Stephanie Bond's Blog, page 5

Download the FREE prequel to the Southern Roads trilogy

  

   The prequel to the SOUTHERN ROADS trilogy, "Baby, I'm Yours" is an e-novella being offered by my publisher Mira FREE of charge for a limited time!  Go to the homepage of www.stephaniebond.com for links to download and read on your computer, your Kindle, your Nook, or your Kobo!

The Making of a Romance Trilogy: Covers

When my editors, agent, and I conferenced about the covers for the SOUTHERN ROADS trilogy, we agreed fairly quickly that the covers should be hero-centric, so would probably feature each hero in the context of their surroundings which is, in this case, the North Georgia mountains.  My only request was that the men not be bare-chested because I didn't want readers to think these books were reprints of my Harlequin Blaze novels, which are much more risqué.  Everyone agreed.  We hashed out other details: 

My name would be featured in a font similar to my previous Mira books (the Body Movers series), the title would be in a font that would indicate the "tone" of the books, so something fun and flirty.  The name of the series (SOUTHERN ROADS) had to go on there, too.  And each cover had to look similar enough for readers to associate them as a trilogy, yet different enough so that readers could tell them apart!  I suggested we feature a different landmark in each background, a water tower for the first cover, a bridge for the second cover, and maybe buildings under construction for the third cover.  I hung up happy that everyone seemed excited about the covers and open to my suggestions, but between you and me, I thought we were handing the art department a tall order to squash all those elements on the small cover of a mass market paperback and make it look appealing and cohesive.

They blew me away:

          

 I think these three covers are works of art simply for everything conveyed in such a good-looking, appealing package.  There are a lot of pretty covers out there that don't match the content, but these were spot-on!  I hope you agree.  A big thank you to the art department for creating these fantastic covers!

RT Booklovers conference in L.A., April 6-10

I'll be attending the Romantic Times Booklovers conference in L.A. this week and sitting on three panels/workshops:

Wednesday, April 6, 3:30-4:30, Creating the Perfect Hero for Your Contemporary Romance Novel, along with writers Barbara Freethy, Bella Andre, and Jami Alden.

Thursday, April 7, 11:15-12:15, The Business of Hollywood, along with writer Lee Goldberg and Zac Sanford (Development Executive for Suntaur Entertainment) and Jonathan Bogner (CEO of Bogner Entertainment).

And I'll be giving one workshop solo:

Friday, April 8, 2:45-3:45, How to Make a Living Writing Romance Novels

I'll be attending all the events, too—the parties and the mass autographing where I'll be signing recent titles.  If you'll be at the conference, I hope to see you there!

The Making of a Romance Trilogy–Brainstorming titles

The only thing that causes an author more angst than a book's cover is a book's TITLE.  Rightfully so, because the title can produce reader reactions that range from cinching a sale to turning off a reader completely.  To a certain degree, a title does both.  For example, the same title that tells target readers this is a contemporary, flirty book lets readers of, let's say, historical romance, know this book might not be their thing.  No publisher or author wants a reader to buy a book and be disappointed because it wasn't what they expected.

That said, the title should have "broad appeal" to draw in readers who might be on the fringe. Readers who buy a book they wouldn't normally buy are called "incremental" readers.  In order for an author to grow, she has to foster more incremental readers with every book.  Make sense?

Okay, back to the title.  Ideally, it should be short, else it will take up too much real estate on the book and be a big, fat hassle for search engines/ordering systems.  There has been a movement of late toward titles that tell the reader exactly what they're getting:  The Prince CEO and the Secretary's Secret Baby.  I made that up, but you get the gist.  I don't care for those titles because, as a writer friend pointed out, "If I pick up a book and after reading the title, I feel like I've just read the book, I put it back."  On the other hand, some readers like to know what they're getting.  (I'm thinking those are probably the same readers who read the end of the book before the beginning, which I also will never understand!)

I think it's safe to say that most titles, though, are short.  And a title should be made up of common words with common spellings.  While The Venetian Shoppe is an intriguing title and the gives the reader a sense that this is a historical novel or at least, deals with a "shop" that is somewhat nostalgic or upscale, the offbeat word (Venetian) and spelling (Shoppe) means it will be more difficult for readers to find it, especially online.  And the more unusual the title and spelling, the more likely it is to be referenced incorrectly in reviews and promotional pieces.

"Adjective" titles are popular because it gives the reader a sense of "tone."  For example, my first romance novel was titled Irresistible? which conveyed both the story and the story tone of the plot where an unemployed woman becomes a paid testee for an experimental pheromone drug that's supposed to make her irresistible to every man she meets.  Note that the addition of the question mark further adds to the sense of tone.  I personally think the addition of punctuation, such as an exclamation point or an ellipsis, is a simple way to add a little drama, and readers seem to respond well to it.

Another take on titles is that it should be something one of the characters would say.  I think that's a good rule of thumb for choosing a title, and the direction we eventually took on the romance trilogy I'm writing about the three brothers rebuilding their hometown in the north Georgia mountains. 

If you're writing a series, it's good to have a touchpoint word that will be repeated in each title, which only complicates matters more.

And hasn't every title already been used?  Well, sometimes it seems that way.  Everyone prefers an original title, but sometimes overlapping is unavoidable—and perfectly legal since titles of books and movies can't be copyrighted.

But first—a glimpse into how we narrowed down the possibilities.  I provided to my editor several sets of three titles for the individual books along with overall titles for the trilogy itself.  Giving the trilogy a title is an added way for readers and booksellers to identify books in a series, especially for authors who write lots of different series…but it's an added level of complexity for the author, publisher, and marketing and sales departments because it all has to tie together.

When I brainstormed title ideas, I kept the tone and feel of the covers in mind—hero-centric, southern, outdoorsy, contemporary, flirtatious.  Since we were featuring the hunky heroes on the cover, it made sense to me that the title should be something he'd say, as if he were speaking directly to the reader.  I sent the list to my editor and she chose:

Baby, Drive South

Baby, Come Home

Baby, Don't Go

I love these titles, and here's why I think they work:  The word "baby" is contemporary (knights and dukes didn't say "baby") and is absolutely something a southern man would say, plus it's an appealing word to repeat in each title.  Each title has a rhythm, with a comma and three words.  The titles are readable, and if spoken aloud, they roll off the tongue easily.  And each title describes what each book is about.  The first book, Baby, Drive South, is about the three brothers "importing" a group of northern women to help them grow their town.  The second book, Baby, Come Home, is about luring a woman who once lived in the town to come back home.  And the third book, Baby, Don't Go, is about a woman who comes to the town with the intention of being there only temporarily.  In each case, the title describes something the hero says to the heroine.  These titles pass all my tests:  they're cute, appealing, and descriptive.  I'm happy.

With the individual titles decided, we still needed a title for the overall trilogy.  The trilogy title needed to capture the over-arching sense of the "community" of the books.  We toyed with the words "mountain," "country," and "southern."  There are some cute country song titles like "Country Roads,"  "That's How Country Boys Roll" and "Southern Voice."   But none of those seemed right.  (Fans of singer/songwriter John Hiatt and singer Suzie Bogguss will recognize Baby, Drive South from the lyrics of the song "Drive South.")  For the trilogy title, we finally settled on "Southern Roads," which I love because it conveys a sense of relocating to the South and the idea of roads leading home.  Perfect.  Everyone involved put a lot of thought into the titles, and I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome.  And having gone through the process gave me such a stronger connection to the books as I wrote them.

Next time I'll post the cover for book 1 of the Southern Roads trilogy, Baby, Drive South, to discuss the placement of elements on the cover.  (Do you have pet peeves about book titles?  Please share in comments section!)

Update (such as it is) on the Body Movers TV Series

The Body Movers TV series is still up in the air until a network picks up the pilot script.  So books 7 and 8 haven't been scheduled.  Sorry that I can't give you better/more specific news, but everything is still in a holding pattern.  Please know that I have NO influence on what my publisher buys from me and when it's released in the market.  I'm not holding out for more money or keeping everyone hanging on purpose, or a sundry list of other things that some reader emails have alleged!  Authors WISH we had as much power as readers seem to think we do!  Meanwhile I'm happily working on other projects that my employer (publisher) has asked of me, namely a big romance trilogy that will be released back to back in the summer of 2011.  I appreciate everyone's support and I promise I'll let you know as soon as I know anything about more Body Movers books!  (You can help by letting your bookseller/store manager know you'd like to see more books in this series.) 

But I hope this will make you smile:  Early next year, I'll be launching a Body Movers fan fiction site for those of you who'd like to contribute your own stories about the characters I've created.  More on this fun project after the holidays!

The Making of a Romance Trilogy—Decisions on packaging

The decisions about how to package a single title book (books not released in a "line" such as Harlequin Blaze) or, in this case, a trilogy of books, is made long before the manuscripts are finished.  As an author, I find that helpful because I want to know what kind of tone and look to highlight in the story.  And readers always appreciate it when the story reflects cover images, such as when the characters actually resemble the person on the cover!

(Writers constantly receive reprimands from readers because the backgrounds and/or people on the front of the book don't match the story on the inside!  But not only do writers have almost zero control about what goes on the covers,  sometimes the covers are created from stock photography by graphic artists who have little more to go on than a story blurb.  And I have to be fair here—it's not unheard of for an author to fill out art sheet forms for a story and then turn in a book that doesn't correspond!)

I'm lucky in that my editorial team usually asks for my input on covers.  We had a conference call during which we discussed what types of books/covers seem to be working in the market right now.  Publishers have only a few seconds in the bookstore to 1) catch your eye and 2) convey the type of story being told.  We wanted to make sure readers knew these books weren't part of my Body Movers mystery series and weren't reprints of an earlier Blaze novel.  We wanted to depict romance in some way, but keep the level of sensuality below the super hot covers of my Blaze novels.  In keeping with the expansive "community" feel of the books, we wanted to include some kind of panoramic background that would give the reader an idea of the setting.  In my case, the trilogy is set in the North Georgia mountains, so that was an easy, picturesque background to depict.  And to stress the fact that these books were about 3 brothers, we decided it would be best to feature each man on the cover by himself, in his environment.  Since these brothers would be rebuilding their hometown, we thought it made sense to show them outside, at work. 

We also decided the back cover blurbs would be "hero-centric," meaning they would focus on the hero's motivation and point of view.  And this sounds like a small thing, but it was also decided to feature the covers of all the books in thumbnail on the back of each book.  Why does this matter?  It means the covers for all 3 books have to be ready at once, and since the thumbnails will take up a lot of real estate on the back cover, the story blurb will have to be succinct!

Next time:  After settling on hero-centric covers with outdoor elements, the next step was to come up with titles for individual books and an overall title for the trilogy.

My brother, the artist

Just a quick note to brag on my talented brother, Jamie Bond, who lives in Manhattan.  In addition to his full-time job in the hotel industry, Jamie has over the years created an amazing collection of multi-media paintings, a collection that is being acknowledged by New York gallery PJS.  Three of his paintings are being featured in a group show called "Grandpa's Attic", artwork in all categories that conjure up memories or use materials from days gone by.  Jamie paints contemporary images over vintage license plates for a visually stunning and textural painting.  I admit I'm biased, but I love his work…and I'm so proud to announce his first public showing.  If you're in New York between November 11 and December 24, stop by PJS Gallery, 238 West 14th Street, to take in the show that includes paintings, jewelry, fabric art, furniture, guitar straps, and painted skateboard decks.  Besides being a visual treat for you, you might find that perfect one-of-a-kind item for that special person on your holiday gift-giving list!

Link to the PJS Gallery site:  http://www.pjs-exhibitions.com/

Image:  "I Used to be a Model", 24 x 36 acrylic over vintage license plates and canvas, New York artist Jamie Bond

The Making of a Romance Trilogy–pitfalls to avoid/watch for

Okay, so I mentioned earlier that my editors gave me a few guidelines on what they'd like to see my trilogy "accomplish," meaning delivering three solid romances by including popular romance themes and developing an appealing cast of characters.  But by virtue of their position of having edited and marketed trilogies that did and didn't work, they also had advice on avoiding pitfalls, such as making sure that all three books have the same "tone."  Meaning, for example, one book shouldn't be p...

The Making of a Romance Trilogy–editorial reaction

I left off with the blurb I used to "pitch" my idea for a romance trilogy to my editors at Mira.  I'm happy to say the response was enthusiastic!  The elements of the blurb the editors commented on most:

It's a hero-centric trilogy—always a plus in romance.The heroes are brothers—again, a nice, cohesive unit of characters and family always makes for more poignant storylines.The setting is Southern—this is something the editors had asked me to stress from the beginning because I'm from the...

The Making of a Romance Trilogy–The Pitch

Almost without exception, you will have to complete a manuscript before you can secure your first book contract—editors want to know that you can actually finish a book (so many writers can't, no matter how strong their initial proposal is).  But after those first one or two projects, the goal is to SELL a story before you write it.  To that end, it's worth your time to practice writing synopses and blurbs.

A synopsis is a short telling of the full story—the beginning, the middle, and the...