The HEA Cafe

Author Archive

This week I am doing something I’ve never done before.  I’m joining a book club.  I was asked to do this by our local librarian.  She wanted to start a book club for readers of romance novels, and wanted me (a real live local romance author) to join it.  I thought about it, and finally agreed.  The library is only about a ten minute drive from my house, so it won’t take much time.  I read tons of romance novels anyways, so no matter what books they select, I’m sure I’ll be happy to read them.  And it might be a way to connect with readers, meet others in the community who enjoy romance novels as much as I do.

 The only problem is that I have never been a member of a book club before, and really have no idea what they are like.  I mean, obviously, we will sit around and discuss a book each time we meet, right?  But I’m wondering how they are generally organized. 

In the movie The Jane Austen Book Club, everyone was assigned a different book.  I’m assuming that if that’s the case, we will be expected to make some sort of presentation on our assigned day.  That worries me a bit.  Hopefully, this won’t be a flashback to my college literature courses where I had to write ten to twenty page papers about the books.  I’m hoping for something fun, something I don’t have to prepare for — more on the level of just showing up to talk.

So I thought I’d ask you.  Have any of you ever belonged to a book club?  If so, what was it like?  Any tips?  Anything to watch out for?  I’d appreciate any help you can give!

As we all know, story telling has certain rules.  The first – and arguably the most critical – rule is to convince the reader to suspend disbelief and buy into the plot.  But I have to admit that there are certain plots that I simply can’t buy into.  Plots that evoke an instant doubt, that make me skeptical of the story, no matter how skillful the writer’s prose.

Perhaps the worst, for me personally, is the mistaken identity plot.  I often see this in contests I’m judging.  Typically, the hero arrives on scene without announcing his identity, and the heroine reacts in some drastic, way-out-of-bounds way.  Either she has raw, wild sex with him, or she hates him on sight and gets into a huge argument with him, or she does something equally as destructive — only to discover the next day that he’s her new boss, or the man she needs to convince to save the ranch/give her a job/rescue her failing company. 

This plot device drives me nuts.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I’ve just seen it too often.  Or maybe I just can’t see this happening in real life.  It’s just too unbelievable that the heroine doesn’t ask who he is.

So what about you?  Are there any plots or plot devices that you don’t care for?  Please share!

I have a question for all you blog-savvy people out there.  Some published writers I know are thinking about creating a new blog.  The purpose, of course, is to draw in readers and get some publicity for their upcoming books.  But should they bother?  Is the blog “market” saturated?  Do people still read blogs?

Since I’m not on many blogs myself (and rarely have time to read them), I thought I would ask you:  If you read blogs, what draws you to a particular one?  What draws you back on a regular basis?  Great information?  The latest gossip?  An interesting guest blogger or a guaranteed laugh?

Or are you sick of blogs?  Do you rarely read them?  Should these writers forget a blog and move on to the next new thing?

I’d like to know.  So if you have a second to post a comment, please do!!!

I recently saw a survey online (Live Journal, November 2007) about what influenced readers to buy a book.  Of course, as an author, this interested me very much.  I don’t have much money to spend on publicity, yet I worry that if I don’t advertise or climb on the latest gimmick bandwagon (book trailers, bookmarks, My Space page, etc.), no one will buy my books. 

 

So here are the results of the Live Journal poll:

 

Question: Which of the following promotional tools has (even once) led you to purchase a book (Check as many as apply.):

 

1. Previous familiarity with author’s other work – 99.1%

2. Recommendation of friend – 91.1%

3. Reading about book on another person’s blog or website – 80%

4. Reading first chapter of book online or in store – 63.2%

5. Cover art – 63%

6. Cover or flap blurbs (promotional quotes) – 58.2%

7. Published (print or electronic) book review – 56.2%

8. Attending a reading or signing event with author (including a convention) – 51%

9. Bookseller or librarian recommendation – 41.8%

10. Other – 7.8%

11. Contest sponsored by author or publisher – 7.2%

12. Receiving promotional email from author – 6.3%

13. Receiving postcard in mail from author – 3.9%

14. Receiving toys or other promotional gimmicks from author – 3.5%

 

I have no idea how many people were polled in this survey, but I tend to agree with these results simply because they fit my own book buying profile.  Number one is absolutely true.  If I read a book and love it, I will definitely look for another book by that author.  I also agree with the lower results.  While receiving a pen or bookmark might increase my recognition of a writer’s name, I have never once bought a book because of one.

So as May approaches, and with it comes the launch of my new miniseries with Silhouette, I’m leaning towards forgetting the postcards and other promotional gimmicks, and trying to network with booksellers instead.

So what do you think?  Do you agree with these poll results?  What influences you to buy a book?

You’ve finished the book.  You’ve stopped editing and mailed it off to your editor.  Now what?  Do you celebrate?  Immediately start another?  Collapse and begin obsessively checking your email/phone messages/mailbox for the editor’s verdict?

 

My post-book routine has evolved over the years, but this seems to be it:  First off, I celebrate — usually with a dinner out and a good bottle of wine.  After all, writing a book is a huge accomplishment, and I want to reward myself for all that hard work.  So I take an evening, maybe even a weekend, to splurge.

 

I try not to obsess for at least a couple of days (I have to give the manuscript time to arrive in New York before I start wondering if my editor or agent has read it yet).  I also try not to second-guess what I wrote, wondering if I should have changed this or that scene, etc., but I have to admit that I find this hard to do.  It seems to be my nature to obsess.  About the best I can do is relegate the doubts to the back of my mind and try to ignore them.

 

In the meantime, as I’m trying not to obsess, I clean my office.  When I am writing, I don’t do much housework.  In fact, the dust got so bad while I was writing my latest book that not only could I blow it across my desk, but every time I sat down to write, I got an allergy attack.  (Of course, I didn’t take time to clean.  I just took an allergy pill, got out another box of tissues, and kept on writing.)

 

So once the book is done, I get out the dust rag, vacuum behind the desk where the dust collects, and sort through the huge piles of papers I’ve been collecting.  Then I admire my temporarily clean and nicely organized office.  And yes… since I only finish a book a couple of times a year, I have a very dusty house.  Thank goodness for allergy pills!

 

And then it’s back to work.  I’m happiest when I’m working on a book, so the sooner I get back to writing, the better (and I have an excuse to ignore the dust).

 

So how about you?  Have you developed any end-of-the-book routines?