You could be a Destiny Romance writer
Destiny Romance, Penguin Australia’s new digital-first imprint, is seeking submissions.
If you have written a gorgeous, romantic story, then we at Destiny Romance would love to see it. We are looking for love stories of all kinds told by wonderful, new Australian voices. We’re looking for compelling plots, vivid settings and characters we care deeply about. Above all, the focus must be on the development of the romantic relationship and the story must provide an emotionally satisfying ending.
Destiny Romance is a digital-first imprint, which means we have more freedom to publish a richer variety of romances and can publish new books very quickly. We will work closely with authors, providing expert editorial guidance and a marketing and publicity campaign to ensure your book is well promoted to a wide readership.
We want love stories that sweep us away and keep us up late reading because we can’t put them down.
What we’re looking for
Destiny Romance is passionately interested in all kinds of romantic fiction, from sweet and tender through to saucy and sensual. We’re looking for all subgenres, including but not limited to: contemporary, historical, suspense, paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi and erotica. If you’ve come up with a new style of romance, then we’re interested in that too.
We are accepting shorter stories from 25,000 words, right up to full-length novels of 100,000-plus. We will not consider manuscripts of less than 25,000 words, non-fiction work, children’s books or poetry.
A strong voice, originality and intense emotions will help your manuscript stand out from the crowd.
At this stage, we are particularly on the hunt for historical (Regency) romance, contemporary romance featuring high-powered men and women, medical romance and erotic romance. At present, we are only accepting submissions from Australian writers.
How to submit
Please complete the online submission form and attach your full manuscript.
We can only consider fully completed manuscripts. We are only accepting submissions electronically – sorry, but hardcopy submissions will be recycled. All submissions will be treated confidentially.
When you send your submission, you’ll receive an automatic response acknowledging receipt. While we can’t reply to you directly, don’t worry, we are here, eagerly waiting to read your stories. All manuscripts are carefully read, but we can only respond to those who are successful. If we do not contact you within three months of submission, please assume that we have decided not to pursue your manuscript. But don’t forget, very few authors are successful the first time around and you can always try again with a new story.
We hope you feel inspired and look forward to reading your fabulously romantic story. Happy writing!
Top Ten Writing Tips from Destiny Romance
- Read voraciously to expand your knowledge of the genre, empower your vocabulary and clarify what constitutes good writing.
- Don’t waste your time polishing one sentence for hours. If it’s proving difficult it probably needs to go – or, keep writing, then go back later and re-work. (But I bet you finish up deleting it).
- If you’re unsure if a section is working well or flowing properly, you’ll soon know if you read it out loud.
- What sounded fantastic at midnight, may not seem so great in the clear view of daylight. Always go back and review what you’ve written and revise.
- Keep things simple. Don’t over-complicate sentences or plots.
- Don't try to guess what others want in a romance. Work out what you want to say and develop your own ‘voice.’ This will help make your manuscript stand-out from all the others.
- Get into the routine and discipline of writing every day – even if it’s only 500 words at each sitting.
- Join a writer’s group, or if you don’t have a local one, form one by putting up a notice at your closest library or bookshop. It is vital to get objective feedback from people who are not family or close friends.
- Ensure your hero and heroine are likeable characters so that the reader not only wants to get involved with them but from early on, really, really wants them to get together. (And by likeable, we don’t mean perfect. Flaws are good and make them more real).
- Yes, a happy ending is always predictable – and desirable in romances – but the journey along the way shouldn’t be.
- Plot, character and setting are important, but the romantic relationship must be the central focus of the story - don’t get distracted.
