RWA: Down to the Wire
The longer this conference goes, the more tired I get. It’s Friday morning now and I’ve got a marathon day on tap. The last reserves of energy are going to be used today.
This morning I have a breakfast scheduled, then a lunch. Then I hope to work in a few workshops and/or publisher spotlights before hitting the Ritas tonight. Then home in the morning.
A few impressions:
- Digital talk is everywhere. From authors fed up with their publishers to authors who haven’t (or don’t currently have) a contract thinking about going rogue, it’s all the buzz. It’s hard to know where it will all shake out, but I think it’s clear that publishing has changed. Significantly.
- Publishers currently don’t think there is anything wrong with their digital strategy. This strikes me as kind of clueless, but they aren’t questioning digital pricing or agency pricing.
- I did catch up with Suzanne Enoch yesterday and she said that, while she currently doesn’t have a contract to write a continuation of her contemporary series, but she is considering it. So, for the reader who asked, watch this space.
- The Central Park Boathouse location for the Avon party on Wednesday night was fabulous. The view of the park from the deck of the Boathouse was one I’d seen in a thousand movies and it was mesmerizing.
- We also hit a Berkley party held at Sardi’s. It was fun to try to identify the character sketches lining the walls, even if I did fail more often than I won. The party was a crush, however, and we made our way to the Avon party faster than we’d planned to.
- We met Loretta Chase at the Avon party. I’ve met her once before at a retreat in West Virginia about five years ago, but her conference appearances are few and far between and it was fun to see her there. Naturally, the talk turned to the AAR Top 100 Romances of All Time poll. Loretta was thrilled with the result.
This morning I have breakfast with Lisa Kleypas and lunch with Connie Brockway. Hope to come up with beaucoups scoops.
I will do a conference post-mortem next week. It’s not over yet, but the end is in sight.
– Sandy AAR
Thank you Sandy! – you are doing this for us booklovers and the blog and we appreciate you for it. I loved seeing the live tweets last night announcing the winners of the RITA’s. That was neat!
That
Thanks for the update, Sandy. Its seems so strange that publishers would be missing
the potential impact of digital books on their world. Can anyone say record albums and
45’s.
What kills me about the e-books is that they cost so much for electronic files that are, more often than not, riddled with typos, weird punctuation, repeated sentences, and numerous other errors. No one could possibly be editing these before they are offered for sale. Shoddy practice.
And I’m sure you enjoyed every minute of it!
Thanks Sandy for all the updates. It sounds tiring, but also that you have had fun. Good for you. And meals with Kleypas and Brockway..now that would be interesting. Such great writers in the romance genre.
It makes me a little sad that authors might be clueless about digital pricing. I really hope that changes soon.
I’ll bet you’ll be happy to get home! :)
Wish this were Freaky Friday. I wouldn’t mind trading places with you for a few hours! :) Thanks for all the updates!
It sounds exhausting and exhillerating at the same time.
Thank you for the highlights! Look forward to reading more.
Hang in there, Sandy! Thank you for all of the information you are passing along to us. Wow – breakfast with Lisa Kleypas and lunch with Connie Brockway – the stuff of dreams!
»”” Publishers currently don’t think there is anything wrong with their digital strategy. This strikes me as kind of clueless, but they aren’t questioning digital pricing or agency pricing””
It is difficult to believe that they are they clueless. Oh, well I will continue to buy digital when it is discounted.