Friday, January 4, 2013

Wow!!!



Judith Ashley
The latest issue of RT Book Reviews arrived in my mailbox on Friday. Saturday I took a few minutes to look over the Historical and Contemporary list of reviewed books because that is what I most enjoy reading. However, as I was leafing through the pages I caught sight of Delilah Marvelle’s picture and a few pages later, an ad featuring Opal Carew. My curiosity piqued I started at the beginning and read every article and looked at every ad as well as skimmed down the list of names being reviewed. What was I looking for?

If you are reading this post, you know about Romancing The Genres. If you are new to RTG, you may not know that two years ago in February, Sarah Raplee and I conceived the idea of a group blog featuring romance authors from a variety of genres. We’d each blog on a particular day of the month (I’m the first Friday). Having guests would be an added value to our readers and we thought Saturday would be a good day to schedule them.

Even in the beginning we thought of having a time and place where the Genre-istas could post short stories. We launched Free ReadsFrom The Genre-istas in February, 2011.

You can click on the links above and scroll down to see who our guests have been and what our Genre-istas are writing about.

Back to RT…

Delilah Marvelle, who has been our guest in August and September 2010 and December 2012, is featured in an article on clothing from the early 1800’s which is where her stories are set. She’s also listed as a Top Pick with 4.5 Stars for Forever a Lord, book three in her latest series.

If you look on page 21, you’ll see an ad placed by St. Martin’s press touting six books coming from Genre-ista, Opal Carew. Because her career is shooting into the stratosphere with demands for more works, deadlines, etc., Opal’s January post will be her last with us.
Madelle Morgan will be joining us in February on the 2nd Tuesday of the month.

Matt Buchman (M.L. Buchman) our 12/08/2012 guest is listed in the Series Rap Sheet. Matt was also featured in Eloisa James’ NPR column. Matt’s book Wait Until Dark was given a 4 Star rating. Reviewer writes “…this book has it all. The only thing you’ll ask yourself is “When does the next one come out?” the full review is on Page 70.

Genre-ista, Paty Jager’s The Secret of an Aztec Temple is included in the All Romance e-book advertisement on Page 28. Paty writes our 1st Monday post.

Genre-ista, Bronwen Evans’ To Challenge The Earl of Cravenswood which is self-published, was given a 4 Star rating. Bron, who has been a Genre-ista from the beginning, also won the 2012 RomCon Reader's Crown for her Invitation to Ruin. Bron's regular post time is the 1st Thursday of the month.

But that’s not all! The 2013 Romantic Times Convention also has familiar names.

Genre-ista Kris Tualla is a presenter in two workshops on Self-Publishing. Kris’s regular RTG post time is the 1st Tuesday of the month. She also was a December guest because of her knowledge about Self and Indie Publishing. If you are interested in a great book on the subject, check out her Becoming an Authorpreneur: Navigating A Career in 21st Century Publishing.

Other RTG Guests are presenters at the Self-Publishing Program during the Convention. You can attend workshops with Theresa Ragan and Bob Mayer. Bob, who we see as a generous supporter of RTG, has shared his insights on self-publishing. He and Jen Talty co-authored The Shelfless Book and she is also co-presenting the workshops with him.

Check out Theresa's inspiring self-publishing story.

While we certainly had hopes and dreams about the success of Romancing The Genres, neither of us would have predicted how much we’ve grown.

This month we will pass 50,000 page views!

December 31, 2012 marked our 560th post.

December 30, 2012 we had 41,112 comments on those 560 posts.

Free Reads From The Genre-istas should pass 3,000 page views late in January or early in February. Each post is a short, short story. Romance Genres included are Western, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, Steampunk, Paranormal, Fantasy and Historical.

December 31, 2012 marks 31 posted stories.

And we’ve had 107 comments on those 31 short stories.

All I can say is “Wow!” We did it and then some. Thanks to each and every one of the Genre-istas and to each and every one of you for making an idea flourish into a growing, living labor of love (well, most days it’s a labor of love).

And, if you ‘follow’ us, you don’t have to click around or remember to check us out. We’ll show up most days on our own.
www.JudithAshleyRomance.com

12 comments:

Paty Jager said...

Wow is right! What an awesome list of people we've had on this blog! My book wasn't supposed to be in the RT until February...Or was that the February edition out this early?

Judith Ashley said...

It was/is the February issue. Thanks for all you've done for RTG, Paty.

Kris Tualla said...

This is a pretty impressive group, I must say! I am very honored to be in such good company.

Terri Molina said...

I ditto Kris.

You gals done good. ;-)

Congratulations!

Judith Ashley said...

Thanks for stopping by Kris and Terri...it's taken all of us to pull this off! Sarah and I are so excited we are nearing 50K page views!!!!!!

Tam Linsey said...

RTG is putting so many great authors out there, Judith! I loved reading a summary of the journey.

Robin Weaver, Author said...

Judith, you and Sarah have done an amazing job and I'm so glad to be part of this group. Here's to an even better 2013.

Judith Ashley said...

Thanks for your support, Tam. Looking forward to reading your "Debut Author" post right here on 01/30/2013.

Judith Ashley said...

Robin, you've been with us from the beginning! and I'm lifting a cyber glass of champagne for a fantastic 2013 for all of us. And, everyone is invited back on 01/29/2013 (and all the dates in between) to read Robin's post on being a Debut Romance Author.

Diana McCollum said...

Who would have thought from a tiny seed of an idea that you and Sarah had, such a wonderful tree of sharing would grow? But the idea did grow, and branch out into a wonderful sharing of thoughts, ideas and lessons. Thank you both for persevering. And a big congrats to all the Generistas and guests who have contributed to this awesome blog!! Happy New Year!!

Judith Ashley said...

Hi Diana,

Who would have thought it! I wished and hoped we'd grow and branch out and expand - but - we've exceeded my expectations.
Thank you for being a part of it all. Looking forward to your post next Friday!

Anna Brentwood said...

I love reading your posts and that you feature so many authors on so many subjects. I think you are all doing a great thing and appreciate so much being included. Thank you.