It's Thursday, Answers to Do You Know Who Your Reader Is?

PART ONE

First, I must provide the answers to the questions I posed in my last blog.

The magnificent Jane Ashford took a stab at answering these questions, and I’ve provided the answers below hers—way to go Jane!!!:

Jane AshfordAugust 30, 2014 at 12:21 PM Taking a stab
What is the median age of the romance reader?
4. 40ish

First of all, my bad, because the stat I have is actually the average age, not the median age, and it’s 42 years old.

What is the household income of the majority of romance readers?

5. $45,000

It’s $55,000

What is the education level of the majority of romance readers?

6. some college

Correct!

In what region does the highest percentage of romance readers live?
7. the South

Correct!

In what region does the second highest percentage of romance readers live?
8. the Midwest

Correct!

Where do the majority of romance readers buy their books?
9. Online

They buy them in stores! First in Barnes & Noble, next Walmart.

Where do the majority of romance readers discover new authors?
10. personal recommendations

Browsing in a bookstore!

PART TWO

What I Did Today

1)      We have an acquisitions meeting this afternoon, so this morning I picked up all the submissions I’ve reviewed in the past week, and got to work prepping them for today’s meeting.

·         I had one that I was bringing back from last week’s meeting—I needed to do some more research on competing and comparable titles.

·         I have several from my own authors (yay!) so I needed to look back at their sales history, publishing program as it’s currently planned, and make sure I’m going in with the best possible pitch for each new project.

·         There was one this week that after much deliberation I decided wouldn’t work, but I’m interested in working with the author, so I set up a conference call with her and her agent and we talked about what’s next for her in her career and what she might want to write for us.

·         I have one that I’ve been carrying around with me and finally I sat down to look it over. It’s from a successful self-published author, with a good premise. Alas, it’s way too short for my list. We don’t have a digi-first program, so I can’t take on a novella unless it’s coming with a set of full-length novels.

·         Finally, there was one to turn down. The author seems great, but I couldn’t find a hook in the proposal that will allow me to break the project out in a very crowded field.

2)      The romance monthly launch for August 2015 titles was scheduled for today also. We had some work to do to get completely ready, but we had internet issues (AT&T apparently had internet issues) so we had to reschedule the meeting. We were going to launch 9 romance titles, with positioning statements, description, sales handles or data relevant to the sales department, cover design direction from editorial as well as from the author, and competing and comparable titles. We also prepare a Powerpoint presentation so this has a visual component as well.

3)      I gave the PR department a quick quote about Christmas romance for a trade media outlet.

4)      Yesterday I had given an author editorial notes on a manuscript, but I’d left some of the manuscript pages at home. (My house gets messier and messier as the week progresses, then on Sunday I straighten it all up and start over on Monday morning. Can anyone relate?) Today I brought them in and gave them to Susie so she could reassemble the complete manuscript and get it moving through to Bookmaking.

5)      Yesterday I also finished the review of a revised manuscript, let the author know, gave small cx to Susie. I’m now editing one new manuscript and have a revised manuscript right behind it.

6)      Today I had a regular weekly meeting with one of my colleagues, and coming out of that we scheduled an “All Brains on Deck” meeting for tomorrow afternoon so the Romance Editorial Team can start planning our presentation for the general Fall 2015 launch that will take place on Sep 30.

7)      I got a contract back from the accounting department, so it’s now ready for me to update and send to the agent.

8)      I drank two large cups of Jasmine Green tea.

9)      I ate 1/3 of a Lindt 99% Excellence Dark Chocolate bar.

10)   I answered some incredibly large number of emails, but even more came in.

11)   Two of my authors called me to discuss some plot points and character development in two manuscripts that are in progress.

12)   I wrote this blog!

Any questions? How was YOUR day?