Happy New Year! The editors at Entangled Publishing are always looking for the next breakout hit. Could that be your book? Each month, we have a new wish list from our editors. Watch for them as they’ll change monthly. Let’s discover each other today! All submissions can be sent through our Submittable system. The link can be found here: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/submission-information/
Alethea Spiridon, Editorial Director for Scandalous and Select Historical
For my list: I’d like to see a Marriage of Convenience book for Bliss. Fresh and seasoned voices welcome.
For Scandalous and Select Historical: Well done, high concept time travel books and Marriage of Convenience books set in Highland, Victorian, Regency, or Viking eras.
Alycia Tornetta, Editorial Director for Bliss, Ignite, and Select Suspense
• A single-title contemporary romance with a sexy, high-concept, bold premise.
• A romantic suspense featuring a SEAL team.
• Historical romance featuring highlanders
• Bad boy NA romance. Bonus points if it’s M/M.
• Sweet romance with a mistaken identity or marriage of convenience.
• A modern royalty romance (think The Royals) for Crush or Embrace
• Contemporary YA with a great hook, like The Duff or Adorkable.
Brenda Chin, Editorial Director for Brazen and Scorched
For Brazen:
• Characters that make me care: identifiable girl next door heroines, real-life heroes such as firemen, cops, etc.
• Authors with youthful engaging voices
• Stories with some substance—great characters, well-developed plots, hooks guaranteed to grab readers and immensely satisfying endings.
• Stories written in first person.
For Scorched:
• New adult stories, written in the first person, present tense
• Paranormal
• Historical
• Full-length stories (50,000 words or more)
• High concept hooks that immediately tells readers that the heroine is going to be having a VERY good time!
Candace Havens, Editorial Director for Embrace
For Embrace: we’re always looking for hero-centric stories with characters from the ages of 19-25. We are specifically looking for sports heroes, enlightened alpha heroes, Scottish/Irish/English heroes at a foreign university with strong, likable, relatable female heroines who give them a run for their money. Office romances where maybe it’s an internship or first job work and any of the firsts any college student might experience. We’d also like to see some star-crossed lovers who can’t possibly be together.
Heather Howland, Editorial Director for Lovestruck
For Lovestruck:
• Banter! We prefer humor in the delivery of wickedly funny lines. I’d love to see stories with more banter and less slapstick situational comedy. Any situation can be funny if the characters are entertaining.
• Heroes readers want based on a short, two- to three-word description of their personality/profession alone. We’re looking for the ultimate book boyfriends who stand just a little taller than the average guy.
• Heroines readers can relate to. Give us likable women who aren’t afraid to go toe to toe with the hero if the situation calls for it. At this time, we’re not looking for chefs, bakers, or reporters.
For my list:
• I would love a dark and twisty near-future scifi thriller with a swoony romance thrown into the mix. Artificial intelligence, anyone?
• I would also love a contemporary YA or NA about a girl studying abroad and falling in love with a boy we cannot wait to meet. The hook has to be big—I want readers to say, “Oooooooh. I have to read that!” I need the guy to be serious book boyfriend material with a passion for something exciting. I’m not interested in actors or soccer players at this time, though if you’ve got an athlete, I love other sports.
• I’m also still on the hunt for a sexy hockey series. NA or adult would be great. Make sure you know you’re hockey, because I do.
Heidi Shoham, Editorial Director for Indulgence and Select Contemporary
I’m specifically looking for books for the Contemporary Select and Indulgence imprints.
For Select Contemporary I would love to see layered, emotional stories with series potential. Small town romances with large likable casts of character; hot, confident heroes, cowboys (swoon), men in uniform, the hero who stands just a little bit taller than the regular/everyday guy. I want likable, relatable heroines, authentic dialogue and conflicts that will knock me off my feet. I’m especially looking for hero-centric stories told with a strong, unique voice.
For Indulgence, I want to be swept away by the ultimate fantasy alpha hero who may be hard/tough on the outside but who is hiding a heart of gold that will melt for his heroine. Take me to exotic settings with that exciting, multi-layered billionaire intent on making the heroine his. I want to fly to private Greek islands, villas in Spain or Italy, extravagant ski resorts in France or Switzerland. The heroines have to be likable and relatable, they’re the everyday woman about to be swept away by this wealth hero who can make all her dreams come true…even if he’s going to drive her a little crazy first.
Imprint wide, I’m also always on the lookout for cowboys, shifter stories with a strong family/pack feel to them, a good secret baby plot, something with a single dad doing his best to be what his kid needs, and angsty heroes with a snarky sense of humor (a la Dean Winchester).
Tera Cuskaden, Editorial Director for Select Otherworld
For the Select Otherworld Line
• High concept plots I can sell in one sentence.
• I’m looking for paranormal romance with great romantic tension between alpha males and strong, likable, relatable heroines.
• I’m looking for fresh voices and amazing stories that will suck me into the world and keep me up past my bedtime reading.
• I’m open to all genres and themes, though I am specifically looking for shifters (wolves, big cats, bears, and dragons in particular), vampires, and science fiction/fantasy with crossover elements, such as shifters and/or vampires.
• Large paranormal worlds with many different paranormal elements, such as vampires, shifters, witches, angels and demons, etc.
• Sci-fi stories in the style of 12 Monkeys, Firefly, and Star Wars.
• Contemporary sci-fi featuring bionics, DNA enhancement, super soldiers, hackers, etc.
General submissions
• High concept plots I can sell in one sentence.
• I’d love to see romances with single dads that will melt my heart.
• Romantic suspense/thrillers that make my heart race in more ways than one, with hackers and international settings.
• Sexy contemporaries featuring everyday, relatable heroines (think teacher, nurse, veterinarian, etc.), and above-average heroes (though they don’t have to be billionaires, unless you’re targeting Indulgence).
• Erotic romances that make me blush.
• Manuscripts targeted toward the Indulgence imprint (Here’s where those billionaires come into play!)
• Men in uniform or veterans.
• Women on vacation.
Jenn Mishler, Editor
• I’m looking for sweet romances with rugged heroes that sweep our everyday heroines off their feet. If they have an animal sidekick, even better!
• I also want to see more of our post-college heroines traveling to foreign countries, like Scotland or Germany and falling for the perfect man.
• I also am waiting for the perfect paranormal romance for our CRAVE line, anything shifters or anything like Marissa Meyer.
Kate Brauning, Senior Editor
• Light YA sci-fi set on Earth in modern-day with a strong romance.
• Sweet to spicy adult romance that revolves around clever and unusual meet-cutes, especially with strong setting and a strong community feel. Bonus points for LGBTQ+.
• Adult romantic suspense, especially featuring hackers
• Adult international espionage and CIA/FBI thrillers with heat!
• NA in non-contemporary genres– sci-fi, fantasy, etc.
• A sweet, sports-centric romance for our Bliss imprint, like FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS meets SWEET HOME ALABAMA.
• Fluffy, lighthearted YA paranormal romance (comp to Gail Carriger) for our Crave imprint
Karen Grove, Senior Editor
• A humorous enemies-to-lovers that hinges on a misunderstanding, past or present, that leads to great chemistry and banter. Whatever the circumstances, the plot to humiliate or outdo the other must be more humorous than mean-spirited. (For Embrace or Teen)
• A rom com that pits hero and heroine against each other in a humorous battle of wills, i.e. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. (Lovestruck)
• A forced proximity romantic suspense involving special forces, bodyguard, or protective detail of some sort. High tension, high stakes, high romantic conflict (for Ignite).
Suzanne Evans, Associate Editor
• I’m looking for commercial contemporary and sci-fi/fantasy YA for Entangled’s teen lines! I’m especially excited for Crush books right now – a major plus for swoony boys I know I’d have had a huge crush on and strong, stubborn, likable heroines.
• High-heat romantic suspense. Extra points for hot cops!
• NA LGBT stories that touch on not only making your way as a new adult, but the challenges that come along with finding your identity at the same time.
• Lovestrucks that can make me laugh and cry during a single-sitting read.
• Heroes who go above and beyond for their heroines. (And having some extra money to do it won’t hurt…)
• High-concept YA and NA in any subgenre, but bonus points for sci-fi!
Theresa Cole, Editor
• YA fairytale retellings based in our world.
• Contemporary sci-fi that’s plausible enough to make readers think it actually could happen. Adult, NA, or YA
• Shifters! Please send me all of the growly, hot-as-hell shifters! (Doesn’t have to be wolves!) Adult, NA, or YA
• A fresh take on vampires, alternate histories with a spin, etc. Take the stories we know and throw a new twist into them.
• I’m always a sucker for a cowboy, and I’d love to see some laugh-out-loud, small town romantic comedies. Not only for Lovestruck, but also for other imprints.
• My favorite tropes are fish out of water, older brother’s best friend, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and forbidden love. Incorporate a few of those into a book with a relatable heroine and an alpha (not alphahole!) hero, and I’m hooked!
Tracy Montoya, Senior Editor
• I’d love an emotional Regency for Scandalous or Select, a Regency suspense, or even a Regency vampire novel.
• Would really, really, really love an Embrace set in the FBI or CIA Academy like the TV series Quantico (a favorite guilty pleasure!).
• An Ignite with a hacker heroine paired with an alpha male.
• Bad-boy alpha heroes who ooze charisma for Indulgence, with heroines who give it right back to them. No overly business-oriented plots—keep the focus on the swoon-worthy romance.
• High-concept stories (that one-sentence pitch that makes you go “oooh!”) for any of our lines.
• Looking for great diversity across all lines. I’m tired of romantic suspense villains being the only people of color in a book. Try not to default to scary brown or black people for the sinister or catty characters.
• Scottish or Irish heroes for any of our lines, with the accent conveyed well (i.e. don’t just tell me they have an accent and then not show it, and don’t overdo it. I want the Goldilocks accent—not too much, not too little!)
• Love romances with heroines on vacation abroad. France or Italy a plus!
• Authors of color always welcome.
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