Harlequin Medical Romance is an imprint of Harlequin Romance, which is an imprint of Harper Collins. We have also reviewed a number of their other imprint previously, including Afterglow Books, Carina Press, Mills & Boon, Love Inspired & Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Historical, Harlequin Heartwarming, and Harlequin Intrigue. All of the different imprints have clear focuses, and separate submission guidelines, and clear word count guidelines.
Harlequin Medical Romance is looking to publish manuscripts of 50,000 words set in the medical world. They say they are seeking “Intense, uplifting and relatable romances set in the medical world. Experience the rollercoaster of emotions, ambitions and desires of today’s medical professionals.”
They go on to say that readers should think of “House, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, The Night Shift, The Good Karma Hospital and Doctors for their tone, medical settings and scenarios, complex characters with strong romantic themes, great dialogue and lives and hearts on the edge. However, the key difference is that the focus of each Medical Romance story is first and foremost a heart-racing romance. The novels offer a wealth of experiences: from the high-octane excitement of the ER to the warmth of family GP practice.” They also stress “A strong focus on the central romantic relationship. Relatable main characters in a medical setting – pulse-racing medical drama that throws them together is crucial.” You can see their catalog of Medical Romance books here.
They have this note at the start of the submissions call “We are committed to publishing for our diverse global readership, and are actively seeking to acquire authors from underrepresented backgrounds. If you feel that’s you, and you have a story to tell that features the key elements below, then we would love to read it!” This note is only on some of their submission guidelines now, but it is on this one. It is also one of the submission guidelines that overtly states “We are looking for stories with a diverse range of characters, and are happy to see romances between LGBTQ+ characters.”
The editorial offices for this imprint are in London, UK. They publish 6 new books a month.
To learn more, go here.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
