Ah, sorry, Diana, I misunderstood. I’ve not usually heard that called “reprints.” Extra printings, I think. Or additional print run. Something like that.

As for the Ritas, if we turn it over to readers, it will BECOME the People’s Choice awards. Right now it’s very much like the Oscars, which are a peer award.

Of course there will be some bias in some of the judging. But if we hand it over to readers, I think there will be MORE bias. It will be more about popularity and less about the books. Since five (I think) people judge each book, and there is a formula to the scoring, it seems to me as fair as it’s going to get. The ONLY way to make it totally fair is to make it anonymous, which is kind of hard and still won’t work because there’s still a chance a judge will recognize a work.

I like that we have BOTH Ritas, by our peers and offered by our professional organization, and the National Readers Choice Awards, by readers.

That said, Harlequin books aren’t only available through mail order. You don’t have to buy all of them at once. You can shop by author just like any other book, its just that you only have a month to do it–and you know that the books will have a common theme. Blazes will be ultra-sexy, but even that comes in degrees. Intrigues are romantic suspense. Next! books are women’s fiction. Americans have a hometown feel. See what I mean?

The great part of Harlequin, however, is that there ARE readers who will buy all of the books in the line that month because they like the common theme, don’t have a lot of time to shop and this is an easy, no-fuss way to get what they want. Because of this, new writers have a chance to sell a lot of books even though they have no name recognition. Oftentimes, category authors sell more books than most single title writer get on their first print run. My print run is very high for my category books and no one is looking at previous sales or my track record to determine that number…Harlequin knows they can sell X books in this line. It’s an awesome way for new writers to build a readership.

Once readers get familiar with a line, then they start to pick and choose by author. The ones who shop in stores buy just the way any other reader buys–by cover, by back cover copy, by excerpt. The ones who use mail order can return books, btw.

Also, some single title writers have readers who go and buy their category books when they come out, even though those readers might not pick up a category book otherwise.

Harlequin’s model works, in most cases. The problem with Bombshell is that the target audience for these books weren’t category ROMANCE readers and Harlequin failed to get the books in the hands of the readers who would like them and get loyal and start buying all the books. It’s almost as if they needed to create a new type of category reader and they simply weren’t up to the task. I’m not knocking Harlequin…they gave it a shot and probably launched the careers of a lot of authors who are going to do very great things in the future, if not already. I’m certainly not knocking the authors.

Harlequin’s demographic is changing and eventually, the company will change, too. But until then, realize that the model does work for millions of readers all over the world.

I think that is the issue with all of Harlequins books. Would you buy books without knowing what they are about or if they even interest you?? I wouldn’t. But that’s how a lot of Harlequin works. Sign up for this line or that line and have 4 or 5 books delivered to your house every month.

For me it is all about an author’s style, not about the expected plot of a book, that attracts me.

I guess I am saying that I definitely think the Bombshell books would have done better as a single-title thing rather than category.

I’m talking about reprints when the book is out. For instance, my book recently went into reprints because it was selling so well. I’ve never heard of them going back and publishing 20k more copies of a given category title that month.

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Of course I don’t like every book in every line either. There have been Blazes that I’ve absolutely hated and couldn’t finish. the way things go. You win some, you lose some. I think the main problem with Bombshell though, was placement. So some people tried them and didn’t like them. Not as big a problem as a bunch of people who would have really liked them but never knew they were there.

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RITA finalist judges are PAN members.

Category lines have common themes, yes, but they are all written by individual authors with very different voices and different visions of what the line should be–which is why the books are NOT always the same. I get very annoyed when people will not try one of my Blazes because they once bought one that they hated. Well, it wasn’t MY Blaze, was it? I mean, if you tell me you tried one of my books and you didn’t like my voice, then hey, I’m okay with that. I don’t expect everyone to like my writing. But don’t judge me based on another writer. And please, don’t tell me you hated that Blaze because it was too sexy because why then did you buy one in the first place?

Anyway, I’m sad for Bombshells demise. But I also know that the talented authors there will rise to the top.

The book I read had this very strong female character that was like a man wearing women’s clothes. I did not identify with her at all. I think it went overboard trying to prove that a woman can be tough…and it didn’t seem like a ‘real’ character to me.

Plus, the plot sucked and the description was non-existent. Half the time I didn’t know what was going on. And so I never picked up another one.

I would like to read books that are similar to “The Bourne Identity” with a female lead. I also adore Sarah Connor (T2 was AWESOME) and Buffy. Both of these were tough women who still had some vulnerability. More real.

Interesting what Kool Aid has to say about the Rita awards. I’ve always wondered…HOW are the Rita winners chosen? How does an author qualify to be the final round judge? Can’t booksellers or readers judge the finalists? How do you separate yourself from the people you know and like…or know and dislike? How does that translate into how good of a story they have?

I know of a writer who got a packet last year and she told me she “had” to give two of them 5’s automatically because she knew the authors and didn’t want to score them too high or too low. How is that fair? That just doesn’t seem like an accurate system to me…but then what do I know. LOL!!

i couldn’t agree with you more here. i have a friend who is a member of a particular exclusive online group that seems to have a winner or two in the ritas every year. in fact there have been writers who have begged to join this group with the public statements of ‘if i join this group i’ll win a rita.’ until rwa can find a more unbiased way to pick rita winners, rwa members should steer clear of calling it the ‘oscar of romance writing’ and instead call it the ‘people’s choice award.’