Latest in Romance Writing

Mindy Ross, May 20, 2012

Yesterday, I attended a meeting of Romance Writers of America-San Diego Chapter. Deidre Knight, an author and agent, was the guest speaker of the day. First, she talked about the different things she does to promote her author's books which included working the price--setting it low at first and then raising it--and pinning photos of hunky guys to a board on Pinterest. She said the hottest genre right now is contemporary, especially urban fantasy. But she said that historical romance is doing well too. She mentioned that "heart growing" stories and books about "facing things and overcoming obstacles" touch her the most. And of course, the erotica genre is skyrocketing.

Her agency has a marketing department to help promote her authors, and that thankfully, she said that self-publishing is not a negative thing. Unlike many agents, she had no problem with authors who want to both self-publish and publish the traditional way. She seemed like someone who is flexible and easy to work with.

The Knight Agency has sold more than 2,000 titles in sixteen years--bestsellers in romance on New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and others. Right now, every agent at TKA is looking to add new clients. It's a great time to submit and query.

FACTS ABOUT TKA

16 NYT bestsellers in 2011
5 NYT bestsellers already in 2012
180 Currently active clients
Represents romance, but much more
Every agent seeking new clients

Ruth Newell May 20, 2012 @ 10:28 a.m.

Good to know, Mindy. Thank you.

quillpena May 20, 2012 @ 11:47 a.m.

keep the updates coming

nan shartel May 20, 2012 @ 12:06 p.m.

i love that u go to those awesome meetings Mindy...and it's really interesting to hear what's up with the genre...it's grown so much over the years

it's become interesting to a much wider variety of readers over the years...all the authors are growing and becoming better as they write more and more

of course there are some that stick to an old formula...but even more do not

here's a pic 4 u to get ur interest up here Mindy darlin'

not that u don't have enuff..but the more the merrier i always say

~~i'll take 2 please~~

Jay Allen Sanford May 21, 2012 @ 1:48 a.m.

I recently read that a lot of bookstores have said they would have already been forced to close due to lack of business, were it not for a booming trade in contemporary romance novels. And I've known a lot of people who say they rarely read anything but romance - like with comics, I say bravo for that anything that encourages reading and brings business into bookstores!

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