Juno Books

I’ll be chatting online tonight with the Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal Special Interest Chapter of the RWA. I guess it is not open to the public, but I think they may post the transcript later — I’ll check.

Jason Nahrung writes on “parnormal romance” in the Brisbane Courier-Mail : Undead breathe new life. And yes, even in Oz, “paranormal romance” seems to include non-romance in the commonly held definition.

He mentions, btw, Australian writer SHANNAH JAY. Shannah is the author of TENEBRAK, one of our Juno novels!

If you’ve subscribed and didn’t get it — check your “junk” mail folder first! — let me know. If you’d like to subscribe:sign up!

Yes, I’ll post it online, but you get first shot at our current contest if you subscribe, so I’ll wait a few days.

And, included in the newsletter, is something about the recent discussion that BEST NEW PARANORMAL ROMANCE (and, I guess Juno) has at least partially inspired. Since I haven’t the time to read all the blogs or post on them (I don’t have time to reaad or post on MY blogs!), I tried to write a sort of “all-in-one” essay, The Paranormal Paradox, which I hope answers some questions…and continues the discussion.

Meanwhile, a nice person wrote and told me she has had a chat with an RWA chapter member and inquired about her “darker take on fiction and the HEA factor.  She explained that many of the writers in the GRW do not write (and read) to the traditional romance guidelines. I was relieved and excited to hear that their membership base spans the genres including dark fantasy and sci-fi.”

As I point out in The Paranormal Paradox, RWA actually has several “definitions” of romance, none of which are official, all of which are used in appropriate contexts. The RWA is, like any writers organization, interested in “keeping up” with an ever-changing marketplace and perception of the type of material their members publish. And, like any writers organization, there are different points of view among the membership on just about ANY issue, I’m sure

We inquired about establishing Juno as an “official” RWA-recognized publisher last summer. We evidently qualify. I’ve never got back to filling out the form or sending in the books as there was, if I recall, a November deadline. Not having hit that one, there didn’t seem to be any great urgency to get back to it. In fact, I’m not entirely sure if it is something we need to do anyway. Any ideas about this?

Also: I’d already decided not to attend the RWA convention this year for several reasons: time and budget constraints (we go to other conventions, BEA, etc. already), of course, and the fact that I’d be there alone. Seems to me the role of a publisher at RWA is to have a decided “presence” — a lot of people, lots of giveaways, lots of our authors — and a higher profile than I could muster.

I’d appreciate ideas about this, too, if you have them. I know I’ll be going to BEA and World Fantasy Con this year, not sure of any other events. Ideas?

You can set up a topic and talk on the new message board or here.

I hope…If you find errors–let me know…editor@juno-books.com

It will probably be this evening until repairs can be made. Sorry.

If you came in via the blog, check out the entry. Hit refresh on your browser if it looks like it did before.

On the menu, notice there is now a Forum (Message Board) for all and there’s also a new Art Gallery. The eight featured books each have a “more” link that takes you to a description and links to an excerpt.

And (shh!) if you look closely, you’ll find (down towards the bottom) six books we haven’t officially “announced”. More on that soon…

If you haven’t already signed up for the Juno Newsletter, this would be a good time to do so. The premiere issue should be going out next week!

…and posted something nice over at the DarkEcho Blog about it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

13 January 2007

JUNO BOOKS has hired freelance publicist WILEY SAICHEK to handle publicity for the imprint. Saichek has worked in the publishing industry for more than a decade representing various individual authors including Tamara Thorne, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and Suzy McKee Charnas.

“We are truly looking forward to working with Wiley and know he’ll bring even more attention to our great line of books,” said Juno Books editor Paula Guran.

Saichek will continue in his full time position as Marketing Manager for The Book Report Network as well.

Juno Books, an imprint of Wildside Press, was launched fall 2006 and will publish two titles per month for 2007. Diamond Book Distributors distributes Juno nationally. Juno Books publishes fantasy and science fiction with a focus on strong female protagonists.

For more information email info@juno-books.com or phone Sean Wallace at 301-762-1305

Rain Taxi is having a fundraising auction this week on eBay; please visit www.raintaxi.com to check it out. There are lots of books, broadsides, artworks, etc…. selling these items helps keep their nonprofit organization stay afloat, so take a peek and buy. The auction ends on Sunday, January 21.

An excellent definition of “paranormal romance” by
Sarah S.G. Frantz. Yes, she agrees that if it is called “romance” then it must have the HEA.

these covers. They aren’t QUITE finished (the copy is still being tweaked and a few thingies are missing), but I couldn’t wait to share! A MORTAL GLAMOUR’s art is by Jennifer Reagles and THE STRANGELING is another Terrific Tim Lantz. Design magic is by our own Stephen “Da Design Man” Segal…click on the images to see a little larger.

Thanks for the *thoughtful* comments so far on PR. Much appreciated. I don’t have time to comment further, but I do urge you to read Cindy Ward’s article on PR from an SF p.o.v. at IROSF for now. Like me, Cindy did a lot of research on PR to come to her conclusions.

Also — please understand that *I* am not the one who has “changed” or is trying to change the “definition” of “paranormal romance”. It is something that is or has already happened. Here’s another recent (January 7, 2007) media usage — from The Belfast Telegraph demonstrating what I mean:

Paranormal romance […and other stuff…] were all big sellers last year — and they look set to remain the hot reads of 2007….Alison Bone, senior reporter at industry magazine The Bookseller, says: “Classic publishing will be big. Sherlock Holmes and others in Conan Doyle’s backlist will be rebranded and have new, more contemporary covers, following the successful rebranding of Jane Austen’s work last year.”

Paranormal romance [emphasis mine] will also be huge, she predicts.

“Vampire and werewolf romances have really taken off in America and are following suit over here, as names including Laura K Hamilton and Christine Feehan have been making their mark.”…

Ms. Bone may not even have used the term herself — but the reporter did. Ms. Bone DID say “vampire and werewolf romances”, too. More terms that use “romance” but do NOT mean “Romance” (as defined.)

I posted here in answer to someone who was upset that we were trying to “redefine romance” and infers we are trying to “trick” readers and that by “mislabeling” we are doing damage to our authors.

Well, of course I’m not redifining anything. I certainly HOPE I’m not damaging authors.

I expected this. Eventually, I guess I’ll put the introduction to BNPR online. Not now, though. Frankly, I am trying to sell books. I figure a couple of people MIGHT buy the anthology to read it.

At the moment, I’m debating the series title…maybe it SHOULD be “Best New Paranormal”…I see “paranormal” used more and more to (inadequately) describe “these kinda books and stories”…that being said — and being frank again — it might cost us sales.

Best New Paranormal Romance
Edited by Paula Guran. Juno (www.juno-books.com), $12.95 paper (312p) ISBN 978-0-8095-5653-3

Guran’s pioneering “best of” anthology, the first in a projected series, offers 12 enthralling tales of romance that incorporate supernatural, fantasy or SF elements. A few of these “stories of love and wonder” end with a standard HEA (romance-speak for “happily ever after”), but all avoid cliché. Among the best are Catherine Asaro’s “The Shadowed Heart,” about a battle-fatigued starfighter pilot; Elizabeth Hand’s “Calypso in Berlin,” a siren tale about the obsession an immortal nymph-artist feels for her human muse; Claudia O’Keefe’s “A Maze of Trees,” an eloquent testament to loneliness and sacrifice in an endangered forest; and Delia Sherman’s “Walpurgis Afternoon,” a whimsical gem concerning a mysterious Victorian home belonging to two witches that appears literally overnight in a middle-class suburb. Other contributors include Jane Yolen, Sandra MacDonald and Elizabeth Bear. In an illuminating introduction, Guran discusses the recent rise of the paranormal romance genre and the attempts to define what it is and isn’t.

For those of you finding us through SMART BITCHES — we love them, too, and rejoice in being able to publish Gail Dayton’s third “Rose” book. (And it is sooooo good…) We also pledge to never portray man-titties, mullets, inadvertently pregnant-looking heroines, or impossible poses on our covers!

The interview Summer Brooks did with Elizabeth Bear and me at World Fantasy Con is now up on The Dragon Page.

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Publishers Weekly is supposed to have a review of BNPR next week…have no idea whether it is good, bad, or otherwise…

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Copies of RAGS & OLD IRON and BEYOND THE HEDGE came into the Wildside office during the holidays, but I haven’t seen them yet. At least we know they exist and should be making it into the stores now. Haven’t seen the new issue of Fantasy yet, either.

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Madly scrambling to finish books up and get to the proofreader trying to make up for time lost due to the crud disease over the holidays. Ack!

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Tried to explain to a mundane what it was that I did for a living. I’m not sure I believe myself, why should I expect a normal person to understand? The youngest sneers “…vampire romance…” at me but says he’s hoping that there’s a future in this as opposed to “that horror stuff…” He and a brother gave me dragons and a teddy bear with bat wings and fangs for Xmas, though. (Which joins other dragons and the infamous “goth kitty.”) Other son and his fiancee gave me (among other things) a Johnny Depp magazine. The daughter bought me wine…See? They do understand their mother…