BTW, does anyone here know Sherrilyn Kenyon? Sherri is delightfully unfettered by most of society’s constraints on the ridiculous side of fun. The first time I signed at an RWA Literacy Signing, she was seated across the aisle from me, with a full set of Dark-Hunter character dolls on hand. She’s the very first person I would expect to appear wearing such an outfit.

I’ve seen you enough, Nora, to know that you are always professional, polished and damned near perfect. (I’m not stalking you, honest, no matter how that sounds.) You are one of the last people I’d expect to see in a costume. Included in that category are SEP and Catherine Coulter. It’s a matter of personality and personal presentation.

Alas, I have to confess that being much closer to Sherri than Nora in my attitudes. I would say I’m close to M&M as well, but should I attempt that type of garb at my present age and weight, men and women would scream in terror and small children be sentenced to lifetimes of post-traumatic therapy. That’s a bit much to have on my conscience. Ah, but in my youth…

Angela, that’s a point that cuts through these other debates. There’s a lot of diversity of subgenres, but within each subgenre there are tons of near-identical books. It’s the “Wall of Books” effect in the NYTimes article I quoted above: every trend is represented by such high volume. On top of the fact that not every book can be fantastic, even if it is unique.

Given how jaded I get as a reader, I understand the wish to make the Shomi books (all books) stand out as something different. Honestly though, I’m SO sick of hype. It seems like every book has won some award, and has amazing quotes from other romance authors (which I’ve learned not to trust). And the cover copy too often either sounds just like 40 other books, or gives a false impression of the book. (I find chick lit cover copy especially deceptive.) And then if I buy a hyped-up book and find an unedited mess… I get even more jaded.

It makes it hard to impulse buy. I do more and more research online, reading samples before I buy. (I squint to not read the hype on authors’ websites.) I also use the library when in doubt.

I think the hype has crescendoed (or become more obtrusive) in the last few years. I presume there’s market research saying most readers like the hype, but I’ve hit saturation point.

The way I see it? It isn’t enough to write a great book, but from what I see on the shelves these days, the majority of them aren’t great books and from blog-hopping on author blogs, a lot of unpublished authors are writing copies(whether consciously or not) of what’s on the shelves or what an editor/agent says may be the next trend–not exactly conducive to writing great and unique books or a positive and creative atmosphere. (Makes me wonder how many unpublished authors leave Nationals not worried about what the next author(pubbed and unpubbed) is writing, or what Editor X said is selling.)

That is what is killing the genre and why it will not get the respect a majority seems to crave. Even though Nora Roberts novels haven’t hit my g-spot (*g*), I respect her because she apparently is able to hit the mark every time one of her novels is released–no piggy-backing on trends or fretting over what Susie Q. Author is writing, but setting her own trends while respecting her readers and the genre.

How is using the term ‘pedophile-luring school girls’ even remotely funny?

I’ve always figured that mentioning pedophilia and presenting it as a joke is generally considered bad form.

My bad.

***

Anyone who reads the thread of that discussion will note that what I said was a joking comment in very general terms, responding to a slew of comments on the authors in question and the state of author publicity in general, unlike posters who called the authors “tarts” and also “creepy.” Please do link to THOSE posters’ comments, as well, so your readers can see what preceded my note. I will be the first to say that I misspoke — in jest — but at least I used an honest term to coin the discussion that was, to that point, being cased in very subtle but no less hurtful “nice” terms that women often use when they’re politely eviscerating other women. Those posters were making specific comments directly aimed at the authors, while I was not.

Just sayin’.

For every perky little author who dresses like a pedophile-luring schoolgirl or wears a swan hat or shows her rack or whatever in the vague hope of becoming a bestselling author that way, there are a hundred who a)don’t wear costumes, b)are fat, middle-aged and flat-chested c) don’t even go to conferences, in costume or not, and d)are hugely successful. So, like everything else in the world of extravagant self-promotion, the message continues to be: the best self-promo is sitting yo’ ass at home and writing another good book.”

and you went on to say

Hey, you wanta go to a fan convention and dress up, no problem. But to go to a conference specifically for your professional peers and dress like a self-promoting cheescake is, well, like a pediatrician showing up at the AMA conference wearing a bunny suit. One could argue that said pediatrician is just promoting the business of being a kiddie doc, right? No. He or she is at a professional conference for other doctors. Not appearing at the local Chucky Cheese to drum up business.

To the someone who said “pedophilia� is out of line when connected to grown women dressing like school girls. Nope. A fetish that depends on infantilizing adult women is about promoting sex with underage girls.

And if you do a word search of the comments, yours is the very first that used pedophile or a derivation from that.

The Manga girls – looked adorable and fun, and like they were dressed up to draw attention to their new Shomi line of books. And whether or not it’s appropriate, that horse has been ridden hard, put down, and thoroughly kicked.

It’s their career, and what anyone else thinks is right or wrong, doesn’t really matter. No one here is the Behavior Police.

What I find concerning is the lack of discussion about WHY they felt they needed to do it, the collective sense that as Jane wrote, it isn’t enough to write a good book.

This is the rub – because reports that the midlist is dying and romance is getting less respect and therefore, shelf space, and, and, and….. next thing you know newer writers are feeling desperate to get people to notice them.

I have an idea that I love my job as much as Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi, and that they take their writing every bit as seriously as I do.

I also have the idea that if people would worry less about getting respect and focus on what truly EARNS it – hard work, good books, intelligent discourse, and professional behavoir, we would not be having what amounts to an absurd conversation that begins and ends with, “I wouldn’t do it, and so they shouldn’t, either.”

(Oh, and Nora, will we share shoes (I’m a 7 1/2)? If so, I do.

Avon had t shirts with their authors cover. Many authors had bookmarks, candy, cover flats, and other giveaways. S ome stood while others sat (that might not have been a promo thing). If it is just about the books, with no promo, then I think it would be easy for RWA to draw the line. Costumes would automatically be excluded as promo like opportunities.

Have you read the posts and watched the videos of the let-hair-down silly fun that went on at other RWA functions? (Non-public functions, that is.) Clearly a lot of fun was had. And a lot of business done.

Lynne: I wouldn’t wear a costume… I wouldn’t want others to feel like I was attempting to hog the limelight.

My gut says that’s a large part of the controversy. Was the signing a group hike for charity or an individual race to the top.

I still don’t get how dressing funny is specifically a betrayal of romance genre.

I don’t see it as a betrayal of Romance at all. But I don’t see it as having fun and playing, either. I see it as calculated marketing, that far from being novel and rebellious, is instead making use of a long-time strategy of over-identifying Romance authors with their books and — ironically — taking away from the integrity of the work as anything more than FANtasy fulfillment. By themselves, M&M aren’t, IMO, ruining the genre or dressing against some professional standard; in fact, I think they looked very cute. But overall, I had basically the same reaction Aoife did in terms of seeing their self-styled edginess as consistent with long-time genre marketing trends.

I wouldn’t wear a costume, though, and the main reason is I wouldn’t want others to feel like I was attempting to hog the limelight. I know publishing’s a tough biz and a gal’s gotta do what she can to promo her books, but I think the place for that is at a launch party or at a smaller or individual signing.