Over the past few weeks, one topic has engaged the writer message boards and forums. But, although I’ve read it as an author, it occurred to me that the reader hasn’t really said anything yet. So I thought I’d see what readers think about the current RWA ruckus. Yes, I’m a writer, but I’m a disinterested party, as I’m not a member of the RWA, and I don’t enter either the RITA or the Golden Heart. I want to look at this as a reader, an avid consumer of the product that the RWA members produce, if you will. So I don’t care about the rules and regs, or about the plight of the authors, not in this column, just in what I see as a reader.
Yesterday, Jasmine Jade, which owns the Ellora’s Cave, Cerridwen, Lotus Circle and Exotika imprints, announced it would not be going to the RWA’s big conference, usually known as Nationals. It is no longer a recognized, or acknowledged, or whatever they’re calling it publisher, so it would have to pay for everything, and it’s simply not worth its while. So anyone wanted to pitch to them, or to learn more about them, or visit with their authors at the booksigning will be disappointed.
Alongside this is a row about the RITA and the Golden Heart, the RWA’s two awards for published and unpublished writers respectively. E-published writers cannot enter either contest. The Golden Heart is for unpublished writers only, so they can’t enter that. But in order to enter the RITA, the book has to fulfill a number of criteria, one or more of which excludes e-published writers. Whether the intention was to do that or not, it’s impossible for an outsider to say, but that’s the effect. It’s all very complicated, and please, please, no more discussion of the actual rules and regulations. That’s none of our business, all of us who don’t belong to the RWA. What I’m concerned with is the effect.
In the past, I sometimes bought books because they were RITA winners. The award guaranteed a certain amount of quality, so it was safer to invest in a previously unknown or unexplored author. Readers would buy the whole of the list, winners and runners-up, to find the best of the best. That’s what the RITA seemed to represent.
These days, I don’t do autobuy anymore. Instead, there are authors I look for, and assess when I read more about the book. And these days there are as many e-published authors as there are mass-market paperback New York authors on my list. True, I live in the UK, so my ability to browse bookstores full of romance paperbacks is limited to my yearly visits to the States, but I have Amazon.
I’ve moved over to e-books as my format of choice. Only if the book isn’t available in e-book do I get the paperback. So I’ve discovered some new authors that I love. Joey W. Hill, especially her Natural Law books are musts for me, and Linda Winfree’s books are side by side with Suzanne Brockmann and Linda Howard. I eagerly look forward to new releases from all four.
But if the RITAs are limited to the books from the big print publishers, then that halves my interest in the awards. I know there are books out there that equate with anything New York puts out, because I’ve read them. I love discovering new authors, whatever the format their books come out in. I don’t check the RWA list of approved publishers before I buy a book. I look at the cover art, read the blurb and an excerpt and maybe, if there’s an award like the RITA attached to it, I’ll pay a bit more interest in it, and maybe take a chance on a previously unknown author.
The attitude of the people awarding the RITAs seems similarly strange to the publishers. All publishers are all increasingly putting books out in e-format, so it is fast becoming just another way you can buy books. I know there are serious ramifications for authors and contracts, but I’m trying to ignore that here, and look at it from the point of view of the consumer.
So, as a reader, would I attend RWA Nationals, or visit the big booksigning there? I’d be disappointed because some of my favorite authors won’t be there, and it’s so expensive to attend, so probably not. Would I buy a book based on the fact that it had been awarded a RITA? No, not any more. I can’t trust it anymore, because it excludes the books of some writers that I love.
The RWA is busy sidelining itself. It’s a shame, but it makes my choice of which conference to attend that much easier.
I’m almost exclusively an ebook reader, so RITA winner is meaningless to me.
Plus the sub genres that I like to read are not usually MMP, they are usually POD, or trade. So a lot of what I like to read isn’t even represented.
I don’t begrudge an author getting that award, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to read them just because of it.
Well said, Lynne!
An interesting post, Lynne. I have indeed sought out a few books based on the fact that they won RITA’s, but I’m sure it was less than half a dozen. Over the last few years, reader recommendations have become the driving force behind what I read. Fortunately bloggers read lots of e-pubbed books, and a fair share of my reading material is e-pubbed. Like you, that pretty much makes the RITAs less important when it comes to choosing reading material.
I do think, though, that RWA is missing a golden marketing opportunity. For example, each year, Fictionwise holds a sale of Hugo nominees to encourage interest in the award. I’d love to see RWA partner with retailers to highlight their award-winning authors and raise the profile of the genre.
As to Nationals, I can’t afford a trip like that. But it would be great to see more regional events, like the sci-fi cons that spring up all over the place. Lori Foster’s event each June in Cincinnati springs to mind. Imagine reader events like that around the country. Again, you’d really raise the profile of the genre and perhaps in turn find ways to include ALL published romance authors, regardless of format.
Me to MB. The Rita is meaningless to me too. Frankly if I bought books on awards alone I’d look at those that support ebook authors too and there are plenty of good ones out there to choose from.
However, I never buy on awards alone. I read a book then if I like it buy the authors back list. I have whole wish lists of authors back lists LOL.
I also think that a lot of hype surrounds the RITA.. that is totally meaningless to the reader. No doubt it makes the authors feel good or does it?
I don’t begrudge an author getting that award, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to read them just because of it. //
What she said.
Following is an uncharacteristically long response. Forgive me, but this struck a chord with me.
My opinion about the RITA and Golden Heart, or any other similar award, is much the same as my opinion about the Oscars, or SAG, or Golden Globes: it’s an industry-driven award and is really most important to those in that industry.
Does it look spiffy on a résumé or a book jacket? No doubt. But does one award mean very much in the scheme of things, since each effort’s quality can be wildly different and should be judged on its own? No, it doesn’t.
Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize good work – no matter the media. And in this, the über-electronic age of iPhones and eReaders, to limit an award for PRINTED material to only ink-and-paper media is short-sighted at best, and just plain ignorant at worst. ePublishing is as much a “print” method as any – just ask Amazon.
The same Amazon who, if you’ll remember, didn’t post a profit until 2003 and who is now, five short years later, a powerhouse with a market-capitalization of nearly $21Billion (that’s Billion, with a “B”), thanks in no small part to their proprietary e-reader, the Kindle. The same Amazon that is still trading at nearly $50 per share even in this market, with minimal price fluctuations over the last year.
Shun e-publishers from an industry award? The RWA does that at their own peril. The wayside is full of awards, organizations, and individuals who have organized themselves out of a role in this day and age.
obsolescence (äb-s?-les-ns) (n)
1:a loss in the utility or value of property that results over time from intrinsic limitations (as outmoded facilities) or external circumstances Obsolescence is usu. distinguished from depreciation and physical deterioration.
economic obsolescence
2:obsolescence that results from external factors (as location) that render a property obsolete, no longer competitive, unattractive to purchasers or investors, or of decreasing usefulness claimed that the appraisal failed to account for economic obsolescence resulting from an adjacent waste facility.
Another plank in the RWA coffin, if not another nail: http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/01/27/according-to-time-magazine-old-publishing-and-new-publishing-are-setting-new-paradigms/
It used to be that the RITA award mattered. Not so much anymore except to the authors (prestige, money, acceptance and acknowledgment in the industry).
I honestly could care less about the accolades of the publishing industry because more often than not the book that wins the prestigious award is crap IMO (just like the big movie and tv awards already mentioned–how often does the public agree wholeheartedly in their judgment?).
Was it last year that RWA changed their requirements and knocked EC out? Well, anyway it just kind of seemed petty. They sure didn’t mind letting EC come in and sell books, promote the authors, and the lectures and parties. But the second that EC comes under fire RWA kicks them to the curb (along with a few other epubs). That’s just stupid. Its bad business ($ anyone???), bad press, and ultimately reflects RWA’s image to the public as petty, which only perpetuates the idea that romance books can’t be serious books because the governing body can’t even agree on what they term romance.
In the end, I think RWA did a huge disservice to the readers, authors and publishers, and it kind of makes their awards seem all the more frivolous.
I have never cared about the award at all. I read books based on what other readers say and reading excerpts for myself. Nice long excerpts sell me books.
I’ve actually distanced myself from some groups who are major publishing house snobs. I do not believe being published by them means a book is any good. I read an ebook (no titles, please) a couple of years ago that was IMO the worst thing I’d ever picked up. It was just B-A-D… and last week I did a double take because it was on the best seller shelf at Kroger. I can’t believe it has been printed and bound.
Meanwhile, some of my favorite books ever are exclusively e-pub. I, too, have come to prefer ebooks when I can get them.
When I want to just shop for something totally new I go to Fictionwise and sort a category by reader rating and find ones with a lot of ratings counted. Then I read excerpts of the ones that look good from there. Awards couldn’t be farther from the process.
And, of course, when Sybil says “Alicia, you’d love this book” she’s usually right.
Yet another nail in the proverbial coffin. From http://www.thephoenixprinciple.com/:
“If Amazon had acted like Merck, it would be announcing a big write-off, and resturcturing [sic], to deal with the horrible decline in book sales! But the decline in the old product (books) doesn’t mean people don’t have a thirst for information (just like people don’t have a desire for better disease management in Merck’s market). Google searches and articles read on the internet have skyrocketed. Increasingly, it appears people simply don’t want to pay for a printed book. The want to read things on on their computer, or phone, or listen to them on the treadmill while working out or commuting. The demand is still there, but the format or medium is changing. “
I’ve been reading about all this RWA change in how they award writers. It’s everywhere on Yahoo groups and blogs. I just can’t help but wonder when RWA is going to realize what century this is.
Wasn’t this the same kind of mentality that said black people had to use separate water fountains to get a drink, enter through the back doors, and take the worst seat in the house? Print published authors can come in the front, but epublished authors shouldn’t expect to sit next to them.
RWA needs to snap out of their “Us vs Them” mentality before they have ruined their reputation completely. Unlike the South of old, they are no one’s “massa.”