The HEA Cafe

I have three books published in German.  You can see them at Amazon.de, and you can also see the covers at my website.  I was very happy when I saw the covers for Samt & Sabel (Sword and Velvet, aka Captain Sinister’s Lady) and Rache & Rosen (Revenge and Roses, aka Pirate’s Price) because they were so…tasteful.  Swords and flowing fabric and coins and daggers.  Even the titles were euphonious!

Then I got the cover for Im Aufruhr der Gefuhle. At first, I thought it was a mistake.  I used Google translation on the page and it said the title translated to “In the Turmoil of Emotions”.  It started out in life as “Smuggler’s Bride”.  I had a blank moment as I stared at the page.  What happened to my tasteful covers? Why was Julia falling out of her bodice? And most puzzling of all, why was there a killer pink flamingo looming in the background over Julia and Rand?

I contacted my editor in Germany at Random House.  She hemmed and hawed a bit via email, but then she said the first books weren’t selling as well as they’d hoped.  Apparently, with those oh-so-tasteful covers, no one knew they were romance novels.

At first, I wasn’t happy about this change in covers.  But as I stared at the busty babe and the half-naked dude, I began to smile.  Yes, my book is full of turmoiled emotions and passion.  Yes, there are definitely scenes where he’s bare chested and her bodice isn’t fully fastened.  And while there’s not a pink flamingo in this Florida set romance, there are lots of possums.  And I acknowledge it’s hard to get possums to equal passion.

So if this “old school” cover leaps out at my German readers and screams, “I’m a historical romance! Buy me!” then I’m all for it. I’m in the business of writing books.  I want to sell as many of my books as possible, and I want to make it as easy as I can for the reader to get her hands on my publications.  I still like my tasteful books, but if In the Turmoil of Emotions replenishes my 401K, then I guarantee I’ll be smiling all the way to the bank.

EBOOK!

What does Santa want for Christmas this year? The same thing you and I want…perfect gifts for all the people on our lists. One easy, inexpensive and earth-friendly gift appropriate for both men and women, young and old is a gift card for ebooks. Think of the convenience – for you and the giftee. You can send a GC from your computer to theirs without getting out of your pjs, and they can shop without changing out of theirs.
Then there’s the immediacy. Running late on Christmas Eve and still don’t have something for your sister who’s in Canada? Five minutes on the internet and her gift’s on its way, postage free. 
Struggling to find a green gift for your college-aged dog-sitter who’s iPhone is glued to his hand? According to an article this year in Publisher’s Weekly, a study coordinated by the Book Industry Study Group and the Green Press Initiative showed the U.S. publishing industry emits over 12.4 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, or about 8.85 pounds per book. Ebooks eliminate many of the costs associated with paper publishing and several sites can now send the book to an iPhone or digital readers like the Kindle or Sony.
Where can you get gift cards for ebooks? Check out Fictionwise (www.fictionwise.com ), Diesel eBooks (www.diesel-ebooks.com ), All Romance eBooks (www.allromanceebooks.com ), and Books On Board (www.ebooks.com ). Many ebook publishers also offer gift cards through their online stores.
So give yourself a break and give the folks on your gift list something they’ll love…ebooks.