by Lori
The 2006 Romantic Times conference was an absolute blast. For those of you who don't know, Romantic Times BookCLUB is a 25 yr old industry magazine devoted to book reviews in all genres, interviews, insider writing tips and a hodge podge of articles for readers, writers and the publishing world. The magazine also holds a convention every year where readers, writers, editors, agents, and aspiring writers can connect. There are daily workshops that run the gamut from writing erotica to a published novelists bookcamp. There are morning and afternoon mixers sponsored by individual authors or publishing houses. For example - Avon held a "Pink Ladies" cocktail party where attendees could pick up free books, chat with Avon authors, and suck down a free Cosmpolitan or three. Paranormal author MaryJanice Davidson hosted a morning continental breakfast. Then there are the themed parties, which seem to get the most attention...and snarky comments. Half-naked oiled up cover models? 60 year old women running around in belly dancing costumes? What is wrong with these people?
Let me explain something: the nightly parties are usually sponsored by publishers. Wednesday night was the Ellora's Cave "Come as your favorite fantasy" party. I went as a cowgirl, fringed chaps, black hat, boots, spurs, rhinestone belt with a PBR belt buckle - yes, sadly, they were all my own clothes. Ellora's Cave - EC - is an e-publisher (books 50K and above go to print 3 months after e-publication and are in all major chain stores) that specializes in "romantica" or in other words, really, really steamy romances. Some people call it porn. I call it brilliant. Why? EC averages 65,000 downloads...per month. Yes, they have gorgeous cover models hanging out and dancing with attendees. Yes, the authors and models ran around wearing black t-shirts with the "Got Sex?" question on the front, and the "We do at Ellora's Cave" on the back. Hey, we're all adults. In addition to the free books and Cavemen calendars, the savvy publisher also had a slide show on either side of the DJ stage which continually highlighted the attending authors books. For three solid hours. One could also get pictures done with the cover models, for a few bucks extra. Is that greedy? No. Did I mention the money from the pictures goes to charity? Last year EC sent over $50,000 to the MS foundation.
Thursday night was author Heather Graham's "Vampires of the Caribbean" party. Every year Heather - who's published 116 books in every genre imaginable - holds a themed vampire party complete with an original skit and a full course dinner. There were pirates and wenches, straight up vampire costumes with capes and fake teeth. Lots of necks with puncture wounds. A treasure hunt. More free books. And for a small fee, attendees could dance with the men vying for the "Mr. Romance" cover model competition. Does the money go in the Romantic Times coffers? No. Heather - one of the most gracious women on the planet - donates all proceeds to the Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
Sense a theme here?
Thursday I made it to a few mystery panels led by Susan McBride. Lots of information and interesting questions.
Our "Realistic Fight Scenes" panel went over well on Friday morning. We had a good sized crowd considering the "big name" paranormal panel was going on at the same time. Arianna didn't kick me in the head at all and I am proud to say I'm relatively bruise free. Although the couch cushion I "borrowed" from the lobby for Arianna to demonstrate punches and kicks on ended up lopsided.
Friday night was the "Faere Ball" sponsored by a dozen paranormal authors. Another full course meal. More free books. My roommates Arianna Hart - who writes for EC, and Kathy Love - who writes for Kensington/Brava - were part of the faere court. We had a reserved table and helped judge the costume contest. Lots of very creative and stunning costumes. Seemed everyone had fairy wings. I only got smacked in the face half a dozen times during the nightly dancing.
Saturday morning was the book fair from 10:00 to 3:00. 250 authors in attendance. The doors were opened to the RT attendees first, and then to the general public. The staff at Romantic Times takes out local ads. Boy does it work. There were so many people running from author table to author table it was overwhelming. We're set up in alphabetical order, so again I sat next to the fabulous and popular Kelley Armstrong - one of my favorite authors and an extremely nice woman. On my other side was Keri Arthur a paranormal author from Australia, who's also very popular. Frequent FO blogger, Allison Brennan was kiddy-corner from me, so I'd sneak off to talk to her when we had a lull at the same time. The big draw to the booksigning was Laurell K. Hamilton. Her line was huge and never seemed to get any shorter. Since the line was directly in front of us, Keri and I encouraged people to jump the tables and come and buy our books while they were waiting. Hey, don't knock it. It worked.
Last year BLOOD TIES was a new release and I sold out of all 30 books within an hour. Quite honestly, it stunned me. I'd been warned RT is not for mystery writers. This year there's been some grumbling that RT is still a worthless conference for mystery writers - especially mystery writers like me who do not fall under the romantic suspense category. So this year, I had lowered my expectations. I thought I might sell a few books, but mostly I'd concentrate on handing out a ton of HALLOWED GROUND bookmarks to build interest for the November release. Well, guess what? I sold out again within 2 1/2 hours. I think it shocked me more this time. I connected with booksellers and librarians and reviewers and gasp- fans! My publisher advertises heavily in Romantic Times, so lots of people recognized my cover, which helped with my sales. Being accessible to all attendees and getting my face and name out there at the parties helped too. Doesn't pay to be a wall flower.
We skipped the Mr. Romance cover model contest Saturday afternoon for one last walk on the beach. Rodney - an EC cover model - won the contest and will appear on a Harlequin cover. Couldn't have happened to a nicer or more professional guy.
Saturday night was the Dorchester "Rock and Roll Racing" party. More books. My tally for free books was 30 - and I skipped three luncheons so my count was low. I bought 15 at the Book Fair. Yeah, my luggage was overweight coming home. Since I live within 30 miles of Sturgis, I attended the party as a biker. Leather pants, tats, chains, do-rag, Sturgis 2006 t-shirt. My flight left at 7:00 Sunday morning and since I didn't get to bed until 3:30, I opted not to shower. So I showed up at the airport (thanks for sharing a cab with me Allison Brennan!) still covered in fake tattoos in various places on my body: A scorpion that looked like it was crawling out of my bra. A gothic cross on my neck. Barbed wire and skulls surrounding my biceps. A rose between my thumb and forefinger. Another skull and crossbones on my lower back. Hmm. Perfect time for a social experiment. Would I be selected as the random person security pulled out of line because of the tats?
No. My security guard - a big, mean looking guy - scoured my South Dakota drivers license and said, "Cool! You're from South Dakota? I'm going to Sturgis this year for the Rally and gonna get me some ink like yours." I didn't have the heart to confess they were fake. So, I told him to check out Thrash's Living Art Tattoo Studio when he got here because Thrash did great work. Support local businesses, right?
Long post, but it was a long conference. Last year I was an RT virgin and had no idea what to expect. This year was like a family reunion, but it was also very good for my career. Last year Maggie Osborne gave a very moving speech about how the worst part of retiring from writing was missing out on conferences and the friendships she'd made over the years. She tearfully told us to enjoy it while would could because making and sustaining those connections was the best part of being a writer. I agree. Where would we be without the First Offenders? For six days I got to hang out with my online writer friends. The majority of the attendees are women. It is empowering to see so many different women, writing in different genres, in different stages of their careers and their lives coming together. Might be sexist to say, but mystery conferences are almost always populated with more men than women - writers and readers alike. RT is a nice change of pace.
That said, like any other conference you get out of it what you put into it. If you stay in your hotel room, or blow off the functions to hang out with your selective circle of friends you're doing yourself a disservice. Is dressing up in costumes and dancing like a maniac necessary for success as an author?
No. But it sure as hell is fun.
What an entertaining post! Way to go, Lori.
I found it really interesting what you said about how people recognized your book cover. You're doing a great job!
I just got registered for Bouchercon this past weekend. Now, my search for a roommate begins...
Which reminds me, if anyone wants to go in on a room at Bouchercon, feel free to drop me a line: stacey@staceycochran.com
SC
Posted by: Stacey Cochran | May 23, 2006 at 09:58 AM
Excellent post, Lori! Appreciate the info.
Posted by: Troy Cook | May 23, 2006 at 10:48 AM
Great report, it sounds like a fun con. Other than the oily cover models, were there any guys there/ Particularly were there any male authors? Maybe I see something special in Shelby's future...
Posted by: Bryon Quertermous | May 23, 2006 at 12:35 PM
Wow, Lori. What a fun -- and fantastically described --conference! Thanks so much for letting me live vicariously through you for a few paragraphs. I'm so going to RT next year. Much fun as I had with you guys at Bouchercon, it would've been exponentially more fun if we were sportin' do-rags and ink. Am I right??
Posted by: AlisonGaylin | May 23, 2006 at 12:42 PM
Yes, the Cave stuff has lots of sex and who doesn't like that -- but do they have to be so badly written?
Granted, I haven't read them all, but the ones I've glanced at in the bookstore strike me as bad adolescent fantasies written, well, badly, by adolescents.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Posted by: Rob Gregory Browne | May 24, 2006 at 06:35 AM
Hey Lori! Now I don't have to write an RT wrap-up post--you've done a fabulous job!
I didn't sell out :( . . . but I only had 10 copies of the first book in the trilogy, and 15 copies of each of the other two. THE PREY sold out in less than an hour, but a lot of people didn't want the others if they hadn't also read THE PREY (I learned, though, and started talking up how they each stand alone--which they do!) I had 3 copies left of the other two. That's life.
The best part of RT for me (other than meeting Lori) was that there were so many booksellers in one place. I must have met well over a dozen. I have cards, good wishes, and lots of support -- and since many of these were from the East Coast, chances are the only time I could meet them would be at a conference like this.
Posted by: Allison Brennan | May 24, 2006 at 08:55 AM