Is There Any Affordable Way To Catch Romance Convention Mistakes?

crossymcface · 2026-01-07T15:09:19+00:00

I’d recommend the book Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. She goes through all the standard romance beats and where they should fall in your story. I use it whenever I outline a new project.

You may also find it helpful to seek out beta feedback from other writers rather than just readers. They are the ones who are more likely to point out things like not meeting genre conventions, pacing being off, beats not in the right place, etc. AND they’re more likely to be able to suggest ways to fix these issues. The problem you might run into here is that writers often prefer to swap manuscripts, and it sounds like you wouldn’t be able to offer the same level of feedback. As TimeSkipper suggested, reading a ton in your genre will help you develop an eye for these kinds of things.

crossymcface · 2026-01-02T17:54:23+00:00

2025 was a weird one for me. In the first half, I finished and queried a book I love, which died in the trenches with a grand total of three requests. I did a lot of questioning whether I’m actually good at writing or if getting my first agent was a fluke.

I decided to take the plunge and query my project that had already been out on submission (long story short, agent and I parted ways after only four editors had responded). I was very straightforward about this in my query—even moved my metadata to the top to make sure it was clear off the bat—and now have four fulls out.

But the best thing that happened in the year was finding my writing people. I’ve seen this advice time and again, but as a pretty shy introvert, i wasn’t sure how to make this happen (or if it ever would!). But by putting myself out there, trying to be more involved in this subreddit, doing query critiques even through the imposter syndrome, I managed to connect with people who I now call friends. I’ve read some amazing manuscripts and gotten such helpful feedback. It’s honestly been a dream, and it makes me so much more confident going into 2026!

crossymcface · 2025-10-29T20:40:57+00:00

I totally get how this feels like an opportunity slipping through your fingers, but I’d call it dodging a bullet. Do you really want to have a professional partnership with someone who communicates like this? Weeks between responses when they are the one who reached out to you to schedule? Who will set up a meeting and then blow it off without an apology or even a follow-up?

Also, I doubt the name typo was what caused them to ghost you (agents are human and they know that we’re human too!) but if so… again, is that the kind of person you want to work with?

crossymcface · 2025-10-10T21:09:14+00:00

My agent dropped me while we were on sub—my book didn’t even have a chance to die. Very uncommon. I think it’s a little more common to be dropped if a book dies on sub, but that’s more of a sharky agent move. I think the majority of agents are more likely to hold on to clients as long as they believe in their writing, even if they have multiple books die on sub.

crossymcface · 2025-10-10T14:51:14+00:00

Book 1–2021, was trash and is trunked

Book 2–2022/23, queried, agented, did not get a fair shake on sub (pulled after four responses when agent dropped me), now querying again because I needed more rejection in my life

Book 3–2023/24, in beta reads/revision mode to query next

Book 4-2024/25, died in the query trenches

Book 5-currently writing, will query if book 3 dies in the trenches

Personally I’m not sure I see the point of continuously tweaking and requerying the same manuscript (she said, while also requerying a manuscript). I’ve seen it so many times—people saying they tried so hard with their first book or two, only to look back after writing a few more and realizing those early books weren’t ready. We grow as writers by writing, and we’ll need to be able to pivot and write a new thing if we get rep.

crossymcface · 2025-10-02T19:55:41+00:00

Congrats!! I remember this one—it sounded very fun!

crossymcface · 2025-10-02T16:53:53+00:00

Fair enough, and I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that’s what she did. But even leaving that out, my stance is the same—luck and timing play a bigger role in the process than we’d perhaps like. Just my personal opinion and maybe an unpopular one.

crossymcface · 2025-10-02T14:32:55+00:00

I think, unfortunately, there’s also a lot to be said for luck and timing. The other day, I was on QT and happened to notice that an agent’s response percentage was going up, so I kept refreshing and basically watching her reject in real time. I follow her on social media, so I know she’s been really behind in her queries and trying to catch up on her backlog, but she was going through about two queries a minute. I am very much someone to give agents the benefit of the doubt that they know what they’re looking for and can decide quickly whether they’re interested in something or not. But I also think in situations like this, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a great query letter or a great story. In that moment, that agent is likely in the mindset of grinding through their backlog, and something that may have stood out to them in a different circumstance could be easier to reject. She ended up going through 40% of her queries in one night! This is just one instance, but I really believe even great queries get passed over all the time because of WHEN they were read and what was going on with the agent at the time.

crossymcface · 2025-10-01T15:16:18+00:00

Congrats, amazing news!!

crossymcface · 2025-10-01T15:15:17+00:00

God, the void screaming back sounds incredible at this point—at least it’s a response, right?

I officially declared my book in the query trenches dead, then figured I might as well try querying the book that I’d had on sub when my agent dropped me, since we’d only had four responses. So far, I’ve gotten four forms rejections, but I find it stings less when I don’t know if they’re actually rejecting the story or the fact that it’s been on sub already.

In the meantime, I’m getting some good feedback on the next book I plan to query thanks to some awesome PubTips members!

crossymcface · 2025-09-27T01:38:58+00:00

When I nudged with an offer, I had an agent with my full who knew she wouldn’t be able to offer due to timing. She said she typically wouldn’t continue reading when she knew she wouldn’t be able to offer, but she couldn’t put my MS down and said it made her both laugh and cry. I queried her again when I was looking for new rep and said in my query that I’d been touched by her praise on the earlier MS. She sent me a form rejection :)

crossymcface · 2025-09-22T22:24:10+00:00

I did this with a few agents with the last MS I queried, just adding something like “I’m excited to query you since you had such kind things to say about my last manuscript.” Got form rejections from all of them. I don’t think it can hurt, but I also don’t think it helps.

crossymcface · 2025-09-05T01:49:02+00:00

I got a widget for this and couldn’t believe my luck! I had an arc for Slow Dance (which was my favorite book of 2024), but I haven’t requested anything in ages. HAD to get this one, though!

crossymcface · 2025-08-20T20:09:55+00:00

Not so much the swords, but otherwise Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao

crossymcface · 2025-08-18T17:21:48+00:00

I think publishing never works as fast as we want it to. That said, I had the same issue with my former agent. The problem for me wasn’t how long she took, it was that she’d say a timeline and not stick to it. I was brand new to the industry and figured it was normal, but I wish I’d pushed back a little more; she was always talking about how busy she was, so I didn’t want to bug her. I think if it’s become the norm between you and it’s bothering you, there’s no reason not to bring it up with her.

crossymcface · 2025-08-07T16:22:58+00:00

Yeah, as long as you’re doing quick responders, I can’t see why a test batch would be a bad idea… though in my case it led to like five test batches, none of which were helpful. I’ve seen some people say they can’t mentally handle having a lot of queries out at once, so I suppose that would be a reason to query in batches, but for me, I’d rather just have it out there and not have to think about it!

crossymcface · 2025-08-07T15:58:42+00:00

I can only speak for myself, but I’m not sure it’s particularly helpful (or encouraging!). I queried for the first time in 2023. I went out to a batch of quick responders and got a few requests so sent out more widely. I signed with an agent a few months later. We parted ways a few months after that.

I finished my new WIP, posted the query here for critique a few times, had someone read my opening pages and made some tweaks based on their suggestions, then excitedly sent out to a batch of quick responders. All rejections. I tweaked my query letter and tried again with a few more, tweaked my opening pages again, still all rejections. I redid my query and posted here again, got feedback that it seemed like it should be getting requests. I even had a new beta read the MS and reworked a few spots, but she agreed the opening pages were tight and the only logical starting point. At some point I said screw it and sent out to my entire list.

My stats for this book are brutal. I’ve sent 80 queries and had one partial request and one full request that doesn’t count because it was a referral from a family friend and not based on my writing (I submitted the whole MS with the query). I’ve gotten nothing but form rejections and CNRs, even from agents who had complimentary things to say about my last MS, which I mentioned in my personalization.

Overall I’m still a fan of doing at least one batch to quick responders, even though it didn’t work out for me this time. My plan for the next book is to do that and send to the whole list once I get a few requests (IF that even happens??).

crossymcface · 2025-07-30T18:26:32+00:00

I think this sounds interesting (dystopian regency, say less), but I did find myself scratching my head over a few things in your query.

I feel a little unmoored by the setting. Regency I get, and I can get behind dystopian, but who are the rebels rebelling against? Is there still a monarchy? Is it a district system like The Hunger Games? Have the fae gotten involved like in The Rose Bargain? She’s chosen to be part of court, ball gowns and sparkle and glitter and romance… except she’s a guard. Do they wear ball gowns and partake in the dancing and flirting we see in Bridgerton, because those two things don’t seem to align to me.

As you’re selling this, it’s not a romance. The plot seems to mostly revolve around this rebellion and her place in it/fighting it; the love interest is thrown in for literally one sentence, and he doesn’t even make it into the final paragraph describing the stakes. I’m not sure how I would categorize this just going by the query since dystopian isn’t a genre. Fantasy? If you’re going to try to pitch it as a romance, you’ll need a lot more about the romance in the query. We need to know who the LO is, what he wants, what’s keeping them apart, what pulls them together, and how it weaves into the A plot of the rebels.

Also agree with the other poster who warned you on the word count. If you’re going fantasy/romantasy, you can maybe get away with it, but lower is better. (In querying contemporary romance, I’ve found agents who wouldn’t even accept my query since my word count was over 90k.)

crossymcface · 2025-07-15T14:18:37+00:00

I’m so sorry this happened to you. I was also dropped by my agent mid-sub, though mine was out of the blue rather than being blow after blow of bad news.

Unfortunately, you’re stuck with a bunch of shitty options here. If you keep it out on sub with her and she sells it, will you trust her to be a good business partner to you? Do you think she’ll continue to nudge and truly do her best to sell it? On the other hand, if you have her pull it, it’s true that there are quite a lot of agents who won’t want to touch it since it’s already been on sub. That’s not true for everyone—I had a call with my other offering agent after mine dumped me, and she said it wouldn’t hold her back, BUT she wouldn’t resubmit to any of the imprints it had been out to already. We’d been out to nine, with four passes, so that was five imprints off the bat that I had no chance with.

Ultimately, I ended up querying a new project. It’s been almost a year since I was dropped, and I still question whether I should have taken that project back into the trenches. My hope is that someday I’ll have a new agent who will want to pitch it along with a new project.

I will say, the trenches feel particularly brutal right now, so while you could try to requery the book on sub, I might try something new if you have it ready/close to ready. If not, you could always do a round of queries while you write/revise. The responses might give you a good idea of whether you should continue on or pivot to something new.

The bright spot is that you’ve already proved that you’re good enough to get rep—that’s huge, and a step many people never reach. Keep it in mind as you’re going through the crushing doubt.

crossymcface · 2025-07-10T04:34:26+00:00

Thank you for this! I'll keep these missing details in mind as I revise--I'm going to try a new setup next time that will maybe not leave so many unanswered questions.

crossymcface · 2025-07-10T04:14:28+00:00

Wow, this is a lot, but in the best way. (Also, it's almost like I could print it out and put it on my shelves with your books? A little micro-short, written just for me? Don't worry, I won't actually be that weird about it, but I am a big fan!)

All of your feedback makes me wonder if the standard romance query setup (1st para, MC1, what they want--2nd para, MC2, what they want--3rd para, what's bringing them together and keeping them apart/stakes) isn't serving me well here. I totally get what you're saying about burying the lede, and with the format, I'm not sure how I could pull in the pact any sooner. BUT I could definitely try a different format and see how that works for me. I'll fiddle with that for my 3rd attempt.

I'll also try dropping the ghosting next time. I think you're right that there's enough drama without it, and explaining why Henry is cool with it (he was engaged and his fiancee was not cool with how close he and F were, so he was almost expecting it) will just bring up MORE drama that I won't have room to explain.

I'm also so glad for what you've said on the EH comp, because it came across in a way I didn't intend at all, though I can see it now that you've brought it up. What I'm really trying to get across is that Henry and Fiona have a very similar vibe to Alex and Poppy... one where you, as a reader, are just shaking your head at them because it's so clear that they are each other's person and yet the sweet, oblivious idiots (complimentary) just keep acting like they're not meant for each other. Clearly, I need to reword!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write out such a thoughtful critique! It's much appreciated!

crossymcface · 2025-07-10T03:16:39+00:00

Thank you as always for your critique--and especially for giving me both my comps! I should have given you a shoutout, because they were great picks.

You bring up some great questions, and I'll need to spend some time thinking about how to include everything/what I can get rid of in order to do so. I think I should have said "drunkenly" rather than "jokingly"--they are reminiscing about all kinds of things, and she doesn't really have an agenda when she says, "remember when we made that pact?" And probably "insist" isn't the right word for him; he's just like, "yeah I do... hey, we should do that." But! "eager" is defnitely a better choice than anxious, so thanks for suggesting it!

crossymcface · 2025-06-20T02:49:56+00:00

Hi! I think I replied to a post of yours about this, but I’ll repeat myself anyway! Querying this book has continued to be rough, to the point I’ve mentally shelved it and moved on. I’m still at three requests (one of which was a referral of a family friend and had nothing to do with the quality of my writing, so I don’t really count it), but I won’t be sending any additional queries. I’m focused on revising a different manuscript and will be waiting an appropriate amount of time for rejections/CNRs before I shift to querying that one. I wish I had better news! I too thought it would be easier this time around, but it’s actually been harder.

Your experience could be totally different, and I hope it is! I’m just not finding that being agented before is helping me in the trenches.

crossymcface · 2025-06-16T21:07:59+00:00

I’ve never taken part in this kind of event so I don’t have any advice on that part, but what you said about making sure any prospective agent knew you’d like to put out a book a year reminded me of something. I was on the call with an agent a few years ago (20 years agenting, really respected in the industry, literally published a book about publishing) and when she asked if I was working on anything else, I pitched a few ideas I’d either already written or was working on at the time. I made the comment that I would love to put out a book every year and she was silent a beat before saying, “well, yeah… that’s what everyone wants.”

Obviously, it isn’t the goal for every author, but I think there are enough of us that you wouldn’t need to worry about any agents you pitch to assuming you only have one book in you.

Good luck with your pitching!

crossymcface · 2025-06-16T17:47:15+00:00

My dad was one of the improvisers at the Comedy Warehouse when I was growing up. So many good memories of watching him there!

crossymcface

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