CNN reports that True Blood, the HBO series based on the Charlaine Harris novels, is the network’s most successful show since “The Sopranos” and “Sex in the City.” Yippee - because that means more episodes to come! Especially since I have no idea how they’re going to wrap everything up in the finale next week.
I also hope it means more mainstream recognition for all things paranormal. As one of the characters was explaining shape-shifters the other week, I kept thinking, “Who doesn’t know what shape-shifters are?” And then of course I had to laugh a little at myself.
One of the things I like best about the show is the way it’s fleshed out the secondary characters - sometimes almost too much so; they start to overshadow the main ones. Bon Temps, LA, is just full of interesting guys. Who gets your pick?
Take the poll - and check out more pics.
To clinch or not to clinch? It's a subject that comes up all the time with authors. Generally, those opposed feel that clinches are dated and too easily mocked. Those in favor like to be able to visualize the characters they're reading about and see the clinch as an easy way to find romance on the shelves, as Publishers Weekly explains in an article in its new romance issue..
According to the PW article, Sarah over at Smart Bitches says, "Many readers hate it. Hate it. At best, the clinch can be a visual exercise in Technicolor hilarity, or at worst a complete and total embarrassment for the reader. But clinch covers will probably never go away: they sell.”
And she's absolutely right about that selling part. A while back I had a few new authors who were vehemently opposed to a clinch on their cover. So I wanted to see if we had any numbers that supported a stand one way or the other. I looked at all our new or relatively new authors writing historicals from 2006-2007 and found:
*Clinch covers averaged a draw of about 5300 more copies than nonclinches.
*Clinch covers averaged a sell-through of 11 percentage points higher than nonclinches.
Granted, this would hardly meet the standards of a rigorous scientific survey. The sample pool was only 15 titles, two-thirds of which were nonclinch (a house, landscape, object, single woman or single man). Not too shocklingly, the one nonclinch to buck the trend was the one with a guy.
However, it was enough to convince me that when appropriate and done tastefully, clinch covers are the way to go.
But obviously there are a lot of opinions on this, and I'd love to hear yours. Feel free to comment here, or--because I know comments here have been wanky--at my simul-blog on Wordpress. I'm hoping to get everything converted in a week or so, but in the meantime I'll be posting everything to each.
If you're on Facebook, you might want to check out a new initiative called Jingle Book Rock set up by Bookgasm and Athena's Bookshelf to promote books as gifts. Authors are encouraged to post info on their 2008 releases with book info on the Wall, then a photo of the cover in the Fan Photos, then "share" the site by sending it to all of his/her Facebook friends to join. Readers and fans can stop by for a chance to win copies of the books listed.
Bookgasm, run by Rod Lott is one of my daily go-to sites for finding out news about thrillers, horror, Westerns, and all kinds of weird miscellany. It makes me look smart to my husband. ;-) Athena's Bookshelf was created by Malena Lott, author DATING DA VINCI and THE STORK REALITY, and covers the women's fiction market. So really, anything goes here. No matter what genre you enjoy, you'll find something.
11/13 - Get a free pearl bracelet with the purchase of four books or more.
11/12 - The Chicago Tribune calls Alissa Johnson's AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT a "triumph of wit and passion."
11/11 - Check out Any Soldier to find someone serving overseas who would love to read some donated books.
11/10 - American Title V kicks off! Vote for Best First Line.
11/5 - Debut author Gayle Williams wins the Shomi Fiction contest with TSUNAMI BLUE. Read more.
Caroline Fyffe - WHERE THE WIND BLOWS, coming in August 2009, is a poignant and heartwarming debut novel that's taken first-place honors in the Golden Heart and TARA contests. Cowboy Chase Logan has been in plenty of tough situations, but pretending to be the husband of a recent widow and father to her adopted children is the most difficult job he's had yet.
Leslie Langtry - I SHOT YOU BABE, the fourth installment of the Greatest Hits mystery romance series, centers on Coney Bombay, an assassin/philosopher/world-traveler and carnival-ride operator who also likes to knit, as he and an ever-inquisitive grad student named Veronica Gale track down a senator's murderer. Coming in September 2009.
Every month we get kits (folders of cover flats of upcoming releases) from other mass-market houses. They make the rounds around the office and everyone makes comments--looking for covers we think are especially good, news of our authors past and present, and any general trends.
Some notes on the May kits from Bantam/Ballantine/Dell:
Almost all the Ballantine books were romantic suspense, and those that weren't romantic suspense were thrillers. All New York Times best-selling authors - Linda Howard, Mariah Stewart, etc.--which seems to fit the model for this house. Does that mean romantic suspense is the biggest thing out there next to paranormal? The impression that I get is that a lot of publishers saw its success and started doing a lot of it, but the reason it was so successful was because a lot big-name authors left historicals when the sales started to decline, and they jumped into suspense. So it started out--and, in my opinion, still is--more name driven than genre-driven. That said, there's still a very nice market out there, but it can be difficult to break in because there's so much of it.
Mary Balogh has consecutive March-April-May titles coming out with some of the most gorgeous historical covers I've seen recently. They're lush and sensual and really, really beautiful.
Looks like a cool back-to-back-to-back series coming out for fans of historical fantasy. It's called Traitor to the Crown by C. C. Finlay, and like Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, combines fantastical elements with real history; in this one it's witches/magic/mages during the American Revolution. I don't think it's at all a romance, but sounds fun to me.
Every month the entire staff gets together and the editors officially present their titles to folks in Marketing, Sales, and Production. Tomorrow we happen to be going over August 2009. We typically start with any updates from the previous meeting - changes in titles or scheduling, updates to ISBNs and page counts. Ooh, I can sense your excitement.
Then one by one the editors present the titles they've acquired for the month that we're discussing. Tomorrow I'll be talking about STOLEN HEAT by Elisabeth Naughton and WHERE THE WIND BLOWS, a debut by Caroline Fyffe. I usually tend to start with a reminder of the author's previous books (if there are any) and how they've performed. If it's a new author, I try to give a sense of whose work the book will appeal to. Then usually I give a brief plot summary of the new book. Next comes some of the author's background, if relevant, and a generalization of what I like about the writing and why I think it will appeal to readers. Basically, it's my five-minute pitch.
If we have preliminary cover art, a printout is passed around the table. If there are any major objections (man nipple seems to be a constant problem with some accounts, though obviously the readers never seem to mind), we talk about how they might fixed. And then we open discussion for promotion and sales ideas. if the author has strong sales, we discuss ways to try to bring her to the next level. If the author's initial draws have been slipping but sell-throughs remain high, we try to figure out whether an incentive at the sell-in level will help - extra discounts, a matching program, or something of the sort. If the sell-through is the issue, we talk about the best way to reach readers - advertising, buzz campaigns, in-store placement, preview excerpts in similar books and other tactics. Then we go over any other marketing ideas.
When we've exhausted everything we can think of, our sr. v-p of sales gives a budget number--the number we must get out to meet the annual budget numbers--and a target number--what we want the sales reps to shoot for in the field. And that signifies that it's time to start all over again with the next book.
What's most important for authors to note is that their book is constantly being pitched: from the agent to the editor, the editor to publicity and sales, publicity and sales to media and booksellers, then media and booksellers to readers. It's why it's so vital that a book have a strong hook and a great pitch line. The more authors work on honing that from the very beginning the greater the dividends will be down the line.
Art from Pop Portraits.
I'm not sure there's news about any industry that's really good these days. Recent articles in USA Today and the New York Times look at how the weak economy is affecting book sales and publishers. Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster gives a more detailed look at what's coming down the road and what publishers need to do (via PW). And Random House is hoping to compensate with a huge "Books = Gifts" campaign this holiday.
Generally, in times of economic hardship, mass-market books fare the best of the industry--usually because they're the cheapest and genre fiction tends to provide that escape from everyday life that can be such a relief during crunch times. Everyone's still publishing the same number of books. But where we're starting to feel the squeeze is with smaller print runs going forward and higher returns in the meantime. More in this previous post.
Ok, let's get away from the depressing stuff. Feel good by donating some books or other items to those serving overseas. Check out Any Soldier for a listing of servicemen and -women and what their needs are.
Ok, actually it was a Mexican restaurant, but that just doesn't have the same ring to it.
As I'm munching on my chips and guacamole, I happen to overhear some writers getting together at the next table over. One guy mentions that he's been working on some short stories. The girl he's with, who seems to be a bit more of a veteran, asks, "What's your voice?"
He responds, "Third person omniscent."
She points out, "Well, that's the point of view, but what kind of voice do you have?"
"I think it's present tense." [I cringe.]
"Ok..." she says, and they digress into a conversation about the pros and cons of tenses. And when he talks about some of it being in the past and some of it in the future (future? really?) then goes on to give one of the most convoluted pitches I've ever head, it's hard not to forget eating and focus on this trainwreck of a conversation.
But back to voice. This is a question that comes up a lot--especially since so many agents and editors claim that what they're looking for is strong writing with a fresh voice. Honestly, I can't blame this guy for being a little clueless because it's a difficult definition to pin down. For me, though, "voice" is just another way of saying "style." And that encompasses point of view, dialogue, pacing and the nuances of characterization.
It tends to be obvious when you're writing first-person chick-lit-style, like Gemma Halliday, Naomi Neale, Michelle Maddox, or Angie Fox. After a while, I can almost hear those characters start talking in my head.
But you can also find it in third-person books. Alissa Johnson's AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT has a definite rhythm and cadence to the prose. Trish Albright's SIREN'S SONG shows boisterous adventure in every line.
So when someone asks you about your voice, think about what kind of mood you're evoking, the tone of your writing, what your characters sound like. And then tell the person at the next table to stop eavesdropping and get back to her guacamole.
Tomorrow marks the grand opening of the humongous (24,000 square feet!) Legacy Books in Plano, Texas. They're scheduling all kinds of events, and encourage local or visiting authors to contact them about setting up a signing, a reading--or even a demo cooking class.
Even if you're nowhere near Texas, you'll still want to put these folks on your list. Kathy Baker, an RWA Bookseller of the Year, is heading up their romance buys, and she's always on the lookout for the latest news. Promo items can be sent to:
Kathy Baker
Legacy Books
7300 Dallas Parkway, Suite A120
Plano, TX 75024
RSS Feed