I was surprised and disappointed that there was no award given in 2007 for the “Veritas Award from the Romance Writers of America for outstanding journalism related to the romance genre. Surprised and disappointed because, well, not only is there a lot of incredible writing about romance fiction being done today, but some of the best writing and analysis about the publishing industry in general is coming from blogs with a decidedly romance bent.
How is that not a single winner could be found? In addition to Booksquare — which I humbly include in the category of great writing on industry issues (hey, if I can’t toot my own horn and all that) — we have, obviously, Romancing the Blog (which you obviously know about), Dear Author, Teach Me Tonight, and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (or if you’re old school, Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books).
At least three of the sources cited above are read regularly by industry types who appreciate the forward-thinking, tech-savvy, well-considered thoughts being produced. For all of our hand-wringing about bringing respect to the romance industry, something wonderful is happening in the post-Romantic Times world: serious writing about the romance genre coupled with serious reviews of our novels (and some not-so-serious writing and reviews). Oh, and broader industry issues brought home to the romance business.
If you’re wondering what’s happening in the publishing industry and how it affects you — authors — the last place you’re looking is the RWA. The monthly magazine, RWR, doesn’t cover serious industry issues in a timely manner, and eNotes (the email newsletter for members) is hampered both by the publication schedule and, for lack of a better term, no-compete clause with RWR. I mean, Amazon just told POD publishers to use their service or else? How is RWA covering this issue? Given the lead time, can it cover this issue and offer something that hasn’t already been done?
Informed members of RWA are learning from other sources. Let’s consider some major issues being covered by these sites (these are recent items, not necessarily indicative of what was published in 2007): the Cassie Edwards plagiarism discovery (which was scary due to Edwards’ apparent cluelessness about stealing words, her publisher’s initial “meh” reaction, and the fact that her editors didn’t notice a shift in style and tone in her work), the Deborah Anne MacGillivary author/reviewer intimidation scandal (as a lagniappe, there’s the fact that she was apparently violating RWA rules by functioning as a publisher), and the recent Amazon decision regarding print-on-demand and BookSurge.
Sure there might have been a little schadenfreude associated with one or more of those stories, but, c’mon, these are big things impacting romance authors and readers, and while the process didn’t always meet the standards of traditional journalism, it sure beat silence on the topics.
I’m guessing it’s the process that lead to the “no award given” for 2007. This isn’t a high profile award, and, I suspect that most RWA members aren’t even aware that they are responsible for submitting articles for consideration. It’s a shame that we finally have reached a point where smart women and men are covering the romance genres from a variety of angles — academically, journalistically, analytically, and even humorously — yet the one award designed to recognize this effort will not be awarded due to lack of entries.
Maybe it’s time for the RWA to consider a better way of identifying and honoring this great work being done.
No related posts.
Michelle Buonfiglio posts great articles in a postive light (romance (buy) the blog), Jessica Faust from Bookends-her articles in RT are great, so are some other articles in RT. Some of Pam Rosenthal’s articles on The Spiced Tea Party are worthy. Kristen Nelson’s Pub Rants is also a great example.
I’ve read many articles on the blogs mentioned that I felt were very positive regarding the genre. I have neither the time nor the inclination to wade through archives and post links.
And I guess I don’t consider reporting or commentary on the bad and ugly of the genre cow poo. The bad and ugly need to be reported for the good to mean anything. And for writers–and readers–to know the many sides and angles of the business.
I wonder how many writers have been spared the nightmare of struggling to get their royalties or their rights back from unscrupulous publishing houses due to this kind of reporting. I, for one, find that very positive.
Kassia – Thanks for mentioning DA in your piece and thanks for the links to past articles. While I think any award is a pleasure to receive, it doesn’t surprise me that DA or SB, particularly, would not receive this award. It’s not so much a function of criticism, but journalism.
I, like Robin, think of our blogs more like editorial plus (reviews, occasional news pieces). I view Teach Me Tonight as a peer reviewed journal of sorts.
I don’t know if there is any blogger, other than Kassia’s Booksquare, that serves the function that say a Publisher’s Lunch or Publishers’ Weekly does.
I do believe, though, that bloggers are part of the industry as much as Romantic Times is part of the industry. I also can see Angel’s point in that we don’t provide constant positive coverage of the romance industry and not simply because we are critical of books, tropes, covers, or anything. I view criticism as not being positive or negative. But we do highlight asshattery (or what we perceive to be asshattery) and that can put a negative light on the industry.
I also believe that bloggers like the ones Kassia mentioned and others not mentioned do put the industry in a positive light in other ways. Because we are willing to talk openly and intelligently about our likes and dislikes, our happiness and our disappointments, we show to the internet world that romance genre is read by intelligent and vibrant individuals; that we are greater than the image of the covers, the ocassional asshattery, the percentage of bad books, and so forth.
I would end with saying that if I am to be afforded gossip blog status, can I just get even a portion of the revenue that Perez Hilton is pulling in?
[...] of the romance genre, they are accused of “ripping the romance industry a new one” [1]–also an insult to women. It implies that women are sensitive creatures who need a [...]