I was much happier about the graphical standards–however silly the specifics–before the letter from the RWA board. Yes, I agree that many covers produced by erotica publishers are cheap and cheesy. Some are sleazy and downright obscene (as in, I wouldn’t WANT the kind of readers those covers would attract!). When the board pretended to be actually concerned about the law, okay, I was suspicious, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now that they’ve release a letter defending their decision, though, their utter lack of mention of any legalities whatsoever reveals the real truth.
Here’s my problem. There have been sleazy (and even obscene) covers in romance for decades. They talk about respect and hard-earned blahblahblah, but the truth is that RWA has never fought obscene covers until now. And now, when they suddenly decide it’s an issue, they go after the authors instead of lobbying the publishing companies.
I think the board finds it much easier just to bully members it doesn’t like and then pat itself on the back for having Standards than to actually try for change.
Alison made a post on her blog about not caring what anyone but the book buying public and your publishing house thinks.
Personally, this strikes a note because I’m getting really freakin’ SICK of hearing the sniping, whining, and pettiness. It’s gotten to the point that even making a sincere compliment is taken as some sort of twisted form of backstabbing or self-congratulation. If it was coming from just one source, or if it was just one time, I’d be less irritated, but it seems like everyone is being downright NASTY lately–and it’s not just many published authors but many unpubs, too. I want to scream, “For godssake, you aren’t freaking THIRTEEN anymore! GROW UP!”
I keep my mouth shut most of the time because 1) I’m young, and for some reason, some older writers think that years give them more than gray hairs even if they’ve been writing half as long as I have, 2) I’m a new writer, and if I disagree with coventional wisdom, I deserve only scorn, 3) I make no bones about being in this business for both pleasure and profit, and 4) I AM making profit in a subgenre that destroys all the neat illusions that some authors want to have, and that pisses some people off to no end. These are stupid reasons for people to be hostile, but the rare times I ignore them, you should see the blood on the wall.
Let me get something straight: I’m not here to offend people. I’m not out to destroy others’ pet theories or shock people with my too-young face or WHATEVER. I. Am. Here. To. Write. Books. I. Love. That. Sell.
(more…)
I feel better, but I was woken this morning by being thrown up upon by my son. Definitely makes in into my top 10 least favorite ways I’ve ever been woken. So this will be brief.
RWA is planning to institute some sort of web decency clause, by which they will not link to any author’s site that contains a short list of indecent acts and words or likes to a site that contains them.
The ridiculousness of the list aside, if they’re REALLY going to enforce this, no author will be able to link to B&N.com or Amazon.com because both have content that would be indecent. (I just checked. Search for “naked” or “nude.”)
Quite frankly, I’d rather that they just not link to me…
I hadn’t had a real night’s sleep since last Sun., and I came down with something–a cold with a fever, I think–yesterday but had Bear’s violin lesson and a plumber scheduled to come and a commitment to perform and so I did all that, and now I’m really sick. I’ve slept 17 hours out of the last 24, so I have nothing of interest to say. I’m just dropping a note to explain why I might not reappear for a while.
My new editor is Anne Bohner. I’ve met her briefly and have a very vague memory… *g* Anyhow, I talked to her today, and everything’s green for go!
My editor, Serena Jones at NAL, is leaving at the end of this week to edit narrative fiction at Simon and Schuster. So don’t send any unsolicited mss to her, please!
I’ve known about this for a little while and know who her replacement will be, but I won’t announce it until I talk to her later today.
Please pass this on to as many lists as you can!
