Change - Good or not so Good!

 

By: Sandra Madden

https://sandramadden.com/

Thank you, Marcia for your kind invitation to blog. So much to blog about!

Recently I participated in a Friends of the Library Romance Novelist panel in St. Augustine. I was one of 5 participating panel members who were veteran romance writers. One of the questions put to us was: How has romance writing changed? How has your writing changed?

In so many ways … on so many levels!

When most of us began writing romance there was only one way to become a published romance author. First, you wrote a book (usually 100,000 words or more) and then mailed the manuscript, along with a self-addressed stamped return envelope, to the publisher. These were heavy manuscripts! The first thrill was getting it to the post office. The second came after a long wait. We waited, at least six weeks, for a reply. (During the wait it was a very good idea to write a new novel. Rejection happened. A lot. One well-known author confessed she could have papered her office walls with the rejections she received in the beginning.)

If and when your book was accepted, the publisher owned you. Owned your name, your publishing rights and became the major marketing expert for your books sales.

It’s quite different today. Now we send our manuscripts and/or proposals via e-mail. Quick and easy. Or not - rejections remain part of the business.

Today there is self-publishing. A traditional publisher is no longer necessary to see your book in print. But smart self-published authors hire formatters, cover artists and editors, just for starters. It’s not inexpensive to publish a book.  And every author no matter how they are publishing, by self, traditionally or via small press becomes an in-house marketing department.

When I started writing romance over twenty-five years ago I wrote historical romance and my first published novel, “Liberty’s Bride,” took place in St. Augustine during the revolutionary war. (I was not living anywhere near St. Augustine at the time.)

I wrote nothing but historical romance for several years. A history lover, I loved the research!

But after years of writing in one genre I slowly moved into another.

My new release entitled “Murder at the Blue Oyster Grill,” happens in September, 2023.  As you might guess, it’s a cozy mystery heavy on the romance and humor, and published by The Wild Rose Press. It’s quite a change from what I was writing at the beginning and I’m enjoying the change that began with “The Paradise Key Caper.”

Change is inevitable in every industry, every profession, every life.

Davie Bowie sang about it…”Ch,ch, changes.” And Heraclitus wrote, “Nothing endures but change.”

So what changes might be ahead in the publishing industry and for romance writers?  AI, perhaps?  Will my next book be titled, “Robots in Love”? Or has it already happened.

About Me

This is my life! Well, my writing life.

Yes. I was one of those strange children, although I prefer precocious to strange, who began writing while in grade school. New England winters are cold, I needed indoor activities!

A former member of Women in Communications, I’m included in, “Who’s Who and Why of Successful Florida Women – 1985.” I am so dating myself! During those early days received numerous awards including: The Displaced Homemaker Award from the Miami-Dade county YWCA, a Certificate of Commendation from the Dade County Commission for service to the community. I also received a Majority/Minority Award, courtesy of The Women’s Advocacy Group of South Florida. The lovely crystal giraffe was awarded to women each year who stick their necks out in order to further the cause of women. During those years I focused on women’s issues.

My poetry has appeared in Ion Books, Inc. And a chapbook entitled “Women in Love” was published by South Florida University Press.

As a producer/writer for a Miami PBS station I wrote. And then I wrote – almost twenty romance novels, both historical and contemporary and one memoir…Remembering Reuben Kincaid. (My late husband wanted his children to know him...in his own words. More or less.)

I’ve belonged to, or do belong to several awesome writers’ organizations:  Novelists Inc., RWA, Orange County Romance Writers, South Florida Fiction Writers and the Florida Writers Association.

Sandra Dempsey Madden …Characters at risk...Romance Involved