Lori Devoti, paranormal romance and urban fantasy author

Thought this might interest some of you.

In an effort to make editors seem less like something to be hunted in the wild, (My first editor, Hilary Sares, made that comment at a conference once–I thought it was pretty darn funny, and true.) Harlequin is starting podcasts with their editors. To learn all about it, and plug in, check out this release.

Sometimes there are things just worth passing on, don’t you think? I found a few today.

The first is about Cheetah Girls author Deborah Gregory feeling she was used by Hollywood. People always think selling to Hollywood in any way automatically brings with it a huge payoff. But considering how many novels Gregory has written and the time frame, when you break it all down it is far from a staggering amount. She does get that prestige though…must be enough for some.

Still on the money theme, here are two blogs about what average advances are. I’m sure neither of these are scientific, but they are interesting. Link one and Link two. On this same note, you can get a feel for romance advances by visiting Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me the Money page. Again, this isn’t exact. It all depends on who reports, plus there are some groupings that may not be the best. For example, if you look at Hiatt’s listing you will see that Kensington and Zebra are lumped together, meaning Zebra, Brava and Aphrodesia are lumped together. Since two of these come out first in trade paperback and one in mass market, the dollars given probably don’t really represent any of them accurately–but for a general overall look, it’s still an interesting list.

Copyright is such a complicated thing. And no one in romanceland seems to be discussing this case, but I find it fascinating. Does Rowling “own” her characters because she created them? How far exactly does that fact take her rights? Would this case be seen differently if she had fought the web site as soon as she learned of it instead of waiting until she found out they wanted to put everything in book form and sell it?

To hear the NY Times take, go here…

While the rest of romance land rips and tears at whether Cassie Edwards should be killed, gutted and stuffed, I thought I’d provide a link to another copyright issue I find somewhat interesting–the JK Rowling suit against the Harry Potter Lexicon Site.
If you haven’t heard the story what it boils down to is that this site, an online encyclopedia of sorts for HP fans, was looked on with favor by Rowling–that is until they decided to take their facts and put them in book form. Then Rowling and her publisher decided they too might want to put together such a guide and objected to the site owners compiling their own. Here’s an article from Slate regarding this.
I find this fascinating. First, let’s face it, a lot of the creatures in the HP books are not original. They came from folklore. I can’t see how Rowling would have suddenly gained rights over them. On the other hand, she did create the characters and the world. And I can understand her frustration at someone else making money off her labors.
I wonder how Jane Austen would feel about all the books that are now being produced that use her characters? Is that wrong? Her copyright is up. So even if she were alive she couldn’t sue, but if she were alive would people feel she was being stolen from? Would people be in outrage? She did create all the basics after all.
Back to Harry Potter. It will be interesting to see what happens. HP is most definitely still under copyright protection–but what exactly does that protect? Is HP himself enough of a brand (for lack of a better word) that Rowling can use the law to protect him and the world she created?
I have no clue, and I’m not even sure where I stand on it.

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.

Ever wonder what the editor or agent you were chatting with via email looks like? Conference season is upon us. It’s a good time to know who is standing behind you in line, maybe with a fork out to spear the same chocolate-covered strawberry you’ve been eyeing. BEFORE you shove those tines into that well-manicured hand, maybe you should check the name tag–or better brush up on what people look like before you even get in line.

For your viewing pleasure…here’s a link to a page with a ton of photos.

And no, seeing all those young faces doesn’t make me feel old…really…

A few days ago I blogged about book promotion and my basic belief that the success or failure of a book has very little to do with running ads or blogging yourself to death. Today I came across an article at M.J. Rose’s blog by Simon Liskar, a literary agent. He seems to agree. Check it out. It’s worth a read.

Cheyenne McCray has a great post over at The Midnight Hour today on whether agents and editors visit authors’ web sites and blogs when considering a manuscript.

I think this is a HUGE deal. People get on the Internet and IMO completely lose the filter that applies in other situations in their lives. I had read an interview a while back with an agent who talked about going to a potential client’s blog and seeing a list of all the other agents this writer had subbed to and how many rejections she had already acquired. Did this put this agent off? Sure did.

I also have a friend who recently discovered an unpleasant post about her book on a message board. No big deal, right? It happens. BUT it was written by someone she knows. Someone who to her face had acted supportive. Obviously the talons of jealousy had griped this person, but you’d have to be Mother Teresa to not let it bug you. You think my friend will be helping her in the future? I sincerely doubt it and if others learn of the post, the woman will get a reputation that could hurt her even more.

So, before you hit enter…think. Would I say this in person? Is there anyone in the world I wouldn’t want to see this? You may just want to implement the backspace key a bit. :)

I have a friend who is being pushed hard right now by her agent to promote her books. But does promotion work?

Personally, I think 99% of it doesn’t. I majored in advertising and worked in newspaper sales and marketing for most of my professional life. When advertising the expectation is that 1% of people who see your ad will react. Now, this percentage can go up astronomically if you are using a targeted media, but unless it is a newsletter targeted to people who asked for more information about your books, it will fall far short of 100%.

Consider a market like Romantic Times. Some of those readers only read romantic suspense or erotica or whatever you don’t write. So, you are going for the ones who might consider what you write. From there you have to consider the cost vs. benefit equation. Are there enough of those people to justify the cost? There may be and there may not. And then, if you decide the cost is justified, you have to develop an ad that will actually draw those people in. There are a lot of ifs there.

Other cheaper methods–running contests on your web site, having a blog, commenting on other blogs, visiting booksellers, doing signings, etc.. May be better from the cost equation thing…but there is still a cost and it’s a big one. TIME. Time equals books you aren’t writing. So again you have to weigh this.

As just one example–the vast majority of people who enter contests online just want to win a prize. Many of them come from blogs and sites that conveniently list contests and the answers. Realize this and again weigh. I’ve decided I like having a contest and the cost is low enough the exposure itself pays for my efforts. And I like having something for people who actually do read my books.

Booksignings I’m not big on. Although, I do group ones. And some are great–like my local RWA chapter ’s signing at our annual conference. However, I make a point to go into book stores and sign stock. And I am hoping to get a group of local romance authors together to do a signing at a nearby Waldenbooks store this year. But me sitting at a table all by my lonesome? Not something at this point in my career, I’ve done.

This all said, I do choose to do some promotion. But I always consider the cost/benefit equation before doing anything. And the very best thing you can do to sell more books? Write more books. Write better books. Get more books out there so readers know your name and (assuming you did the better part) want more from you.

Aside from that a lot of what makes the biggest difference lays in the hands of the publisher–book cover, store placement (which is paid for by publishers), etc. And which books do they give that extra push? The ones they think are the most marketable, by authors who have readers who want to read them…back to writing better books and getting more books out there. Really, you can’t get away from the fact that the number one thing you can do to advance your career is to write and to write to the best of your ability.

For what some readers say has influenced them to buy a book, here’s a great poll going on at Virtual Cocktails.