The 50 Shades of Grey media blitz continues! From The Today Show to the AP to HuffPo and now Good Morning America.  I did an interview for GMA that will air this morning. The segment focuses on how word of mouth and reader recommendation – as well as digital availability, I should think – made 50 Shades a bestseller, without any advertising and promotion from the publisher. Word of mouth was everything, online and off. … Continue reading 50 Days of 50 Shades →

As Jane and I have been discussing, and as she noted at DA, 50 Shades of Grey has been collecting the type of media exposure that publicists have fever dreams about. From HuffPo to the Today Show website and television broadcast, to the NY Post and various Fox affiliates in New York and San Diego, the story boils down to: women are reading this book, it's become exceedingly popular, it's a sexually-focused romance, and the women featured … Continue reading 50 Shades of Grey: Why Is It So Increasingly Popular? →

I mentioned in my entry about social media and discovery that the RWA had done a survey of romance readers and posted a PDF of the results online for members. I asked if I could share some of the data, and RWA granted permission. Thank you! The following data is from RWA and Bowker's PubTrack Consumer, and all of the information is used with permission. I'm barely scratching the surface of the report, but I … Continue reading Some Highlights from the RWA 2011 Romance Book Consumer Survey →

While listening to presentations at Digital Book World's Book Marketing Summit in January about the role of social media venues in book marketing, I got to thinking about how very different Twitter and Facebook are. One slide I saw showed Twitter a distant third behind Facebook and StumbleUpon as sources of social media traffic to specific websites, but the two I find myself on most as a reader (and author) are Facebook and Twitter. I … Continue reading Discovery Through Social Media →

I think there's a missed opportunity in romance land, particulary in paranormal romance land, particularly in the lucrative gifting market.  I'm talking about anniversary gifts. You know how there's a chart of what gifts are symbolic of each year of marriage, and people can get downright goofy adhering to the suggested gifts? Like, say, my husband, who, for our tenth anniversary, wrapped my present in tin foil because the traditional gift was tin/aluminum. I should … Continue reading Immortal Anniversary Gifts →

Time again for me to be nosy and ask, what are you reading this weekend? I have a list of things to try out, as I just read Truths and Roses in a marathon sprint. I also have a nonfiction book about storytelling arts that I want to read.  While I was loving At Home in parts, I had to stop reading it for awhile, because the discussion was often so bleak. Here are all … Continue reading So, What Are you Reading This Weekend? →

I received the following very sweet inquiry this week, and thought maybe you'd have some good ideas to help Val out. Val wants to throw a surprise party for her mother in law, and center the party on a romance-novel theme. Here's her message:  I have no idea how to give my Mother-in-law a surprise 80th birthday party in April with a romance novel theme. This has been her quiet hobby for at least the … Continue reading Feel Like Party Planning? →

A reader sent me a link to a Reddit thread which reveals that the image used in a popular meme online, Sheltering Suburban Mom, is the author photo of Carly Phillips, bestselling romance author. Cue long discussion of how romance is porn. This is a whole new kettle of WTF for an individual like Ms. Phillips, who probably never suspected that her image was being used to portray a meme character. Her identity has been … Continue reading Carly Phillips, Reddit, and The Sheltering Suburban Mom Meme →

Penguin's InterMix is now selling the Nora Roberts digital backlist, with the Donovan Legacy and the Cordina's Royal Family series on sale now. I have not read the Cordina family series, but the Donovan series is one of my favorites to re-read. If you're looking for the series in order: The Donovan Legacy Captivated by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A | BN | K | S Entranced by Nora Roberts * $6.99 * A … Continue reading Nora Roberts Backlist Available Now →

A reader named Sheri emailed me, asking if there were a place at SBTB she could talk to other romance readers about what she's reading, and know that folks would understand what she's talking about. Sheri wrote, I would love for there to be a place where all of us fans and romance lovers had a place to talk without a thread, just free form. I am sure there is a place like this somewhere on … Continue reading Reader Thread: Whatcha Reading? →

I am not sure what the word is – overheard? read? visually eavesdropped? – but I read a conversation between Shannon Stacey and Angela James about paranormal vs. contemporary romances, and why the fanbase for some paranormal series is more active, involved, and at times rabid than the fans for contemporary series. This idea made me ponder for a good few weeks now about why that is.  First, the idea that a paranormal romance series can … Continue reading Paranormal vs Contemporary Fans →