Who is our Harlequin NEXT heroine? She’s you, your sister, she’s me—she’s every woman who is wondering what is next in her life. Is it love? Is it travel or a brand new adventure that had earlier been the stuff of dreams? Could it be all three, and more?

Harlequin NEXT is dedicated to women over the age of forty who are reaching for their dreams. These books are real-life fantasies; the stories are entertaining, complex and geared for the seasoned woman.

Innovation is key at Harlequin and we’re always asking: What are our readers looking for? What new books would best entertain and delight our customers? We brainstormed – most of us are baby boomers – and realized that there was no line of books dedicated specifically to us. What happens when you’ve experienced your first job, first love, first marriage, first child, when you’ve been there, done that—and been successful and rewarded? You love what your life is, but don’t you stop and say, “What’s next?”

Harlequin NEXT is for the woman who is asking that wonderful question. NEXT books are optimistic, but still complex. The stories are meant to entertain women who share our authors’ optimism and enthusiasm.

The books have happy endings—but not always in the traditional sense…because the NEXT pro-tagonists have dif-ferent goals and dreams than those in their twenties or early thirties.

The Harlequin NEXT reader is optimistic and complex—so why shouldn’t her choice in stories reflect her spirit? I look at my own life—I’m over fifty years old and have two daughters—one thirteen, one nine. Some of my contemporaries have young children but many have children graduating college, getting married, and some are already grandparents. Many friends who chose not to have kids are looking forward to traveling, remodeling homes, and one dear friend just got married for the first time. The over forty crowd has followed many different paths in life. One thing remains constant, though: we enjoy reading books that are relevant to us; we know that life is not always predictable so we look for stories that engage and entertain us. Love and romance are always embraced in NEXT stories, since love is an exciting part of life and our books celebrate life and relationships.

You never know…maybe if you like reading them, you’d enjoy writing one. Maybe your next achievement is a NEXT!

Harlequin NEXT celebrates all the stages of a woman’s life, not just marriage and new motherhood. These stories are warm, entertaining and sometimes even inspiring and feature women facing a wide variety of life stages: from a first baby at 45 to a first date after divorce or widowhood; from the first day of college—accompanied by a freshman daughter!—to dealing with three generations living in the same household. The books are complex, diverse and reflect living and loving in today’s complex, diverse world. The stories end in a happy satisfying manner, though not necessarily in a romantic resolution. Romance will be a piece of the pie, rather than the whole one.

YOU CAN BE A HARLEQUIN “NEXT” WRITER

Guidelines:
• Stories in this line have a range of tones—from lighter and more humorous to serious and   dramatic—but are all upbeat, optimistic and brimming with possibility.
• Secondary characters and plots are not only encouraged, they’re required!
• Sensuality levels can run the gamut, and will be dictated by the stories.
• These stories will be energetic rather than edgy.
• NEXT can potentially deliver the same scope and subject matter as such diverse movies as   “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,”   “The Banger Sisters” and “Tadpole.”
• Books that are good reference points for NEXT include “Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons”   by Lorna Landvik; “Step Ball Change” by Jeanne Ray; “Good Grief” by Lolly Winston; and the   “Not-So-Perfect Man” by Valerie Frankel.
• These books can be set absolutely anywhere – there are no limits.
• We are open to first person point of view, and if it works for the story, multiple points
  of view.
• Manuscripts are to be 70,000 – 75,000 words in length