Lori Devoti, paranormal romance and urban fantasy author

Every six months or so, Harlequin sends a newsletter to its authors to update them on things happening at Harlequin Silhouette and all their lines. I thought some of you might be interested with a recap of a few of the articles.

Harlequin to Publish Nonfiction - this probably isn’t news to many of you, but this was the cover article with news of their first acquisitions: three books written by Delilah, a radio personality, who apparently (I’ve never heard of her) is called “the Oprah Winfrey of radio.” Her books are going to be based on “inspiring personal stories” from her show. Her first book is scheduled for release in October 2008.
According to the article, the line will focus on books for women 35 and older, “as their lives and roles change.”

Bookmarks & Milestones is next. This is a page listing all Harlequin authors who hit milestones (in number of books published with Harlequin). Authors of note: my friend Kathleen Long who hit 5 books with Harlequin; fellow WisRWA author, Laura Iding who hit 10 books; fellow Nocturne author, Erica Orloff who hit 15, and Marie Ferrarella, who I don’t know, but hit 165 books with Harlequin - wow.

In Toronto in March, Harlequin held an open call for “real men” to audition for the job of cover model. No hot pictures of new models, unfortunately, but apparently they did find some.

I found the news that Harlequin has a XM Satellite Radio show interesting. The show debuted on Valentines Day with audiobooks from Debbie Macomber, Anne Stuart and Deanna Raybourn. The program runs three times a day Monday through Friday.
From the XM Radio site

Harlequin Romance Radio
Weekdays - 1AM ET

Sometimes it’s love served up with a little mystery, or even with a little history, but the plots are snappy, and the leading ladies are sassy, modern, and independent. Tune in…and fall in love. For more information about Harlequin Romances, visit www.audible.com/harlequin

Encores:
Weekdays - 9AM ET

Harlequin Presents (the number one selling category line) launched a blog. www.iheartharlequinpresents.com. Editors, authors and others involved in the line at Harlequin drop by and chat with readers.

Harlequin also got involved in My Space by creating pages for some of their authors and characters.

So far as what Harlequin offers their authors (aside from uh, payment which is pretty darn important) they have put together a brochure and website with tips for authors on promoting themselves both on the Internet and in person. The information I saw was pretty basic, but I’m sure very useful for many authors, and I thought a nice move on Harlequin’s part.

They also listed the winners of the 2006 eHarlequin.com Readers’ Choice Awards. My favorite on the list was Something Wicked by Evelyn Vaughn (Favorite Woo Woo Book). This was a great book–pulled you in right from the get go. Other winners included Here Comes Trouble by Leslie Kelly for Favorite Book of 2006, Favorite New to You Author from the Community - Adrianne Byrd, and Favorite Historical Novel, A Reputable Rake by Diane Gaston.

Other promotional ventures by Harlequin and their authors included:

• Participating in Comic-con in San Diego. They had a couple cover artists their signing covers. I thought that was cool.
• Handing out 266,000 samplers of Harlequin Intrigue at Kmarts across the country, and distributing another 1.7 million with newspapers in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. Samplers were also given out through Carnival Cruise Lines and Hot Spot Resorts. Sounds like a great push for Intrigue!
• An article in USA Today about Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove series and its effect on tourism in her hometown of Port Orchard, Washington. The travel article even included a map Debbie has had done for her series, that highlights landmarks such as The Pancake Place and City Hall. (Debbie will also send out copies of the map to fans for free if they send her a SASE.)

  So, that’s it. Harlequin has been busy, and as an author I’m happy to be with them.