Romancing the Blog | Romance Authors and Readers Who Blog

Within the past few weeks, two of my fellow RTBers have written delightful, witty “Letters to Santa.” In them, they’ve listed a slew of “gifts” every writer hasn’t yearned for at one time or another, from RITA wins to a glorious uninterrupted couple of hours to just write. If I were to add to those lists, I’d ask Santa – especially after this year, oy — for one whole month (or, heck, even week) without getting splatted by some kind of career paintball. No lines closing or suddenly changing word count when you’re two weeks away from deadline, no I-know-we-loved-this-yesterday-but-this-is-today-things-change bombshells, no sales figures that didn’t meet expectations, no covers that bear no resemblance whatsoever to your book, never mind that you spent three hours filling in Art Fact Sheets that rival an application to Oxford.

Except then I plopped my reader hat on and thought, maybe instead of asking Santa for the writing equivalent of that five-carat three-stone diamond I wouldn’t exactly hate seeing in my stocking, what could I – or any of us – give to those authors whose books have given us so much pleasure?

Okay, hold on. . .changing hats again. . .damn, those feathers get stuck to lipgloss. . .

Despite the widespread, bizarrely persistent belief that selling a book somehow assures automatic entry into publishing Nirvana, reality tends to be a little less. . .pretty. Granted, after a gazillion variations of “Your book does not meet our needs at this time,” there are no sweeter words than “We’d like to buy your book.” Not shred, play hacky-sack or line a bird cage with it, but buy it. So that somebody other than your mother and critique partners can read it. Heady stuff, that. So in the midst of all the very well deserved Snoopy dancing, it’s hard to remember that rejection don’t become a thing of the past after that first sale. Not just from editors and agents (alas), but from reviewers and readers. In fact, once your baby is “out there,” it’s fair game for everybody and her cousin to take a pot-shot at. And boy, do they ever. Often with gleeful abandon.

Yes, I know – criticism comes with the territory, we all know not everyone’s gonna like our stuff, you’ve gotta have a thick skin to stay in this business, blah blah blah. And true, one can often find gold among the dross, that nugget of constructive advice that takes your writing to the next level. Still, during those days (or weeks or months) when it seems as though nobody except your mother likes your stuff (and even that’s iffy), the euphoria over making that first, sweet sale seems like a dimly remembered dream.

Because thick skins notwithstanding, we’re not rhinoceroses, after all. A glancing blow every now and then, no sweat. A constant barrage of Bad News however, is enough to make even the toughest old birds – or most resilient young ones – among us begin to look at our ovens and go, “Hmmmm. . .”

Which (finally) brings me back to my point, which is the simple gift of appreciation we can all give to those authors we love, whose books have touched us or made us laugh or at the very least given us a few hours respite from the stresses of our daily life. Nothing makes a writer’s day more than a note or email of thanks from a reader, or stumbling across a positive review or recommendation. On those days when the oven calls, those affirmations that maybe you don’t suck as much as you thought you did are like gold.

As it happens, one of the reasons I finally caved about having a blog was the opportunity it would give me to talk up books I loved, especially those by new or mid-list authors who need all the publicity they can get. Even though I don’t read nearly as much as I’d like these days, settling in with a good book still gives me the same thrill as it did when, as an adolescent, I’d lug as many books home from the library as I could fit in my puny little arms, devouring them one after the other like chocolates. And even today, when I find one that knocks my socks off, I just have to share.

So this holiday season, if you’ve been meaning to send that note to an author whose story and characters kept you up until the wee hours, now’s a good a time as any. With so many having websites now, it’s a piece of cake. Really. If you lurk on a reader website, come on down and tell the rest of us what you’ve been reading. Or post that review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or chat about it on your blog. Since reader word-of-mouth drives sales more than any other factor, if you want more books from that author, let the world know about her. And let her know how much all her hard work meant to you.

A precious, priceless gift that costs the giver nothing other than a few minutes on the computer.

And no Santa required.

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