And, speaking of reading, I've gotten quite a lot done this month, and I've still got a few October books here on the corner of my desk to share with you all. If you haven't stopped by the main site lately, you've missed quite a lot. Mine Till Midnight is the very latest. There's also Demon's Kiss, An Enchanted Season, Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake, Never Say Never, Moon Fever, and The Education of Mrs. Brimley. I'm looking forward to digging into the November releases once I finish these last few October books.
If you don't stop by the forum regularly, you're missing out on the regular giveaways there. I just sent out another box of ARCs this morning to one of our members, and I'm putting together a big box for the November givewaway. It's got all kinds of bookmarks in it, along with the ARCs and even a mug.
And while we're on the subject of the forums, I just posted a message from a reader who emailed me looking for an older book she's trying to track down. I hope you'll stop by to see if you might be able to help her out.
I just came back recently from the always fabulous New Jersey Romance Writers' annual conference earlier in the month. The speakers were fantastic as usual, and there were lots of great authors there, participating in the booksigning. For the authors among us, the workshops were awesome, and Sherrilyn Kenyon gave an encore presentation of the keynote she gave at the national RWA conference this summer. It was super. Many of the workshops were recorded for future purchase, so if you missed the conference, check out the NJRW website to see if there's something you'd like to hear.
And, also for the authors, I took all kinds of notes from the agents' panel, and not as many notes from the editors' panel. Jessica Faust of Bookends, Inc. did a Q & A the first day of the conference about pitching your manuscript that was a real eye-opener, even for one of my pubbed buddies. I really didn't take many notes during the editors' panel; there were ten or so editors participating, but many of the questions this year seemed to go to the e-publishing route, which I'm not interested in for myself, so I just didn't do a lot of writing in that session. However, I did make note that the following publishers are still taking unagented submissions: Silhouette/Harlequin; Dorchester; Sourcebooks, who wants only electronic submissions; NAL, Grand Central, formerly Warner Books, who want a query letter only; and St. Martin's Press, who want only a query.
I took far more notes during the agents' panel, though mostly on what each of the ten agents was looking for in a submission, how long they take to respond, what sorts of romances they don't want to see, and things along those lines. I did post notes on that one in my romance writers' forum if any of you are interested in finding out more about the agents who participated.
Until next time, happy reading and writing!
Elizabeth, Romance Novels Host
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