Sunday, August 27, 2006

Maya Reynolds: Do-It-Yourself -- A Story to Inspire

Maya Reynolds: Do-It-Yourself -- A Story to Inspire

This blog post by Maya Reynolds captures the excitement and passion that romance writers and publishers have for their work. New York publishers can kiss their own rears good bye because these small publishers know what women want to read and they are giving it to them. Smart writers aren't putting up with years long waits on the slush pile and for their royalty checks anymore.

Read a little bit of Maya's post below and then check out the rest of her post here: Maya Reynolds: Do-It-Yourself -- A Story to Inspire.

For the record, romance novels (not just erotic romance) now account for
39% of all fiction sold and 55% of all mass market paperbacks sold. That's a
huge number. $1.2 billion in sales for 2004.

I know some people like to sneer at romance, but it's hard to argue with
$1.2 billion in sales.

One of the interesting things about the article was that it gave the
history of the e-publisher that started the trend in erotic romance. I've
referred to this story in the past, but it bears repeating in terms of providing
inspiration.Back in the late '90s, Tina Engler was a single mom of two daughters
living in Tampa, Florida and trying to get a contract for her romance novels.
Unfortunately, she couldn't find a traditional publisher to buy her work because
it was so explicit. Traditional publishers were convinced that women would not
want to read such detailed sexual descriptions...


The link to the Detroit Free press article: Romance novels turn up the heat.

Way to go Maya Reynolds and Marta Salij!

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