Mills & Boon is a romance imprint of British publisher Harlequin UK, and like Harlequin in the US, it is now an imprint of HarperCollins. Mills & Boon was founded in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon as a general publisher, and it has gone through a lot of changes over the years, but it has always focused on publishing romance novels.
The Mills & Boon imprint has a different focus and feel than the US division of Harlequin, but they do use the same Submittable account. Like Harlequin as a whole, part of their strategy is to publish many books per month. They have three separate acquiring offices so it is important your work goes to the right place.
The Mills & Book UK page includes writing tips, and a page breaking down the submission process. Each of the six series they publish have separate guidelines. The best way to get a feel for what they publish is to read a book or two from the line that you feel like is the best fit for you personally.
When you submit, they ask for a covering letter that includes personal information about your history as a reader and writer of romantic fiction, as well as a synopsis of your manuscript.
Make sure that you follow their guidelines when submitting. 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 2020 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.
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