Guidelines for Rubenesque RomancesTM |
Unlike many publishers these days, Rubenesque Romances gladly reviews manuscripts from all writers-agented or not, previously published or not. In return, we ask you to submit only manuscripts that are presented professionally and written well, and that you follow the guidelines outlined below.
The original concept behind Rubenesque Romances was, and still is, that it's difficult for an overweight woman to read a typical romance novel and put herself in the place of the heroine, when the heroine is svelte and trim, and the reader is a plus-size. Our concept was to produce romance novels for and about plus-sized women, which these women could relate to, and believe in, and derive reading pleasure from.
We have expanded our concept so that we are now additionally pitching our books to other women who may not be plus-sized but may be "not a perfect 10" in some way other than having a weight problem. In other words, that these books are for all women who see themselves as less than perfect (and which of us isn't?!), whether the problem is weight or otherwise.
In a Rubenesque Romance, the woman's path to romance has any of the obstacles one might find in a typical romance, and in addition her weight must be a factor as well. The man she is interested in may be turned off by her weight, or she may be embarrassed to undress in front of him, or she may be afraid he'll be turned off by her size . . . but in some way, her weight must be an issue . . . and the issue must be resolved by the end of the book‹not by her losing weight.
The heroine of one of our books may be as young as 18 or as old as a "young senior." She must be significantly overweight, and that weight must be a problem or obstacle in the romance, if only in the woman's own mind.
She must be a sympathetic character, one the reader will immediately like and root for. She must be depicted in such a way that the reader has a good feel for who she is.
"Mr. Right" must be attractive in some sense. This does not mean that he has to be a typical hunk; he may, in fact, be ordinary looking-after all, our books promote the idea that physical beauty is not paramount. He may, however, be a typical romance-novel hunk if you choose to depict him that way. In either case, though, he must be attractive in some way . . . whether looks, personality, charm, values, or other, or (preferably) a combination of two or more of these . . . so that the reader will immediately understand what the heroine sees in him, and empathize with her, and be mentally cheering for her romance with him to succeed.
Rubenesque Romances are light romances. As noted above, the heroine's weight must be a factor, along with the other obstacles the heroine will encounter in her search for love with the man she falls for. She may meet and fall for "Mr. Wrong" along the way.
Rubenesque Romances welcomes "crossover" romances that embrace another category of novel simultaneously, such as mystery, adventure, western, sci-fi, or other genres, though this is not a requirement. Additionally, some humor is always welcome if it comes naturally to you, but please don't strain to include it‹the results are always painful. We do not want to see anything in the horror genre, however, or anything gory.
Sex in a Rubenesque Romance can range from vague sexual innuendos to tastefully written, brief, explicit sex scenes. We do not want to see any bizarre encounters or material depicting alternative lifestyles.
We prefer a storyline whose timeframe encompasses a relatively short period, perhaps a few months at longest.
Richly detailed descriptions of surroundings, people, etc., are appropriate to a romance novel and encouraged here. Please don't overdo it, though. Don't get so bogged down in elaborately detailed descriptions that you derail the action or emotions.
Though the romance genre generally calls for third-person viewpoint, and this usually does work best, we are willing to review novels written in the first person.
Naturally, we want happy endings, and we prefer that all of the reader's questions be answered and all of the characters' issues be resolved by the final page, though we do not absolutely rule out a story that leaves a few loose ends if it would stretch credibility to do otherwise.
Though we're willing to work with new writers, we expect them to know and use standard manuscript format: Double-spaced manuscripts, with one-inch margins, etc. Additionally, we request the following:
Even if, to save postage, you do not want your manuscript returned, please enclose at least a business-sized SASE for notification of acceptance/rejection. If you do want your manuscript returned, SASE is mandatory. No manuscripts will be returned without SASE. If sending from Canada or another country other than the U.S.A., please use IRCs in lieu of postage (available at your Post Office).
Mail all manuscripts to: Editorial Dept. Rubenesque Romances POB 69162 Hampton, VA 23669We try to keep our reporting time to a maximum of two months (less when possible). Please be patient. If three months have passed with no word from us, by all means drop a line and inquire; mail does go astray from time to time, as we all know. If you want to be sure that we received your manuscript, you are welcome to send it certified, Return Receipt Requested, though this is not mandatory.
In order for you to get a feel for what it is we're publishing, we encourage you to read one or more of our books. For sample copies, send$4.75 plus 1.35 shpg(or$4.55 plus 1.20 shpgfor two or more books),(add $0.30/book for NY residents) to Order Dept. at the address above.
If we like your book and want to publish it but feel it requires heavy editing before it's publishable, it will be returned to you with an explanation of what we feel it needs. You will have the opportunity to revise and resubmit. No contracts will be issued until a book is deemed satisfactory.
At present, Rubenesque Romances are available by mail order, direct from the company, and by special order in bookstores (through Baker and Taylor). As of this writing, we are not yet on bookstore shelves, but it is our plan to achieve that goal in 1997. Our present editions are spiral-plastic-bound books without glossy covers, which are not compatible with bookstore display. Our plans for this year include upgrading our format and slowly converting our product to conventional-format books, suitable for bookstore display. Our books are available through the popular Amazon.com on-line "bookstore."
We make periodic mass mailings to targeted mailing lists, soliciting orders, which typically bring in a response far above the typical percentage of response for mail order. Our readers are appreciative . . . and devoted, as many of our readers are repeat customers.
In addition to our periodic mailings, we also run ads in publications targeted to plus-sized women, such as Radiance.
We also encourage our authors to arrange booksignings for themselves in local bookstores and will back them up with press releases for their local newspapers if supplied with the appropriate information in sufficient time. Additionally, we encourage our authors to try to place their books - or our entire line -in their local stores-both traditional venues such as bookstores and non-traditional bookselling venues such as clothings stores that cater to plus-sized women, whose customers would naturally be interested in reading Rubenesque Romances.
Our company and concept have had articles, profiles, or other write-ups in such diverse publications as The Wall Street Journal, Writer's Digest, andYes (in England). The publisher has made various appearances, both live and broadcast, in support of the line of books. Additionally, we have recently entered into an agreement with a separate corporation, Bread 'n' Butterscotch Wordcraft, Inc., and have licensed them to produce audiobook versions of the Rubenesque Romance line. The first four such audiobooks are currently in production.
Rubenesque Romances has its own Web page. Visit us at http://www.rubenesqueromances.com.
Unless your story is sci-fi or fantasy, be sure your story is believable. Be sure your dialogue sounds real. (Hint: Read it aloud.) Put your manuscript aside for at least a few days after you've written it. Then return to it and reread it, with a few days' "time off" to give you a better perspective. You will likely find errors, rough spots, or other aspects that can be improved, that you might not have caught if you had reread it immediately on finishing it. Rubenesque Romances is a trademark of The Morse Corporation. Joanne K. Morse, Ph.D., Publisher
|
|
|||
R R Home
Top of Page
About RR