Besides it being a chance for me to catch up with my online buds, I enjoy the annual RWA conference because it gives me a chance to put my ear to the nearest wall and catch the latest buzz. This year I once again roomed with KristieJ from Ramblings On Romance. Kristie has spent the better part of the last year promoting the heck out of Broken Wing by Judith James and berating badgering coaxing her fellow members of Romance Blog Land to read the book that she so fell in love with. The result? Kristie has almost 30 bloggers listed on her sidebar of those of us who have read the book.

It was while we were at RWA in Washington D.C. that Kristie had the opportunity to chat with some people from Sourcebooks, the publisher that will be publishing Judith James second novel, Highland Rebel, in September. They told Kristie that Broken Wing was the highest selling title in Medallion Press history. At this point Kristie hasn’t had this confirmed with the folks over at Medallion, but why would Sourcebooks make something like that up? The answer is, they wouldn’t.

There was a brouhaha several months back involving an interview an editor and VP from Harpercollins Avon did over at All About Romance essentially dismissing the value of online promotion and bloggers. My response to this was that if Avon was waiting for the day when a blogger was going to be solely responsible for “making” a book, they’d be waiting a long time. Listen, I’m a librarian. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that there are two ways to “make” a book. 1) The publisher’s PR department puts in a lot of long hours and 2) Oprah picks it for her book club.

This naturally brought up a lot of discussion on how “important” reader bloggers are and how much “traffic” we get.

Horse hooey

The minute reader bloggers begin losing sight of what their purpose is, and why they got into the game to begin with, is when they start feeding a corporate machine. Most of us started blogging for one reason, and one reason only. We wanted to connect with other readers who loved the romance genre as much as we do. I started blogging because 1) I like to hear myself talk and 2) there was no one in my real life who I could talk books with. Yep, that’s right. The librarian didn’t have a soul to talk to about romance novels. No joke. I was a drowning woman. I was desperate. So I went to the web.

Kristie has never lost sight of this. I also know that she’ll never think that she was the sole reason that Broken Wing sold well for Medallion. Hey, the pretty good review the book got in Publisher’s Weekly didn’t exactly hurt matters. No, Kristie didn’t “make” that book – but she did jump start what most authors and publishers kill for.

Word of mouth.

Kristie got close to 30 bloggers to read that book. And some of them loved it as much as she did. They blogged about the book. They told friends who aren’t online about the book. And then those friends told other friends.

Do I think bloggers can “make” books? Not entirely. But they can build momentum. Broken Wing is the best example we have so far. It helps that it was from a smaller publisher, who doesn’t have the same sort of name recognition as say, Random House or Harpercollins. It also helps tremendously that it was KristieJ promoting the hell out of that book. Why? Because I’m not sure any other blogger could have done what she did.

People read and like Kristie’s blog for one reason – because Kristie is the one blogging. She’s a genuine person with a genuine “voice.” She’s “regular people.” That’s attractive as hell to a whole lot of readers. When they read Kristie’s blog it’s like meeting their best friend for coffee. So when she got really excited over a debut author’s book for a small publisher? The people who read and like her blog listened. Hey, people read and like my blog too – but I can say for certain that me loving a book and giving it a glowing review doesn’t have the same impact. Why? Because Kristie turned promoting Broken Wing into an event.

I think as the online romance community continues to grow, and new social media platforms come to the forefront, there will be more opportunity to observe what impact bloggers and readers have on the publishing industry at large. Reader bloggers can be a valuable promotional tool for authors and publishers if utilized the right way. It worked in this instance because Kristie loves Broken Wing, she is genuine about that love, and it showed through in her blog posts about it. The moment reader bloggers try to morph themselves into publicity machines is when we fail. It won’t be genuine anymore and it will be really blatantly obvious to people reading our blogs. We all got into this game because we love books, we love reading, and we love the romance genre with an unflinching loyalty. We should all take a page from Kristie’s book and remember that.

Sandy M’s review of Broken Wing by Judith James
Historical Romance published by Medallion Press 1 Nov 08

Every now and again a story comes along that pulls at your heart, wrings emotion out of you until nothing is left, defies you to hope for that happily ever after that you take for granted in every romance book you pick up. This is definitely one of those books for me. The fact that this is Ms. James’ debut book makes it all the more special.

The beginning of the book gives us Gabriel realizing his life is about to get worse than it’s ever been. The one person who is his friend in the horrible world Gabriel has grown up in is about to return to his family.  He has protected James for the last five years, something that has kept Gabriel living.  Gabriel has been thoroughly tutored in the art of sex.  He is more than capable of pleasuring a woman or a man.  He is highly valuable to the brothel he’s been in nearly all his life. Too many times his hope over the years has been crushed, so now with the prospect of not even having James in his life, the world is a very dim place for Gabriel.

Until he meets Lady Sarah Munroe and Ross, the Earl of Huntington, James’ siblings. They offer him more hope than he’s ever had in his life. To repay him for befriending their brother, for bearing any punishments that were to be given to the child, for keeping his innocence intact, they offer Gabriel a place in their home as a companion to James. Grasping onto that lifeline, Gabriel leaves the hell of his existence behind. It takes some getting used to, not expecting people to take from him at every turn, but eventually Gabe finds peace.  He also learns how to love, all with the help of Sarah.  Her tenderness and her love saves him even from himself.

Once their love is declared, Gabriel is determined to take care of Sarah with money made with his own hands.  What he has learned since leaving the brothel is privateering on the high seas, so he heads out one last time to make his fortune so he and his love can be together forever. Of course, we know that isn’t going to happen any time soon, Gabriel has to go through so much more before total happiness is his.  I found myself thinking over and over again when is this man going to get a break. When he is lost at sea, he ends up in the hands of a man from his past, and this is what nearly breaks the hero my heart has gone out to since the first page of the book.

I love Sarah’s character because she never condemns Gabriel for what has been done to him, as a lot of people have.  He is always afraid to tell her that next horror of his life, but when he does he never receives recriminations from her. He gets nothing but understanding, love, and tenderness, something he doesn’t know what do to with in the beginning. But he’s a man who craves such things and he latches on to both Sarah and her loving ways to find the happiness in life others take for granted.

This is a wonderfully written book. Your heart will break, then soar, break again, and then wonder if it will ever soar again during this story. I did want to scream at Gabriel during the second half of the book when he seemed to give up too quickly, but I simply couldn’t because not only of what he’d been through, but also because of how he sees himself, which without Sarah, is something he doesn’t see very clearly.  Ms. James has given us a beautiful romance and love story with characters who will stay in your heart for a long time to come.

Grade: A+

Summary:

Abandoned as a child and raised in a brothel, Gabriel St. Croix has never known tenderness, friendship or affection. Although fluent in sex, he knows nothing of love. Lost and alone inside a nightmare world, all he’s ever wanted was companionship and a place to belong. Hiding physical and emotional scars behind an icy façade, his only relationship is with a young boy he has spent the last five years protecting from the brutal reality of their environment. But all that is about to change. The boy’s family has found him, and they are coming to take him home.

Sarah Munroe blames herself for her brother’s disappearance. When he’s located, safe and unharmed despite where he as been living. Sarah vows to help the man who rescued and protected him in any way she can. With loving patience she helps Gabriel face his demons and teaches him to trust in friendship and love. But when the past catches up with him, Gabriel must face it on his own.

Becoming a mercenary, pirate and a professional gambler, Gabriel travels to London, France, and the Barbary Coast in a desperate attempt to find Sarah again and all he knows of love. On the way, however, he will discover the most dangerous journey, and the greatest gamble of all, is within the darkest reaches of his own heart.

Read an excerpt.