tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post1730852821012975433..comments2023-04-27T11:22:02.142-04:00Comments on Jordan's Croft: A Word About Sales and Other StuffUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-24858160817536021882011-03-05T15:27:18.593-05:002011-03-05T15:27:18.593-05:00Harlequin has the 'meet in the first chapter&#...Harlequin has the 'meet in the first chapter' trope somewhere in their guidelines or the meriad of blogs and forms. There are so many that I gave up on that market.<br /><br />I'm one of those 'rules are made to be broken' writers. That's half the fun, after all. Make it work and thumb your nose at anyone who says "you can't do that!" LOLK. A. Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020119815910396933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-51385905629384839662011-03-05T13:38:51.743-05:002011-03-05T13:38:51.743-05:00I've never heard that one about them having to...I've <i>never</i> heard that one about them having to meet in the first chapter! Plus I've read enough romance novels where they don't so I'm not buyin' it :) I like to be different just to be different, can you tell?<br /><br />I'm in Raleigh NC and I'm not sure why you got the post in email but it never showed up on the blog...yeah, the blogger scripts were doing weird shit this morning, like I said. Who knows with Blogger.Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293812419635640340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-90538177921279914902011-03-05T09:30:20.057-05:002011-03-05T09:30:20.057-05:00HEA - Happily Ever After is the #1 requirement. Th...HEA - Happily Ever After is the #1 requirement. The 'romance' should be at least 70% of the plot. The heroine and the hero must meet in the 1st chapter...those are the top 3 rules of romance. <br /><br />Where are you? Odd - I got the comment, but it's not here.K. A. Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020119815910396933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-8063147589034844492011-03-05T08:56:07.831-05:002011-03-05T08:56:07.831-05:00I typed my reply and then the logging-in script cl...I typed my reply and then the logging-in script cleared it Agggggh...I hate technology sometimes.<br /><br />So what did I say? Umm.. I think I was saying I found it interesting that you don't want to call yourself or associate yourself with Romance genre because you see your readers as more intelligent and wanting more thought-provoking stories. Interesting, because *I* write what I think of as intelligent stories for intelligent people--but not just for women.<br /><br />Did you know that 20% (yeah, 1 in 5) of the romance genre readers is male? And of those, half (10% of all romance readers) are crossover readers from genres such as mystery, crime thriller, and a very small amount of detective novel readers? <br /><br />I don't necessarily want to exclude these guys from my attention. In fact, I specifically want to INCLUDE them and make sure I can appeal to the crossover readers. I write SF still, sort of, more like SF Romance than SF action/adventure like I used to but I want to appeal to the standard SF reader, who is still sadly the narrow demographic of a 13 yo white male in the US or at least, on the No. American continent.<br /><br />I have an interesting snippet of the Raif story on my "walled garden" Wordpress blog you can check out:<br /><br /><a href="http://sarahryoffa.com/webbiegrrlblog/archives/raif-ronens-confession" rel="nofollow">http://sarahryoffa.com/webbiegrrlblog/archives/raif-ronens-confession</a><br /><br />You have to register (just provide an email and retrieve your password) but otherwise, it's open to the public. I just don't want the spiders to index me.<br /><br />I think the key to any of the genres is to write "interesting characters" who do "amazing things" or at least "interesting" things and go through some kind of transformation that results in "self-improvement" of some kind. This is standard to all writing. <br /><br />In Romance genre, the closest thing to a formula that I can discern is that the couple is always bonded somehow at the end--whether verbally committed, legally married, genetically obligated through pregnancy or just implicitly "together"--and the cadence of the book has specific ups and downs for sex scenes and expositive passages. The "love story" of the main characters has to be somehow inextricably linked to the main plotline but otherwise, it doesn't have to be a "bodice ripper" format, though those are particularly popular STILL today. Ick. I hate them--and yet I caught myself writing one. Literally. Rainey ripped Lacey's clothes off in an early draft. Hey, they'd just taken out 3 would-be assailants and were both overflowing with adrenaline so...but that whole scene is gone. Sadly. It was a good one.Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293812419635640340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-40031240015260835492011-03-05T08:00:05.663-05:002011-03-05T08:00:05.663-05:00Contemporary Women's Fiction is probably the c...Contemporary Women's Fiction is probably the correct genre for "Let's Do Lunch." <br /><br />I'm calling "Swallow the Moon" e-Pulp Fiction because it's Indie published.<br /><br />Plus there are all these 'rules' or 'tropes' that you have to follow for the romance genre. Stylistically (is that a word?) I write for women who are more interested in good stories. Intelligent fiction for intelligent women is the goal.K. A. Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020119815910396933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-41968505284257728662011-03-05T06:22:45.869-05:002011-03-05T06:22:45.869-05:00Yes, I did go through a lot in one sitting. So are...Yes, I did go through a lot in one sitting. So are you writing in the Romance subgenres "Contemporary Romance" and "Paranormal Romance" or are you writing Contemporary fiction and Paranormal fiction? Huge difference. <br /><br />More plot and less sex in the latter, I'll grant you, but the former two subgenres of the Romance industry have just as much sex as the author needs or wants :) <b>and</b> more plot - best of both worlds.<br /><br />I've noticed, however, that Paranormal fiction can be just about anything--including what some people call Fantasy genre except for SF/F afficionados--while Paranormal Romance seems to be trending exclusively to the "dark" stories with "creatures of the night" (werewolves, vampires, demons) as the Heroes. <br /><br />Since I have "paranormal elements" in Dicky's Story--on the <b><i>light</i></b> side not touching the darkness--I was kind of disappointed to find yet another way my book would not "fit" into the mold of the industry trends. Time was, stories about miracles and magical wonders would be called paranormal. Not these days, not at all.Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293812419635640340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-56260862767497568512011-03-04T23:35:14.648-05:002011-03-04T23:35:14.648-05:00If you ripped through months of forum posting (or ...If you ripped through months of forum posting (or years of the blog) I can understand your confusion.<br /><br />Contemporary and Paranormal - they don't quite make the 'romance' genre - not enough sex - too much plot. (shrug) I'm not losing sleep over genre any more. Or prices for that matter.<br /><br />I'm going to bring the 2nd novel out at $4.25 - and bump the price of the 1st one sometime this summer.<br /><br />It may take as long as 8 weeks for the price to populate up the vendor chain - not worth the hassle right now.K. A. Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020119815910396933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-6189191934511069142011-03-04T16:54:07.008-05:002011-03-04T16:54:07.008-05:00No! You know what the title/author name on the men...No! You know what the title/author name on the menu reminds me of? A Jennifer Crusie book cover :) Seriously. Putting that yellow on there makes it look both amateurish and cheesy (no pun intended; it'd be cheesy if it were neon red, too)<br /><br />The cover's not bland or boring but if you really wanted to spruce it up a bit, add more food to the table. Personally, I think it's fine as is and is a great concept for your book title. Assuming of course this is the romance genre title? I can't keep your books and genres straight, I'm sorry to say.Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293812419635640340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-17590171874218621622011-03-04T11:22:15.806-05:002011-03-04T11:22:15.806-05:00Hmm - you are the first person to comment on that....Hmm - you are the first person to comment on that. I used that cover on Authonomy - but DataHog thought my cover was bland and needed something to spice it up.<br /><br />So I put my name in yellow. <br /><br />I will keep that in mind - I've got another cover 'cooking' on Amazon.<br /><br />This is an interesting experiment.K. A. Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07020119815910396933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7023462592097587064.post-47225195426211431482011-03-04T09:29:29.744-05:002011-03-04T09:29:29.744-05:00Kat,
I really like the following version of your...Kat, <br /><br />I really like the following version of your new cover ...which yes, I know you're still tweaking but please don't go with that choppy yellow for your name across the bottom. It looks so much better having your name on the book/menu cover under the title:<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbNOaL5WQtI/TIlRUiNfz_I/AAAAAAAAAFE/axTMvJrTjN0/S175/Lets+Do+Lunch2+.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dbNOaL5WQtI/TIlRUiNfz_I/AAAAAAAAAFE/axTMvJrTjN0/S175/Lets+Do+Lunch2+.jpg</a><br /><br />-sry<br />Sarah, The Webbiegrrl WriterSarah, The Webbiegrrl Writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293812419635640340noreply@blogger.com