Know Your Species

Most of us started out writing without knowing much about the world of publishing, and that's okay.  I started writing romance because I thought it would be fun.  One led to two, three, and more, and then came wondering about whether it just might be possible to actually send it to an editor with the idea of getting it publish.  That moment when we think about having our work published is very defining.  At that point, we become serious about writing.

If someone had asked me during those early days what kind of romance I was writing, my answer might very well have been, "HUH?"  Of course I knew that within romance there were long books, short books, shorter books combined with others.  I also knew there were contemporary books and historical books, and even otherwordly books.  But I wasn't yet familiar with sub-genres.

If you're like I was and you've begun writing, whether for the fun of it or with an eye on selling to a publisher, becoming familiar with the types of books within the romance genre known as sub-genres should be at the top of your list of things to do.  When the time comes to send your baby off to an editor, you don't want to waste time by sending it to the wrong place.

A quick list of the major sub-genres of romance would include:

• Contemporary
• Historical
• Paranormal
• Young Adult

Those four contain numerous sub-categories, such as Romantic Suspense, Inspirational, and others, which are sometimes combined with and included as sub-genres.  Sub-categories can also be mixed together for cross-genres.  To make things even more complicated, more sub-categories are popping up every day.  Simplify at first by focusing on where you feel your writing reflects and belongs.  For more information on sub-genres, do a search (Google works well) for romance sub genres.

Knowing where your writing fits will make it easier when you've decided it's time to start submitting to publishers.  And if you've been doing your homework and keeping current on what kind of books are being published by which company, you're ahead of the game.  It's all about the market, what's selling, whose buying, and how to get your book in on it, too.