Recently, Jayne, myself and a friend of ours (someone who writes grammar textbooks) had this conversation: Jayne: I just started The Ex Hex and am hoping for a cutesy rom-com. We’ll see what I get. Janine: Have you noticed how The [Adjective] [Noun] titles have become a trend in contemporary ... more >
In so many ways genre readers are incredibly fortunate right now. We have literally hundreds of new books a month to choose from in both digital and print; self-publishing is evolving to the point where solidly produced books are entering the market at very competitive prices; subscription services like Scribd, ... more >
If you’ve been on Twitter the past couple of days, you may have seen the minor skirmish over Riptide’s Belongingverse, a website created in 2011 by Rachel Haimowitz and presented via Riptide Publishing, which straddled the line between book promotion and slave fantasy content like classified ads for the purchase of human ... more >
As more self-publishers enter the market, they are competing with traditional publishers for blogger and social media coverage. Which means they are looking for bigger, better ways to get reviews and positive buzz. And apparently that is translating into pressure on some bloggers and readers who accept review copies, and who ... more >
Given all the discussion about community and critique and policing lately, a couple of recent author-to-author situations give these issues a kind of practical relevance. First there is the “genre experiment” undertaken by C.S. Lakin, who discussed her process and results at both Joel Friedlander and Barbara Rogan’s blogs. At the time ... more >
Last week I talked about the way the personal and the professional often overlap in the Romance community around authors reviewing and recommending books. At one end is the elevation of what seems essentially a concern about personal relationships among authors to an alleged professional value that discourages critical review. ... more >