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("RT History" Continued)
As the 21st century arrived so did a new era of the romance
novel. The genre began to broaden its scope and beloved authors
with loyal followings began writing the same compelling stories
but going beyond the romance formula. Many branched out into the
Mystery, Science Fiction and Fantasy genres while others entered
into the mainstream fiction market to reach a much broader
readership. As more and more authors ventured into these new
worlds of fiction Romantic Times followed the trend and began
expanding its content reviewing books in genres other than
romance and by early 2002 the name of the magazine was changed to
Romantic Times BOOKclub (with the emphasis on BOOKclub) to
reflect the changing content where romance was only a section of
the magazine and other genres were equally represented.
Today Romantic Times BOOKreviews Magazine reviews every romance
published and rates it but it also reviews over 100 books in
various other genres. It profiles authors, alerts readers and
booksellers to forthcoming titles and provides news and gossip
columns, along with columns designed to guide aspiring authors in
the honing of their craft. RT, as it is affectionately known,
provided the first forum for the fledgling industry and brought
together all of its colorful elements and participants - readers,
authors, aspiring writers, publishers, editors, agents,
booksellers, distributors, illustrators, models, book salesmen,
book clubs, audiobook producers and movie makers - to celebrate
books.
"Booklovers are cut from the same cookie-cutter." Ms. Falk
realized early on [that] "I can talk with any woman, of any age
or background, in any state or country, and if we share a
fascination for romantic novels we are instantly kindred
spirits."
Kathryn is known for dropping postcards in the mail to
subscribers in a particular postal zone saying she will be coming
to town, and perfect strangers meet her at trains and planes,
holding a copy of her magazine like a secret code of their
affiliation. She says it's always the same immediate comaraderie
as they all go off, chatting away, to the nearest bookstore.
"I've stayed in every imaginable style of house, from trailer
camps to castles, and it's always the same warm feelings. We all
love book sleuthing and bookstore hopping. Finding a new title or
author to recommend is the fun," she says enthusiastically. "Yes,
we're addicted to reading, it's our hobby, just like watching
sports is a man's hobby. We like to exercise our imaginations."
Sometime in the '90s, "when the Marquess of Bristol needed to pay
off his wine bill," Kathryn says (only half in jest), she
purchased the manorial rights to the West Suffolk village of
Barrow, near Cambridge University in a beautiful, pastoral part
of England. She visits regularly and has a deep sense of
responsibility to preservation of the historical Norman church
there. Nor is she above exercising some of her other privileges,
including the right to market and fayre.
What started in June of 1981 with a 24-page tabloid newspaper has
burgeoned into a 144-page, glossy, four-color magazine dubbed
"the bible of romantic fiction" by USA Today. It is sold to
readers, booksellers, writers, agents, editors and publishers in
nearly every country in the world, and has spawned a world-wide
appreciation for American novels, both in translated forms and in
the original American version, due to "cyber-English."
"I know so many foreign readers and editors and each one will
tell you that no one writes fiction, especially romantic fiction,
like the American writers," relates Ms. Falk. "That's why I'm
happy to see more foreign bookstores and readers buying American
versions. Many of the translations cannot hold a candle [to the
originals] due to translation difficulties."
To a recent fan of romantic novels, the industry as it existed in
the early years would be unrecognizable. In those days, there was
no communication between writers and their readers, little
interaction between authors and publishers (who routinely
accepted manuscripts and distributed them without much promotion)
and certainly no forum to bring everyone face-to-face. No one
knowing each other? That's hard to believe once you've attended a
Romantic Times Booklovers'
Convention, where good-heartedness and joie de vivre is part
of the atmosphere.
"There's a wonderful writer's joke," says Ms. Falk. "A novelist
gets a call that there's been a tragedy at her house. She runs
home and the fire chief is waiting. He says, 'Your agent was
here. He torched your house, stole your wife and drove off in
your car.' The writer says, mystified, 'My agent came to my
house?'"
Another change has been the rise of stars within the genre. Once
upon a time, celebrity romance authors were few and far between
and the industry was not "name-driven." Publishers then aimed to
sell books as a series, or by the cover alone; but readers soon
knew who their favorites were and began showing preferences.
Eventually, the popular authors' names got larger than the book
titles. The idea of sub-genres was also initially regularly
dismissed by most publishing houses (time travels and paranormals
were as scarce in the early '80s as they are prolific now). Today
the genre is richly sub-categorized (as you can see here on the
RT BOOKreviews website).
In the old days, it was unheard of for young hard-bodies to
aspire to land jobs as cover models, let alone to win pageants.
Today a favorite remark of men around the world is something to
the effect of: "I want to be on a romance book cover so I can go
to bed with all the women in the world and my girlfriend won't
get jealous!"
The evolution of Romantic Times has helped shape the romance
industry as we know it today. Founded by a booklover, it is
always growing and broadening its base, infused by one simple but
revolutionary philosophy: listen to the readers and give them
what they want!
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