first published in the Brisbane Courier-Mail 15 March 2008
A couple of weeks back, I talked about how important the internet is in not only boosting awareness of the genre, but also allowing its readers, writers, and industry professionals to meet, talk, network, and increase awareness of their novels.
Romance holds an unusual place in publishing. Not only is it the bestselling genre, it’s also the genre that releases the most novels per month, across the most subgenres, out of every major publishing house. That works out to a lot of novels. Publishing, as authors will be quick to point out, is a business, and if the houses were to promote every romance novel they sold (indeed, every novel they sold), they would very quickly be out of business.
This creates a problem for romance authors, especially those newly published or attempting to make a name for themselves. The grand dames of the genre – Nora Roberts, Jennifer Crusie, Laura Kinsale, among others – can carry most of their advertising on their strong fanbase, extensive backlist, and word of mouth. But authors just starting out face the fact that their book – a project that sometimes takes years from conception to completion – is debuting in a deluge of not only the other new books, but also re-releases from authors like those I listed above.
In this case, the internet has been a blessing. With a blog presence, a website, and a group of other authors in the same situation cross-promoting, even a brand new author can create a semblance of buzz around her release. It helps that romance authors (with very few exceptions) have the reputation of being incredibly generous with each other, interviewing each other, coordinating contests, and just plain getting the word out there.
Back before the internet, fan/writer interaction was limited to letters back and forth, and meeting at conventions or conferences. Both of these situations were easily controlled, and while they could certainly lead to a relationship, it took significantly longer than through the deceptive familiarity of the blog comments, online forums, and email.
Now fans have unprecedented access to their favourite authors and the veil between fan and writer has been drawn aside. This has proved to be a double-edged sword. Suddenly, readers know their authors as people, not just as writers of their favourite books. And people, as we all know, are fallible, with differing opinions, points of view, and life experiences. Mix in politics or religion, and the author as person runs the risk of distancing some of their readers.
This dichotomy has led to some authors eschewing the internet all together, but this too has its downfalls as readers are unable to find pertinent information about upcoming releases or author appearances.
Though, in my opinion, the drawing of the veil has been mostly very positive, there are still issues that new, upcoming, and even established authors must keep in mind when balancing on the tricky tightrope of cyber-promotion.
