Still Reading After All These Years

When I finished reading Anne Stuart's The Wicked House of Rohan and Ruthless, it occurred to me that she is one of a very select group of authors I've continued reading since discovering the joys of romance novels in 1993. Of the select group of others, most fell by the wayside immediately or almost immediately. I read 23 books by 13 authors the first year I read romance, and Anne Stuart is the only one I continue to follow oh-so-closely. I don't read all of her romantic suspense, but have read every one of her Ice books and nearly all of her historicals (and have TBR some of her very old category titles). Lisa Kleypas and Teresa Medeiros are nearly auto-buys, but much less read.

Rather than going year by year, let me list my most frequent romance DIK authors (from most to fewest multiple DIKs), whether or not I continue to buy and/or read them, and if not, how long they lasted. It's not a tremendously large list, so it shouldn't take that long.

Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, with 11 DIKs, the 11th added just last year with 2009's Promises in Death: I discovered Roberts in 1997 but didn't read her as J.D. Robb until 2006. I continue to read her as the latter, not so much the former.

Julie Garwood, with 9 DIKs: I read Garwood's 1993-published Castles in 1994, beginning a string of DIK reads. Sorry to say, but I gave her up when she moved into romantic suspense in 2000. She wrote another historical a couple of years ago, and though I bought it, it remains unread.

Catherine Coulter, with 5 DIKs: Coulter was among the thirteen authors I read in 1993. While her quality varied from terrific to horrendous - and some sub-genres went off-limits quickly - I continued to read her Regency-set historicals long after most, stopping after Pendragon, with 25 books by her under my belt..

Kathryn Lynn Davis and Anne Stuart, both with 3 DIKs: If Kathryn Lynn Davis hadn't stopped publishing with Somewhere Lies the Moon, no doubt I'd have continued to read her. As for Stuart, she continues to amaze me.

Connie Brockway, Christina Dodd, Jillian Hunter, Mary Alice Monroe, Julia Quinn, Deborah Simmons, and Katherine Sutcliffe, all with 2 DIKs: I have several of Brockway's books TBR and will probably buy her again. As for Dodd, I continued to read her long after she and her closest attacked my integrity, and that of AAR, but at some point I realized I could no longer give any author business if she actively tried to destroy my website. Eventually that extended to Julia Quinn, whose behavior was more subversive. She was the only author contacted in 2007 to participate in AAR's 10th anniversary who refused, and unless she hears of this, she probably has no idea that I know why. (Hey, as a private citizen, I'm no longer obligated to take the high road.)

I continue to buy and read Jillian Hunter, even though it's been two years since reading Wicked as Sin, which I thought was only slightly better than average. I only fell in love with Mary Alice Monroe in 2002, and until last year's Last Light Over Carolina, she'd consistently blown me away. I look forward to her next book.

Deborah Simmons only recently returned to publishing after a hiatus, and I continue to buy her books, though it's been a while since I've read one. Finally...Katherine Sutcliffe, who stopped publishing in 2005. I stopped reading her after My Only Love, which I liked, mainly because her books' premises stopped interesting me and I knew she was capable of some real clinkers. Then too, she became the poster child for Bad Author Behavior. I felt she was misunderstood and tried to help her navigate what was at the time uncharted territory, and it exhausted me.

What other authors have been published for a very long time whom I continue to read today? The first who comes to mind is Mary Balogh. I didn't "get" Balogh until 2001, but my favorite book by her to date was just published this summer: A Secret Affair. She's been published since 1985, so...wow. Linda Howard is another long-published author to have thrilled me fairly recently - with her Blair Mallory books. Though I only first read her in 1999, she was first published in 1982, so again...wow.

Other authors published way back when whom I read for quite a while, even if none of their books ever earned DIK status: Let's start with Loretta Chase, whose 1995 "classic," Lord of Scoundrels I only first read in 2006. More than a decade after publishing LOS, she published Your Scandalous Ways, which I truly enjoyed, and I happily look forward to reading both back-list and subsequent releases as time permits. Chase's first book, btw, was published in 1987. Next up: Patricia Oliver, who died several years ago. She's the only Trad Regency author I "got" for many years, and deserves mention simply for that reason. Also, Lorraine Heath and Leanne Banks - both of whom I continue to buy if only rarely read - and Elizabeth Lowell, Ruth Langan, and Jill Barnett, all for whom I have multiple books TBR, even though I stopped buying them some time ago.

I'm sure I've left out many authors I'll later wish I'd included, buts it's time for the flip side, and a few long-time authors I eventually gave up on. Obviously there are many, many, oh-so many I can't possibly list them all, but these three came to mind for three different reasons, so I'm listing them: JAK/Amanda Quick, Marilyn Pappano, and Elizabeth Bevarly. I read many books by each of these authors, and gave up on Krentz/Quick when she eventually became derivative of heself. As for Pappano, while I have many from her backlist, and even am a fan of books following Season for Miracles in her Bethlehem series, once I subsequently read SFM, I was turned off so strongly that I never bought another of her books. With Bevarly the reasons are many, and not all are book-related. Apparently I do hold a grudge. 'Nuff said.

After writing all this, it amazes me that Anne Stuart, Mary Balogh, and J.D. Robb continue to thrill after so many years in print. I look forward to additional greatness from them, others on my list, such as Loretta Chase, Linda Howard, Lisa Kleypas, and Terersa Medeiros, and still others - from Madeline Hunter (whose first book came out a full decade ago!), to Elizabeth Hoyt to Rhyannon Byrd to Cherise Sinclair - whose careers are not yet as long-lived. And if Sinclair's name comes out of thin air, know that I rarely write about the erotic romance I read, although that will likely change in the very near future.

Still Reading After All These Years

July Books

Jonathan Tropper's How To Talk To a Widower is one of the books I most enjoyed this year. Because it was published under the Random House umbrella, I assumed that last year's hardcover, This Is Where I Leave You, released to great acclaim, was also published by Random House and looked forward to buying the digital version to coincide with the book's mass market release. Random House, as you might recall, did not switch to the agency model for digital releases, and as a result, their books remain discounted. Also as a result, their digital sales through Amazon have increased by upward of 40%.

Alas, apparently Tropper switched publishers in-between both books. His new publisher, Penguin, which sets its own prices for digital books at Amazon, is currently selling This Is Where I Leave You for $12.99 while the hardcover, which it does allow to be discounted, sells for less, at $11.23. When the trade paperback version is released tomorrow, it will sell for $10.20 at Amazon. If Penguin is true to form, the digital version should come down tomorrow, but my guess is that it'll match the paperback price of $10.20, which I find a ludicrous proposition.

I've decided not to buy the book because of Penguin's Kindle pricing policy and instead decided to fill in my Tropper back-list with Everything Changes - published by Random House and very nicely discounted at $7.20. It too is a digital version of a trade paperback, which currently sells for $10.20.

Here's what else I bought for July on my Kindle: Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare (published by Random House's Ballantine Books) and Susan Mallery's Almost Perfect (published by Harlequin, which, like Random House, did not switch to the agency model). The digital versions of both books are nicely discounted.

Though Dare's debut and subsequent releases have received great fanfare, I've never actually read her, so I'm hoping for a good read. As for Mallery, after hating the first couple of books I read for her and reviewed for PW - The Marcelli Princess and Sunset Bay - she seems to be growing on me. I actually recommended Under Her Skin and Chasing Perfect in my PW reviews.

As much as I'd like to buy Lisa Kleypas' Love in the Afternoon, Macmillan, its publisher, set the price for its digital version at $7.99 at Amazon. The mass market releases sells at Amazon for $7.19.

There is one book I'm wavering on for July: the third in Sharon Ashwood's Dark Forgotten series. I read and gave book one, Ravenous, a strong review for PW but put down book two, Scorched, mid-way and never finished it. This series is published under the Penguin Umbrella - by Signet - and, surprisingly, the Kindle price is $6.99, slightly less than the paperback will sell for ($7.19) when both versions go on sale tomorrow. But given my "meh" response to the unfinished book two, I doubt I'll be buying Unchained, book three in the series, even if Penguin is beginning to see the light.

It's a shame that authors have to suffer for their publisher's misguided policies, but rather than over-paying for the Tropper and Kleypas books, I'll likely be reading them at the bookstore instead.

One last thing before I sign off...in less than a week I've published two Amazon Vine reviews. I recommend both, with some recommendations. Please check out my reviews for Marcus of Umbria and The Bucolic Plague, both memoirs with a similar theme.

P.S. - This link will only work until next Monday, but if you want to read my newest PW review, for the new Susan Andersen, click here. The review is third from the bottom of the page.

July Books

Blogging Barnes and Noble

May, at least this year, turns out to be a season of transition at Barnes and Noble. Over the past month or so several employees took new jobs, so hours for the rest of us, low for much of the year, increased as interviews for new employees took place. The result for me has been slightly more hours than I want for the past few weeks, but I've worked them knowing that the "gravy train" (of three-digit paychecks, LOL) would end. It came slamming to a halt this week. If only I'd known last night what would happen this morning...

This week and next week were set to be my biggest weeks in more than a year, but the managers know I can really only handle 16 or so hours a week given the state of my feet, so when they learned they'd over-scheduled this week, they cancelled my shift for Wednesday night. Which was okay because I'd still have had a 15-hour paycheck. But when I went into work last night and saw I was scheduled for five nights in a row rather than the three my feet can handle (I do four in a pinch, and have recently, but it's really too much) - giving me 22 hours in total - I realized that the manager who'd created next week's schedule hadn't done so with this week's in front of her. So I mentioned it and they reworked things so I'd be off Monday night, which just so happens to be my birthday. Not a big deal to me, btw, but it's a big deal to my daughter, which does make it a big deal to me. That meant I'd be working Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, Tuesday night, then Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of next week. Still a good chunk of hours, and almost more than my feet can handle, but do-able.

The store is in a period of flux in more ways than one; we're in the process of moving entire sections from one location to another, and my guess is that the extra staffing they've needed in order to physically move books simply ate into too much revenue, causing these last-minute cuts. Last night we learned that all the new employees are being rotated in, meaning that those of us with limited availability - like me - won't be scheduled to work as often. As I mentioned earlier, I knew this was coming, so when the phone rang this morning cancelling me for tonight, I wasn't all that surprised even though now I kinda wish I hadn't gotten myself unscheduled for Monday. Because no longer am I working five nights in a row. Now it's one on, one off, one on, one off, one on, one off, then three on. Hopefully I won't have more hours cut next week before we re-enter this more fallow period.

As for work itself, last night was fun. The first thing Pat, our magazine guru, said to me when I walked in the door was that she and I were "neck and neck" on membership sales. I hadn't a clue what she was talking about until I walked into the break room and saw a list on the bulletin board with my name and stats at the top...revealing me to be tops right now in signing up new members. Let me say this about that: I believe these lists are of dubious value as a management tool. Those of us doing well at the moment - and, btw, it's a crap shoot with luck playing a huge part in sales success - feel pressure to maintain or increase our membership sales (which, because of the luck factor basically involves pulling something out of your ass) and I think it also breeds resentment among those who, at the moment, aren't. Not only do sales depend on which customer (and how much they're buying) stands in front of you at check-out, there are periods when things are golden and others when they aren't. Right now I'm in a golden period as last night I sold another five memberships. That's a lot for one night, but there have been entire weeks when I haven't sold anywhere near five memberships.

But when I'm on, I get jazzed, so I was jazzed last night. Within the first fifteen minutes I'd sold a membership and one of the books I'd displayed in front of my register area - Lisa Kleypas' new release, Married by Morning - to a customer buying Julie Garwood's most recent romantic suspense. I'd asked the customer if she'd also read Garwood's historicals, and when she told me she'd started reading all kinds of romance in college (she looked to be in her mid-late 20's), I suggested Kleypas' book. I know it's fourth in a series, but it's easier to come into an historical series (as opposed to, say, an urban fantasy series) later than earlier, and with Kleypas, I've found it's even less of an issue. The customer left not only with the new Kleypas, but with a slip of paper upon which I'd written some of my other Kleypas faves.

One of my "regulars" (a lesser one, though, as I didn't recognize her) also checked out with me last night. She said she'd thoroughly enjoyed the two Jill Myles books I'd sold her not long ago. She wasn't ready to add any new books, but she was one of the customers to whom I sold a new membership. Interestingly enough, she checked out shortly after I'd checked out a woman who bought the first of the two Jill Myles books - Gentlemen Prefer Succubi - I'd displayed at my station earlier in the evening (as "light" counterbalance to some of the darker urban fantasy books I'd also displayed).

I like to think that I did a lot of pre-selling last night. I believe I piqued the interest of a mother and daughter who went nuts over the new Rick Riordan book with Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series for mom, and for daughter, Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series. And if I'm right, the woman who bought Dorothea Benton Frank's Bull Island might well return for one of the Mary Alice Monroe titles I wrote out for her. Had I brought one up to my register last night, who knows?

One thing B&N got really right was in their "buy two items, get this fabulous beach tote for $9.95" promotion. A couple were about to check out with two items and a tote, but when I realized the husband liked war history, I pointed out Sebastian Junger's War on my display, and next thing I knew, the wife went searching for another item, giving them four items so that they could buy two totes. Which, of course, set off another customer in search of more things to buy so she too could nab two totes. I couldn't blame either of them...these particular totes are fabulous!

My final hand-sell of the evening was the easiest; a young man (he was 16...I asked...and, yes, there are books I will or will not recommend based on age) saw Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim on my display, and before I finished talking it up, he'd already added it to the other book he'd decided to buy.

When you add it all up, the memberships and extra books don't amount to a Nook, and Pat sold one early in my shift, but even that competitive part of me realizes I didn't join B&N as a bookseller in order to sell technology...or memberships, frankly. But Nook giveth and Nook taketh away. One customer was extremely interested in Lori Handeland's Phoenix Chronicles last night, but only for her Nook, and book one isn't available for Nook. The remaining three books are, though, so she wrote them down and I suggested she look for Any Given Doomsday in another format...perhaps pdf or epub so she can read all of them on her device. I hope she finds it, but it's too bad we won't get "credit" for the sale of "the best urban fantasy series nobody knows about."

And so ends this installment of Blogging Barnes and Noble. I hope the five of you out there who read this blog enjoy these periodic entries about my experience as a B&N bookseller...they're a kick to write.

Blogging Barnes and Noble

Working Under the Influence

Last night was my first shift in about two weeks, and a test of how well I'm feeling after being sick with whatever all week. While 90% of my respiritory symptoms have abated, that "cotton in the head" feeling remains as strong as it did last Monday.

The night started out strong; I hand-sold from my register a copy of Lisa Kleypas' Then Came You almost immediately to a woman who'd never read the author's earlier work. I noticed that of the 48 copies of Changeless, ten had already been sold. Though I did sell two more, we lost two double sales to customers who would have tried Changeless if they could also have bought Soulless. Needles to say, I short-listed several additional copies of Soulless.

As for recommendations, I made one couple pretty happy (I'm not quite sure what it was they bought that tipped me off) when I mentioned the up-coming reissue of a few of Mary Alice Monroe's best. As I talked to them about her, the husband realized his wife had loved The Beach House (sweet, right?), so when I handed them a slip of paper with Sweetgrass, Swimming Lessons, and Time Is a River hand-written on it, I knew I'd made a future sale. I also know that the next time another couple returns, they will take a strong look at Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job and Lamb (another hand-written slip of paper)...it's not a huge leap from Spencer Quinn's Dog Gone It to Moore's absurdist humor. I hope my Sandman Slim recommendation (the mass market release for Richard Kadrey's book comes out late this month) does the same magic for the guy who bought some Jim Butcher...he seemed intrigued and appreciative with his hand-written slip of paper.

I've gotten into the habit of trying to recommend something to as many customers as possible based on what they buy. For most of them this is a novel experience, but for me it's very natural. I talk to just about everyone who checks out at my station unless a line requires I move it along. My philosophy is that this type of personalized customer service is what brings people back to the store. I don't know if this is true, but it feels right. I do know that I have some "returning" customers who actually carry my lists around with them...checking titles/authors off as they read them, and adding/buying based on new recommendations. On the other hand, none of the notes from customers lauding particular booksellers that are pinned to the break room bulletin board are for me.

Not at all great on the selling of memberships, though; just one new one and one renewal in 3.5 hours spent cashiering. At the start of the month, that's pretty dismal (if you buy a membership early in the month, it's like getting an extra month for free, which can be a strong selling point). But the biggest "cotton in the head" moment came when I attempted to wrap a book for a customer to give as a gift. We had some pretty paper not on the big roll attached to the wall like toilet paper so I decided to use it. Unfortunately, I mis-measured not once but twice (horribly embarrassing). Certainly my least stellar moment of the evening, although that I was sent back to re-work several shelves during nightly store recovery was another suckie event because, hey, it's not exactly rocket science.

I noticed that we have not received our ten copies of Chaos Bites, which I would dearly love to sell like mad. Alas, we have precisely one copy each of books 1 - 3 in Handeland's Phoenix Chronicles, so it's going to be very tough going to move these because this series remains a total buried treasure. With such strong sales so far for Changeless at the bookstore, I feel as though the pressure is off me to sell it like a maniac, so my investment has totally shifted to Handeland's urban fantasy series. For the first and only time since leaving AAR I wish I still had access to its thousands of readers in order to extoll the series' virtues. Why, exactly, I'm not sure, but it's almost become an obsession for me to see this series take off at the level of Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson books.

Luckily I have more hours this next week than the 5.5 I had for the week just ended, but shifts are still in short supply. If I were to judge by iPad-mania, the recession must have been rescinded, but considering how hard it is to sell memberships these days, I guess not.

We'll see how it goes Tuesday evening. With any luck, there won't be any cotton in my head.

Finally, it's very odd to blog knowing that barely anybody reads this. Regardless, I'm going to keep at it...at least for a while.

Working Under the Influence