Harlequin Teen

I am admittedly intrigued by Harlequin's new imprint for teens, the aptly named Harlequin Teen *flourish*
Really, I think I may write a first chapter. From the guidelines:

"Harlequin Teen is a single-title program dedicated to building authors and publishing unique, memorable young-adult fiction. Stories with the unforgettable romance, characters and atmosphere of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, the witty humor of Meg Cabot’s Princess Diaries novels, the edgy emotion of Jay Asher’s Th1rteen R3asons Why, the thrilling danger of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games, the futuristic world-building of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies, and the power of Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief are examples of the range and depth of projects that we’re seeking"

Although I suspect that they are thinking more Twilight and less The Book Thief. I'll give them some edgy emotion.

Actually I have a certain respect for Harlequin books. Writing 50, 000 words is no small feat. And it has to serve its purpose. It has to be entertaining and sexy and compelling. This is actually very hard to do. I'm sure that tons of rejection letters are sent out daily from the Harlequin offices. And the website actually gives lots of advice on becoming a writer and writing specifically FOR Harlequin, which is not something that I see on Random House's website *tsk*. A publisher that encourages first time authors and gives them a format within which to work with much informative support is pretty cool. AND they have this panel they are putting together for people between the ages of 13 and 17, basically a control group to unleash their books on. But you get to read some free books.

I'm not certain that I will actually be able to write a full chapter let alone an entire book, but I'll give it a go. It might be fun. I encourage everyone to take a shot at it; unleash some teenage fantasies! If anyone actually DOES write a first chapter, let me know. I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

Mandy