MorganI am so excited to have Julia Kent here on the blog today! check out her new book!! It sounds so good!
(Sorry for the weird format of this post. I do not have access to a computer currently so I am doing this from my phone.)
New Adult and the Romance Writing Industry
by Julia Kent
I am writing this sentence, right now, in the libby of the Marriott Marquis hotel in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, at the national Romance writers of America convention. More than 1,000 hotel rooms. More than 2,000 romance novelists, unpublished writers, editors, agents, librarians, and readers, all clustered in one place full of excitement, a love of reading, and chocolate.
Where there are romance writers, there is always chocolate!
What struck me, coming here after a nice, direct flight out of Boston, is how New Adult is everywhere. EVERYWHERE. The first elevator I entered today had an enormous advertisement (seriously — the sixe of a human being) for william Morrow New Adult authors, like Cora Carmack. The top romance spots on Amazon, Apple and B&N are New Adult.
The author chats at the bar are sprinkled with the normal talk about which publishers are offering great contracts, new deals for emerging authors, and new deals for established ones — but New Adult is the star that shines bright.
When I published Random Acts of Crazy in May New Adult was hot, with authors like H.M. Ward, Jasinda wilder and Mimi Strong doing well. Now, new breakout authors like Krista Lakes and Emme Rollins are hitting the top 100 on Amazon, and Elle Casey’s Shine Not Burn is touching the top 10 — and staying nice and high on the bestseller lists.
The next five days, for me, will be filled with workshops and talk around Starbucks and the lounge about the publishing industry and my new books. What this convention means for New Adult, though, will have a ripple effect for readers. What you buy, read and review has a profound effect on the massive changes in publishing, as readers shift from print to eBooks, and as authors try out self-publishing with various sucess
New Adult authors are shaping what readers access, but it’s readers who are, in turn, making the trends happen. As one of many authors, I thank you.