Agent in the Middle

Ravenous Romance Press Release

2008-09-05T11:03:00.002-05:00

OK. Here it is - the announcement about the new epublisher.

We are buying an incredible amount of fiction - and some nonfiction in the form of memoir - and an amazing number of short stories - one a day for both novels and stories. So there's plenty of room for writers to break in, and for established writers to try their hand at something they thought they might like to write.

We've already bought a number of books by non-erotica writers who had a "trunk novel" of erotica, meaning they had no idea where to send it and had written it for their own pleasure.

We've bought a ton of fiction from previously unpublished authors.

And there are a handful of authors we've groomed, who we think are really going to break out, but time will tell.

The other thing that's really exciting is that we're buying an amazing amount of cross genre material. This is such fertile ground.

I think the daily short story, with its combination of a small advance and a huge royalty, might prove to be the best market for erotic short stories out there, but, again, time will tell.

Of course, I am still agenting for my existing clients, whether they be erotica writers or true crime ones. It is amazing what you can get done in a 16 hour day! But I am loving every minute of it.

We've worked out a terrific system so there's no possible conflict of interest. Jenny Rappaport and Marsha Philitas, my two agent colleagues here at L. Perkins Agency, will be handling the day-to-day agent work with Ravenous, but I'll post more on that next week when all the details are worked out.

Of course, we're buying books from other agents too. We've already done a deal with the Harvey Klinger Agency for one of our launch books.

And we're finding gold in the unsoliciteds.

Finally, we just learned that ebook sales for the month of June (the most recent month for statistics) increased by 87% since the same period last year, so even though printed books will never disappear, digital publishing is undeniably the wave of the future. And we are ready to ride that wave...hop on board!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dalyn A. Miller
Dalyn Miller Public Relations
617-504-6869
Dalyn@DalynMillerPR.com

Literary Partners Group, Inc. Forms to Launch RAVENOUS ROMANCE™

Erotic romance publisher to provide high-quality, affordable content online

[Boston, MA, September 2, 2008] – Hollan Publishing, Inc. principals Holly Schmidt and Allan Penn have joined forces with literary agent Lori Perkins to form Literary Partners Group, Inc., which has announced the launch of Ravenous Romance™, an online publishing company. Ravenous Romance™ will publish daily novel-length erotic romances, as well as lunchtime “Hot Fling™” short stories in e-book and downloadable MP3 format. The company will offer content online at www.RavenousRomance.com beginning December 1, 2008.

Recognizing the shrinking margins and increasing obsolescence of print publishing in today’s market, LPG has leveraged their combined expertise and experience in the growing erotica and romance categories, and is taking them to the rapidly-expanding digital market. E-books and audiobooks are two of the strongest growth areas in publishing, as readers have begun to embrace the convenience of downloading material to smart phones, iPods, PDAs, personal computers, and various new-to-market electronic readers such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

Ravenous Romance™ will offer erotic romance – stories with strong plots and character development, but with steamy sex scenes and explicit descriptions of sexual encounters. The stories will feature strong, passionate heroines and plots that express a broad range of fantasies. Ravenous Romance™ will be a destination site for women, with erotica that celebrates female sexuality, and strong Web 2.0 community-building features.

“We’re not the first in this arena, but we have a competitive advantage due to our unique experience and our ability to price and market our product aggressively, without the channel conflict that characterizes the large trade publishers’ forays into e-books,” says publisher and co-founder Holly Schmidt, who also points out that none of their competitors offer both audiobooks and e-books, nor do they offer new material with the frequency that Ravenous Romance™ will. “We will succeed by producing exceptionally high-quality erotic fiction by award-winning writers and their protégées, and offering it to our readers at an extremely competitive price point. In today’s market, consumers want quality content at an affordable price, with a visually-appealing and user-friendly retail interface. That is what Ravenous Romance™ will deliver.”

Romance is the most popular genre in modern literature, generating $1.37 billion in net sales annually and accounting for 26.4% of all books sold. Demographically, 56% of romance readers are under age 44, and 74% have college degrees. Overall, these women are computer-literate and comfortable with new technologies. They are also voracious consumers, having read an average of nine romance novels each in 2006. Digital content offers a way for women to keep their interest in erotic romance discreet, portable, and affordable. Schmidt points out that e-publishing is also an eco-friendly alternative to the environmentally damaging nature of traditional mass market publishing. With thousands of new romance titles printed, warehoused, and shipped each year in the U.S. alone, the environmental impact is significant.

Visit Ravenous Romance™ online at www.RavenousRomance.com, where you can download a free Hot Fling™ and register to win an iPod Touch.

For more information or to request an interview with Literary Partners Group, please contact Dalyn A. Miller at 617-504-6869 or via email at Dalyn@DalynMillerPR.com.

About Literary Partners Group, Inc.

Holly Schmidt is a publishing executive with 15 years of experience in editorial, marketing, and sales. She joined forces with award-winning photographer Allan Penn to launch book packager Hollan Publishing, Inc. in 2006. Hollan creates innovative, visual non-fiction books, including those in the love and relationships category. Lori Perkins is an agent with over 20 years of experience selling erotica and an impressive stable of authors.

Readers and Anthologies

2008-08-22T12:07:00.002-05:00

I bought an Ereader.

You guys were incredibly helpful, but I ultimately decided I didn't want another computer (no matter how small), so this is just for subway, metro north and plane rides.

And I love it so far.

(By the way, I bought it at the Woodbury Commons outlet center, where I was able to use a $50 coupon, so I feel real good about that too!)

Submissions for SEX AND SHOES will close September 2nd.

MEN IN SHORTS will close September 15th.

Also looking for Xmas, Hanuka, and New Years' erotica stories (not in the same anthology).

EReader vs. the Kindle

2008-08-14T20:44:00.002-05:00

I spent an hour and a half in the doctor's office waiting for my son to get seven stitches removed (broken glass) and read a few issues of what I call house porn (Good Housekeeping, Better Homes, etc.), but really wished I had one of the manuscripts I should have been reading with me. I didn't want to print something out, wasting paper and time, or drag my laptop around. I decided then and there, I'd get one of these reading devices.

So I went to the mall and asked to see the Sony eReader, because all the editors I know have one. I certainly like its light weight and page-like readability, but I was under the impression that you could track changes on a Word document, and I was told that's just not doable.

Is there any light-weight device I can do this on?

What's been your reading experience of the Kindle vs. the eReader, if any?

I really want to get one of these reading devices a.s.a.p., but it's really for manuscripts, not published books.

MEN IN SHORTS too!

2008-08-10T23:49:00.004-05:00

I took the red-eye in from San Francisco and went straight to work Tuesday morning. I really have been working since I got in (and it's after mid-night on Sunday).

I have never had such an intense summer, but that may be because two of my clients are starting an epublishing venture and they are buying so much of my clients' work. It's an erotic romance ebook publisher that's buying short stories and novels, but the novels have to be 50,000 words (that's 200 pages), so I'm editing back a ton of these titles to fit.

The erotic anthology SEX AND SHOES has been promised there.

I'm also going to be editing MEN IN SHORTS for them. That's an anthology about hot guys in shorts from the cute mailman to the basketball player to the bike messenger and that surfer dude. I am hoping you get the gist.

But go visit their website - ravenousromance.com. There's a free short story to download and a chance to win an iPod Touch.

My Best Friend's Wedding

2008-08-01T03:16:00.003-05:00

My best friend got married tonight. She and her man have been together for more than two decades, but it took this long to tie the knot!

She looked beautiful, in a pale silver strapless wedding dress - bridesmaids wore black and white. My dress was so nice, it's the first one of these that I will definitely use again.

But it was such a joy to dance at her wedding (although my feet were killing me).

I've been the friend of the mother of the bride for the most recent weddings I've gone to, so it was so nice to be the best friend of the bride.

And how's this for romantic?

I'm leaving in a few hours for my first Romance Writers of America conference.

Twenty years as an agent, and I've never been to one before.

But I'm selling so much erotica and romantic erotica, that this is the place to be this year.

Back from NeCon

2008-07-24T08:21:00.002-05:00

NeCon is 28 years old, and I've gone at least 10 times. I love it. It's this intimate horror convention on the campus of Roger Williams College in Rhode Island where 200 horror writers, editors and agents gather to tell each other tall tales of ghosts and publishing (and the ghosts of publishing, because the horror market has died and risen from the dead a number of times in the two decades I've been selling in it).

I am always inspired here, and I love to see my old friends return (some with new friends - three relationships have been established at this convention between fellow NeCon participants. Forget Match.com).

This time I took my 15 year-old son who suprprised me at the end of this school year by informing me that the reason he wasn't studying as hard as he should for his finals (he did fine) was because he had been gripped by the writing demon. When I sarcastically asked him (he says I am the most sarcastic mom he knows, and I wouldn't have it any other way) how many pages he'd written (expecting 10 or 20 as the answer), he blew me away when he said "I'm about half way through. About 220."

It was then that I told him he was coming to Necon with me so he could torture other writers with the plot for his dark fantasy novel.

And he did.

But he also loved it. Chris Golden brought his 14 year-old son Nicholas and there were 4 young ladies between 14 and 20 whose dad was a book-seller, so my son was in his glory. He even did a stand-up comedy routine about horror and fantasy in front of 200 adults. I was very proud of him.

I'm afraid I have passed the torch, although he does insist that he will continue to build robots for fun and profit.

SEX AND SHOES WINS

2008-07-10T00:14:00.002-05:00

I got such a great response to this, that I have decided to edit a SEX AND SHOES anthology, so send me stories at lperkinsagency@yahoo.com.

I'm looking for stories between 1000 and 5000 words. Be creative. These stories can be from either a man or women's perspective, gay, straight, etc.

I cannot wait to see what comes in?

P.S. Wouldn't it be great if I could pay the authors in shoes?

Some Titles I'd Like to See

2008-07-01T10:56:00.004-05:00

So, obviously I've been spending a lot of time reviewing the erotic romance market lately. I'm going to RWA this year, for the first time, because I am selling so much in this market.

However, there are a few books I just don't seem to see in my slush, so here are some ideas I would really like to see developed (and if you do, send them to lperkinsagency@yahoo.com and not the blog comments).

AN OFFICER AND A LADY
Turn the old Richard Gere classic on its head. Make her the officer and him the factory worker and still make it work.

I want a chick lit stripper novel, damn it! I get so many stripper stories by men, or heart-wrenching stripper memoirs, but what I really want is Bridget Jones as a stripper. (By the way, there's a short story anthology I'm working on, so any stripper short stories and/or strippers who write fiction, please contact me).

SEX AND SHOES
I don't know what the story is about, but I would definitely pick up this book based on the title alone.

A TALE OF TWO PRINCESSES
I recently went to a lesbian wedding and they both wore wedding dresses. My best friend is getting married for the second time in her mid-50's and I have been hunting down the ultimate wedding dress. This made me think about how much fun it would be to be two women buying and undressing each other in these elaborate clothes.

And tell me what novels/stories you'd like to see?

Publisher's Weekly's Front Page article on the New E-rotica

2008-06-27T21:05:00.000-05:00

The New E- in Erotica
Digital delivery helps boost the readership and sales.
by Sarah J. Robbins -- Publishers Weekly, 6/23/2008
Sex sells—and always has—so why, in the realm of erotica, has sex sold surprisingly more during the past few years? Is it the ho-hum economy? The war on terror? It's the Internet, stupid: empowering readers, writers and publishers of erotica, and offering instant access to a lively, diverse and ever-growing community. Only in the past few years have major romance publishers taken notice.

The consumers were far ahead of me,” says Kate Duffy, editorial director at Kensington, which launched its erotica imprint, Aphrodisia, in 2006. “For years I thought of e-publishing as something people did because they couldn't publish with us. But then we started seeing all of these stellar talents that had first been e-published. It wasn't that the books were in any way inferior—that was my prejudice. It was a different way of accessing consumers, and it would behoove me to investigate.”

One e-publisher who offers a variety of romance says the racier the story, the better the sales: “It can be difficult to describe the line between regular romance and erotica—it's often a tone or a feeling, or something specific that makes it more raw,” says Rhonda Peters, editor-in-chief of the Wild Rose Press, which publishes 14 different genres of romance in all lengths and in both electronic and print formats. “But whenever we have a new erotica release, it's 10 times more successful than anything else we put out.”

“The be-all and end-all” of online erotica, says Peters, is Ellora's Cave. EC publisher Raelene Gorlinsky says the company saw a 20% growth in e-book sales from 2006 to 2007, the year Kensington and other romance publishing heavyweights like Avon and Harlequin started new erotica imprints. Says Gorlinsky: “Once it was in front of their faces on bookstore shelves, people said, oh! I'll try this.” A large percentage of the original readership is still buying online—for immediacy, convenience and anonymity.

Pocket Books began publishing print versions of Ellora's Cave short stories and novellas in 2006, beginning with founder Jaid Black's Deep, Dark and Dangerous. The company recently optioned 39 more Ellora's Cave e-books, which are now being released in a series of anthologies that will appear, one a month, through February 2009. August brings a cheating-themed A Hot Man Is the Best Revenge; On Santa's Naughty List appears in time for the holidays. “We've had such fun creating these themed sets,” says Pocket editor Micki Nuding. Arguably the most anticipated Pocket/Ellora's Cave collaboration to date is this October's release of their first hardcover anthology, Forbidden Fantasies—featuring some of Ellora's Cave's premiere writers, including Black and Cheyenne McCray. “Unlike our other anthologies, this work is brand-new and has never been released before,” says Nuding.

Harlequin's erotic imprint, Spice, published its first print anthology, What Happens in Vegas, in May. Last August the company launched Spice Briefs—short erotic stories (5,000 to 15,000 words) published as e-book originals. “We knew there was a strong appetite for erotic online reads,” says editor Susan Swinwood. “We've been publishing two to three titles per month and have been thrilled at the response we've had from readers.” Spice will publish an anthology of the best briefs, Size Matters, in March '09.

“The bonus of having three or more short stories in a collection is that there's less time with setup and more time with the fun, juicy parts,” says May Chen, an editor at Avon's Red imprint. In December, Red will offer the Rachel Kramer Bussel–edited Bedding Down anthology; a month later comes A Red Hot Valentine's Day.

Readers also enjoy the variety within a given collection, says Alexandria Kendall, founder and owner of Red Sage Publishing, which has since 1995 published anthologies that combine a variety of genres, including historical, paranormal and contemporary. “They'll often pick up one of our titles because they're interested in one kind of story,” says Kendall, “but they'll end up discovering something entirely new.” Secrets Volume 23: Secret Desires and Secrets Volume 24: Surrender to Seduction will both be available in July.

Some publishers have suggested that the era of the anthology has passed, and that big name authors are what spur book sales. Popular romance writers have crossed into erotica with a good deal of success. Eric Jerome Dickey, a 12-time New York Times bestselling author, released his first erotic novel, Pleasure, in April. It's become a national bestseller. “I think his readers know to expect the unexpected when they come to his books,” says Julie Doughty, Dickey's editor at Dutton. “He turned his focus a little, exploring what happens when a woman leaves a relationship and asking, how realistic is it for one person to fulfill your every need?”

Something for Everybody

Women want erotica—but what, specifically, are they looking for? Every type of encounter within the realm of imagination. This October, Trafalgar Square will bring to the U.S. a diverse collection from Neon, an imprint of the British publisher, Orion. Part of its publicity campaign will include a giveaway with Playgirl magazine. “There's a smart packaging to these titles,” says publishing director Brooke O'Donnell. “They're hip and play to a readership really well.” Trafalgar Square will bring another British export stateside in November: the contemporary Intimate Company series (which includes The Confessional Diaries of a Girl Abroad and The Confessional Diaries of a Girl in the Country).

Some women gravitate toward sexy versions of real life; more and more seem to want something outside their realm of experience. “It's been very obvious to us and our authors that as erotic romance has become popular, readers have gotten acclimated to it,” says Gorlinsky at Ellora's Cave. “And they've become jaded. Things that were shocking five years ago—anal sex, ménage à trois—have now become vanilla.” Since, as Gorlinsky says, the human body can only do so many things, many writers have experimented with different types of adventure and fantasy—or a combination of the two. And readers have responded.

According to Ballantine senior editor Melody Guy, one reason for the category's success is the authors' promotional savvy. At Ballantine's One World imprint, the biggest erotica author, says Guy, is “far and away Noire,” whose 2005 debut novel, G-Spot, continues to backlist strongly. Coming next month is a story collection, From the Streets to the Sheets: Urban Erotic Quickies¸which will be followed next spring by Hittin' the Bricks, based on a screenplay by Noire. Noire's popularity, says Guy, “stems from the fact that she combined two genres in a way that no one else had—street lit and erotica—and appealed to fans of both genres.” She also, Guy adds, has a team of fans across the country that helps to promote her books, and she has a significant online presence.

One emerging category is erotic suspense—a technique St. Martin's bestselling writer Lora Leigh uses in her navy SEAL series to create heart-pounding moments, says SMP senior editor Monique Patterson. Last month, the publisher released her Wicked Pleasure; the second book in her Bound Hearts series, the third entry, Only Pleasure, will be out in January.

A writer's unique sensibility—and the way he or she creates the world in which her characters live—is key to a book's vitality, says Berkley senior editor Kate Seaver. “Each author brings a fresh take to erotica,” she says, “and that's what's so important—a really great story and compelling characters.” She cites new Berkley author Robin Schone's portrayal of Victorian London as an example; the USA Today bestselling author will headline the historical erotica anthology, Private Places, in August.

New American Library's executive editor, Claire Zion, says high-concept historicals, such as Colette Gale's Master: An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo (the follow-up to last year's Unmasqued: An Erotic Novel of the Phantom of the Opera), have been very successful. “It's erotic and frank and a great retelling,” says Zion. In March 2009, NAL will release Madame Bliss: The Erotic Adventures of a Lady by Charlotte Lovejoy. “It's written in the tradition of Tom Jones and Fanny Hill, about a young innocent released in London,” says Zion. “It's a wink and a nod to the literary tradition of the 18th century that readers up and down can enjoy.”

Kensington editorial director Audrey LaFehr calls historical erotic romance “such a fun genre, because it's still so new we can try just about anything.” One Aphrodisia author, Kate Pearce, writes Regency England erotica, including March's Simply Sexual and the upcoming November title, Simply Sinful. But the imprint's front-runner remains paranormal erotica. “An alternate world really allows the writer the freedom to break all the rules and social taboos they face when writing a contemporary novel set in the 'real' world,” says LaFehr. “The sex tends to be hotter, wilder and much more inventive in paranormals, and the fans seem to be ready and willing to follow the writers' imaginations wherever they want to take them.” Kate Douglas's Wolf Tales novels, which have repeatedly gone back to press, are one Kensington success story. Her latest, Wolf Tales VI, will be published next month.

Bantam Dell senior editor Shauna Summers sees no sign of paranormal erotica slowing down. “The question for a while was, when is paranormal going to implode?” she says. “Now we know it's here to stay. We see it as a niche that has a very solid, loyal readership and is growing from there.” Coming in August as a Delta trade paperback is Seduced by the Storm, the latest installment of Sydney Croft's ACRO (Agency for Covert Rare Operatives) series—which includes sexy, superhuman encounters. Croft also contributes to Bantam's Hot Nights, Dark Desires anthology, released last month.

These genres are so hot, in fact, that there's some serious cross-pollination going on—especially among historicals and paranormal. Kensington author Elizabeth Amber's Lords of Satyr trilogy (including the final installment, Lyon: The Lords of Satyr, due in August) combines these subgenres—and has gone back to press three times. Another steamy example of this unlikely marriage can be seen in Avon's take on traditional fairy tales. In October, they'll release Ravish: The Awakening of Sleeping Beauty by Cathy Yardley.

The newest frontier in erotica, say some publishers, is male/male erotic romance aimed at heterosexual female readers. “Ménage à trois, specifically two men and a women, first became hot a couple of years ago,” says Ellora's Cave's Gorlinsky. “Now people are very fascinated by it.” The e-publisher has a variety of male-male story lines online; a few have been included in recent print anthologies.

“Interest in gay erotica among heterosexual female readers was once a bit of an industry secret,” says Kara Wuest, assistant to the publishers at Cleis Press. “Perhaps now it's becoming more generally known that many women read gay erotica because they enjoy the eroticization of the masculine form, regardless of orientation.” Their newest gay titles have themes featuring masculine archetypes—Truckers, Cowboys, Country Boys, Hot Cops and Hard Hats—and each, says Wuest, sells better than the last. Next up? July's Backdraft: Firemen Erotica.

“Gay men are feeling freer to say they like romance—a fully fleshed-out story with great characters and plots, and there's a huge number of straight women who want to read gay erotic romance,” says Laura Baumbach, writer and founder of ManLoveRomance Press. “Why not? They like men. One man is good, two are exciting together.” She started the company two years ago, frustrated that, as a writer, she lacked publication options through more traditional channels. Today, her titles rank third, fifth, and eighth among Barnes & Noble's gay erotica bestsellers. “It may take years before New York publishers catch on to the trend, but people are asking for it, so we dove in,” she says. “After all, you can write the best book in the world, but there's no point if readers don't know it's out there.”

Travel Guides Redux
Philadelphia-born travel writer Heather Stimmler-Hall began curating tours of Paris in the late '90s, a few years after moving there as a student. “People who came on the tours often took me aside and asked where they could find sex clubs,” says Stimmler-Hall. “It's quite funny—each one always thought they were the first one to ask.” She did her research but found few guides to serve the sophisticated woman traveler, empowered by films like Heading South and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and bedazzled by Stimmler-Hall's new home: “Paris has always inspired women as a place of sexual liberation,” she says. That's why she'll publish Naughty Paris: A Lady's Guide to the Sexy City, through Austin, Texas–based Greenleaf Book Group in September. (The book will be available on naughtyparisguide.com in mid-July.) “This guide shows women exactly how to choose their own erotic adventure,” says Stimmler-Hall, “from erotic cabarets and art galleries to where to find the right lingerie and shoes in order to get the Frenchwoman attitude.” Up next? Berlin and London. “People don't want to stick erotica in one corner of their lives,” she says. “Whether it's in cooking or travel, they want a little sexiness throughout.”

On the other end of the spectrum is a male travelogue of sorts: Joe Diamond, currently a writer for Playboy TV's new travel series, Sexy Things to Do Before You Die has penned Around the World in 80 Lays, which Skyhorse Publishing will release in October. The book takes readers to brothels and other sex destinations around the globe, including Brazil, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and the Czech Republic. “For a publisher in any category, the goal is to publish something different from what's out there. This book also happens to have one of the greatest titles of all time and a Larry Flynt blurb,” says Bill Wolfstahl, associate publisher and director of sales and marketing. Some people have raised eyebrows, concerned about the exploitation in the sex business, says Wolfstahl, who notes that there's nothing in the book about sex with underage girls. “It's not our job to tell what's right or wrong,” he says. “This is his story, and our feeling is that a little controversy can be very good for a book.”

A One-Woman Name Brand
Zane, a New York Times bestselling author of erotica, writes her sex scenes last. “People who think readers want to pick up a book and see sex sex sex miss the mark,” she says. “Even with the anthologies I edit, I select a story based on whether or not I really care about the people having sex.”

And as this singularly named master of invention expands her brand, she's consistently finding new ways to get the word out about her characters. This summer she's launched a viral marketing campaign for her own Atria imprint, Strebor Books, while serving as executive producer for a television adaptation of one of her bestsellers: Zane's Sex Chronicles is scheduled to premiere on Cinemax in September. (Atria will publish the companion short-story collection in August.)

Zane's editor at Atria, Malaika Adero, says the African-American female voice was long absent in American erotic literature. “Zane's filled that gap,” says Adero, who began working with the writer about six years ago. “It's the opposite of flowery—it's edgy and unvarnished. And hers are real characters and real settings that everyone can identify with, from riders on the subway to residents of suburbia.”

Zane's Sex Chronicles features the intertwining stories of five urban women and the men in their lives; when filming wraps, Zane will switch sets—she's next slated to film a telenovela series for BET, based on her novel Afterburn. The shooting of Addicted, her feature film for Lion's Gate, will begin in the fall.

Still Zane insists she hasn't lost traction with the printed word, whether she's pushing the boundaries of her own craft (last month Strebor released the lesbian erotica anthology Purple Panties, and Atria published Honey Flava, a Zane-edited anthology featuring a mix of African-American and Asian characters) or championing other writers. Strebor will release 32 books this year, among them Street Judge by former Detroit district court judge Greg Mathis, and Diary of a 12-inch Brotha by Dante Feenix.

And while she most often deals with fiction, Zane is equally attentive to the real-world needs of her readers, maintaining a blog on her Web site that addresses their questions and concerns. Some of these letters were collected in the writer's first nonfiction title, Dear G-Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love, which was released last summer. “Women today don't wait for a man to define them—they define themselves,” says Zane. “If you read my blog, it really shows—as they read these fantasies, they start to become more liberated in their own lives.”

Taschen Gets Cocky
In September 2006, Taschen bravely thrust forth The Big Book of Breasts—a 420-page ode to what its author, Dian Hanson, calls “America's premiere body part of interest.” Indeed. The $50 art book has sold 65,000 copies to date and has been bought by an equal number of men and women. How could they top it?

“People of course started asking what body part is next?” says Hanson, a 25-year veteran of men's magazine publishing and Taschen's sexy-book editor. “I said, look, there's only one thing that's going to approach that level of fascination.” Now, after much anticipation, The Big Penis Book will finally debut on June 26.

It features more than 400 photos of phenomenal phalluses—including some of the legendary John Holmes—most of them taken in the U.S. in the 1970s. Hanson spent more than a year researching the book, seeking out and interviewing the photographers and, when necessary, their archivists. “That I was very happy to do—especially to find the photographers people thought were dead,” she says. “Now they're all communicating with one another.”

The fruit of her labors is already selling out in Europe; Taschen's Beverly Hills and Hollywood stores get daily requests for the title. “The amazing thing to me is that no one else has thought of this,” says Hanson. So what, then, is next? Why, legs, of course. Oglers, look out: the book is slated to hit shelves in early '09.

What's the Difference between Erotic Romance and Erotica?

2008-06-23T13:29:00.003-05:00

So, I've been selling in this erotic marketplace for the past three years and someone just asked me why one thing worked and another didn't. I blithely said, well that's because the largest number of readers are in Erotic Romance, and they asked me to explain the difference.

I thought everyone knew - but realized that there are some writers who aren't even familiar with the term "romantica," so here goes.

I believe that Romantica is a term coined by the Ellora's Cave gals for their brand of erotic romance novels. They feature the happy monogamous endings and wish fulfillment of your average romance novel, but with many explicit sex scenes. The main character is always a woman, even though the story can be told from alternating points of view.

Erotica is sexually charged fiction, but it's payoff is not the traditional romance novel happy ending - anything goes with anyone.

So my interrogator asked me to give some examples of good Erotic Romance (because she wasn't taken with anything she'd read in this category so far) and I wanted to say, "all my client's work," but many of the books I've sold haven't been published yet.

The only one that is is PARIS HANGOVER by Kristen Lobe.

So can you guys recommend some really good Romantica, and Erotic Romance?

Good erotica too?

More BEA and Return from Vacation

2008-06-13T06:36:00.005-05:00

BEA in LA is almost as grueling as when it's in New York, because the convention center is so big and I have so many clients in the city. That means I walk miles up and down the trade show aisles during the day, and run around for breakfast lunch, dinner and drinks with clients in between. I am so wiped out by 7:00, that I never have energy to attend all the parties, which as a veteran agent I am finally invited to (when I was young and had the energy, they didn't know who I was).

A lot of people who have never been to this trade show think I sell books while there. That's the last thing agents do. We go to check on our big books and how they are being presented to the book selling industry (who the convention is aimed at), to see an overview of the industry in a snapshot, and to get inspired. We also get free books and goodies (although I have learned to only take what I can comfortably carry, because I can always ask an editor to send something to me).

My meetings are never with editors I can see in New York. They're with non-New York book editors, my foreign agents who come in for the show, and film contacts.

I also got to show my two agents-in-training the business ropes. It's really exciting to see the book world from fresh eyes, even in a recession.

Since BEA was in LA, I stayed over my brother's house, but since I worked all day, I hardly saw the family. So I finished business Saturday and we planned to go to Universal with the kids, but it caught fire and we went to Knotts Berry Farm instead. Monday I hit the beach and Tuesday I went to Hollywood, which I remembered as reminding me of New York. However, New York (or 42nd Street) has been cleaned up and Disney-ized, and Hollywood still reminds me of the 42nd Street of the 70's. which I am glad to be rid of. We also drove around Laurel Canyon, gawking at the beautiful homes of the rich and famous (too many of which were for sale).

We drove to San Francisco the next day in our rented white Mustang convertible with a black top. It's a great drive of beaches and small California towns, and roadside farmland of everything we love to eat - avocados, artichokes, lettuce, cherries, strawberries and garlic. Passed through Steinbeck country.

In Northern California, we visited Napa, SF itself and did the 17 Mile drive. Also caught a dual concert with Chicago and Doobie Brothers, which was wonderful. We ate like royalty and slept well, and hung out with friends. It was delightful, and made me realise that I am always working.

I got back midnight on Monday and have been working double time since I got in. I am convinced that when I leave home for long periods of time, my cats have frat cat parties and shed every hair they have ever grown. There's so much cleaning and shopping and sorting to do when I get back.

But it was worth it.

BEA

2008-05-29T00:20:00.002-05:00

It's the annual book trade show. This year it's in LA, which is nice for me because I get to visit my brother's family - but difficult because there's so much to do and so much traffic, and no one lives in downtown LA, where the convention is held.

Today I took pitches as part of the Writer's Digest Writer's Conference. Although I have more than enough to read, I am always curious to see what is out there. And there was one author who looked up the kind of books I have sold, and came specifically to see me. I know I will take on that book, so it's already a win-win situation for me.

My two other agents were also to attend, but one of them got so sick we insisted she stay home. So our intern, who is just learning the ropes, took pitches in her stead. I think it was an inspiring learning experience for him.

We also sat in on the agent panel at the conference, where I learned that the best-seller YOU'LL NEVER NANNY IN THIS TOWN AGAIN was a self-published book that sold in auction to a major house.

I also learned that the crossover market between young adult and adult fiction (which would be characters in college) was recently tried by a number of publishers and failed dismally. So the publishing belief that college students have no time to read books besides those in their assigned reading list appears to be true.

The trade show officially opens on Friday, where I will walk the floor and try to share the trends I see (which will be based on books that were bought 6 months to a year ago, before the recession).

Some Answers for Beginners

2008-05-19T10:18:00.002-05:00

Writer's Digest asked me to answer some questions for an upcoming article, but I missed the deadline (it was less than a week and I just had too much to do for you), so I'm posting my answers here. But do look for the articles when they run (and let me know when they do).

Article No. 1: SELF-PUBLISHING

Q. Do you review queries where a writer wants you to take on their self-published book?
If yes, what are you hoping/looking for?
If not, you can be candid about why not.

We get many queries for self-published books. I have taken on a few. I have one I'm selling right now, but they are never easy to sell.

Q. Is there a "magic number" - number of sales you need to see before you will consider the book?

No. I've had books with fabulous quotes or sales of over 10,000 that haven't resold. It's depends on the market.

Q. Have you ever taken on a self-pub book before? Were you successful in finding a traditional publisher? How did that work?

I have a self-published cook book that I am selling now. I read about it in an article about self-published titles. I have not sold it yet.

I have found it really hard to place self-published bocks, both fiction and nonfiction, but I know other agents who thrive on this practice.

Article No. 2: CHAPTER ONE PET PEEVES

Dennis Lehane once said that the sign of an amateur writer is that they start a story with the cliché of the protagonist waking up from a dream, then staring out the window, then staring in the mirror, then finally leaving the apartment on page 4.

Q. What do you hate seeing in chapter 1? What are your pet peeves

This can be anything:
It can be something the protagonist does
It can be some aspect of writing or storytelling
It can be that the chapter is too long, too short or too unfocused
Prologues?
Anything....

What will immediately turn you off in chapter 1?

It's not so much the first chapter, as book length. More than half the queries are rejected because the books are too long or too short.

A publishable novel today needs to be about 80,000 words - 120,000 if it is epic fantasy. Anything longer, and/or shorter is unsellable in today's market. When I write to new authors and inform them of this they argue with me citing Jonathan Livingston Segal or some tome by Stephen King, both of which were products of the 70's. Today's market cannot support first novels that are less than 300 pages (who wants to pay $24.95 for a 180 page book?) or much over 350 pages.

Of course, with the faster paced movies we are watching, books really have to start off with a rush. Dean Koontz wrote in the classic, but out-of-print Writer's Digest book, How to Write Best-Selling fiction, that your novel should open with your main character in terrible trouble and then be in even more grave danger within 5 pages. This always works.

So your novel has to grab me by the first page, which is why we can reject you on one page.

Buy Stamps

2008-05-10T09:19:00.003-05:00

Run out to your local Post Office and buy a bunch of Forever stamps for your queries. It goes up a penny on Monday.

But always buy Forever stamps, because of rising fuel costs.

The 42 cent stamp is still a bargin.

My Reading Schedule

2008-05-08T21:33:00.003-05:00

I read 800 pages last week (stayed up until 1:00 a.m. two week nights) and I still have more than 15 partials and full ms. that I should have read weeks ago.

There is just no way to really catch up with my reading.

When I was a younger agent with fewer clients, I used to take Friday as a reading day, and I would read for about 4 or 5 hours, but I haven't been able to do that for the past 5 years. All my reading is done nights and weekends.

I had hoped that by getting more agents and interns, I would be able to catch up, but what that means is that I now have even more to read, because they need my input on a lot of their projects.

Life also always gets in the way. We have a death in the extended family early this week, and I am out of the office all day Friday. Saturday night I have a family function and Sunday is Mother's Day, so I know I'll probably fall even further behind this week.

And Book Expo America looms at the end of the month, taking me out of the office for two weeks (I'm visiting San Francisco after, but seeing clients and publishers too).

Introducing Spencer Ellsworth...

2008-04-26T16:28:00.002-05:00

I'm the new agent, and I'm invigorated by some of the amazing books I've rescued from the slushpile. But there's a lot of things I'd like to see that I'm not. Some specifics:

Mormon historical novels. This is a rich and deep vein that hasn't been explored. I'd love to see a well-written book about Zina Huntington, a secret wife to Joseph Smith and faith healer, in the vein of Orson Scott Card's Saints.

Crusades historical or fantastorical novels in the vein of George R.R. Martin, Jacqueline Carey or Bernard Cornwell. Give me blood-drenched battles, intricate politics, good old steamy sex and bring the religious frontiers of the medieval Mediterranean into it.

Victorian, Edwardian, or Regency fantasy. Given the massive success of this genre lately, I'm surprised at how little we see it in the slushpile. If you have the next Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, send me an email.

These are all genres where I'd accept the breaking of the traditional "word ceiling" for new authors, usually set around 100-120,000 words. Historical and fantasy novels need to be long and absorbing, and some new authors can pull it off. For shorter works, I'm always in the mood for a good memoir, particularly if it can deal with painful events through a good sense of humor. I also love Chuck Palahniuk and Dave Eggers, so if you can do literary satire, drop a note.

You can reach Spencer at sellsworthlperkinsagency@yahoo.com

No Returns: No Advances and Author Minimum Wage

2008-04-21T20:42:00.005-05:00

HarperCollins recently announced a new publishing imprint that will stop paying for returns.

Reserves against returns is one of the dirty little secrets of the publishing industry. It's a practice that was established after the Depression to entice book stores (once mom and pop stores, now chains) to order more books in the hopes that something would fly out of their stores. The way it is set up is that the stores can order as many copies as they want and then return what they don't sell for credit. No other industry I know of does this, so it's actually an out-dated practice.

The way this actually works is that in order to make sure the publisher doesn't overpay the author on books that might be returned (God forbid!!), 25 to 33% of an authors' book sales are not paid to the author until 2 years after the book is published just in case the books are returned.

So what this means is that in order to fund the publishing industry, authors lend a quarter of their book sales income to the industry until so much time has gone buy that there is no excuse not to pay them.

The reserve against returns policy, and returns in general, is something authors (and agents who make their living from a percentage of author's sales) should be over-joyed to see disappear from the industry.

But the model that HarperColliins has put forth is just moving the burden of author funding from the back end to the front end.

Let me explain.

They want to do away with author advances, which means that authors should write a completed manuscript and then wait up to a year and a half after signing a contract to see any money (because it takes at least 9 months to go from manuscript to published book, and sometimes, another 9 months to do an edit/rewrite before that).

This too is wrong.

I believe that even the never-before-published author should receive at least minimum wage for a completed novel. As a former journalist who can write to fit and under deadline, if I were to write 300 pages nights and some weekends, it would take me at least 300 hours (probably over a year). At minimum wage ($6.55), that would be $1955. Add in another 10 hours for editing and round up $2500 (so you can pay a 15% commission to your hard-working agent), and the absolute minimum a publisher should pay an author in 2008 is $2500.

I also believe that authors with a track record should be compensated accordingly.

And, for what it's worth, as long as I am posting my publishing beliefs here, I believe that authors should be paid within 30 days of sales, not every six months, since we now live in a universe where publishers can track book sales down to the minute.

What We Love to Read

2008-04-09T07:41:00.000-05:00

Bible is America's favorite book: poll Tue Apr 8, 3:07 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing -- the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey.

It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut.

"While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book," Harris said in a statement announcing the results.

Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and women selected Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll.

But the second choice for 18- to 31-year-olds was J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, while 32- to 43-year-olds named Stephen King's "The Stand" and Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons."

Picks for second-favorite book also varied according to region. "Gone With the Wind" was number two in the southern and midwestern United States while easterners chose "The Lord of the Rings" and westerners opted for "The Stand."

Whites and Hispanics picked "Gone With the Wind" as their second-favorite book after the Bible, while African-Americans preferred "Angels and Demons."

"Finally, they may not agree on candidates, but one thing that brings together partisans is their favorite book. For Republicans, Democrats and Independents, the top two books are the same -- the Bible followed by "Gone With the Wind."

Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code," "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger rounded out the top 10 favorites.

Published Writers who Can't Get Agents

2008-03-30T21:52:00.002-05:00

I gave up my Saturday to do a presentation on Publishing in the 21st Century (and how things have changed since 9/11), followed by a panel on why some multi-published authors can't get agents for the Novelists Inc. Writers' Conference. Since this is a writers' group that is open to writers who have published a minimum of two novels, it's a very different kind of writers' group. The median number of books published by members was 16!

Many members have had multi-book deals in genre work (or even work for hire) and suddenly find it has become harder and harder to get published and/or they had a brief moment of success in the 80's or 90's and now no one will touch them, since the numbers on their last book were so bad.

So the panel I was on was on how to fight this, and it was fascinating.

Lois Winston from Ashley Grayson's agency actually had a whole list of reasons why this might be the case, which was so thorough that I told her to submit them as an article for Writer's Digest Magazine.

But, of course, the biggest reason is that the market has changed irrevocably since 2001, and today, every book has to be perfect (not too long or short and well crafted) and come with a marketing plan. Which means you have to have quotes, a website and a list of bookstores where you can do readings. Every book that sells to a major New York publisher, whether it is a mass market, trade paperback or hardcover must be able to guarantee 25,000 copies sold, or it will not be published by a major publisher.

And that is why so many authors find themselves without agents and publishers.

I know a lot of agents who will not take on an author who brings in less than $25,000 a year. Many of my authors were those discarded authors. I've since been able to bring them up to that level, but it's a long process of at least 3 to 5 years. So, as an agent, I have to be in love with the author's work in order to make that commitment.

And not every agent knows how to build an author. They only know how to sell what's given to them. I brainstorm with my authors on a regular basis. We hatch a plan, and if it doesn't work, we come up with another one. For me, this is the creative process that I bring to my work, but not every agent wants to do this work, or work this hard.

Office Closed for Good Friday

2008-03-20T21:53:00.005-05:00

I've been taking Good Friday off since I was a junior agent working for another agency and was asked to help move to a new office on that day. I told my boss that not only would I not help with the move, that I was taking the day off. She turned to the other commissioned salesperson agent on her staff, who had worked for her for 7 years, and said, "what's with this Good Friday? I never heard of it." My co-worker said, "as a matter of fact, I've been meaning to tell you I'm taking it off too." From then on, we went to church services at noon at Marble Collegiate Church together every Good Friday for years, until she moved her office to Toms River.

As I've shared with you, my mom is a liberal Protestant minister and I grew up listening to (and knowing) Norman Vincent Peale, who held the pulpit at Marble. So when I take the time to reflect on Good Friday, it's also a time to reconnect with my roots and all those services with my parents.

I do the big Easter dinner as well, with lamb and ham. I shop, I clean, I cook and serve and clean up. And then I'm supposed to be in my office bright and early on Monday. The Europeans have it right, with Easter Monday off, although I know that fewer and fewer Americans do anything to celebrate the holiday.

I believe that my liberal Christian up-bringing is one of the reasons I am so drawn to horror.

After my mother retired, she asked me why I had become an agent of horror fiction and I said, "because it's the most religious form of fiction there is." She smiled and said, "good answer."

It's amazing that so many religious holidays fall on March 21st this year. See the yahoo article for the complete story. Fascinating. There is certainly an end-of-the world fantasy novel someone could come up with based on this rare occurrence! http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080321/wl_time/goodfridayhappypurimeidetc;_ylt=Au9HCsBycnm09TZERd3dadUDW7oF

I wish all of you who celebrate something on this day a joyful holiday and a swift advent of some real spring weather.

My Graphic Novel Junior Agent

2008-03-11T19:23:00.002-05:00

Someone recently wrote in and asked who handles thrillers here? And the answer is all of us and none of us.

I'm not particularly looking for thrillers, but I like death and women in jeopardy stories, so a smart pathologist, forensics expert, serial killer profiler etc. unraveling nefarious deeds would be my cup of tea.

Jenny is a little more likely to go for the cop/CIA/military/soldier turned writer, but, again, that's not particularly what she's looking for.

Spencer likes historical fiction, so books like the Da Vinci Code would be his thing. However, what he's really looking for is sci-fi, narrative nonfiction and historical fiction, so he too is not really looking for thrillers.

Jenny has a blog where you can see all the things she is looking for (litsoup.blogspot.com), if you haven't been there already.

I've kind of kept Spencer Ellsworth in hiding, because I don't want him to be deluged with submissions. He was our intern for a year, and was promoted to junior agent about six months ago, but he is getting his Masters and is a new dad, and is only taking on a handful of fabulous clients.

But he's ready to go public and asked me to ask for graphic novels. He is a comic book maven and loves the format and story telling of the graphic novel. So if you know anyone working in this new medium, email me with the header "Graphic Novel Jr. agent" and I will make sure Spencer gets your query.

Making Space

2008-02-27T07:41:00.005-05:00

I finally bought some new furniture (Ikea does not last forever - 15 years seems to be the max). Of course, that means getting rid of the old, which means sorting through stuff.

It turns out that the furniture I bought is a little bigger than what I had, so I had to make room, which means throwing stuff out.

I had three desks in the office/den area where I work, so I decided to get rid of one and consolidate. I got rid of the huge copier from the 90's and replaced it with a compact one (that is also a fax and a printer - the 90's copier cost $4000; this one $100 - amazing!!!) and moved the second desk into my office. But I still had to get rid of more stuff to do that.

I have spent the better part of the last week sorting and throwing out, and I am amazed at what I held on to.

I had thought I would be able to keep up my reading while doing this, but I was wrong. I was just physically exhausted by the end of the night. I have also learned that sorting and parting ways with stuff (even if it's old books I will never read again and fax machines I don't need) is stressful.

So I had 7 partials and manuscripts that I had hoped to read over the President's Day weekend, and I only managed to read 2 and a half (I did finish the third, but now I have to look at it again for an edit - one step forward, two steps back).

And I have two lectures this weekend.

Meanwhile, the erotica submissions were many and quite wonderful. I read through all of them and passed them on to my very excited intern.

If you don't hear from us in a week or so, it means that my spam filter got your email and decided to erase it (there were one or two submissions that I think got winked), so please resubmit.

My Erotica Intern

2008-02-16T17:50:00.003-05:00

Please note that the title of this post IS NOT my erotic intern, so this is not a piece of erotica for your reading pleasure.

This is a post about my new intern who will be speciaizing in erotica and how you can help us corner this market (just joking - sort of).

As most of you know, after years of selling sci-fi, horror and fantasy, as well as books about popular culture, I ended up selling a lot of nonfiction by and about the adult entertainment industry (it's pop culture, Mom!). But I wondered about the fiction? I had been working with Ceclia Tan (selling both her erotica and nonfiction baseball writing) and we ended up doing an anthology together. We received over 200 susbmissions for the first anthology, and a lot of them were really good.

It made me wonder why I had never heard of some of these authors, because their writing was excellent. It turned out they were all erotica writers who had been making a living by writing hundreds of short stories a year, and they had excellent writing chops. Better than most of the sci-fi, horror or fantasy writers I knew, because once they've published a few stories, they move on to the much more lucrative long form.

But for many years there was no long-form for erotica. Or, just the same old same old, which was erotica by horny guys about a) sleeping with much younger girls or b) getting spanked (these seemed to be the British imports, which I affectionally refer to as The Spank Me, Baby titles).

About two years ago, the erotica market for women (which is erotic stories featuring women as the central characters, usually written by women) took publishing by surprise from both the African American reading community (Zane) and the electronic publishing readership (Ellora's Cave). Suddenly, mainstream women's publishing wanted in on this obvious market, and started publishing anthologies and novels that would have once made some of these prissy women's fiction editors blush.

So, quite suddenly, there is a real market, for well-written erotica novels featuring women in sexual situations.

About a year and a half ago, I started looking for these writers and I took on about ten of them hoping that my then-assistant would want to take them on under my supervision. When I offered her the gig, she told me she didn't want to be an agent, explaning "you work too hard." So I was stuck with ten new clients in addition to all my existing clients.

I've sold most of those writers' work. But I have many other writers (from anthologies and the wonderful world of blogs) who I would like to work with, if I could only find the time.

Enter my Erotica Intern. She found me from both my blog and my reputation and wants to do nothing more than work with erotica writers.

So, if you have a memoir and/or a novel, or you have a short story track record and wonder if you can be developed into the long form, send me an email titled "erotica intern" and I'll pass it on to her. Or if you know someone who should be writing their memoir and/or erotic novel.

Further Adventures of 1099's

2008-02-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

So I finally mailed out all the 1099's last week, thinking they should be mistake-free.

And the 1099's from the publishers started rolling in to me. One of them caught my attention because it was in a brown envelope - I was secretly hoping it was a surprise check for my author - but when I opened it, not only did they have the wrong mailing address, but the amount they had paid me was also twice what I had sent to my author. I knew this because I had been working on the 1099's so long and hard that I could recite the amounts by heart.

I checked my deposits and checks written to make sure I didn't make a mistake, but, no, there was only one check to this author in the amount I had written down.

I called the company first thing in the morning and told them that I thought there was a mistake. They called me back and told me they had sent two checks, gave me the check numbers and dates, and I frantically went through four months of bank statements, but there was no second deposit and no second check to the author. I asked them to make sure both checks were deposited in my bank account.

I had an early lunch and an afternoon appointment, so I was out of the office all day. When I got back, there was no message.

I got a phone call in the morning saying they would overnight me the second check and change the 1099. It turned out that Fed Ex never delivered one and never reported it undelivered or returned it to sender.

I am so thankful that I was on top of this, or my author would have been out some money, although I do wish he had been more like all my other authors and emailed asking, "where's my check." I would have caught it sooner. So, the moral of this story is DO email your agent when you believe a check is due.

1099's, Superbowl and Super Tuesday

2008-02-06T07:39:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy two weeks, which is why I haven't posted.

I'm sure very few of you were aware that last week was the time when agents mail out their authors' 1099's (the W-2's of non-employee compensation). This is always more work than I anticipate.

Years ago we used to have to buy forms with built-in carbons and type them all, but now everything is computerized and saved from the year before, which does make it much easier. Except that the agent still has to remember who moved, changed their name or had a mistake in last year's form that needs to be changed this year.

And, of course, there are always one or two writers who haven't given me their Social Security Number or Federal I.D. number (for a business), and wait until the last minute to return my frantic emails and phone calls about this discrepancy.

But they are all done and in the mail now and I have a month to hear if there are any mistakes (from typos to under and/or over-reporting) and then they go off to the government.

Needless to say this is not one of my favorite tasks, and even though I have an accountant who does most of the work, I am so used to doing it myself (and know how to) that I always find mistakes before they go out.

I was also just overwhlemed by the Superbowl, although I am not a big football fan. The Yankees take so much out of me during the season, that I feel I need a break after October (and I put all that extra time into reading your books). However, I am a New Yorker, and it was such a hard-earned win that I almost went to the ticker tape parade (and then thought better of it - I have lived in New York City my whole life and never been to Times Square on New Year's Eve, so I obviously don't like the winter crowd thing). I just put the TV on while I worked yesterday.

And it was Super Tuesday, a very weird phenomenon - to have so many states voting in a half-national primary. And to have so many Democratic voters so split. But it's also great to see so many young voters particpating in the process. It's going to be a very interesting Democratic convention.

Plus, in case any of you don't read the non-Britney gossip, Judith Regan settled her lawsuit with HarperCollins. She was given an undisclosed amount (probably the remainder of her contract) and a statement that said, in effect, she did not make the anti-semitic remarks that were the so-called reason for her firing.

People ask me what I think she'll do (because I had two books with her I am now considered an expert). But here's my two cents on that. I think she's perfect for Hollywood and will take her settlement and start a production company.