Archive for the 'Poll' Category
 Loading ... Robin (aka Janet here) wrote a great piece for Access Romance Readers’ Gab blog about value and creative content.
In the commercial world, we are used to thinking of value in the context of price. A “good value” is often defined by some quotient of quality and price, specifically as relatively high quality for a relatively low price. But the value of books, while commercial art and commercially marketed products, is not so easy to define.
I admit to be one of those people who equate value to length (among other things). Â Going into a purchasing situation, I will be willing to pay more for a longer work than a shorter work even if at the end of the reading both, my positions would have flipped because the shorter work was of higher quality than the longer work. Â But buying decisions are made on the front end so I balk at paying a higher price for novellas or short stories than I would for full length novels.
Does the length of a story affect how much you are willing to pay for it?
Loading ... I know that this will vary from book to book but generally I finish a book in one day if not in one sitting. I generally start a book after I’ve put the tot to bed and finish it before I go to sleep. If it is a particularly good book, I’ll read into the wee morning hours. Who needs to sleep when you can read right? Libraries give people 21 days to finish a book (which is why it is the high end of the poll). I’m curious about your general reading habits, knowing that occasionally you’ll spend longer or shorter depending on the book.
Loading ... Keishon, avidbookreader.com, linked to a discussion at copyblogger which debated whether the theorem that talented authors write badly when they are trying to express an idea and conversely write well when they are trying to touch an audience.
Now, the qualification in the copyblogger post is the term “talented” which can have a whole gamut of interpretations. But setting aside that term, should the author be writing for the reader or writing for herself? Unlike many of the commenters at the copyblogger forum, I believe an author should write for herself.
Interestingly, I think that there is a big difference between “writing for the market” and writing to touch an audience. The commenters, to me, are discussing creating an emotional connection with the readers (which I think is very important, thinking back to the post by Chloe and why she reads). So I’d ask you when voting that you think about the poll in terms of the development of a relationship with the reader through writing and not writing to the market.
JMC posted last week about having problems with con artist protagonists. I’ve enjoyed the occasional assassin book such as Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford series or Barry Eisler’s John Rain series. Jenny Crusie seems to love the morally ambiguous protagonist with books like Welcome to Temptation, Faking It, and Agnes and the Hitman.
I voted in the poll that I sometimes like the con artist or criminal protagonist, but you know, I prefer the non criminal heroes and heroines. What about you?
There was a person who mentioned that the idea of a book or a phone or a laptop in the bathroom is pretty disgusting to them. I confess, in a manner of TMI perhaps, that I read in the bathroom. Do you?
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Loading ... I was emailing with someone yesterday about books set in Minneapolis such as Sunshine by Robin McKinley, War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, contemporaries from Susan Johnson and Connie Brockway; the super fabulous Monkeewrench mystery books by PJ Tracy (they have a new one coming out next year!). Â Some authors really imbue their love for their towns in their books (Beth Kery’s Ode to Chicago aka Daring Time is one of those). Â One of the fun things about urban fantasy is the re-envisioning of these noted urban areas like Atlanta in Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniel series.
I loved seeing the places that I know reincarnated in fiction works. Â But there are other areas of the country that don’t interest me as much, like um, the state I currently live in and other nearby cities.
I don’t know that I would be more interested in reading a book set in a particular area but it could turn me off. Â You?
Loading ... Forrester researchers are estimating that close to a million new ebook readers will be purchased for the holidays.  I am planning on buying one  depending on what comes out from Barnes and Noble.  How about you?
Loading ... In reading a book recently involving a group of “immortals” killing each other, I wondered what immortal meant anymore. To me, immortal means to live forever. Immortal is the opposite of mortal or death. But immortal beings can often be killed by other immortal beings so long as you burn them, cut off their head, pull out their heart, etc. What does immortal mean to you?
Loading ... There is so much I could write about in terms of names in books (and maybe that will be an upcoming Tuesday post) but for today, we have a poll inspired by author Christina Dodd who tweeted today:
“For you as a reader, is it important that you can pronounce character names?”
Yes is my reply. I will stop reading a book just because of the character’s name.
Loading ... From Jessica at Racy Romance Reads: We’ve been talking about the term “bodice ripper”. I see that different folks use it differently. Can you think of any other ways it is used? to refer to “any historical romance”?
Loading ... To give equal time to the women, I present the heroine poll. Do you like your heroines perfect or flawed, physically? Personally, I like both but if I had to choose (and I am making you if you want to vote) for the physically flawed heroine because perfection can be boring.
Really beautiful heroines have their own problems and some authors choose to deal with it such as in The Guardian by Joan Wolf or even to some extent in Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare.
From The Guardian:
I bit my lip in indecision, and then I told her something I had never told anyone else— not even Stephen. “I have this test I apply to people. I think: If I had smallpox, and my face became scarred, would this person’s feelings toward me change?”
Eugenia said, still in that softly gentle voice, “And that is how you select your friends?”
“Yes. For example, I know that no matter what I looked like, Sir Matthew would still want to hunt with me, and Susan Fenton would still want to gossip with me, and…” I let my voice trail away. “Do you see what I mean?”
Loading ... I’ll admit I’m a bit shallow. I like my heroes tall, at least 6′. Â I think other romance readers must as well because you rarely read about the short hero (even if the heroine is short, the hero must tower over her). Â Jayne Ann Krentz is about the only author I know who gets away with writing under 6′ heroes (all of hers hover around the 6′ mark). Â Wes, a hero in Suzanne Brockmann’s Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series underwent a height transformation. I believe he was around 5′ 9″ or 10″ and when he starred in his own book, he was 6′. Â (And no, he wasn’t a teen when he was first introduced). Â The ideal size for a special forces person is not the giant hulk but someone shorter, more wiry.
In the second story of Jasmine Haynes contribution to Twin Peaks, an anthology which included two stories of hers and one story of Susan Johnson (I don’t recommend this antho btw – the Johnson contribution was awful), the hero turned out to be short and bald. I never finished the story. Â In talking about this with another reader, it occurred to me that height was more important than …
Loading ... I asked this question of Sarah last week at Borders. My initial response was “the end, of course” because I love that feeling at the end of a good book. When I pondered this more, though, I came the realization that I am much more excited to start books than I am to finish them. When I start a book, I am hopeful that I am going to enjoy it. I haven’t yet been disappointed. It’s all new and shiny. So for all the great emotions that I feel at the end of a good book, generally, I like the beginning the best. How about you?
Loading ... Reading slumps are a bad, bad thing. You start thinking that the genre sucks or that maybe you’ve changed so that the genre no longer appeals to you. You pick up ten books in your to be read pile and they all look horrible. The mere mention of a bookstore makes your lip curl in disdain. Even talking with other readers becomes tiresome. What to do?
Loading ... This coming year will see a lot of re issues of older books. It’s financially convenient for publishers as they’ve already paid the advance on that book. Sometimes, though, our old favorites simply don’t hold up over time. Keishon, Avidbookreader, blogged about her recent re-reading of Sandra Brown’s Tiger Prince. Dated, Keishon wrote, but still good.
For me, I have a mix. I recently went on a re-reading binge of old Linda Howard books. Her Kell Sabin series is one of my favorite series of all time (definitely worth tracking them down on the used bookstore circuit). But I couldn’t re-read Whitney, My Love, without ruining all my electronics from the wall banging that would ensure. I’m convinced that my unholy love for Whitney My Love came from the fact that I was emotionally at the same level of Whitney when I read it in my early teens.
What about you? Old favorites that you can’t bear to re-read?
At the Popular Romance Studies: International Conference, organised by the International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR), there was a brief discussion to explore this question: Are older under-represented in the romance genre? If so, why? Good questions.
The average age of heroine in U.S. romance novels is between 24-26 (and possibly younger in historical romance). And yet according to the Romance Writers of America RWA), the biggest slice of romance reader demographics is “women aged 31–49 who are currently in a romantic relationship.”  (http://www.rwanational.org/cs/readership_stats#Readers**).
Could it be the same reason why the majority of readers prefer their heroines to be virgins or virginal: reclaim the innocence?
**The Age of Romance Readers
The mean and median age of romance novel readers is very close to that of the general population.
- Mean: 44.6 years
- Median: 44.9 years
Those aged 31 to 49 are more likely to read romance and comprise 44 percent of the readership.
The Golden Era of Romance
- 1990s (40%, 164 Votes)
- 2000s (34%, 143 Votes)
- 1980s (21%, 89 Votes)
- 1970s (5%, 19 Votes)
Total Voters: 415
Loading ... McVane has kindly thought up some poll ideas for me. (They are hard, you guys!). Â I thought this topic was particularly apt given two things. Â First, there are some readers who believe that the best of romance is in the past and that what is being published today is good but will never live up to the “classics”. Â Second, because publishing is hurting (and because readers are buying more established authors than new authors), publishers are turning to old standbys, re-releasing and re-packaging books that they’ve already paid on advance on and are written by authors who are now considered a success. Â To some extent, these repackaged books play on the nostalgia of a reader. I just received a copy of the trade paperback version of Black Silk by Judith Ivory and spent the evening petting it.
Do you think that there is a Golden Era of Romance?
Loading ... A week or so ago, Publishers Weekly posted an article about erotic romance. I gave my definition of erotic romance and that is a romance wherein sex is the source of the conflict. Maya Banks and Joey Hill come to mind. Â Other people view erotic romance based on the numerosity or type of sex involved. Â Erotica and erotic romance is often conflated, in my opinion. Â A single character’s sexual exploration is erotica to me or even parallel character exploration of sex is erotica if the focus of the story is not on the development of the relationship. Â What’s your opinion. (I apologize for the inartful nature of the answers in the poll. I wasn’t quite sure how to craft those).
Loading ... I was reading the latest Stephanie Laurens ARC, The Untamed Bride, (giveaway for which runs tomorrow) and got to thinking about Ms. Laurens’ writing history and her (in)famous Cynster books. She must love the Cynsters because even the prelude to the upcoming historical quartet reference Devil Cynster. Laurens has penned 15 novels about the Cynsters compared to only 8 titles for the Malorys by Johanna Lindsey. My list above contains only those series that have 5 or greater books in it pertaining to one family. Laurens’ Cynsters are my most memorable romance dynasty. Which one is yours?
Loading ... A few years back, Anne Stuart publicly voiced her concern that she wasn’t getting sufficient publishing support from Harlequin. She took an enormous amount of flack for this. Â Recently, Susan Andersen stated in her newsletter to readers that her trilogy would not be finished due to decisions made by the publisher.
There isn’t going to be a third book. After Poppy’s story the powers that be at HQN felt the series had run its course and didn’t believe it required the third book. Less than diplomatically my reaction was and is, “Are you bleeping nuts? You can’t just drop the third story in a trilogy—readers are going to feel betrayed!” But they were adamant about discontinuing it, so I gave them a proposal for Burning Up, a stand alone book.
Cheryl Holt, on her website and in an email to a reader, gave her side of the story as to why her books have been delayed.
Edited: I have received a request to edit this content and since it was not made public by the author to begin with, I have decided to honor that request to help prevent any unintended legal consequences for the parties involved.
As a …
Loading ... A question raised by Esi Sogah, editorial assistant at Avon, last night on Twitter was whether Bestseller lists matter on the cover of books and which ones. Extended beyond that would be what bestseller lists are most useful in making purchasing decisions. I do look at bestseller lists at etailers like Amazon and Fictionwise and Samhain to help make purchasing decisions. I don’t believe that the label on the book has influenced me, but perhaps it has.
One thing about bestseller lists, particularly like the NY Times, is that they aren’t based on actual sales, but projections and calculations and other mysterious woo woo guarded tightly by these bestseller list owners. The lists can be deceptive. Take, for example, Susan Andersen’s recent release, Bending the Rules, which made the NYT list (No. 14) and PW list (peaked at 12). According to her July 29, 2009, newsletter, Harlequin is axing the series, refusing to publish the third in the trilogy and Andersen will be starting with a new stand alone.
I tend to believe that the Amazon, Fictionwise bestseller lists are based on actual units sold and thus more accurate. I could be …
Loading ... Robin, who cheats on Dear Author by blogging at Access Romance and Romancing the Blog, posted her thoughts about spoilers in reviews. Â Robin is for it (and I am too) but we both work hard to have spoiler free reviews. It’s often quite hard, particularly when an element of the story affects how you view the book’s plot or character development.
NOTE: I flushed the poll because there was some confusion about the “PUBLIC” nature of the criticism. I want the poll to reflect the temperature of whether public criticism is acceptable. Â Sorry for the restart.
Loading ... The website mistress of The Season (a place to find out about new historical romance releases) asked this question on Twitter this morning. Â Many authors I know believe never in saying anything critical of another author’s work in the genre. Â As a reader, an author saying something negative about the book of another author does not bother me in the least.
Further, one of the biggest complaints I hear about Dear Author is that we are mere readers and don’t understand the craft of writing. It is true that we are a group of readers here and we don’t have intimate knowledge of the craft of writing (although at times I feel like I know more than the writer if the book is particularly bad). Â Who understands the craft of writing better than a writer?
Loading ... I think I was a preteen when I first started reading romances, albeit against my mother’s wishes. I am sure I was only 14 when I read Whitney, My Love. God I loved that book when I was 14. Â Of course Whitney and my maturity level was about the same so it made perfect sense. Â I’m grappling with when I will let the tot read romances. Â I mean, I recognize the subversity of some of these boss/secretary books, but will she?
Loading ... Abortion has been fairly taboo in romance. In other words, a heroine has rarely ever seriously contemplated abortion or had one. Would a heroine who had an abortion be acceptable?
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Open Threads at Dear Author. Want to know what new releases are out this month and what readers are excited about reading? Check out the threads below. 
We don’t like to censor comments nor do we endorse the comments of any poster. We do reserve the right to moderate comments but most of the time will not, believing, as Justice Brandeis did, that the greater good is in “more speech, not enforced silence.”
