by
Tina M. Novinski
Star Magazine’s weekly Love Story Feature is a well kept secret among short story romance writers. You won’t find it advertised in the Writers Market. Send for guidelines and most likely you’ll not come up with anything substantial. But savvy writers hold this market near and dear. This is thanks to Barbara De Garmo the Love Story editor. “She even writes nice rejection letters,” one writer commented. And in the publishing business that goes a long way.
Barbara De Garmo has been with the Star since 1983. Prior to that she was at Family Circle. She says she fell into editing the Love Story Feature, as the one person on the copy/rewrite desk who really liked doing them. She tells us that love stories are now an avocation. However, most of her waking hours are spent as the managing editor for Soap Opera News, a 128-page weekly. Says Ms. De Garmo, “If you ever talk to me and I sound somewhat harassed, it’s because we have four different deadlines each week and I’m the enforcer.”
In a typical week 20-25 short romance manuscripts come across her desk. A Star love story should be 1,000 words. A cover letter is not necessary. Star buys first North American rights and pays three hundred dollars upon publication. While she does not consider reprints, she is not opposed to multiple submissions.
“Rewrites are rare,” says Ms. De Garmo, “but from time to time I’ll ask a writer to cut their story if I like the theme but know it’s way too long. Most that are out of the ball park as far as length are rejected. Otherwise, I do the cutting and slight reworking to fit.”
While she tries to reply back to manuscripts that she’ll be using with in 6 weeks or so, she confesses she tends to read a large group at a time about once month. This would make the turnaround time two months or more.
When asked if it’s easier to get published at Star once you’ve sold your first story, Ms. De Garmo replied, “ Perhaps. I do find that there are some writers that I like almost everything they send to me, and some that I’ve become friends with. But I also like to ‘discover’ new people.”
She admits that she has probably run too many animal theme stories within the last year, as she is a sucker for dogs and cats. High school reunions have also been overdone. The only taboo would be overt sex or a very negative theme.
A clever plot twist with the ring of truth catches her eye. She admits that it is very annoying to receive the same manuscript over again after it has been rejected.
“Read 4-5 issues so you get a good sense of what the stories are like. Write about what you know. Remember that these are supposed to be light and fun—escapist, yes, but not preposterous.”
Star Love Stories may be submitted to Barbara De Garmo, Associate Editor, Star Magazine, 660 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, N.Y. 10591.
Thanks to Barbara DeGarmo for taking time out of her schedule for this interview.
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