Monday, October 19, 2020

#MSWL - Women's Fiction With A Message

 Greyhaus Literary Agency focuses exclusively on publishing traditional romance and women's fiction. Every now and then I like to post things that I am especially interested in finding. 


WOMEN'S FICTION: I define women's fiction as stories looking at the world through the female lens. It is the chance to see how the world looks different, while at the same time, giving the reader a chance to see how someone, in a similar situation can solve problems. Women's fiction can be serious or straight forward, but needs to have a strong focus. These are stories of exploration and discovery. These are stories where the reader walks away learning something new, but without having that message shoved down their throats. These are stories that should encourage discussion.

I am especially looking for stories that focus on single issues. It might be returning home, returning to work, travel stories, relationship issues and so forth. The key is to focus on one. I am always finding myself rejecting stories because the author is trying desperately to cover too many things. 

I am not interested in stories that start with the standard trope that the protagonist found her husband cheating on her and they are divorced. I want stories to come across as "real people." Please understand, though, I DO NOT want fictionalized stories of true things. I want fiction.

I want characters that the reader can relate to and cheer for. If your character does things that would turn someone off, this is not the place for you.

Finally, while these stories can deal with present day issues, I do not want 9/11 stories, Covid-19 stories and "Me-Too" stories. Yes, these are VERY IMPORTANT and need to be talked about, but I have found recently that far too many authors focus more on the terminology and the jargon and the message gets lost.


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