The Brava Authors mourn the passing of Kate Duffy.

Kate was our friend, our mentor, our champion, and the founder of the Brava imprint at Kensington Publishing. She was wise and witty and wonderful. She loved writers and books. Our sympathies go out to her family and friends and the publishing industry as a whole for her loss. She will be sorely missed.

ALICE KATHERINE (“KATE”) DUFFY
Renowned romance genre editor

Kate Duffy (Alice Katherine Duffy) was instrumental in shaping the face and direction of the romance genre from the late seventies and the “romance revolution” of the early 1980s through today, when at any given time the authors she has worked with continue to populate the nation’s best seller lists.

The recipient of numerous honors from national and regional writers organizations, including the Romance Writers of America, she was the first recipient of that organization’s “Industry Award” in 1991. Recently, RT Book Reviews magazine announced her as the 2010 recipient of their annual Melinda Helfer Award, presented for outstanding support of and contributions to the genre.

Kate first published or worked with, some of the genre’s best known writers, including Jude Deveraux, Julie Garwood, Lori Foster, Heather Graham, Judith McNaught, Mary Janice Davidson, Jacqueline Frank and Mary Jo Putney.

Kate attended Notre Dame Academy, Trinity College, and George Washington University. She studied at Oxford University and returned to the U.K. to work at Paddington Press. Upon returning to the U.S. she became an editor at Popular Library. She later worked at Dell, Simon & Schuster, where she was the founding editor of Silhouette Books, moved on to Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books division, Harlequin Enterprises, where she founded the Worldwide Library imprint, and Kensington Publishing, where she established Brava Books. She is also remembered for the hugely successful Tapestry Books imprint at Pocket Books which began in the early 80s and continued for a number of years.

Born January 28, 1953 in Rochester, New York to Benedict James Duffy, Jr. and Alice (Boyle) Duffy, Kate lived in Rochester, New York, Hingham, Massachusetts, London, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and New York. She spent the bulk of her adult life living in Manhattan. She is survived by her mother, actress Alice Duffy, her sister NBC News producer Clare Duffy, her brother Benedict Duffy and his wife Amanda, her niece Rosalind, her nephews Alex and Elliot, and legions of writers, friends and colleagues who are grateful to have known her.

Kate died at home after a long illness with a variety of complications.

obituary courtesy of SBTB

Recently, our fabulous Kate Duffy was interviewed by her sister Clare in a report on Amazon’s Kindle! — S. Day

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With even self-described “book people” embracing Amazon’s Kindle, the e-reader is poised to become the most popular gadget you don’t yet have. NBC’s Clare Duffy reports.

(see video below the cut…)

Shannon McKenna does it again with her latest ULTIMATE WEAPON. #20 on the New York Times!

I will be in New Orleans this weekend at Heather Graham’s Writers for New Orleans conference.

My maternal grandmother’s side of the family has been there since before the Louisiana Purchase. So when Heather called in 06 and said she wanted to get people back to NO and spending a little money and would I participate – well, it was irresistible. And boy, do we have a good time. It’s a small conference, around 100 people and informative and entertaining and a good time is had by all.

I am especially looking forward to seeing my cousins who moved back into their house in Metarie in May, a mere 2 ½ years after Katrina. Don’t get me started.

Anyhow, I hope you guys might think of us and maybe join us next Labor Day weekend.

Oh, and Gustav – don’t even think about it.

Have a great holiday, guys.

Kate

That is what I call the RWA National Conference. And it’s that time again.

I always dread going and I always have a much better time than I think I will. In my pessimism, I only remember the incidents which confound me – like the persistent statement, “I know that historicals aren’t selling…” This came up repeatedly at RT. I got so annoyed (to be fair I was coming down with pneumonia) that I threw up my hands and begged the heavens to “Take me now!”

You know this how? Because nobody who sits behind a desk in a publishing house or literary agency is going to say something so silly.

Which brings me to my point. There is an absolutely staggering amount of misinformation circulating out there. I don’t know whether conferences like RWA and RT do a tremendous amount to minimize this but give us credit, those of us who attend, give workshops, author/editor appointments and the like – we are trying.

If you get your industry information from someone who is not employed in the industry, I beg you, be skeptical. Ask, “You know this how?”

Thanks to the Kindle I have met a fabulous new author. St. Martin’s offered the first 2 Julia Spencer-Fleming mysteries for free download for about a one week period.

I got them and devoured them. I have since read the other 4 in her fabulous series. Some on the Kindle which I paid for and others which I also paid for. Mystery and romance – Christmas in June for me. Yeah, I think I read the first one about 2 weeks ago. I recommended these books, after reading the first 2, to about 5 other friends, all of whom have bought at least 1 but in most cases more. P.S. Not one of these poor people have a Kindle. There should be a law. Everyone has gotten hooked on Clare and Russ and the mysteries get more and more complex. Just wonderful.

I think this is brilliant marketing. It compelled me to purchase more books and to tell my family and friends who purchased more books and hopefully they will spread the word. And so on, and so on, and so on.

Next to word of mouth, this is the most powerful thing I have seen in a while.

Today, I can get from Amazon a Sherrilyn Kenyon backlist title for $0.00. You think anyone who hasn’t read her before could resist an offer like this? I don’t.

And that, ladies and gents, is what I call growing the market.

Kate

Our dear friend, Brenda Novak’s auction is almost at an an end and she ‘s just added some additional items (look under raffle). Now is the time to bid big!

P.S. (here are the links to Brava-related raffle items!)

CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith. Seriously, my heart is still pounding. Absolutely scared me silly.

On another note, I would like your help. I would love your thoughts about cover art.

Any cover recently made you pick up an author you hadn’t read before? Do you like guy only, woman only or couple? Whose historical, contemporary and paranormal covers do you like? What covers repel you?

Knowing that the authors have little to know no control over covers, this exercise is just for my benefit but I would love to hear any and all opinions.

Thanks.

Sorry to be late…

This month was kind of hectic. I had sales conference, RT and pneumonia and as a result didn’t submit my blog when I was supposed to. I have a fun way to make up for my lapse, I believe.

Kris Noble, who does all the Brava covers and indeed all the trade paperback covers at Kensington, let me come with her to a photo shoot for the next three Jill Shalvis Brava books. We were there from 10 until about 5 and the amount of work the models, and photographer and stylist did was staggering. I learned so much about the opportunities the art director has when you shoot a cover as opposed to the challenges presented when the only option is stock art. The models were so professional and personable. But watching Kris in action was the high point. She and the photographer have worked together for some time and their rapport was evident.

So for you amusement, here is a picture of someone with the model for Cam Wilder, hero of Jill’s first book in this new series.

I like to call this photo Bess Truman and Jesse.

And the first one of you to think or say, “Goodness had nothing to do with it.”, buys the drinks.

We had a great meeting yesterday with a national distributor. And
one of the marketing people turned to me after we had presented our titles and said, “What happens if you get sick of reading?”

SICK OF READING? The idea. That’s like saying, “I am sick of eating or sleeping or buying presents for myself.”

Certainly, there have been times where it has been difficult to read because I couldn’t concentrate, times of stress or fear or grief. But books always get me through. If I read a bad book, I always believe the next one up could be the best ever. So I am forced to conclude that this lovely person asking the question is not the same kind of reader I am. And that’s OK.

What should people who sell books understand about us uber readers?

1. Even if I don’t find a particular title I am looking for, I will not leave your establishment empty handed.

2. Books are a necessity for me. Right up there with housing and hot water.

3. I read lots of things, fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance and I am always looking for something new.

4. I am really smart.

5. If I find an author who’s new to me and who I fall in love with (albeit from a great distance – lucky author), I want to read everything she or he has written. I need backlist, people.

What else do they need to know about us?

Kate