have liked them as they appear in my newsfeed but when I go through an event it allows me to like the page again. Bizarre.

I should also point out that the FB jail is full to the rafters with bloggers and authors. I believe this is due to the 'promote your page' which FB brought in. However, Anne Rice was mugged by that and wrote a scathing review on how she spent thousands but didn't get anything in return so don't fall for that. I also noted that the more likes you get, the higher the promotion cost is. There was no option to drop down the menu as there had been when I had 27 likes.

Thank you to everyone who has 'liked' my page, joined in with my event and continued to support my work. I hope this little blog helps everyone who has been asking questions and give you some tips towards avoiding FB jail time. I will leave you with some of the FB jail messages users received as I know some of you were anxious to see what they looked like. If you get them don't worry, it is usually a warning first and should they restrict you, you will be back to normal in the time it states... but using the tips above should avoid it.

Happy Liking!

HARPER IMPULSE TAKING SUBMISSIONS

Harper Collins have a new brand called 'Harper Impulse' who will focus on Romance and they calling for Submissions e.g. novels, short stories, novellas etc so pass this on to your writer friends. 

This is what they say:

HarperCollins are launching a brand new romance imprint, and we are giving you the opportunity to submit your novel, novellas and short stories to us for consideration.

We are looking for new authors with fresh voices, strong storytelling abilities, original ideas and compelling storylines. So, if you believe your manuscript has these qualities, then we want to read it!

Successful manuscripts will be edited, designed, marketed and published digitally by HarperCollins under a new imprint. HarperCollins, Publisher of the Year 2012, has a long tradition of publishing high quality fiction by authors.

We’re seeking all kinds of adult and new adult romantic fiction for digital publication, but particularly contemporary, historical, new adult and erotic fiction as well as short form content.

If you have a manuscript to submit, follow these easy guidelines and move one step closer to making your dreams come true …

How To Submit A Manuscript To submit, e-mail us at romance@harpercollins.co.uk with your completed manuscript and the following information:

Your contact details

Genre

Approx length

A short synopsis

A little about you...

Submissions Guidelines

How long does my book need to be? We are looking for novels of any length!

Can I submit a manuscript that I am still working on? No. Please only submit full-length manuscripts that are completed and polished.

What font/margin/size should I use? Your manuscript needs to be double-spaced, readable, and submitted in MS Word format.

Can I submit more than one manuscript? Yes, you can send in more than one manuscript but you will need to submit each separately. If your work is a trilogy or series, please only submit the first manuscript.

Can I submit someone else’s material? No. The manuscript must be your own original work. If your manuscript is accepted, you will be asked to sign a declaration stating that it is all your own work.

Will you accept a manuscript even if the subgenre isn’t listed? Yes, we will consider other subgenres

I’m an agent. Should I use this to submit my client’s manuscript? Agents should pitch and submit projects in the usual fashion.

Can I submit if my manuscript is under consideration with another publisher? Yes. But please be upfront with us.

Do you accept manuscripts that have been previously published, including self-published? Yes, we will consider work that has been previously published if the author has retained full volume rights or had full volume rights revert to them. Please provide the publication details.

I have submitted my book to HarperCollins in the past and it has been declined. Can I resubmit? Yes. But it might be best to submit something fresh.

Which editor should I address my submission to? There is no need to specify an editor.

Will I be notified when my manuscript is submitted? Yes, you will receive an email acknowledging receipt of your submission. Please check your junk email filter for this automated email. If you do not receive an automatic response, please email us at romance@harpercollins.co.uk with the title and date of your submission.

How long will you take to respond? Due to the volume of submissions, we will only be able to contact you if your project is the right fit. If you have not received a response in three months time, unfortunately your project wasn’t right for our current list.

Will there be any feedback? We can’t guarantee feedback but we will try!

Will you publish my book into print? This is a digital first imprint – so whilst there is no guarantee there is a possibility that submissions will be published in print as well.

Does submission guarantee publication? No.  Once submitted, our editorial team will review your manuscript to determine if it is the right fit for our list.  If it is, we will contact you and you will be required to sign our standard publishing agreement before we proceed further.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarperImpulse

Email address: romance@harpercollins.co.uk

More info here.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/harperimpulse/how-to-submit-a-manuscript/518241241547417

And here.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/harperimpulse/submission-guidelines/518241354880739

I have created this checklist to ensure nothing is missed... get editing and good luck!