Aug 13 2011
Thanking our August Advertisers
Each month, we have a new slate of advertisements and the advertisements help to fund things like giveaways to the troops, to blog readers, and to the maintenance of the blog. This is our post to thank them.
- Avon is partnering with the Ovarian Cancer Alliance to raise money for Ovarian cancer awareness with a new Kiss and Teal campaign.
- Berkley: Learn more about Angela Knight’s Master of Shadows
- Harlequin: Celebrating the launch of the Harlequin Treasury.
- Samhain: Small town romances from Samhain
- All Romance eBooks is celebrating Samhain books this month.
- Jennifer Estep’s new Mythos Academy book, Touch of Frost, is out.
- HelenKay Dimon’s latest Harlequin Intrigue, Locked and Loaded, it available.
- Simon & Schuster: Cindy Gerard is nearing the end of her BOIs romantic suspense series with her latest entry, With No Remorse.
Send to Kindle
Aug 13, 2011 @ 20:33:05
I’ve been loving looking at Cindy Gerard’s cover when I visit the site!
Aug 13, 2011 @ 22:39:33
Dear good lord, I am AWARE OF CANCER. I am so aware, I can’t stand it.
Worst marketing gimmick ever.
Aug 14, 2011 @ 01:54:49
General awareness is one thing. But are all women aware of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer, in particular?
I honestly was not. I had no clue what those symptoms might be, until this campaign. The participating Avon authors were invited to in-person training with an OCNA representative.
(And while I’m on the subject, the symptoms are:
*Bloating
*Pelvic and abdominal pain
*Difficulty eating or feeling full quickly
*Urinary frequency or urgency.
Women who experience some or all of these symptoms over a period of two weeks or longer are urged to see their gynecologist. See ovariancancer.org for more info and a symptom diary.)
The above information is inside the back cover of every “KISS and Teal” book. Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological cancer, in part because the symptoms are so subtle and easy to dismiss. There’s no routine test for it, either (such as a Pap smear or mammogram). Women are often not diagnosed until a late stage, when their odds of survival are much slimmer.
This is important health information for all women, and maybe I just have my head in the sand, but I’d never heard it before. Romance novels are, in my opinion, an excellent way to spread the knowledge. Long after these books are off store shelves, they’ll be in a UBS, a garage sale, a library, a personal collection… the message will keep circulating for years to come.
Aug 14, 2011 @ 12:00:13
@Tessa Dare: I just want to buy books. I don’t need a goddamned health and wellness lecture with it.
Aug 14, 2011 @ 13:08:34
@Ridley Don’t make me install a profanity plugin. I’m trying to reduce the number of plugins I am running here.
Aug 14, 2011 @ 13:12:00
@Jane: You’re cramping my style. I need to be free.
Aug 14, 2011 @ 13:23:33
@Ridley: @Tessa Dare: Anyone with those symptoms should get to a doctor regardless of whether they pan out to be ovarian cancer or not. And talk about overdetermined, in terms of what they could be symptomatic of.
The Teal brigade is modeling the Pink brigade, with all the good and bad the latter has brought to the table.
I understand why authors participate in this; I probably would too if asked. But honestly, I could do with a lot less color-of-the-month. Romances were my escape when I was in that situation, and I wouldn’t have appreciated a PSA when I was looking to *avoid* thinking about it.
Aug 14, 2011 @ 13:44:34
I think it’s for a good cause, so I don’t mind Avon’s campaign. I do think, however, that the donation could be a little higher and not capped at a certain level.
Aug 14, 2011 @ 13:47:55
@Kim: But then it wouldn’t be a very effective marketing campaign, now would it?
These color-coded cancer marketing campaigns are about profits, not medicine. And what’s lower than profiting from people’s emotions on something like cancer?
Aug 29, 2011 @ 21:49:16
Thanks for running this page with all the ads in one place. I saw an ad yesterday for “a purple book with a sword” that looked interesting, but it had rotated out by the time I came back today. Then I remembered this page existed. Turns out there are TWO purple books with swords for sale this month! Go figure. Angela Knight & Shannon K. Butcher. The Butcher one was the one I was after, thanks!