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("RT History" Continued)
Again and again, Ms. Falk drew from her experiences as romance's
leading advocate to address her readers' tastes and to envision
ways to grow with the changing times. One of the most important
developments was her organization of RT's 1,000-member Bookstores That Care, a worldwide network of independent romance bookstores
that are managed primarily by women who thoroughly love the
genre. These stores, of both new and used books, now include many
chain store managers and librarians, and have become a major
collective force, not only because they are hand-selling women's
fiction, but because they are the backbone of the network, often
acting as library and indispensable source for back titles.
By discovering Fabio nearly a decade ago and helping to catapult
him to his current international fame, Kathryn soon recognized
the entertainment value of romance cover men. What could be more
entertaining than for readers than to vote for their favorite
cover men and to have the victor win the right to pose for a
cover? RT began to feature existing cover models more prominently
in its pages, and eventually Kathryn created the wildly popular
Mr. Romance Cover Model Pageant. There are many, many men who
would love to be models for romance novel covers. Their
participation in the conventions and their their enthusiasm for
the genre add a new dimension for romance booklovers, who have
started fan clubs and made life-long friendships with the models.
Over the years, RT BOOKreviews magazine has consistently pioneered a
number of the industry features that readers today habitually
take for granted. Early on and pre internet, the magazine
encouraged mailing lists for authors by having them print their
addresses at the end of RT articles and at the end of their books
(if the publisher would allow it). This was a practice that
enabled the feedback many aspiring writers cite as a major source
of inspiration and motivation.
When her own reference books -
HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE AND GET IT PUBLISHED ,
ROMANCE READER'S HANDBOOK,
HOW TO WRITE HORROR,
HOW TO WRITE YOUNG ADULT ROMANCES and
HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE FOR THE NEW MARKET AND GET PUBLISHED -
became popular, Kathryn started a books-by-mail service,
specializing in wonderful research books and English erotica. To
help the aspiring writer, she also formed a manuscript evaluation
service, using New York editors and published authors as critique
specialists. Many published authors have evolved from this
service. In 1994, all roads led to China, where Kathryn
established her own imprint to sell American romances (something
she has also been doing in Western and Eastern Europe and
Taiwan).
Extremely rewarding are the Lady Barrow tours, which have taken
writers and readers to Scotland, England, Iceland, and soon to
even more foreign locales. Part of their uniqueness is visiting
the homes of celebrities. Past tours have included visits to Jude
Deveraux and the late Barbara Cartland in England, partying with
Anne Perry and Dorothy Dunnett in Scotland. Watching the
fireworks with the Writers' Union of Iceland is also high on
Kathryn's list. Her tours are known to leave noticeable holes on
bookstore shelves; the sign on the booklovers' buses reads: Women
and books first!
In Jan 2005 RT BOOK REVIEWS magazine reached yet another
milestone printing its 250th issue and in June 2005 it published
its first issue with 160 pages covering over 300 reviews in 10
different genres. Not bad for the 24 page tabloid for romance
readers that could--and did!
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