Visit the Harlequin website and become acquainted with the publisher's imprints once you have written and polished your manuscript. Read submission guidelines and study the ones your writing style matches. Be certain you are answering the publisher's call for specific themes. Be particularly careful about exploring Harlequin's guidelines for suggestions on how to write about sex and seduction.
Conceive a theme. This central driving force places two people on a collision path that you might refer to as destiny, fate or kismet. You'll be delving into many layers of the story that brings soul mates together despite all odds, so explore the furthest reaches of human nature as you craft your tale.
Develop a plot line. Put your lovers into settings that reinforce the tale's theme and outcomes. Build conflict into the mix so it pushes the melodrama from one stage to the next. Chloe meets Seth but he's engaged. She tries to ignore the chemistry, but he's the paramedic who saves her life after a car hits her. You get the picture. Litter the road to happiness with so many roadblocks, your reader feels relieved when at last they connect.
Flesh out the main characters. Show how much character the protagonist possesses by describing their reactions to forces keeping them apart. Chloe is selfless when she respects Seth's engagement. His moral compass keeps him from cheating on his fiancée, despite the urgent pull he feels toward Chloe night and day. Give readers compelling reasons to care about the lovers and you'll hook and keep them until the last chapter.
Charge the atmosphere with color and imagery by creating vivid settings and descriptive vignettes. Readers want to taste the margarita the couple shares and they want the imagery of that hospital scene so real, they can hear the heart monitor beeping. Lavish your book with details, but always keep them in proportion to the lovers. After all, the story is about them.
Build toward a climax that is nothing short of blood pumping. This turning point sets things right, no matter how harrowing the journey of the lovers. If you've carefully constructed the plot so there are literally no more obstacles for the couple to overcome before fate intervenes and declares the pair one, you've done your job as a romance writer.
Before you approach Harlequin about considering your work ask yourself these questions: Is your leading man strong and caring? Is your heroine sassy and smart with the kind of personality that unfolds like a warm sunrise? Will the women reading your novel admire and aspire to be like your characters? Is there enough romantic tension woven into the story? Are your descriptions rich with detail and color?
Submit your book to the Harlequin imprint that best suits your niche. Be patient and start working on your next book to keep you from obsessing about why you haven't heard from the editors. If your story shines, you won't have to be concerned about the length of time it takes for a response. Instead, worry about how you will answer this question: "Do you have anything else in the pipeline that we can count on from you after your book goes to press?"