The winner of Trial by Desire from my blog contest is: Rene! Congratulations, Rene!

Didn’t win? You still have until noon today to like my Facebook page for another chance to win early.

And there will be other opportunities to win. Next week, I’ll be posting the downloadable-cover for Trial, for those of you who inexplicably do not like red. And I’m thinking when Mr. Milan posts his review this time, you might get a chance to win a copy of the book…signed by both me and Mr. Milan. So stay tuned!

I’ve decided I want to be Nora Roberts when I grow up.

I don’t mean that in the sense that I want to be as wildly successful as she is (although I wouldn’t say no). I don’t even mean that in the sense that I want to write as many books as she does (with the day job, that’s just not an option–and even without the day job, I’m not so sure).

No. What I mean is this: I want to have her integrity.

I’ve read fifteen or so books by Nora/J.D. Robb–a tiny percentage of her output, to be sure, but a respectable sampling,  with the books spread across maybe a decade and a half of her career. I have loved some of those books–absolutely loved them to tears. I have merely liked some of them. I haven’t hated any of them, ever.

The one thing I have never thought of a book written by Nora Roberts is this: “Wow, she really phoned it in. It’s obvious she did no research, put no thought into this, and just let this one slide because she had better things to do.”

Nope. Every single book that Nora has put out, I’ve basically thought she gave it her all.

Just think about what that means. At this point, Nora could write a handful of stinkers for years and years on end, before her millions of fans gave up on her in disgust. She could sell a kazillion copies, make millions and millions of dollars for herself and her publisher–and put in easily a quarter of the effort that she does.

Let’s face it. Human nature being what it is, most people upon being told they could make millions and millions of dollars while making a modicum of effort, would not go far.

So why doesn’t Nora do that? Why, after all these years, can I walk into a store and pick up a book by Nora and know that it will be well-researched, well-written, well-edited?

There’s really only one reason for it, that I can think of: Nora has integrity. She knows her readers deserve her best, and so that’s what she delivers.

So when I say I want to be like Nora Roberts when I grow up, that’s what I mean. I don’t ever want to get to the point where I think it doesn’t matter any more, that I don’t have to do my best. I don’t ever want to look at something and say, “enh, that’s good enough.”

Good enough is for dishes. (Don’t tell Mr. Milan I said that.)

Okay. So this is the last batch of multi-book winners. From here on out, I will not procrastinate on the giving away of books, not in the slightest. And that’s a good thing, because in September and October, we have some amazing books to look forward to–and I will definitely need an entirety of a full post to highlight their awesomeness.

(Here’s a hint: we’re going to start with a historical romance adventure story that takes us from the expected world of Victorian England… to Outer Mongolia. Seriously. Outer Mongolia. The book so completely, utterly rocks–and the second book in the series just got a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly–and honestly, I feel like a kid in a candy store right now, especially anticipating the fourth book. I’m so excited to be able to talk to people about this series!)

In any event. Ahem. Before I get ahead of myself, here are the winners from the previous post:

• Twice Tempted by a Rogue, by Tessa Dare: Theresa Romain, MaryK, Aislinn
• Crazy for Love, by Victoria Dahl: peggy h
• The Forbidden Rose, by Jo Bourne: Chelsea B
• Money, Honey, by Susan Sey: Kim
• The Cinderella Society, by Kay Cassidy: Susan B

If you’re a winner, e-mail your snail mail address to courtney@courtneymilan.com and I will get it out right in the mail.

This brings me to my last set of giveaways. As you may know, if you go to romance conferences (Romantic Times, RomCon, or RWA) you end up getting a handful of free books. They just can’t throw books at you fast enough! Of course, I read voraciously and many of the books I’ve gotten (for free!) I already own. Some of them, I have multiple copies! But some of them are so good that I can’t resist picking up another copy, knowing that I can introduce it to someone else who loves historical romance. So here’s what I have:

• Goddess of the Hunt, by Tessa Dare. (Got this from RT, where it won a well-deserved award for Best First Historical).
• Bound by Temptation, by Lavinia Kent. (This is autographed–and a very sexy book, where the “bound” part is quite literal.)
• The Perils of Pleasure, by Julie Anne Long. (Also autographed–JAL is one of my favorite, favorite authors, ever.)
• What Happens in London, by Julia Quinn. (Winner of the RITA, and the book that got JQ into the Hall of Fame. And one of the funniest, most hilarious books ever. Don’t miss the pigeons.)
• Ten Things I Love About You, by Julia Quinn. (Quite possibly the winner of next year’s RITA, too–I did just accidentally buy a second copy of this.)
• Captive of Sin, by Anna Campbell. (This book is also autographed–and it’s both hot and heartwrenching, in inimitable Anna Campbell style.)
• Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake, Sarah MacLean (autographed–and I can’t tell you how much I love this book! Sarah is definitely a historical author to watch, and if this book is her historical romance debut, I can’t wait for book #2… and #3… and #4.)

I’ll pick winners on Wednesday or Thursday. Enjoy!

So I was just at the brand new RomCon in Denver, and have a few thoughts about it. A number of friends asked me for my final verdict–it’s a new conference, and so people want to know–and I started to write it up to ten people individually, but realized there was nothing I was saying that I wouldn’t mind saying to the world at large in general, so I am just posting it.

Cons

This is the first time the convention was being run, and so there were two things that I noticed right off the bat, which I think were the major downsides.

First, I think the author:reader ratio was skewed too heavily in favor of authors. I think as word of mouth spreads, there will be more and more readers, but as it was, there were too many authors. I say this as an author: I felt we were too numerous on the ground.

Second, I think that the organization was not always there. Some events were clearly planned at the last instant. Rooms were changed. Times were changed. Both happened on more than one occasion without any notification to the people who were running the events/workshops. The website was useless as a sanity check to see where things were. (Also, speaking of the website, aesthetically, the logo is ugly and off-putting.)

But this brings me to:

Pros

All the schedule changes and room changes could have made the conference a real downer–except that the people who were attending just weren’t the kind of people you could get down. The readers were really excited about reading. The authors were excited to meet readers (and, hell, each other).  The people there were basically really good people, and I didn’t meet a single person who wasn’t determined to have a good time. That’s not always the case, and the attitude and positivity really made the conference.

These were people who loved to read (and write in some cases) and really, you couldn’t have paid them to be negative about books. The excitement about the romance genre was palpable, and I just loved being in that environment. Even given the cons above, my overall experience was very, very positive–and it was entirely the incredibly happy, positive readers who attended who made the conference not only work, but work really, really well.

As an example: The booksigning had a weird setup where you had to buy the books before you could see who the authors signing were.  The authors didn’t have the books they were signing at their tables. Anyone who’s done a number of signings knows this is not conducive to a great experience. But despite all that, readers were adamant about finding authors and books they didn’t know–I sold more books than I expected, to people I barely knew, and it was all because the people attending were excited about romance. What could have been a complete bust was actually one of the most fun signings I’ve ever attended as an author, one that had a lot of energy and almost none of that weird, “I’m afraid to make eye contact” thing that sometimes goes on.

Some Random Thoughts

The events I participated in that seemed the most successful were a “Shock the Queen!” event that combined “Mother, May I?” with etiquette questions, and a historical scavenger hunt that required people to seek items from authors of historical romance. Those two events were highly interactive, packed, and focused on the reader’s experience. I enjoyed participating in them, and the readers there seemed to be having a good time. There were lots of other such events–I don’t mention them because I didn’t go–but I heard lots and lots of positive feedback from many about the other events.

They were, however, run by authors–as were almost all of the events at RomCon. I am a reader as well as an author, but I tried to put myself in the readers’ shoes. I wish there had been more strictly reader-run events. There was a lounge for just authors; I don’t think there was a lounge for readers only, and I wish there had been, so they would have a place where they could escape and talk about books without being worried that an author (or an author’s friend) would overhear.

The events that were about celebrating readers and romance seemed to be the most successful. The ones where I heard mixed reviews were ones where the subject matter was more author-focused. This is supposed to be a reader conference, so I hope that in upcoming years they tweak that balance so that there are more solely reader-run events as well as the author celebration of reader events.

In other words, it was a really good start. I hope RomCon continues, and my final verdict is while it was not perfect, the attendees made the conference, and I think that with experience, it will only get better.

And if I met you at RomCon, you made my conference. Really.

So my cover for my September release is finally up on Amazon!

So? What do you think? Red is good. I like red.

I am leaving the house as I type this, and my internet access will be crap, so my apologies if I don’t end up responding quickly.

At this moment, I am starting work on my fourth book–when my second is not even on the shelves yet. I am very, very excited about this book.

This is the problem. I am always excited about books when the idea is new and fresh in my head. I am so excited, that often I fail to realize when the idea is utterly stupid. Which, sometimes, it is. I have to write part of it, and then my editor and/or my agent will read it, and they will tell me if I am insane.

(Technically, nobody needs to tell me that–I am perfectly aware of it already.) This idea I have is either utter genius or complete lunacy, and I rely on my editor and agent to tell me which one it is. (And sometimes, they say Really Important Things like, “This is not a bad idea, but don’t you think it would be a good idea to make your hero more proactive?” And I listen, because while I am a lunatic, my editor and agent are both geniuses.)

This is rather unfair to new authors, because they do not usually get editors and agents to tell them if their ideas are crazy.

Every year, however, around this time, Brenda Novak holds an auction to benefit diabetes research. My uncle died of complications arising out of diabetes, and this cause means a great deal to me. Which is why I am pleased to point out that if you fear that you are a lunatic, there are some very awesome auctions you can bid on.

Namely, you can get Kristin Nelson, my genius agent, to read the first 30 pages of your manuscript. She won’t actually say “that’s completely crazy” because she is not only a genius, but she is nice–but she is honest, thorough, and very, very smart. I can’t imagine the value of that.

You can also get my genius editor, Margo Lipschultz, to read the first three chapters of your manuscript and then talk to you on the phone about it.

While I’m here, I should mention that back in the days when I was unpublished, I bid on a critique from a published author that I really respected. Her name–which all of you assuredly know–is Anna Campbell. She’s a relatively new name in historical fiction, but a rising star who writes dark, deeply emotional historical romance. She is also a truly amazing critiquer. She read the first bit of a book that has never seen the light of publishing, and gave me some advice that really just nailed what was wrong with my writing. It was the best two-hundred-something bucks I ever spent on anything in publishing, and it is a crying shame that the exact same auction today is only at $145 today. That is a complete steal, people!

Along those lines, Ann Aguirre/Ava Gray (who is also half of Ellen Connor) is offering a critique of 100 pages of a book. I think Ann/Ava/0.5Ellen is one of the best up-and-coming authors there is, and she is relentless in her pursuit of excellence.

Finally, I have a critique up for auction on 50 pages. I know. You are thinking, “But Courtney. You have already admitted you are crazy. Why on earth would I want you to critique my manuscript?” To which I say–it often helps to have crazy people read your manuscripts! They see things sane people miss.

There are lots and lots of other great things up for auction–more editors and more agents and more authors offering critiques, signed books, advance copies…. I am bidding on some of them.

I am off, busy writing.

But I thought you might want to see the Guardian’s rules for writing, gleaned from many other writers. Notice that they contradict each other. I like Neil Gaiman’s advice.

Not included: Patrick Rothfuss has some of the best advice to writers that I have seen. Practical. True. And sadly, not currently being practiced by yours truly.

I didn’t post this yesterday. I think I was still in a bit of shell-shock. But by now, the news has percolated just about everywhere: “This Wicked Gift,” my debut novella, the very first work that I have ever published, ever, anywhere–is a finalist in the Romance Writers of America’s RITA® Contest. For those of you who don’t know, the RITA contest is the Big Enchilada of romance contests. In part this is because it’s run by the national organization of RWA, and so many of the romance books that are published are submitted. In part, it’s because the readers are authors and judges. In part, it’s because there are always upsets and surprises–names left off that nobody expected, and sometimes names added that nobody has heard about. It’s a big deal for authors, at least, to know that other authors read their works and enjoyed them.

There have been a lot of fantastic novellas written over the last year, and if I didn’t post about this yesterday, it was in part because I didn’t believe it until I saw my name up in lights on their website. In fact, after I hung up the phone, I promptly convinced myself that I must have dreamed and manufactured the whole thing. I’m still in a state of disbelief.

But there’s one part of this I do believe in, quite frankly, and I’m very proud to say one other thing. As you may know, from time to time my website features books written by other authors, and designates certain days as Buy a Book Not Written by Courtney day. In 2009, I featured five other authors (and a few more books than authors). One of those five authors did not enter the RITA contest. Of the other four, three of them were nominated for RITAs: Sherry Thomas, Victoria Dahl, and Tessa Dare.

If you go even further and look at some of the mini-book-recommendations I’ve featured on my blog, you’ll find that I picked even more of the finalists: Julia Quinn’s What Happened in London, Simone Elkeles’s Perfect Chemistry (picked, I should add with a gloat, well before it had become a runaway hit with hundreds of thousands of copies in print), and Kelly Gay’s double-nominated The Better Part of Darkness. Can I pick ‘em or what?

But looking at the RITA list made me realize how remiss I had been in talking about the books I’ve enjoyed, ranging from Elizabeth Hoyt/Julia Harper’s wonderful books, to Carolyn Jewel’s excellent historicals (and paranormals). Betina Krahn’s Make Me Yours made me a huge fan of hers, and after I read it I searched out her entire backlist, to the extent I could find it. Laura Lee Guhrke’s With Seduction in Mind is one of my favorite books of hers, and one where she took a huge number of risks with her characters–in some cases, the kinds of risks that give authors a little pit of Oh-God-please-don’t-let-that-happen-to-me, and had them pay off in the end. I can’t believe I’ve never mentioned Ally Carter’s Spy Series, which has finally gotten a RITA nod. (And it’s an utter travesty that I haven’t mentioned that her HEIST SOCIETY was one of the best books I’ve read so far in 2010–smart and plotty and yet still focused on characters. It kept me on the edge of my seat!) And I’m only stopping now because once I start babbling about books I can go on and on and on!

Suffice it to say that in the next day, I think I’m going to have a celebration where I give away a select handful of awesome RITA-nominated books. And because there are never enough slots for all the deserving books that I would have liked to see final, I’m also going to be giving away a handful of books that I wish had been on the list, too–not to imply that anyone else should have lost their slot, but I sure wished yesterday that there had been more slots.

This is the second of a three part series, entitled “What every romance author should know about copyright law online.”

Yesterday I explained that, under traditional doctrines, an author whose book has been put on the internet, unauthorized, and then downloaded, may have suits against three distinct types of entities: the user who uploads it and the user who downloads it (end users); the server who hosts the material, and the intervening network hubs that pass traffic.

Traditional doctrines, however, have been supplanted by immunity provisions found in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, codified at 17 USC § 512. (The DMCA also implemented several sections that criminalize, among other things, the removal of DRM; those portions of the DMCA have nothing to do with our discussion today.)

So let’s go through our three types of groups, one by one, and see what the DMCA says.

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