So I think I’ve finally recovered from RWA. A great time, but exhausting. On Saturday I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. Luckily, I had gotten some new books to help me relax!
It’s no secret that you are a hardcore Harry Potter fan. What are you doing for the final movie?
My best friend is coming into town and we are going to make it a Harry Potter weekend. We’re going to go to the exhibit here in NYC, then have a movie marathon, then head out to the theater. I don’t know if we’ll have time to watch all the movies before Part 2, but we are going to try!
It’s funny that I love these so much now, because I was initially very resistant to reading them. I was adamant that I didn’t want to read “some fad book.” (To be fair, many of the “fad books” before Harry Potter were either self-help or Oprah-type fiction, so I had never really read with the crowd, so to speak.) Then a friend in college dared me to read the first book and then stop. I ended up reading the first four books in two weeks. (I have a very vivid memory of reading Chamber of Secrets over a long weekend when the dorm was mostly empty. I was up until 3 in the morning finishing it and was scared to look down sinks for several weeks.) I was at midnight parties for 5, 6, and 7.
I’ve read them more times that I can remember, and these will be the first books that I plan to buy in ebook and print. I can’t wait until I have the whole series at my fingertips! Because they are too heavy to be constantly lugging around :]
So what questions do you have for me on this summer Friday?
Hi Megan,
I thought I’d throw out a question regarding promotion. How far in advance of a release date should an author start blog tours, interviews, etc? Do you think the one month blitz before release works?
Thanks and happy Friday!
I think the blitz only works if you’ve been in what I call “promo maintenance mode” for the rest of the time. For instance, a big push on Twitter right before pub does very little if you’ve been silent for the last 9 months. You can’t completely fall off the radar; you have to dart in and out of people’s awareness before you are suddenly everywhere they turn for a month.
That said, you should definitely save a majority of your promo to center around a release. I don’t suggest going full-out any earlier than a month before, because people’s attention spans are short. I’ll use myself as a model here. If I hear about a book, look it up, and the release date seems far away, I will make a “mental note” to go back to it nearer to that date. And then, I of course forget. But if I see that the date is only a couple days away, I’m much more likely to pre-order or look it up at the library.
One thing you should definitely be careful of is not doing enough promo after the book is available. Yes, you need to do some beforehand to create anticipation, but when the book is actually out, your promo can lead to a fabulous thing called impulse buying. Maybe the reader wasn’t planning on buying your book, but she had a bad day and wanted a treat, or it just looked so good and wow, she had a coupon! (SO GUILTY of this).
Hi Megan,
It’s always a huge treat to ask editors questions. Thanks for the opportunity.
I had three questions for you regarding contemporaries.
1) The tension in a contemporary can be sexual (of course) but is it crossing into suspenseful tension to have accidents, fights, or other harm come to either the hero or the heroine? How much is too much?
2) I heard western contemporaries are on a lot of editors’ lists. Is there a particular key a contemporary in this genre would have that would catch an eye (besides the hot cowboy and the 10-gallon hat)?
3) Lastly, does it behoove the author when querying to tell the editor that there is a sequel to the book or that it is part of a trilogy?
Thanks so much and sorry to take up so much time!
AND one last one that’s kind of personal – what did you think of the first Kensington book signing at RWA? I heard it was awesome!
1) I think the difference is not so much accidents or harm, but the balance of romance vs suspense and the overall pacing of the story. Is the romance taking a backseat to the suspense plot? Then it’s RS. Is the romance still the main motor for the story? Then it’s contemporary. Both elements about even? Then it’s going to come down to the individual editor/house and how they want to position it. Is the pacing really fast and action oriented? Probably RS. Is the pacing slower, or has bursts of danger that then fades? Probably more contemporary. Here, our RS tends to be on the hardcore side: Lisa Jackson, Shannon McKenna, etc. Gritty, very often involves serial killers, etc.
2) I can’t think of a particular element off the top of my head, but I’m never specific when it comes to this sort of thing. I want a story that’s AWESOME. That’s what matters.
3) It doesn’t hurt to mention it. The key is to not overwhelm the editor with info they don’t need. Saying “This is the first book in a planned trilogy” is sufficient. If the editor is interested, she’ll ask for more. No need to included multiple synopses or partials upfront unless the editor specifically requested it.
I thought it was fun! Shorter than we anticipated, though :] I think we had a lot of good takeaways that will help us make future signings even better!
Thanks so much! Great answers!
You mentioned in an earlier answer that Kensington was going to be trying out some ebook-only novellas. Do you think you will end up following Harlequin and Random House and developing an ebook only line for Kensington in the future?
What is the formula for ebooks at Kensington now? I mean, how do you decide if you will put out one of your books as print and ebook instead of just print? Do you release the print first and then the ebook?
Thank you for your time
Jenny
Yes, we mentioned in our spotlight at RWA that we will be announcing an ebook line soon.
Right now, all our books are in print and ebook. All books are bought with the intention of being in print, and provided we have the e-rights (which we almost always do), we publish the print and e version simultaneously. (There is occasionally a difference of a few days between releases, this is most often due to varying policies at e-tailers like Amazon and B&N. We do not intentionally have one version come out before the other.)
Kensington is going to launch an ebook line? How cool!
A lot of emphasis is placed on being prepared before the moment happens (building a following before you’re published, promoting before your book comes out, etc.). With that in mind, what do you like to see on the blogs/websites of pre-published authors when they have no book to promote/sell? Are there any common mistakes you see on these blogs/websites?
I don’t understand a lot of promoting before you are published/under contract, especially for specific manuscripts. I change titles to 95% of the books I acquire, so any promo you’ve done with the old title is almost useless. And occasionally I suggest a different pseudonym, so now you have to promote a new name (rare, but happens).
I don’t look at websites of pre-published authors. (Exception: I’ve heard weird gossip about you, or you are stalking me on Twitter, or something like that. It’s usually not a positive thing.) I believe it is more common for agents to look up these websites. Your main focus should be the manuscript. Period. I contract plenty of authors who don’t have websites or a platform at time of contract. I make ZERO offers to authors who have great websites, but their manuscript is only so-so.
This is one situation where the “slowness” of print publishing can work in your favor. We make a contract and it’s still going to be a year before the book comes out. Plenty of time for you to get a website up and start promotional efforts. Make contacts in the writer world to help your craft, and to help you target agents and editors that are right for you. Worry about selling your book once you actually have something to sell.
I’m wrapping up a Contemporary with Suspense Elements right now and I’m trying to decide what to work on next. My current one is based in a hospital, and I discovered that hospitals settings are a little “out” right now.
I have a few ideas rattling around in my head. How are books about boardrooms and executives doing these days in the single-title contemporary romance market?
The single title market is leaning very heavily toward what I refer to as Debbie Macomber type contemporaries: small town, pacing is usually a bit slower, slightly older characters (thirties instead of twenties), more prominent secondary characters. Often have “Cove,” “Bay,” “Creek”, or the small town’s name in the title. Obviously I’m generalizing here, but you get the idea. It’s a bit disappointing to me, because I prefer more the “fun and flirty” type, like Carly Philips’ Hot series, or some of Lori Foster’s older titles.
“Boardrooms and executives” sounds more like the latter, unfortunately. But remember, no matter what people say (hospitals are out, or what have you), there is always room in the marketplace for AWESOME.
Do you notice that certain genres or heat levels do better in ebooks than others? A lot of people have told me when it comes to ebooks, the more erotic (higher the heat level) the better and it’s given me the impression that romances of a lower heat level won’t do so well as ebooks.
Like a lot of authors, I’m toying with the idea of e-publishing and print publishing simultaneously. I’m trying to decide which of my manuscripts I’d chose for which route and I’m just trying to get a feel for what will work best in what venue.
Then again, I suppose the ideal situation is to do as Kensington does and publish the books as both. As a matter of fact, I think Kensington’s proposed policy of publishing all books in ebook and in print may finally answer a lot of questions about which books sell better in which format. Well done, Kensington team!
Thank you for your time,
Jenny
We don’t generally analyze according to heat level, only according to genre and author. A big name author is generally going to sell more than a smaller author, regardless of heat level. There is also the issue of price, as our Brava and Aphrodisia lines are in trade (and the ebook price is based on this higher trade price). So it’s very difficult to make conclusions based solely on heat level.
That said, I think many romance epublishers have had a lot of success with erotic ebooks, and that epubs still dominate the market when it comes to the more erotic stuff. Partially, I think this is an issue of distribution. It is very difficult for a print publisher to get erotic romance into Walmart/Target/supermarkets, who are becoming very important when it comes to a book’s success. Whereas epubs get their romances on all the major platforms. The better the distribution, the better chance the book has of selling well.
I’ll add that this is one really good reason to have an agent. She can read your work and help you direct your efforts toward the proper channels. Also, having more than one contract, print or e, can be really overwhelming in terms of deadlines and other juggling. A good agent will help you manage your time accordingly.
Great blog Megan! My hat is off to JK Rowling — her Harry Potter coaxed one of my kids who was a non-reader into READING, and she’s never stopped! Myself, I’ve been reading the books and watching the movies since the beginning, and I can hardly wait to see the last one.
Thank you VERY much for the promo tips too!
Hi Megan
I hope this is the right place to ask mention this. The new writing contest is not open to authors outside the USA and Canada.
I can’t tell you how seriously disappointed and gutted myself and others are here in the United Kingdom. One fabulous writer is almost crying after working incredibly hard on her ms. Also the word count was increased too, which makes us feel that the goalposts were changed after the initial contest was announced.
One of the reasons were so excited was to be given the chance to be mentored by such fabulous authors such as Mia Marlowe.
I know that when Harlequin run a competition it is open to all. I cannot tell you how shattered we feel. Please re-think. We would love to be a part of such a fabulous opportunity.
Regards
Christine
Christine, please know that we did not want to exclude anyone. However, after we ran our contest last year, our legal counsel was very worried that we were not following proper protocol for sweepstakes in various countries. Each country has its own laws regarding sweepstakes and contests, and we did not want to disobey them inadvertently. So the decision was made this year to only to include authors from US and Canada. (Regarding Harlequin, I think their situation is different, since they actually have offices in UK, Canada, and US, whereas we only have offices in US.) We re-evaluate our rules every year, so hopefully in the future we can include more countries.
Also, be aware that you can ALWAYS submit material directly to Alicia or me, without a contest. We happily accept un-agented and unsolicited manuscripts.