Traditional Publishing: School of Hard Knocks?

Author Stephanie Bond, who has sold 2 million books and one of whose titles has been adapted for a Hallmark movie, credits her success as an indie author to the hard knocks education she got in traditional publishing. As I read her interview on Indie Reader I found myself nodding at the parallels with my own publishing experience.

While I haven't sold 2 million books, I too started out in traditional publishing (Dorchester Publishing, Montlake Romance) and I can verify the prevalence of those hard knocks. Here are a few, from my experience alone:

1. Publisher goes out of business, chaotically, over a period of years. Your titles with them, including option books (and scheduled-to-be released books, as some of my co-authors learned) are tied up, sometimes for years. My indie venture never goes out of business unless I want it to, my books are never tied up, and they never go out of print.

2. Bond, in the interview mentioned, also stated that "digital publishing in general is simply a better fit for my hybrid books that are part mystery, part relationship; traditional publishers never knew how to categorize my books or where they should be shelved in brick and mortar stores." When my option book finally emerged from the ashes of Dorchester, I had this same problem with my own part romance, part mystery, noir-ish title. The agent said she loved the story but couldn't settle on a genre, so she decided not to send it out to publishers. That book became my first indie title.

3. Authors generally have zero control of their intellectual properties once they sign that traditional publishing contract: not over covers, editing, pricing, release schedule, making changes, and myriad other things. As an indie I can alter anything at will, and the changes go live in hours or a day at most.

4. I was told to stick to one genre and build up a readership there before branching into side alleys. But I don't write that way: I write what I'm moved to write when I'm moved. I've written romance, historical, literary, memoir, and am currently dabbling in mystery. I write and publish short stories and novellas, standalone and in series, as well as novels. I'm all over the map. Indie publishing allows me to write and publish the way I want to rather than some way that's prescribed for me. I don't wear prescriptions well.

5. Making money through trad pubbing is extremely difficult once that advance has been paid. I made more money through my indie books last year than in all the years since I was first pubbed in 2008 -- all of them combined.

6. If you happen to earn out your advance and royalties start trickling in, you have to wait 6 months or longer to see that money, depending on your publisher's payment schedule. If you're agented, like I am for the traditionally published book, you have to wait longer yet for those pennies -- minus the agent's commission -- with all sorts of attendant issues that I won't get into. I get paid in 2 months for my indie titles. 2 months. With one aggregator that I use to get my books on Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo etc., those royalties are in my bank account two days after the payment goes through. If I opt to use a service like Payoneer, the payment goes into my account immediately. IMHO, that's hard to beat.

The traditional publishing experience isn't all negative. Amazon's Montlake Romance acquired my first title, Cafe au Lait, in 2013, 5 years after its first publication, propelling it to the UK Kindle Top 100 list several times during dedicated promotions over subsequent years and generating significant royalties (finally). I doubt I could have done that on my own; an indie author simply does not have the promotional clout of Amazon's mega-machine. Conversely, indie publishing is not a walk in the park: it is a hell of a lot of work, and if often takes time for returns to start coming in: it was three years before I began to see regular royalties, and another year before I saw significant royalties. 

I don't regret my hard knocks in the school of traditional publishing: they smashed my rose-colored perspective on publishing forever, and equipped me with something that money can't buy: invaluable experience. To the hybrid authors out there: How would you compare your traditional vs. your indie publishing experience? I'm aware that everyone's mileage differs.

Liane Spicer

Writing in Multiple Genres

I began my publishing career with a contemporary romance novel. This choice of genre was quite deliberate: it had nothing to do with the huge market for these books, and everything to do with the launch of Kensington's Arabesque imprint in the 1990s. Kensington was the first major publishing house to feature a line devoted to love stories about people of color, the absence of which had often been lamented by my friends and colleagues.

My publishing contract at the time included an option for a second romance novel, so I wrote one. It got caught in the meltdown of the publishing house, and I eventually recovered the rights and published it myself. Since then I have gone on to publish in several genres, using different names to keep things nice and orderly. I use my given name for literary work, and different pen names for historical fiction and interracial romance. I have a mystery series in the oven and I plan to use a variation of the Liane Spicer brand for those.

It can get a trifle confusing at times, I admit. In addition, I have a science fiction novella that I'm considering turning into a series, a completed memoir, and two works of nonfiction. Which names should I use for these? Should I come up with a new one for the SF series to eliminate the risk of confusing (and losing) my readers in a particular genre?

The bestselling author Judy Blume uses just one name for her juvenile, YA and decidedly adult titles. Others such as JK Rowling and Sue Grafton use different names for different genres.

My question is: How do you handle the multi-genre issue? Do you stick to one genre? And if you write in multiple genres, how do you handle the name challenge?

Writing a Cozy Mystery

What, no detailed violence or bloodshed in my mystery—in this day of Mission Impossible XIV (or whatever number they’re up to) and CSI morgues in living color? And what about including a hint of romance rather than steamy, explicit sex scenes? Would anyone read it? Shades of Gray was made into a movie, for heaven’s sake.

I started writing my first mystery at a workshop. It was love at first write. Mysteries have always been one of my favorite genres. Agatha Christie, Lilian Jackson Braun, Nancy Pickard, Nora Roberts, John Grisham, Diane Mott Davidson, Carl Hiaasen, Tony Hillerman, and on and on. That there are sub-genres within the mystery genre didn’t give me pause. Until—people started telling me I needed to include sex scenes and gory details of the murders in my stories to appeal to today’s readers.

I struggled to include some gratuitous sex and violence in my otherwise strategy and clue-driven first mystery. It sounded unnecessary and even distracting. It was then I dug deeper into the varieties of mysteries. A revelation—I could write a cozy mystery, or a cozy. I looked back at my bookshelf. Sure enough, the definition of a cozy fit my most beloved mysteries.

Besides being G or PG rated, cozies often have an amateur sleuth, like Beth Stockwell, the protagonist in my Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series. Details about the sleuth’s profession or hobby become part of the story (newspaper reporter, baker, librarian, house builder, knitter, bookstore owner, etc.) Beth is a landlady with rental properties that become crime scenes. A cozy mystery takes place in an intimate village, town, or neighborhood that is visited throughout each story in a series. Readers learn to know the town as well as the characters. My stories take place in Brookside, a quaint neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri.

The converted Trolley Track Trail meanders through Brookside. The hiking/biking trail serves as a symbolic path Beth takes between her everyday home life and her dangerous investigating. Beth argues with herself internally while taking her daily walk, and she encounters different folks on the trail, both good and evil.

Pets. I can’t imagine Clive Cussler’s hero, Dirk Pitt, spending time with a cat. By no means all, but many, cozy mysteries include a cat or a dog as a character. The pets provide humorous interludes, willing listeners, and avenues for foreshadowing clues or danger to come. Sylvester, the Psycho Cat in my series, makes brief, but important, appearances in each book. Although he’s typical cat at all times, he is the catalyst for discovering the mysteries and some of the clues.

The structure of a cozy is essentially the same as any mystery—three acts with plot points, climax, and wrap-up. The challenge faced by the cozy writer, in my opinion, consists of creating characters, plot, and climax that are intriguing and exciting for today’s readers without depicting grisly murders and titillating sexual encounters in detail. That’s okay by me. I love my mysteries to be mysterious and suspenseful, not clinical.

Happy anniversary, Novel Spaces!

July 1 will mark the 6th anniversary of the Novel Spaces blog, and the beginning of our 7th year.

We're a different kind of writing group. Whereas most author blogs focus on a particular genre, Novel Spaces authors come in every stripe, from romance to historical, sci-fi to horror, literary to erotica, mainstream to fantasy graphic books, young adult to paranormal, crime fiction to poetry, media tie-in games to mystery. Yikes! That pretty much covers every major genre out there. Our writers are as diverse as their output, coming from backgrounds that range from biomedical research to information technology, the military to education, archaeology to law enforcement, health administration to broadcast media, graphic art and more. They are dotted around the planet, from Asia to the Caribbean and the US. So what on earth do we all have in common?

We love books. We love to read good stories, and to write them. We love the creative impulse, the idea that comes screaming through the ether begging: "Write me! Write me!" We love the research, the actual act of writing, of fingers flashing over keyboard or picking hesitantly at keys, of the swash and backwash of words forming into images. We really love words--all those sounds, shapes, and shades of meaning. We agonize over them, chuckle at them, cry over them. And perhaps most importantly, we love interacting with people who understand all of this and who feel the way we do about stories, about books, about writing.

To the 22 wonderful authors, past and present, who have stepped aboard the Novel Spaces ship, we thank you all. We appreciate the unique perspectives you have brought to the group, as well as your discipline and commitment over the years. To the new members waiting in the wings to join us July 1, welcome! We look forward to the new flavors you will bring to Novel Spaces as we embark upon our newest odyssey. And to our guest authors, readers and followers over the years, a heartfelt 'Thank you!' You're a lovely bunch. Never once have we had to deal with unpleasantness on our threads. That is something rare and beautiful.

Happy anniversary to the Novelnaut community! Off we go again.

So--you're a romance writer... *snicker*

The two or three people who've read my work know me as a romance writer. Two of the three novel-length works I've published to date are contemporary romance/romantic suspense, and I tend to get a little defensive about my 'romance writer' label for two reasons:

• Romance writing is generally looked down upon by the rest of the writing establishment, and by academia. (See Romance Schromance: Do Romance Novels Have Any Literary Value?)
• And then there's this: romance is just one of the genres in which I write. 

I decided to count my genres when I read Che Gilson's post "Writing Bucket List", and realized I write in no fewer than seven of them.

I write mystery. I've started a mystery novel that I'm very excited about. It's set on a fictitious Caribbean island and explores the other side of the tourist destination ethos of the region: no smiling 'natives' serving drinks with umbrellas but real people with real struggles, out of control violent crime, white collar corruption, and yes, a little realistic romance.

I write memoir. I've written one on raising my son and it's awaiting a final edit before I submit it anywhere.

I write literary fiction. One of my short stories has been published in a literary journal, another was shortlisted for a lit prize, and several others are cooling their heels on my hard drive. One of my WIPs is a novel which draws on my family history and may be categorized as literary, women's fiction or mainstream. Not sure yet.

I write science fiction. Just one so far. Yup, surprised me too, but I woke up with the story in my head and could not get it out. So I wrote it. Not sure yet what exactly I should do with it, and don't know if I'll be writing any more.

I write poetry. I don't consider myself a poet, but I've always written 'poemish' things. Last year I took a poetry writing class and although I got an A I still don't consider myself a poet. Not too sure what I'll do with that collection of sonnets, haikus, tankas, ballads, acrostics, villanelles, dramatic monologues, modified forms and free verse, but it sure was fun writing them.

I write flash fiction. Submitted my favorite here, and I see more FF in my future.

Seven genres, and I've probably overlooked a couple others. I was told by a well-meaning friend years ago that I should stick to one genre and develop a fan base there before moving into other genres. But I'm wayward. I write what I want, when I want. And with the growth of indie publishing, I can also publish what I want, when I want. Am I making money doing my own thing? Very little thus far. Am I happy doing things my way? You bet I am.

Do you stick to one genre? Or do you juggle multiple genres like I do?

~Liane

Special Guest Skylar Hamilton Burris: The Challenge of Genre Labels

Skylar Hamilton Burris is the author of two novel-length sequels to Pride and Prejudice, a collection of poetry, and a collection of literary criticism. Her latest novel, When the Heart Is Laid Bare, is a contemporary story of healing and friendship. She earned a dual degree in English literature and economics from the University of Virginia and holds a Master's in English from the University of Texas. Skylar is the editor of Ancient Paths Literary Magazine, which has published quality short fiction and poetry for over fourteen years. Her short stories, poetry, and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Big Pulp, The First Line, Spring Hill Review, The Lyric, Voicings from the High Country, The Penwood Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, Small Press Review, and Montgommery's Journey.

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           Publishers like to fit novels into the tidy boxes of genre. This makes them easier to market and sell to readers who know the general type of books they seek.  From romance and young adult to science-fiction and horror, genre labels give readers an idea of what to expect. Publishers are reluctant to bring to market books that break the conventions of the given genre to which they are assigned. Your Christian fiction can’t feature characters who swear or have sex outside of marriage. In contrast, your new adult romance ought not to have characters who are too chaste.  Your genre thriller probably shouldn’t be written with a great deal of literary flourish. These sorts of rules are unwritten, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. An author’s genre label will determine where his or her books are shelved and how they are ranked within categories, and it will help to direct readers. Labels are necessary, but they can also be limiting.

These labels pose a special challenge to authors who blur genre lines or whose books don’t fit neatly within the conventions of a single category. Last year, I read Stephen King’s Joyland. The book is labeled Hard Case Crime on the back, but fans of the hardboiled detective genre may find it a little too whimsical and insufficiently focused on the mystery. It has some chilling moments and hints of the supernatural, but the book isn’t quite a horror novel either. Joyland might best be classified as a coming-of-age story, but that label probably wouldn’t appeal to King’s usual audience. So the publisher chose a genre and ran with it. Stephen King is a big enough name that a slightly inaccurate label won’t prevent millions of people from buying his latest book, but labeling poses a greater challenge to debut and midlist authors whose works don’t quite fit within the confines of one particular genre.

At places such as Amazon and Goodreads, I have found my novel Conviction stocked on a variety of virtual shelves, including Christian fiction, literary fiction, historical romance, Regency romance, inspirational romance, and Jane Austen sequels. While it has some Christian characters (a vicar is one of the major players) and a few Christian themes, it doesn’t closely follow all of the big publishing house rules of what is and is not allowed in Christian fiction, and the religion of the characters is not the focus of the story. Although the book clearly provides a romantic plot with the typical “happily ever after” ending, it is written in a literary style that is not commonly found in the romance genre. My third novel, which will be released May 1^st, is also difficult to classify. The book is a story of grief and healing and male friendship, which might qualify it as literary fiction, except that the two romantic subplots consume a fair portion of the focus. On the other hand, one of the expectations of the romance genre is that the hero and heroine will be in face to face scenes for fifty percent of the novel with romantic tension throughout, but When the Heart Is Laid Bare begins with the death of the hero’s wife, and he’s understandably in no mood for romance.   While the book has Christian themes, it involves a character who is shaky and growing in his faith and breaks some of the unspoken “thou shalt not’s” of the Christian fiction genre.

What’s a genre-blurring author to do? I found a small press Christian publisher who was willing to be a little more flexible in her boundaries than most of the big houses, and I accepted the “Christian fiction” label even though I don’t like the idea that it might limit my readership by turning off a non-Christian reader to a book he or she might actually enjoy. Other authors, after much reading and research, modify their books to fit more neatly within a specific genre. Some choose to self-publish their genre-bending books. For writers and readers alike, genre can be both a challenge and a tool. 

P.S. I’ll be happy to send a free copy of "An Unlikely Missionary" to one person randomly picked from those who comment below.

Books by Skylar Hamilton Burris: 

 

   

Flash Fiction

Still reeling from the disappointing results of my ebook experiment, I entered a period of depression, followed by a period of heavy drinking, and culminating with alternating bouts of anger, self-loathing, and giggling.  It was a rough time, I won’t lie, but it only lasted about an hour, and I’m over it now.

I’m not going to give up.  In fact, as long as people refuse to read my work, I’m going to keep writing.  That’s what it’s all about, I’ve decided.  So I’m revisiting one of my first loves, Samantha Horowitz of Paramus, New Jersey, for the hell of it.  And then I’m revisiting another of my first loves; flash fiction.

I can’t write poetry, but I can write brief stories.  What I like the most about flash fiction is that it forces you to be creative in a limited space.  It’s like painting a sunset with only two colors, and not the colors you want.  

The storyteller John Daniel crafts massive little stories with only 99 words.  I can’t do that.  I need 150-250.  But with 150 words, you can make a story out of nearly anything, like this:

HOW TO BUY VODKA IN A RECESSION

“I don’t have a lot of money,” I told the liquor store clerk.  He knows me; we go way back.  “But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to sacrifice on quality.”

“How much do you have?”

I held up a handful of coins.  “$2.34”

He reached for a miniature bottle of Smirnoff.  “This is the best I can do.”  

“No.”  I shook my head.  “It’s really too small.  What else do you have?”

“Nothing, nothing at all, except,…no.”

“What?”

He sighed and pulled a liter bottle from under the counter.  The label was Russian.  “I don’t know if you’re ready.  It’s made from turnips.”

“What’s it like?”

“It’s a low-born vodka, sullen with a harrowing finish.  It’s the kind of tipple you’d want along on a cold November morning if you were stripping wallpaper in Minsk.”

“How much?”

“$1.17.”

I did the math.  “I’ll take two.”

If you’d like to read more, consider investing 99¢ and picking up a copy of The Mummies of Blogspace9.  It’s been called “original,” “evocative,” “mind-blowing,” “far-reaching in scope,” and “genre-bending,” all by me.  This could well be the best 99¢ you spend all day.

Genre-Phobic

by Sunny Frazier

Yesterday, I went to a sci-fi gathering at an eclectic bookstore in Clovis, California. Normally, I avoid this genre because I've never read sci-fi or fantasy. However, I've dragged my friend Che to a number of bookish events she was reluctant to attend, so I owed her.

I don't know who Dr. Who is, but apparently the kid in the suit and bow tie was representing. I felt awkward sitting next to the barefoot woman with the gypsy scarf and leg bracelet, despite the fact that I do astrology (I'd thoughtfully left my crystal ball at home). I still don't know where a mandolin fit into the picture—did I miss something?

There were interesting readings: penguin armies on the rampage, vampire bartenders, severed hand in a Humvee, proof of ancient aliens. These subjects never come up at the mystery events I attend. No, my friends and I are more concerned with the best way to kill people and where to hide a body. Information you can really use.

The trivia contest for free books involved knowing novels like Dune and Lord of the Rings cover to cover. Answers were contested and people googled on their phones to double-check. It all sounded like gibberish to me. The fact that people actually knew the answers set the nerd bar very high.

But, you know, I found much of the same energy and camaraderie among these fantasy aficionados as I see with my murder-loving friends. I could even feel myself being pulled into their strange world of stranger worlds. Maybe I've been too genre-phobic all these years. The level of imagination coming from this group stunned me. Mystery writing requires a certain amount of control and at least one foot in reality. None of that seemed to apply with these authors.

As an acquisitions editor, I've had to open my mind to a wide range of reading material. I introduced a Western line even though Lonesome Dove was the only real Western I'd ever read. I was able to stretch a bit on paranormal plots but drew the line at the werewolf/vampire/zombie trend. However, Oak Tree Press is trying a contest this year for our Mystic Oaks line so yes, bring on all of the above. I can handle it.

Bottom line: maybe I'm ready to explore genres outside my comfort zone. But, I think I have to draw the line at romance writing events. I hear those authors are STRANGE!            

Obscure Gems of Yesterday

I began this year searching for mysteries that should have been classics but somehow faded into the background.  I was interested in solid detective fiction - grade A, Dashiell Hammett-quality gumshoe yarns.  And that isn’t easy to come by.

Fortunately, I have friends in high places, and by high places, I mean bookstores.  My friend Bill Rozell, owner of Scrooge & Marley Booksellers, pointed me in the right direction.

And by the way, bookstore owners know a hell of a lot about books, which is something we don’t often think about when we hit that “Add to Cart” button.  An algorithm can’t always be trusted to provide a good recommendation.

And so I began reading the novels of Arthur Upfield, an Australian writer of detective fiction featuring the half-Aborigine Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force.

Writing his novels in the 1930s through the 1950s, Upfield is a man of his times, using the cadences and norms of his time.  I can’t help but cringe when 'Bony,' as the protagonist calls himself, pronounces himself unique, “standing midway between the white and black races, having all the virtues of the white race and very few vices of the black race.”  Sure, he's deliberately disarming his audience, but it comes at a high price.

Reluctant as I am to let something like that slide, I read on, and I’m glad I did because Bony is a wonderful protagonist, greatly loved by his author.  And it became clear, the more I read, that Upfield was drawing the reader to understand that it was Bony’s aboriginal culture and mindset that made him effective, made him brilliant.

“I am naturally impatient of red tape and regulations which are apt to bring on gastric trouble,” Bony tells his audience in The Bachelors of Broken Hill.  “I never hurry in my hunt for a murderer, but I never delay my approach.”

As he moves throughout the Australian outback, Boney routinely encounters resistance from police and civilians alike who are taken aback by this anomaly, this “half-caste” in the the language of the books and the time.  But it’s this distance, this otherness, that makes Bony effective.  He approaches phenomena from a slightly different viewpoint than everyone else, including the killers he tracks and inevitably finds.

At the end of each book, the reader is both impressed and charmed.  And that is Upfield’s gift - you can’t help but like Bony.  Writing at a time and place when race was a difficult concept (and when and where has it ever not been?) Upfield broke some barriers with a powerful gentle narrative that resonates even today.

I’d recommend starting with The Bone is Pointed and The Bachelors of Broken Hill.

So what nearly-forgotten gems can you reintroduce to polite society?

And if you’re looking for obscure books, check out the good folks at Scrooge & Marley Booksellers - http://www.biblio.com/bookstore/scrooge-marley-booksellers-carmichael

Stay or Stray?

A friend who was reading my latest book, The Water of Sunlight, emailed me while she was still on chapter one to say, and I quote, "Wow!  You've strayed far from your romance roots!"  And I have.  It's true.  Sunlight is a gritty story of one's woman redemption after she is imprisoned for the attempted murder of her drug dealer.  There is no romance of any kind in sight!  Yet, my first novel was a light novel set in the Virgin Islands - lots of sun, sand and sea, a handsome hero and a strong-willed heroine.

So, how have I found myself in Sunlight tackling issues like drug abuse, women in prison and HIV/AIDS?  Aren't I, perhaps, damaging my career by writing all over the map?  My second novel, Dido's Prize, was a historical adventure romance and the third, Jessamine, hmm, well, that had a bit of romance, a bit of suspense, it had a strong historical element but it was also partly contemporary so it was quite the callaloo as we would say in the Caribbean.

A lot of what I've read on the subject (see here and here) suggests sticking to one genre and becoming known in it before branching out and, hopefully, taking your readers with you.  The argument is that when you jump from one genre to another, you don't get the chance to establish a relationship with readers who may trust you enough to follow you to another genre.  I can see the merit to this argument.  Nora Roberts is said to have waited until she was well known in romance before branching into her J. D. Robb series.  But I read in all genres - why shouldn't I write in them, too?  (For a discussion on the topic, check here.)  I like romances and will probably return to them but there are other stories I want to tell, as well, and not all of them will have a happily ever after.

What do you think about multiple genres?

Red hot chili peppers—the spicy side of romance

I was at a party a few weekends ago where I met two young ladies.  A relative of mine introduced me to them as an author.  They proceeded to ask the question that most authors get, “What kind of books do you write?”

When I responded that I wrote romance, one of the ladies said with disdain, “That kind of stuff is too hot for me.”

“What kind of stuff?” I asked.

“If you write anything like what she [my relative] reads, well that is just wild stuff.”

Turns out my relative reads erotica.

Of course I defended the genre by saying romance is about love.  A discussion ensued where I tried to show the difference between romance and erotica.  I described romance as being driven by the love between the main characters, while erotica is driven more by the sexual content whether or not there is a love story.  Furthermore, the sexual content in erotica is generally more explicit than in romance.  But after a few minutes of discussion and a few blatant examples, I realized the lines between romance and erotica were sometimes so blurred it was difficult to distinguish.  

Why? The romance genre is a spectrum when it comes to the sexual content.  On one end of the spectrum lies the inspirational romance based on faith, where there is no mention of sex or even male/female contact besides holding hands.  In those, even among married characters, sex can only be implied.  On the other end of the spectrum is the spicy romance that contains so many explicit sex scenes that they can be categorized as erotica.  Between the extremes there are the sweet romances, the mild romance with just an implication of sexual activity and the more spicy romances with one more sex scenes between the characters in love.  Even then it can vary from sweet and romantic, to hot and spicy, to outright erotic.

So how can a reader tell whether a romance is sweet or spicy?  I guess they can read the summary at the back of the book.  But that often times tell the story line without indication for the spice level.  They can use the author as a guide.  If the author is Leanne Banks they can expect something a lot spicier than if it was Debbie Macomber.  But some authors write both sweet and sensual romances.  A third way to distinguish is by the imprint.  We can expect Harlequin Blaze and Kensington Brava to be spicy hot, while traditional Regencies and Harlequin’s Silhouette would be more on the mild side. But with the increase in self-published books, using the imprint as a guide may not be so helpful.

Well, some groups have provided a spice ranking on their blog reviews so one can tell how explicit the books are.  “All About Romance” rates books as Kisses, subtle, warm, hot or burning.  Their descriptions are posted on their website www.likesbooks.com.  My favorite ranking system, mainly for its metaphor, is the chili pepper ranking by “notyourordinarybookbanter”  Their rankings include the chili green pepper, chili red pepper, chili pepper on fire and chili pepper roasted.

While these rankings don’t give the intimate details of the book or storyline, they do give a good indication of the sexual content of the book.  For example, my novel, “A Marriage of Convenience” was given a “warm” ranking which aptly indicated the level of sensuality. The unfortunate thing about these rankings is that you cannot find them on the books when you purchase them in the bookstore and they are only available when those particular blogs post a review of the books.  Maybe in the future Amazon will do a similar sensuality ranking or publishers would put those rankings on books.

But until that is done, to determine the spice level of romance readers will just have to depend on the resources they have at their disposal: the blogs, the quick scan of the books, author stereotypes, or recommendations from friends.

As for those two ladies at the party, by the end of the conversation, they were eager to obtain copies of my romance novels. I guess I didn’t do too bad a job of selling myself and my genre.

Like Me. Friend Me!

I find it so funny that a few short months ago Facebook was not my friend. Not at all. I definitely didn’t “like” FB. When I first created a profile it sat there. I rarely posted. I mean for months. Sometimes I’d go on and make a brief comment on a post by one of my “friends”. I didn’t get FB, and using it confused me. Months would go by and I wouldn’t event visit FB.

Fast forward a couple of years and FB is now my friend. I talked about my use of FB as an author. Now I’m having great fun as a reader. I joined several FB groups. Two are readers groups that invited me (and other authors). Two are authors groups networking and sharing information. The other group is a hybrid of sorts. Reading In Black was started by author Deatri King-Bey. But the group is also for readers. Of course we authors are major readers/book geeks as well. The over arching goal of the group is to discuss mystery, thriller, horror, Sci-Fi, fantasy and paranormal novels written by and about POC (people of color).



I’ve discovered a long list of authors writing books I didn’t know existed. One example Steampunk written by and featuring POC. I didn’t know! I also have fallen in love with a genre called Sword and Soul – epic fantasy based on African traditions, culture and history. My first taste Griots, an anthology. I’m in love (huge Game of Thrones fanatic).

Since Fringe and Person of Interest debuted their fall season first episodes 9/28, those of us who are fans geeked out to discuss the story lines, actors, scripts and more. I’ve also been buying thrillers, mystery and paranormal novels. We discuss movies, so it’s not just about books. Though there is a lot of book talk. Saturday night (9/29) someone posted that Lake Placid, The Final Chapter would be on the SyFy channel. Spontaneously several of us started posting hilarious comments on FB while watching (silly dialogue, too stupid to live characters, who gets eaten first, etc.)

So I invite readers of the genres we read and write to stop by and consider joining up. We’re not just having a blast, but you’ll be able learn about wonderful books.
I’m writing a book I want to be on sale for the holidays. Now I have to make myself stay away from FB. 360 degree change. Seriously.

Guest author Patricia Gligor: Novel Vacations

Patricia Gligor

I love to travel and I love to read mystery novels! Whenever I visit a city I've never been to before, I search for a local bookstore where I scan the shelves, looking for mystery/suspense novels by local authors. I do this for two reasons. First, I think it's important to support writers everywhere and second, because, when I come home and return to my daily life, I can open the pages and escape to the place I've just visited. It's a way to hang on to the "vacation" mode. For example:

In 2004, I visited Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, my favorite of the three. I found a bookstore on Martha's Vineyard and purchased a mystery novel, Murder on Martha's Vineyard, by David Osborn, a local writer. Back at home, I read the book and really enjoyed it. When I looked up the author, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he’d written more books in the series so I ordered them. I read all of David Osborn’s books and was able to “stay” on Martha's Vineyard a lot longer than my vacation time allowed.

In 2009, I went to Wilmington, North Carolina. I loved exploring the city. So much history! The old Cotton Exchange, which now houses several delightful shops, including a bookstore, intrigued me, as did the horse drawn carriages and the theater where John Wilkes Booth once performed. I bought two mystery novels by Wanda Canada, Island Murders and Cape Fear Murders. When I got home, I read both books and felt as if I were still sitting on a pier, gazing out at the Cape Fear River, watching the boats go by.

But, what happens if you can’t take a vacation this year? You’re certainly not alone! With the current economy and the sometimes demanding circumstances in our daily lives (illnesses, aging parents, small children, etc.), there are years when we have to “settle” for staying at home. Instead of feeling let down and deprived, why not go on vacation in your mind? Why not let your imagination transport you to places you’ve already visited and to places you’ve never gone before?

My vacation destinations this year have included another trip to Wilmington and the Cape Fear coast when I read Sin Creek by Susan Whitfield. I went on an archaeological expedition to Peru with William Doonan’s American Caliphate. I explored an old ghost town in Arizona with Old Murders Never Die by Marja McGraw and I journeyed to an isolated village on the New England coast with J.R. Lindermuth’s The Limping Dog. That’s just a few of the places I’ve “traveled” to so far this year.

Books can take you anywhere you want to go at any time of the year and you don’t even have to go through security at the airport or fill your gas tank.

By the way, have you ever been to Cincinnati? :)

A serial killer is on the loose on the west side of Cincinnati. Is it someone close to Ann? With all the mixed messages she's been getting, she can't be sure it's not.

Patricia Gligor is a Cincinnati native. She enjoys reading mystery/suspense novels, touring and photographing old houses and traveling. She has worked as an administrative assistant, the sole proprietor of a resume writing service and the manager of a sporting goods department for a local retail chain but her passion has always been writing fiction. Mixed Messages is the first novel in her Malone Mystery Series. She is currently working on the sequel, Unfinished Business.

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Trailer for Mixed Messages

By any other name....

Sometime over the last couple of years Clinere cleaned up its act; or at least its packaging. Restoring or refinishing old furniture is a hobby of mine, something I do to relax. I'm not very good at it, but it's me I'm working on; the hutches and chairs and bookcases are more or less innocent bystanders. Sanding layers of finish and paint down to the wood generates a lot of flying dust, and while I have a mask for my nose and mouth, my ears sometimes need clearing out – which is how I discovered Clineres. These are little plastic do-jobbies with a scoop on one end

and a brush of sorts on the other marketed as ear cleaners. The original box proclaimed boldly Clineres were a safe and effective way to clean your ears; inside the box was a warning that you should never put anything in your ear. The box has recently been updated to say Clineres are for cleaning the exterior of the ear only – something any washcloth can do. I wonder how this has affected their sales.

Though all writers focus on the craft of writing, those who make a living from their writing also put a lot of thought and planning into selling what they've written. Packaging, marketing - how we present ourselves and our works - are essential considerations.

Romance novels make up fifty percent of all fiction sold in the world. This one genre, with its several sub-genres, sells as many volumes as mainstream and all other genres combined. Everything else being equal, a romance novel involving a mystery will outsell a mystery novel. There's a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a writer who sent her agent a science fiction manuscript about a woman who fell back through time to the medieval court of her noble ancestors and not only brought about humane reforms but married royalty. Her agent told her she could market the ms as science fiction and earn four figures or pump up the relationship, market it as a historical romance, and earn six figures. She did and she did.

Recently I opined in print that Suzanne Brockmann's "Troubleshooters" series of romantic suspense novels could hold their own as suspense novels without the romance. Take Into the Storm (selected because it's within reach of where I'm sitting). Thumbing through to refresh my memory, I'd say maybe thirty percent of Storm is romance; the rest of the book is a serial killer thriller of Criminal Minds intensity. True, a good part of Storm's non-romance seventy percent deals with the dynamics of the cast of recurring characters within the "Troubleshooters" universe, but relationships – what makes the characters both good and bad human – are part of any thriller. Part of any story involving conflict, in fact. Relationships establish why the antagonist does what she does and what the protagonist stands to lose if she fails. I can't help but wonder if Brockmann had a "you can write suspense and earn $x, or you can write romantic suspense and earn ten times $x" conversation with herself. Or her agent.

My first love as a reader was science fiction, though now my tastes are more varied (mystery, romance, historical, and western novels now crowd my sf collection). Looking at some of my early science fiction favorites with my now broader sense of the world of fiction, I've begun to notice patterns.

Anne McCaffrey, whom we lost a few months ago, was a master of novels that blurred the line between science fiction and fantasy; novels in her Dragonriders of Pern series have won awards in both categories. (McCaffrey herself was firm about being a science fiction writer; all of her famous dragons were genetically engineered.) But almost every analysis of her work mentions the "romantic intensity" of her novels. McCaffrey has said that when she began writing sf in the sixties, the genre was dominated by male writers and readers – to the point most female writers used male pseudonyms or concealed their gender – and she set out to write strong female characters to whom female readers could relate. However, her first novel – written years before the Pern cycle – was clearly a romance in a science fiction setting. Restoree is dinged by sf critics for plot elements that don't seem to fit the genre. Those elements are romance tropes: A young woman with no self-confidence finds herself a prisoner in a strange world. Motivated by her feelings for a fellow prisoner and tapping into inner strength she didn't know she had, she overcomes her own insecurities as she battles prejudice and injustice to rescue herself and the other prisoner – who turns out to be the planet's rightful ruler, whom she subsequently marries.

Lois McMaster Bujold has said her Vorkosigan Saga – which focuses on the life of Miles Vorkosigan, scion of Barrayar nobility, as he takes on the status quo and matures from unconventional, rebellious youth to unconventional, inspiring leader through tales of intrigue, combat, and mystery – is modeled on C.S. Forrester's Hornblower Saga.

However the series has its roots in her first novel, Shards of Honor, that is itself a romance in a science fiction setting. (Captain Cordelia Naismith is captured by the notorious enemy Lord Aral Vorkosigan, the "Butcher of Komarr," but when the two are forced to survive alone together on a hostile world, she learns the man is nothing like his reputation. He falls in love with her and proposes marriage. She gets rescued and finds herself conflicted about her feelings and loyalties and not trusted by her own people. She flees to Alar's home world in time to see him appointed regent by the dying emperor and help him avert an attempted coup within and to sue for peace without, ending the war. After which she marries him. Cordelia and Alar are Miles Vorkosigan's parents.

My theory is Anne McCaffrey and Lois McMaster Bujold, either never had the "romance sells" conversation – internally or externally – or if they did, chose to go in a different direction.

How about you? Do you as a reader know of some titles that are famous in – or marketed as – one genre that you suspect may be more at home in another? Or do you as a writer make decisions on what elements or your stories you develop more fully based on the genre you are pursuing?

Crossing Genres: what's with the pseudonyms?

At a romance writers’ conference I attended earlier this year, I noticed authors wearing multiple name tags. Some had as many as five different pseudonyms. I wondered why so many pen names. In broaching the subject with one such author she said to me, “I’m known for paranormal romance and that’s what my readers expect, so when I write contemporary or romantic suspense I use a different name.” Now as I delve into writing a new series of children’s science education adventure, I realize Jewel Amethyst, the romance author is not very credible as an author of children’s stories… or is she?

I began to examine authors who have successfully crossed genres. I’m not talking only about subcategories of the same general genre, but totally different genres. Quite a few of them use different pseudonyms. As the author I spoke to at the conference explained, if an author is known for a specific genre, there is a certain reader expectation. John Grisham, for example, is known for legal drama. He tried crossing genres several times in books like “A Painted House,” and “Skipping Christmas” among others. I can’t tell if the books sold well, because his name would sell books, but I found some of his “other” genres quite disappointing. Not that the books weren’t written well, but because I expected something of him that I didn’t get.

Nora Roberts has successfully written several different subgenres of romance using various pen names, even keeping the identities separate for a while. But not all authors who successfully cross genres use different pseudonyms. James Patterson, known most for the Alex Cross series of suspense, has successfully published other genres without using a different pseudonym. Among his bestsellers was the Maximum Ride series of science fiction. He has also dappled in romance with “Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas” one of the sweet romances that I found to be a really refreshing change of pace, and “Sam’s Letters to Jennifer.” He has even written children’s and young adult novels, “Santa Kid” and “Middle School, the worst years of my life” all using the same name.

So as I embark on this new venture of publishing in the “children’s science education adventure” genre, I wrestle with the decision of authorship. Would Jewel Amethyst, the romance author with the exotic name be seen as a credible author of children’s science education fiction, or would J. A. Daniel, PhD be more credible?

What do you think?

Genre Specificity

Genre specificity: that exhausted theme addressed over and over again on this blog and others. Here I am revisiting it, beating it like a dead horse. But here’s my question: why are authors pigeon holed into one particular genre? Is it chance, or choice?

When one of my colleagues discovered that I wrote romance novels, her first question was, “You’re a scientist, why not science fiction or medical drama?” My answer for her was simply, “Why not romance?” A similar question arose when I did an interview on Shauna Robert’s blog though phrased differently, “How did you become interested in writing romance?” My response was “It was a natural fit.” The thing is writing for me is an escape. An escape from the mundane or hectic things of life: my work, my daughter’s constant questions, changing diapers, figuring out what to cook for dinner, trying to keep my house from deteriorating into a pig sty. I don’t write science fiction because I’m not inspired to. After spending all day in the lab repeating experiment after experiment, analyzing data that makes no sense, and reading scientific journals why would I want to revisit that in my imagination?

The truth is, I write by inspiration. I have a lot’s of stories in my head and partially written from various genres (not sci-fi though). But nine out of ten times the stories that come to me are romance stories. Which leaves me to revisit the question: are writers known for specific genres because of choice or because we a pigeon holed into a particular genre?

I couldn’t help but notice many well known authors who cross genres do so under different pseudonyms or in collaboration with other writers. Is it a case where like actors, once we establish ourselves in one genre of book (or film) that we are expected and thus steered into writing that particular type of book? Or is it where our passion sends us?

Even great actors find themselves stuck in repetitive roles. For years it seems Denzel Washington kept doing the role of the great all American hero (with some notable exceptions), until “Training Day” seemed to break the mold. Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock seem forever stuck in the role of romantic comedy. Most likely they are pigeonholed into those roles. Is that the same for authors?

Though I’ve never attempted to publish fiction other than romance, I would love to publish other genres as well. But is it a case that once we start with romance we’re expected to repeat it? How difficult will it be to break into a different genre?

There are some authors like James Patterson, who break the mold. He writes across genres: crime, drama, sci-fi, even romance. Others, like John Grisham, stick mostly to legal drama. But to tell the truth, I as a reader have certain expectations of authors. When I pick up a Danielle Steele or Nora Roberts, I expect romance. Maybe that’s the driving force behind the genres we write: the readers’ expectation.

What causes you to select your particular genre: passion, chance, or expectation?

On book categorisations

First of all, I'm not in North America. I've lived and worked there, but I'm not American myself. And one thing that I've been thinking about lately is categorisation. Specifically, I'm wondering whether novel categorisation in the North American market has gone too far.

First, there's the distinction between genre and literature. Besides the jokey definitions, is there really any need for this? Iain Banks writes literature, for example. You'll find him in the "Literature" aisle. But Iain M Banks writes space opera, so you'll find him in "Science Fiction & Fantasy". It's the same person. Same brain. Same way of looking at the world. Same way of expressing his thoughts. Yet, it doesn't matter what kind of beautiful and evocative language he may use in one of his Culture novels, it ain't never moving out of that SF&F area, baby.

Then I hear about the continuing brouhaha over AA. At first wondering what Alcoholics Anonymous had to do with stocking bookshelves, I was surprised and more than a little disconcerted to find that AA stands for "African American". Really? You have to go to a special part of a North American bookstore to find African American novels? Why? (I have the same beef in my part of the world, to be honest, with the Asian authors sometimes crammed together on some darkened shelves in a cobwebbed part of the store.) Who cares who wrote it? Isn't the story itself, its ability to provoke some response from you, enough?

Apparently not. Everything's so neatly divided, isn't it? You want an m/f romance with a brown-skinned protagonist? That's multicultural romance. Change it to m/m and it's under "GLBT multicultural romance". One of the protagonists has fangs? Try paranormal romance. What's next? A bookstore label that says "Paranormal vampire heterosexual multicultural urban fantasy"? Y'know, just so you know what you're buying?

Okay okay, there are times when I use those labels myself, usually when I'm after a quick fix and don't have much time to tarry. But, mostly, I don't. When I walk into a bookshop, I don't care whether the writer is white, brown or yellow and, quite frankly, I don't really care whether the characters are white, brown or yellow. That's not part of my personal novel rejection process (even though it may be part of my personal novel acceptance process). In fact, I'm more likely to reject a book based on a character spouting the author's obvious political views than the colour of her skin or how many arms she has.

So, now that I've put the cat amongst the pigeons, I'm wondering. Do these narrow categorisations do us, as readers and individuals with thinking brains, any good? Is it really okay to drop, say, $200 on books each month if ALL you read are blue-with-yellow-polkadot tri-gendered mountain-climbing memoirs?

Let's take this from another angle and subtract race from the equation. There's also a perennial battle between science-fiction and fantasy. Which is more "worthy"? The fact of the matter is, the very contemplation of such differences end up both forming and pitting one bunch of discriminators against another. And it's a pit that's so very very easy to fall into. My first love is science-fiction, so you'd think it obvious which camp I'd fall into. But I'd defend with a rusty knife my beloved Fritz Leiber "Swords of Lankhmar" books against any deranged assailant.

To me, the categorisations make it easier and easier to narrow our reading options, to close our minds to other points of view, to foster prejudice and ignore gems among the less-trawled of available stories. Yes, of course there are times when all I'm in the mood for is a damn good space opera, or a Mills & Boon romance, but not all the time, and certainly not in so constrained a fashion that I'm going to only hunt out, say, vampire space opera romances, to the detriment of anything else. I don't see my easy choices as being a good thing. Convenient? Yes. An occasional indulgence? Certainly. But good? I Don't Think So.

I suppose another way of putting this is, do the categorisations work for you? And, if so, how? Or, to take it even one step further, why do you read?