Juno Books

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BACK IN THE SADDLE?
Where we’ve been

NEW DIRECTION
Mass market paperbacks

NEW ACQUISITIONS

SNEAK PEEK SAMPLER: Blood Magic by Matthew Cook

BOOK UPDATE
Where are da books?

E-Z BOOK SHOPPING

SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL DISCOUNTS

WEB SITE UPDATE

WARRIOR WOMEN
We need help!

CONTEST: We Have a Winner!
But we can’t find her

MORE CONTEST FUN
Yes, a NEW contest!

SUBMISSIONS

…and the inevitable QUOTATION

If you’ve read the introduction to BEST NEW PARANORMAL ROMANCE (caution: the link will download a PDF of the intro!) or followed any of the discussion mention in the essay “The Paranormal Paradox”, you may recall that I contend that “the world at large” refers to a variety of fiction — not all of which is “romance as defined as ‘Romance’ with a happy ending, etc. — as paranormal romance.

Just thought I’d offer a few recent examples:

Laurell K. Hamilton casts a long shadow in the lucrative field of paranormal romance… (Detroit News)

A year and a half later, “Undead and Unwed”…hit the shelves and the MaryJanice Davidson takeover of the comic paranormal romance genre had begun….Now Davidson is enjoying life as a romance supernova, alongside star authors like Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton. (Originally Detroit News)

There was also a lot of buzz about authors scheduled to speak and sign at BEA, including …paranormal romance author Laurell K. Hamilton, who were both signing books on Friday afternoon. (The Book Standard)

[Holly Lisle’s] first novel of paranormal romance, Midnight Rain and her last, I’ll See You…her fourth book, Night Echoes, is more a southern gothic and ghost story. (Note: The book could probably best be termed “romantic suspense”.) (Review on BlogCritics.)

I finally found the RWA contact info on their Web site (under “contests”?) but Stacey tells me  (below in her comment) they are on hiatus until after their annual gathering next month where they are, evidently, discussing standards again.

As long as they are discussing their rules, I’d suggest looking at determining eligibility for their awards. It is, she said in truly shocked tones, by *copyright date*! Copyright date has nothing, really,  to do with publication date.  Oh well. Still, how bizarre.

Okay, so here is my new “official photo”. For now at least. I think in an effort to keep my main chin up (thus reducing the number of other chins) I messed up and exposed my nostrils too much. Thus the camera is sort of looking up *into* my nose. Yuck. Then, in an effort to keep my eyes open and not squinchy I managed to achieve a “deer in headlights” look. Finally, we have the forced grin/rictus effect.

BUT — my hair (although a bit more height on top would be nice) looks good

Okay, RWA members, I’ve been googling for 30 minutes and damned if I can find even the contact information for the RWA publisher approval form.  I got a form and information last fall (and RWA accepted that since we were an imprint of Wildside — which had been around since 1989 — that we would be considered “in business” for more than (if we qualify)…
Now, of course, I can’t find it.

So, sombody hook me up again?

I’m home, I think.

I’m not sure because my still-home (at least, in one case, for the summer) sons (and a son’s girlfriend) had cleaned the house.

I’m sure the mothers of teenagers and college-age young adults understand how disorienting this is.

It verges on the paranormal. It is certainly a fantasy.

They even cleaned the kitchen floor.

Maybe it is magical realism. I found myself defining that at ALA. My on the stop response (probably based on somethin someone much smarter wrote or said) was that magical realism was like being in your own backyard hanging up laundry (do people do that nowadays? well…it was spur of the moment…) and a bird lands on the clothesline. Describe the scene and it is all perfectly normal and realistic. Then the bird starts talking. Now you are in the realm of magical realism.

My other definition is derived from Gene Wolfe: “Magical realism is fantasy written in Spanish.” It’s all fantasy, folks.

I also had a gentleman at ALA ask me to tell him what fantasy was. He was sincere. He had some vague idea of what science fiction was, “Fiction with some basis in technology, isn’t it?” he said.

Again, my brain luckily kicked into something I’d read someplace but shan’t look up just now.
“You might say that science fiction is about things that are, based on what we know or theorize, possible,” I said. “Fantasy is about things that aren’t possible — the magical, the supernatural…”

(Look — I needed SIMPLE, okay?)

“Ah!” he replied, seeing the light. “Then this Harry Potter thing is ‘fantasy”, right?”

As you no doubt noticed, there was no Day 3 entry. I just didn’t feel like spending the money to access the wifi here last night. Moreover, my email, although downloading properly, doesn’t seem to be going out properly. Bother.

Also we were digging through what we had acquired in the line of freebies and contact cards last night. (Hint: If you ever give me your card at a convention or such and have a question or want contact…it might be a good idea to email ME a week or so later.) No, I did not gather up a lot of stuff. I was restrained. A couple of ARCs I am likely to review, some catalogs to “study”, a few notepads and pencils. Librarian Jennifer (Mrs Sean Wallace) found some excellent material and books that were more than worth the toting effort for a children’s librarian. (And she heard Judy Blume and Julie Andrews speak!)

Just getting into DC on a Monday morning at rush hour was a problem yesterday. It took a looooong, slow time.

Stephen and John are manning the booth today. We haven’t much left to give away, but we understand there is a lot of free food and such for exhibitors we are missing.

I’m not sure the total number of free books we gave away — at least 1000 and I’d say probably more like 1300-1400. The flip-samplers? Maybe 400 of each of the three? I really need to check on that one.

Sean and I will head to Wildside-Juno-Prime HQ later this morning before he drops me off at the airport. Jennifer is off at a job interview (fingers-crossed), but *yes* I slept in till after eight this morning, so maybe my batteries are recharged.

ALA is, although exhausting, also very enjoyable. I can’t think of anywhere else you would meet so many folks who really read and love books, not to mention interact with the public on a daily basis. I feel that as far as getting the word out on Juno, this has been extremely effective.

Unfortunately, this will probably be my only one. With Juno tending toward mass market now, there’s just not enough reason for the budget item to be justified — especially with it being in Anaheim next year. Yes, librarians do buy some mmp, but it is not as if I would be representing a line of trade paper or hardcovers. Prime is another matter and resources devoted to their attending would be better spent.

Sean posted a few more pictures (scroll toward the bottom) including this one of me looking old and tired…sigh…

For more on ALA - including quotes from Steve Erickson and John Scalzi — check Jeff VanderMeer’s blog.

So, while I’m away from the booth a group of teenage girls show up and are enchanted with the samplers. Being teenage girls, they expressed their excitement by squee-ing. Jeff VanderMeer and Sean snap pictures:

More photos from Sean here.

Otherwise we gave away another 400 or so books. Talked to what seems like hundreds of people. Some had actually heard of Juno and/or Prime. Many had sought us out. Many more were in the “graphic novel” aisle looking for such for high schools and the like. One might think this was a disadvantage, but I learned to point out, “We aren’t graphic, just words. It is a new and exciting, cutting edge activity called ‘reading’.” Well, it was humorous for librarians anyway.

We continue to be a little surprised at how innovative and new the sampler “doubles” are considered to be. Our 80-page samplers (or teasers) each contain about three chapters of two different books. This is known as dos-à-dos binding — two separate works bound together back to back, each upside down relative to the other. Thus there is no back, just two fronts. At the end of the text of one work, works, the next page is the upside-down) last page of the other work. You flip the book over and read it. Thus, as opposed to other volumes with more than one novel, there’s no way you can say which book is “first” or “last”, since it depends on which end you start reading from. (Thanks to Wikipedia for some of that explanation.)

I mean this isn’t unique, but people seem never to have seen it. (Unless old enough to recall Ace doubles.) I take credit, of course That’s me: a marketing genius.

Ran into Steve Erickson today and Alexandra Sokoloff dropped by the booth for a chat.

…and we remain rather exhausted by the end of the day. I would feel very “old” about this, but the 30-year-olds are as exhausted (or, ahem, more so) than I, so I needn’t feel ancient!

…does get away. I was very busy last week getting ready for the American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington DC. I even took time to (finally)get a newsletter ready to go out Thursday…but it didn’t get out. It will probably be a few days now.

Meanwhile, ALA is a wonderful experience. Librarians are wonderful people who read. It’s been nice to meet so many bright folks who are actually going to read all the free books and even tell other folks about them.

Ran into several people today - Gavin Grant, Kelly Link, Pete Straub, Ann VanderMeer, Sharyn November, and Juno author Maria Lima stopped in the booth for awhile. (Even though we forgot her books!)

We gave away 4-500 books, I think. Countless “samplers” and catalogs. And talked. A lot.

After restocking on some books in the morning, Saturday will be an even busier day.

Yawn.

Thanks to Heather Osborne for stopping by to clear up the Tor erotica/romance thingy.

Also — Juno Books authors of as-yet unpublished books: You received a group email last week updating you on schedule, etc. Since it was a BC/group email your spam filter may has misdirected it. If you didn’t get it, let me know.

Carole Nelson Douglas has pointed out a May interview with Heather Osborn on Dear Author. The fact her name is spelled without an “e” is a good clue why I missed it. (Duh!)

Now I am really confused. In it, she says. “However, I want to let you know up front that Tor has no plans to launch an erotic romance line, ala Spice, Red, or Aphrodisia. Tor is open to “super sensual“ romances, but these are nowhere near the level of heat you see in an Ellora’s Cave release.”

Okay, so then what is DEEP INSIDE? It is not as explicit as one would expect for erotica, true. But there are books so-called that are no more explicit. Has it been cooled down (thus the “..then they did it” effect mentioned below)? Did Tor get cold feet? Did they erotica is a different marketing world? Is this the one and only attempt at Tor Erotica?

Ah, well…that’s what I get for conjecturing.

I realized I never blogged about “Tor Erotica” here…although I mentioned it on DarkEcho…

When Anna Genoese (who I don’t know, but I do know the Tor Paranormal Romance line) left Tor, I, at first, thought perhaps it was was downsizing as Ms. Genoese was probably the least senior of their senior editors, but she blogged she would be being replaced. Next, the grapevine announced Heather Osborne, formerly of Ellora’s Cave, had been hired by Tor.

That changed my theory. (And this is ALL just theorizing…) I figured then that Tor wanted to do books that were more explicitly erotic. (Since EC is noted for such.) This theory gained further weight when, at BEA, I found what appeared to be a quickly produced (B/W, resembling photocopying) pamphlet featuring DEEP INSIDE by Polly Frost (”Now available from Tor”) — “Ten tantalizing tales of supernatural erotica”. There’s also atagline: “sensual adventures beyond the ordinary…”

Ahem. Please note our logo. Okay, so it is coincidence.

ANYWAY…my theory shouldn’t have been a theory. Duh, I should pay more attention. Media Bistro interviewed Tor editor Paul Stevens a year ago (published July 18, 2006) when, in answer to: ‘You bought Polly Frost’s collection of erotic horror stories, and are looking for more erotica “with something different about it.” What are some of the common pitfalls you see in erotic writing, and what kinds of “different” erotica are you looking for?’
…he replied: “I haven’t worked on a lot of erotica, but I do feel it’s important that there be a story in addition to the erotic elements. Polly’s book is a nice fit for Tor because all the stories feature horror or other supernatural elements. And, it was a lot of fun to work on.” (And, indeed, Polly Frost thanks him as her editor on her Web site.)

And, in March 2005, Joely Sue Burkhart blogged that Anna Genoese had blogged this: “I am now looking for erotica. Not just NC-17 romance novels, but erotica. Or, rather, “romantica” - the sort of erotica that has a vague semblance of a plot, and also a happy ending.Paranormal and non-paranormal, contemporary, historical, futuristic, totally kinky or more vanilla, threesomes are okay, blah blah blah…”

So, *now*, the mystery is: Two YEARS? Over two years ago, they decided to do erotica. Within a year after that two years they got one book and weren’t even committed enough to it to do more advanced promo?

And the result? Well, from the sample of DEEP INSIDE I read, the idea of “vague plot” is vague indeed. (#1 Rule of Good Erotica: Sex is integral to the story. Corollery: That means it has to have a story to start with.) The supernatural aspect lacks plausibility, there is no characterization, and one woman physically attacks another with violence. (Comes close to breaking the “no violence” rule.) And the sex? A tendency to say, in effect, “…then they did it.”

But no fair judging a book by a single pseudo-story.

But if one did judge, one might think that Tor needs Ms.Osborne — or someone — to help them with the erotic.

Last Friday’s Wall Street Journal had an article on Marvel and DC Comics titles being created to appeal to female readers. The launch last month of DC’s Minx line was highlighted.

I think it is interesting to note that although Senior Vice President Karen Berger and Group Editor Shelly Bond are supervising the imprint, out of the first 12 creators listed for the first seven issues, only one female is involved — Louise Carey, Mike Carey’s daughter. Just an observation.

As for Marvel, instead of a “separate line dedicated to the demographic, the company has been hiring writers known for their established female following. In format, these comics are more like traditional superhero periodicals, but the company’s strategy also involves repackaging the material in hardcover and graphic novel formats….Last year, Marvel launched its ‘Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter’ series of comic books, based on…novels by Laurell K. Hamilton.” (The graphic here is Jean Claude. They had this as a poster at BEA where LKH signed — at the last minute. And, actually, the comics are, so far, only based on Guilty Pleasures.)

That’s pretty much saying that Marvel is doing nothing along this line as the Anita Blake comics are the creation of the Dabel Brothers in “partnership” with Marvel.

Anyway, the WSJ also offers these numbers on graphics for 2006:

* Manga sales in bookstores grew 22% to 9.5 million units.
* Manga accounted for 68.5% of all graphic novels sold in U.S.
bookstores, up from 53.8% in 2004.
* The total comics and graphic novel market in the U.S. and Canada was
$640 million, of which $200 million was manga.

I think I lived through BEA. I’m not sure Sean did. Last time I saw him he was fading, but I trust Jennifer is pulling him through. Stephen was healthy though — and he’s the one who was doing the “professional parties”.

Sinus problems led to a stuffed-up ear by the time I landed Thursday morning at LaGuardia, so I entered the Big Apple about half deaf, but well-armed with lots of tissues+lotion. (Travel tip: Never try using cheap hotel tissues for extended dire needs.)

New York was hot and humid — and hot and humid in NYC is REALLY hot and humid. This fact played an integral role in all activity.

Of course there is lots to report on — if I can remember it. The flight BACK (although I am over most of the sinusitis) resulted in stuffy ear #2, so I am back to partially deaf and — new and exciting symptom!– loss of equilibrium! And you thought I was pretty dizzy most of the time anyway, right?

Or it may just be the euphoria (due to the Cleveland Cavs win) of Northeast Ohio right now spinning my head.

So, more later.