View Post

Willow Winters ‘Discreet’ Collection: A Bold New Take on Modern Romance Book Covers

In Creative Writing, Publishing Industry by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

By Jer’tarme Williams In need of a sweet small-town romance pick me up? Or maybe your heart is craving a dark mafia romance. Whatever your desires, Willow Winters, has you sorted with her discreet romance book collection. Starting back in 2015, Willow’s mind was racing with story ideas that soon turned into making her a ‘USA Today Bestseller.’ For ‘Between the Lines with Jer’tarme’, very first blog post, I was fortunate enough to chat to Willow about what inspired her discreet collection. After falling in love with CD Reiss’s Midnight collection whose books sported black and grey, simple covers, Willow …

View Post

Library love stories: Romance in the National Library of Australia’s collection

In Creative Writing, Guest Articles, Publishing Industry by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

Author: Alice Quinn (Article reproduced with permission from https://www.nla.gov.au/stories/blog/library-love-stories-romance-national-library-australias-collection#) When it comes to romance writing in Australia, it’s a been a long affair. Romance is one of Australia’s largest and most impressive literary exports, and since the 19th century has been a way for readers to explore tales of intimacy from the innocent to the risqué.   Our collections of these stories ensure the voices of authors who write and read this genre are preserved, so that readers of the future can indulge in and re-examine the love stories under the covers of Australia’s literary history. Mills and Boon, dust …

View Post

DO ROMANCE WRITERS NEED AN AUTHOR BRAND?

In Creative Writing, Guest Articles, Publishing Industry by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

Most think of February as the month for romance, proposals, flowers, chocolates, Hallmark Cards, and overworked cupids. For weeks we’re blinded by flashes of red hearts and roses, as lovers get high on the possibility of romance – especially romance readers. But if you think about how well branded Valentine’s Day is, romance writers prepare months in advance just for this annual event, ensuring they fit the brand of V-day. Branding. It’s a thang. And when it’s done well, readers don’t realise they’re following a brand – like 80% of the people on social media do. Do you think romance …

View Post

Aussie Audiobook Production? Easier than you think! By Amy Soakes.

In Guest Articles, Publishing Industry, RWA Academy by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

Online publishing has thrown open the door for authors everywhere to launch their work to the world, without the need for a traditional publishing deal. This free-flowing market has nurtured authorship in an unprecedented way, and – importantly for us Aussies – removed the ‘tyranny of distance’, allowing direct access to the major markets of the US and UK. And we’ve taken to it like ducks to water, happily splashing around in the same pool of publishing opportunity as our cross-ocean counterparts. But while Aussie authors have ridden waves of publishing success through text, our uptake of audio has languished. …

Tips from and Industry Insider | Don’t Understand High Concept? Don’t Worry

In Creative Writing, Publishing Industry by RWA Blog Coordinator2 Comments

Publishing Trends 2019 Some trends become industry standards. Some die the death they deserve. If, like me, you never did understand exactly what was meant by high concept, raise a glass to its death. It seems that publishers have discovered that while high concept initially excites marketing and sales teams and is easy to pitch to booksellers, it doesn’t necessarily lead to a long sales life. According to Sally Kim (GP Putnam’s Sons / Penguin Random House): ‘For a while it seemed everything had to have a high concept to cut through all the noise. … But those that really …

Tips from and Industry Insider | Why Authors Need a Brand

In Publishing Industry by RWA Blog CoordinatorLeave a Comment

Readers don’t buy by publisher*. Nobody goes into a bookshop and asks for the latest Pan McMillan title. Instead, they ask for the new Nora Roberts or, if the series becomes so well known that the character eclipses the author, the most recent Jack Reacher novel. So, even if you’re traditionally published you’re going to need an identifiable brand to distinguish yourself from your competition.