Romancing the Blog | Romance Authors and Readers Who Blog

I once had an author tell me I was the most normal reviewer she knew. Before I could take offense, she explained that I was always honest and never looking to form cliques. Hey, I like talking to authors. I’m all about idle chitchat, sipping cocktails in the bar at whatever conference, and hoping for some juicy gossip (Who just landed 3-book deal? Who is trying to reclaim their backlist?). That said, true friendship is out of the question. Acquaintances, sure. Drinking buddies, even better. But bosom buddies? Probably not a good idea. A reviewer’s first job is to remain objective – and that’s merely one of the many things I’ve learned over the past seven years.

Trends Come and Go – I started reviewing in 1999. Back then, if you were trying to sell a paranormal you might as well have been looking for the Holy Grail, every historical on the shelf didn’t take place in Regency England and a little imprint called Brava had nearly everybody and their dead grandmother scandalized. In 2006, paranormals are everywhere, I’m sick of Regency England and Brava is starting to look tame compared to the imprints that have followed in her wake.

Publishing Is A Business – the minute a book that fits Type B is a hit, publishers will jump on the bandwagon and flood the market with other books that fit the mold. Then it’s just a question of when readers will get burnt out, fed up or just plain tired. Talented authors (in many cases fan favorites) are put out to pasture because 1) their last book didn’t sell 2) nobody reads Type A books anymore or 3) they cannot be pigeonholed or branded.

Bad Books Happen – As a firm believer in the law of averages, even the best of authors are allowed at least one dud.

Keep Your Mouth Shut – Bad behavior sticks, and thanks to the glorious wonders of the Internet, can be spread in record time. You may think your baby is the prettiest one on the playground, but opinions are like butts – everybody has one. Fix a margarita, call your best friend and she’ll tell you that the reviewer is obviously a misguided jackass who wouldn’t know The Great American Novel if it bit them in the butt. But keep it off-line. That bears repeating – keep it off-line! Sure that might gall you – but nothing blows up in your face that way.

Round And Round The Merry-Go-Round – Authors will always get defensive over bad reviews. Reviewers will always defend their job. It’s an unbreakable food chain and we all need to move on.

Awards – in the grand scheme of things, most readers could care less. That said, some libraries will probably decide to buy your book now.

Never Say Never – I cannot tell you how many times I’ve said, “Oh that author doesn’t do a thing for me” and then I read their latest book and it knocks my socks off. Or, “I really don’t care for paranormal” and I read several that I really enjoy. I have since learned to keep my mouth shut.

Stop Worrying About Respect – Romance is genre fiction, and literary snobs will always malign genre fiction. We may succeed in changing a few minds, but there will always be a camp of narrow-minded people who will continue to sneer and demean no matter how eloquent our arguments or passionate our defense. I’m a librarian. Most days I even like to think I’m a good one. It’s on those good days that I tell readers to hold their heads high, never be ashamed. They are a reader, and that automatically makes them a hellava lot smarter than the average bear. And when all else fails, there is always the one-finger salute.

What lessons do the next seven years hold? I cannot wait to find out.

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