Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Part One was the delivery of promises and Part Two was about the promise itself. Part Three is about the breaking of promises or what I like to think of as When Good Authors Go Bad. There are spoilers in the post below, so reader beware.

There was a lively discussion back in September about what constituted a promise from an author. I argued that authors, by their books, make implicit promises to readers. Readers buy into those promises and look for a similar evocative feel each time they pick up an author’s book. I believe this is why series are so successful. Authors did not like this pigeonholing of their writing skills and there are certainly authors whose brand or promise is to write different stories each time. Inevitably, though, the need for a brand remains. Angie W reported from the NJRW agent panel that agents are looking for authors who are actively seeking to create a brand for themselves.

Jill Monroe had a hilarious take on this. Apparently she refers to her book, Share the Darkness, as STD. It finally took one of her friends …

Part Two of the three part series on promises in romance. Part One was the delivery of promises and Part Two is about the promise itself. Part Three is about the breaking of promises or what I like to think of as When Good Authors Go Bad.

Branding is an important concept for a business person. A brand is not the author name, logo, marketing package, or label. “A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products made by a producer.” (Wikipedia). Essentially, a brand is the promise an author or publisher makes to the reader through the books themselves. As a reader, I have associations and expectations of authors and publishers. It is the brand of an author or publisher that drives my buying decisions and the buying decisions of many other people.

Romance publishers create associations and expectations or “promises” to readers that they will publish romances first and foremost. On the back of a 1986 Jayne Ann Krentz category book, I found the following:

What the press says about Harlequin romance fiction..

“When it comes to romantic novels… Harlequin is the indisputable …

HelenKay Dimon has posted an interesting article at Access Romance about the publishers that she likes. The ones she’s loyal to because they’ve delivered good books in the past and that she’ll take a second look at just because of who they are. An interesting concept raised by Ms. Dimon’s post is branding, both across the line itself and with the authors.

Avon has created a brand with its historicals. They might not have pioneered the stepback cover, but their books are strongly associated with them. It’s interesting that they are now moving back toward the clinch cover. Almost all chick lit books, regardless of publisher, are branded with the same size (trade), color (pastel, usually pink tones - take a look at a bunch of chick lit spines), cartoon like figure of a woman or some other object. No manly chests or heaving bosoms.