Some highlights from the 2013 Australian Romance Readers Covention (The Mercure, Brisbane — March 1 to 3, 2013).
I apologise for not posting detailed recaps of the Australian Romance Readers Convention in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago. Allison (Decadence), Jen and I attended the event, but we did so as readers first and bloggers maybe second or third—we all wore different hats over the course of the weekend—so I haven’t wanted to put pressure on us to record the event. (You’ll notice that even our tweets weren’t as extensive as they’ve been in previous ARRCs.)
Nevertheless, I know many readers who wanted to come along to ARRC but were unable to do so, and I wanted to share some of the highlights of the weekend with you. Bear in mind that I didn’t go to all the panels and keynotes, so I’m using my Storify stream to fill in some of those blanks. If you’re after a panel-by-panel recap, check the next issue of the ARRA newsletter. I believe a few of the sessions were recorded, so you can also email ARRA to check if they’re releasing an audio CD.
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Photo by Kat Mayo
Yesterday, Book Thingo bloggers were fortunate enough to be invited to Harlequin’s first blogger summit. Decadence, Envyious, Jen and I (we missed you, Wandergurl!) attended the event, which was held at Harlequin HQ at Chatswood. It was a surprisingly intimate event, with opportunities to meet the team at Harlequin, as well as guest author Rachel Vincent, who stopped by Sydney on her way to Brisbane for the Australian Romance Readers Conference (ARRC).
I haven’t heard of any other publishers who have done anything similar to the Harlequin Summit, so it was quite interesting to be part of this event. I was also surprised at the large turnout, with a number of people—Envyious and Jen included—traveling interstate for the occasion.
I made some notes, but most of the presentations centred around Harlequin’s pipeline and teasers about the books, so I’m just going to list those, and you can check out the blurbs for yourselves. Afterwards, Rachel Vincent gave a talk (highlights below) and then was generous enough to sign our books.
Harlequin community page
Harlequin Australia launched a community page, which brings together tidbits from their Twitter stream, Goodreads reviews of their books, videos from their YouTube channel, photos from Instagram, book extracts, and memes and games related to books. Every month they’ll feature a book blog, and I’m chuffed to say that Book Thingo is the featured blog for this month. :-)
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Escape Publishing launch author Rhian Cahill talks about her latest book, Christmas Wishes.
Last month, I had the privilege of sitting down for a chat with Escape Publishing’s launch authors, and they agreed to let me post a short vodcast of them talking about their books an answering that most important question of all: Do you kill fairies?
This vodcast is with Rhian Cahill, author of Christmas Wishes and New Year’s Kisses. Cahill is best known as an erotic romance and romantic erotica author, so these more mainstream novellas are somewhat of a departure from her usual style.
If you can’t see the video, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just under two minutes.
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Escape Publishing launch author Rebekah Turner talks about her latest book, Chaos Born.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting down for a chat with Escape Publishing’s launch authors, and they agreed to let me post a short vodcast of them talking about their books an answering that most important question of all: Do you kill fairies?
This vodcast is with Rebekah Turner, author of Chaos Born, a fantasy romance and first book of the Chronicles of the Applecross series.
If you can’t see the video, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just over a minute.
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Escape Publishing launch author Ainslie Paton talks about her latest book, Grease Monkey Jive.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting down for a chat with Escape Publishing’s launch authors, and they agreed to let me post a short vodcast of them talking about their books an answering that most important question of all: Do you kill fairies?
This vodcast is with Ainslie Paton, author of Grease Monkey Jive, a contemporary romance that is, according to the blurb, ‘Pimp My Ride meets Dancing With The Stars’. Off-camera, Paton mentioned that she has prior dance experience, so I’m very much looking forward to reading her book.
If you can’t see the video, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just over a minute.
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Escape Publishing launch author Lee Christine talks about her latest book, In Safe Hands.
Last week, I had the privilege of sitting down for a chat with Escape Publishing’s launch authors, and they agreed to let me post a short vodcast of them talking about their books an answering that most important question of all: Do you kill fairies?
This vodcast is with Lee Christine, author of In Safe Hands, a romantic suspense featuring an ex-SAS hero and a lawyer heroine whose career—and possibly life—is under jeopardy from a blackmailer. Christine is a woman of many talents—it didn’t make it to the final cut, but she revealed that she plays ‘the devil’s instrument’.
If you can’t see the video, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just under a minute and a half.
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Escape Publishing launch author Keziah Hill talks about her latest book, Chains of Revenge.
Last week, I had the privilege of sitting down for a chat with Escape Publishing’s launch authors, and they agreed to let me post a short vodcast of them talking about their books an answering that most important question of all: Do you kill fairies?
Our first vodcast is with Keziah Hill, author of Chains of Revenge. For a limited time, this title is free via Amazon and iBooks.
If you can’t see the video, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just under a minute and a half.
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Escape Publishing manager editor Kate Cuthbert talks about Harlequin Australia’s digital-first imprint.
Last week, Kate Cuthbert was kind enough to answer a few questions about Escape Publishing, the digital-first imprint of Harlequin Australia.
If you can’t see the video, click here to view it directly on YouTube. It runs for just over 3 minutes.
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A recap of last night’s official launch of Harlequin Australia’s digital-first imprint, Escape Publishing.
Harlequin went all-out with a photo shoot for its authors around Sydney harbour, interviews with mainstream media, and cocktails at ECQ Bar. Upon entry, attendees were photographed and given an ornate key (in the fashion of Escape’s logo) that may open a treasure chest of prizes. Sadly, I didn’t win the iPad Mini, but everyone also got a USB key with all the launch titles in it. The bar served cocktails tailored to each of the launch titles, the hors d’oeuvres were lovely, and there was even a DJ (although, sadly—or not, YMMV—no dancing).
Michelle Laforest, Managing Director of Harlequin Australia, officially launched Escape’s first five titles and their authors.
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A sneak peek at the new Mills & Boon Riva covers.
Mills & Boon UK posted some cover images of their rebranded Riva line on Twitter yesterday. Here’s a sneak peek.
I’m not sure what to think of these chick-lit type covers. They’re certainly more attractive than some of the dual-image covers that the line currently uses, but they don’t scream out ‘category romance’ either. One can only hope they actually match the contents of the book. (If you want to try a sample of the Riva line, Mills & Boon UK has made Just One Kiss by Jessica Hart available for free online.)
I’m not sure if these cover images are still in draft, but as they are, I note the prominent plaecement of authors’ names and the relatively discreet Mills & Boon branding at the bottom of the book. The taglines ‘Fun, flirty, sexy and stylish’ and ’Fun, flirty, sexy and romantic’ seem targeted towards a younger market.
What do you think? Do you like these covers better than the old one?
