I'm terribly exhausted. The trip to DC was fast and easy. The trip back, not so. We sat on the tarmac for 2 hours before we took off on a 3 hour flight back and with a crying baby in the row behind me, I had a tough time concentrating...but that's not what I want to talk about.What I want to tell you is what an awesome time I had at Nationals! I'll recap the details next Monday when I am fully rested. I'm delighted to say that DC had a better vibe than San Francisco last year. As far as checking into the room and the on site restaurants--a total disappointment! I believe the hotel wasn't ready, or fully staffed, to handle a few thousand romance authors taking over for a week. I'm kinda seeing a trend with the past four conference hotels I've attended...however, the company I held made a big difference in my experience and I can only give a shot out to my online friends from Romance Divas.
From my trip to the Veteran WWII memorial to riding in a limo with my agency sisters to industry parties...there's plenty of dirt to give up...but as I mentioned, I'll be breaking all that down next Monday. For now, I will leave a bit of info regarding the erotic market for those who write in this genre. It's acquired from a compilation made by Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency, during the Passionate Ink party...Feel free to pass this link :)
Avon Red -- Should be Kensington Brava heat level
Bantam Dell -- No erotica
Berkley Heat -- Cindy Hwang would like to see more threesomes and more-somes, M/M, menages
NAL -- Paranormals with dark tones (Angela Knight flavor). Heat level should be Eclipse sensual like Lacy Alexander
Dorchester -- No erotic, but like hot romance like SJ Day, Jade Lee and wants to see fantasy
Grand Central -- Not sure about erotic
HQN -- Sexy title like Victoria Dahl. Sassy, sexual fearless. No anal, threesomes, or the female "c" word
Spice -- 12 books a year. Looking for paranormals with 100K
Kensington Aphrodisia -- 2 books a month. Single title anthology. Should be beyond Shifters and vamps. Concepts and series. The hotter the better and what can't be found in traditional romance
Kensington Brava -- Sensual. 3 titles a month: contemporary, historical and paranormal with one mass market reprint. Looking for single title author anthology. like Sylvia Day, Diane Whiteside, and Allison Kent
Pocket -- Not actively acquiring erotica. Trade market has cooled down. Really sexy, envelope pushing. Hetero characters. No threesomes, etc. More in line with Gena Showalter, Shayla Black, and Kresley Cole. Also looking for sweet contemporaries and Women's Fiction
St. Martin's Press -- Great fresh voices in all genres. No Sherilyn Kenyon (already have one). No erotic line because they have Lora Leigh, Opal Carew. M/M and single author anthology OK. Anything not illegal is okay.
Black Lace -- Officially closed.
