25 Trends in Publishing: Contemporary Romance

About the column: A handful of agents and interns who work with Cyle have learned the latest and (sometimes so, sometimes not so) greatest trends in publishing right now. Tune in each week to find out what’s trending, ranging from ABA to CBA, children’s to adult. The authors of these columns have included social media tags at the end to keep up with trends they are finding. They can also be found here. 

Trend #19 of 25: Contemporary Romance

Contributor: Hope Bolinger

I have to add a caveat right away. Contemporary Romance has never not been a trend (oh boy, double negatives). However, this category appears to trump any other romance subgenres in 2018-19.

For instance, not too many publishers take on historical romance now. Hallmark and Harlequin Love Inspired, for instance, closed their doors to that subgenre this year.

So if you write historical, consider trying contemporary out for a change.

Write contemporary romance? Great news! This post will help you make that swoon-worthy manuscript even more marketable to agents, publishers, and readers.

Ingredients for a bestselling contemporary romance:

1. A recipe: Harlequin Love Inspired books often have one of these. Not only do readers love to have a practical takeaway from the book, but who wants to say no to a book with a delicious cinnamon roll on the cover?
2. A pet: I need to add another caveat here. By pet, I mean a cute pet. Like a horse, cat, dog, etc. People tend to pick up more romances with adorable animals on the cover. Please do not have your protagonist cradling a pet tarantula. That will get you a readership you probably didn’t intend to have.
3. 55K-60K words: Yes, some publishers will go longer. However, the major players want books within this word count range. Romance sells well because it has a set formula. If you pitch your 120K historical romance, publishers will ask you to please read more books in your genre to get a feel for what’s selling.
4. Dual-perspective: Again, can sometimes depend on the publisher. But usually alternating perspectives between the love interests sell more books.
5. Third-person limited: I know, I know. First-person is fun to write. But maybe save that for your YA that has romantic elements.

In all honesty, reading plays a crucial role in the life of a romance writer. Once you’ve perused ten Harlequin titles, the basic formula will seep into your subconscious.

Of course, other trends can help sell your romance as well such as diversity, non-western settings, and #ownvoices (more on this one soon). But the ingredients above will catch the eye of an agent, and most likely, an editor of a larger romance publisher as well.

Hope Bolinger works as a literary agent at C.Y.L.E. IlluminateYA contracted her YA novel Den while she still attended college (to be released June 3, 2019).

More than 200 of her works have been featured in various publications. She has received various writing awards from being a finalist in the Jerry B. Jenkins short story contest to her one-act earning second place in the Searchlight Playwriting Contest. She has served in various publishing capacities from working at newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses.

She can be found at hopebolinger.com.