Remember Me?

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Hey look a new post! Ala-bit a short one, but hey, it's something!

Thanks so much for the patients everyone, I really appreciate it! Also, I want to give a huge thanks to Anita, who gave me a blog award last week! I'll get to officially accepting and posting is in a day or two, but in the mean time, thanks Anita!

Now on to business...

It's a short one today, but it's something I have been thinking about a lot lately. Romance novels.

Did you know that romance outsells every other genre every year? Like, by a lot... a whole lot. Why is that not common knowledge? Because most romance readers don't admit to being one. Romance readers like me. There is a lot of romance I enjoy--Mary Balogh being my all time favorite--but do I wear a 'Romance Novel Reader' shirt to the super market? No. Why? The same reason everyone else is embarrassed to admit they love romance. We all know that when the average person hears 'romance novel' they picture this:

...and this...

...and of course...

The Cover! Seriously? The cover, which 90% of the time has absolutely nothing to do with the actual book!  Seems really stupid, but that's all it takes. When people see a horribly cheesy cover, they assume the story inside is equally as lame and cheese-filled. Okay, yes, sometimes that is the case (we all know there are terribly corny bodice-rippers out there), but more often than not, the cover has nothing to do with the actual story. Hell, sometimes the characters aren't even described correctly! The blond bombshell on the cover is actually supposed to be a mousy brunette school teacher, etc.

*Sigh*

When the overly cheesy, Fabio-style covers came into popularity, I'm not sure, but I'm thinking it was 80s early 90s. What I have noticed lately however, is that publishers are starting to realize just how horrid those old covers are, and have begun to give some of their older titles face lifts. For instance,

This...

...is now this.

Dancing dreamily...

...to pretty bow.

And my personal favorite...

...oh yeah, much better.

So, in conclusion, I would like to thank all the publishers who are giving readers like me more to enjoy, with no reason to hide my book behind a magazine or roll the cover back so no one can see it! ;)

Long live romance!

Congratulations!

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Life has been beyond busy for me these past two weeks, and I apologize for neglecting you all. I will get back to posting regularly soon, but I had to give a quick congratulatory shout out to Anita Howard, who is a spectacular lady who writes YA. She has just signed a two book deal with Abram's Amulet imprint for her first novel, Splintered.

Check her out at A Still and Quiet Madness, and look for Splintered on shelves, Spring 2013!

Show Me The Money!

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Hello all...

Just wanted to share a link to a page that a friend of mine sent me. I lists all the major publishers and what they have been paying for first books in recent years. It is on the website of author Brenda Hiatt, and she keeps it up to date. Pretty interesting stuff...

http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html

Happy Wednesday, and talk to you soon!