Comments on THE GALAXY EXPRESS: 5 Ways Digital Publishers Could Increase Science F...

One can never have enough good sci-fi romance. ;-)...

2009-09-14T18:07:39.628-04:00

One can never have enough good sci-fi romance. ;-)

Thanks, Lisa!

2009-09-14T18:02:40.428-04:00

Thanks, Lisa!

Ravenous Romance has just released a handful of no...

2009-09-13T12:58:34.779-04:00

Ravenous Romance has just released a handful of non-erotic sci-fi romance paperbacks. They're available through the Home Shopping Network, and will air on Monday, September 14. The covers are sizzling and the stories are some of the best RR has to offer.

"something that plays up all aspects of the S...

2009-09-11T09:37:56.004-04:00

"something that plays up all aspects of the SFR genre"

Exactly, Cathy. Sure, the characters are important. SFR, it's allll about the characters. But dude, the SETTING...it's important, too. Is the story set on a space station? An orbital factory? Post-apocalyptic Earth? A faraway, exotic planet? There's such a thing as setting on a cover, too. You plop your luscious character in the middle and have them be the core, the visual focal point, of a tapestry. Then you weave the setting into the background so the reader knows it's not only a SF, but what *kind* of SF. I could go on all day.

Hey! Val! Babe, I didn't know this was your debut novel! I was so glad to get your cover form. I mean, it was all there: a battle-scarred woman. A sword. How could I NOT get excited?! :)

Nathalie, I've been coveting those two covers....

2009-09-10T20:52:23.765-04:00

Nathalie,
I've been coveting those two covers. Wonderful work!

Thanks for the heads up, Nathalie. Those are defin...

2009-09-10T20:42:23.506-04:00

Thanks for the heads up, Nathalie. Those are definitely a step in the SFR direction.

Val, congratulations on your release and many happy sales! I would have posted your cover in my link round up but I thought your book was coming out next year (based on what I'd been told. Obviously the schedule changed, d'oh!).

Authors, feel free to hit me up with this kind of news because although I scour teh internets as much as possible, once in a while I miss stuff.

Kimber An, I think I know who you mean. Even if the covers don't change anytime soon, it'd at least be helpful if the SFR stories had their own section. Lol,is that kind of special treatment too much to ask?

Numbers 1 and 2, yes, please! And especially and a...

2009-09-10T09:06:17.782-04:00

Numbers 1 and 2, yes, please! And especially and all that.

There's a wonderful ePublisher out there whom I shall not name whose website bugs the heck out of me. And it's sad too, because I could send a lot more readers over there from Enduring Romance if only they re-organized to make their site easier for non-Erotica readers to find what they're looking for. The other thing about this ePub is, if I didn't know better, I'd think every single one of their books is 'Dark & Sexy' because of the cover art. All the cover art is very similar and it all has that feeling. Please, guys, some of us are VERY visual.

The cover of Blade's Edge totally rocks and is...

2009-09-09T22:32:16.186-04:00

The cover of Blade's Edge totally rocks and is obviously SF.

And no, I'm not biased just because it's my debut novel and Nathalie took a really lame cover art form and made something cool. Really. Even the guys on my group blog like it.

But yeah, we need more covers with less man-ski...

2009-09-09T20:52:14.949-04:00
But yeah, we need more covers with less man-skin. Not that I don't like looking at it, just not *all* the time.

Word, Nathalie. There are some gorgeous covers out there with lots of delicious skin, but there needs to be more variety, something that plays up all aspects of the SFR genre. The covers you mentioned are great. And your art is amazing. I'd plotz to get you for a cover artist when I'm a grown up pubbed author...some day *knock wood* : )

Hey there! There are a couple at Samhain. Of cou...

2009-09-09T20:09:41.904-04:00
Hey there!

There are a couple at Samhain. Of course, I'm totally baised because I made them, but they're SFR and there's no naked male chest anywhere.

Blade's Edge
Satin Spar

And check out Anne Cain's cover for Attrition (under SFF)...that's some awesome space barbarella visual goodness!

But yeah, we need more covers with less man-skin. Not that I don't like looking at it, just not *all* the time.

This is in no way an attempt to kiss your ass, Nat...

2009-09-09T16:37:43.979-04:00
This is in no way an attempt to kiss your ass, Nathalie, but the image on your revamped site is a great example of something more uniquely SFR (well, here's a *smack* for that wonderful eye candy). I also like what Lisa Paitz Spindler did with her Danger Gal persona.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think there should be such a discrepancy in quality between the awesome images on an author's Web site and her book covers, at least where SFR is concerned.

I realize there are budget considerations but given that covers are the most significant marketing tool, it seems to me that more money should be allotted to them--again, speaking in the case of non-erotic romance books.

Unless it's a case where the erotica-like covers sell more books? A shame if it has to be that way, but I'd love to see alternatives explored if at all possible. A few test cases, maybe...?

Gosh, yes, the covers. Just say no to beheaded mo...

2009-09-09T12:09:09.905-04:00
Gosh, yes, the covers. Just say no to beheaded models or "aliens" that look like plastic tub toys (my friend and I once discussed creating a mock cover with a well known female fashion doll and the children's toy I'll call a "tuber-American").

I couldn't agree more on points 2 and 3. Just because a story has two men or two women as the romantic couple doesn't automatically make it erotica. Seriously. I think digital publishers are more likely to recognize that fact a lot faster than some others.

Alpha totally kicked butt. I tend to like those anti-heroines too.

Great post, Heather. I can always count on you for an eye-opening read : )

Oooh, covers that'd be more appealing to those...

2009-09-09T08:05:22.393-04:00
Oooh, covers that'd be more appealing to those outside the romance genre! I agree. Things have to change. Dude, naked male chests on SFR make my inner Chihuahua want to chew her paw. Not that those covers are ugly. Some of them are gorgeous. But imagine the uproar at putting a Victorian garb on a Regency story. It's the same with SFR. We want our own look, dammit. And if SFR is to draw readers from the non-romance variety, it needs to have covers that appeal to the SF crowd.