Before I begin this post, I want to say Happy Birthday and heapings and heapings of love to my ‘little guy‘ who turned 7 today. This momentous event means lunch (his favourite, McDonald’s) with him at his school and cupcakes for everyone! Real party is on the weekend.
Now, back to book talk. I started contemplating this question last night. Which publishing house do you purchase most of your historical romances from? I must admit, when I first started reading single title, I didn’t really notice or care. I definitely knew Harlequin because of their categories (which I consumed at unparalleled speeds), but other than them, for the longest while I only cared about the author. Now, that isn’t to say that I don’t anymore. Oh, I very much do. However, I have noticed over the years that my go-to, instant-buy author list is getting much shorter. So short in fact, I probably only have 3 or 4 on that list right now.
Some of the authors I absolutely adored, have switched publishing houses, or have taken to writing in a different sub-genre, or have gone mainstream. Some of the authors who have switched publishing houses and still continue to write historical romances… their books are just not the same anymore. Sure it could be the passing of time that has made the difference (their writing has changed), but it also could be a new publishing house, a new editor, a new set of expectations. Of course I can never know which of those things it really is, I just know something is very different about their stories and my connection to them.
That’s what got me thinking as I stared at the mountain of books in my closet last night. Do I have an implicit trust in a particular publishing house to deliver quality, engaging stories by great authors? Or is my sole trust with that particular author to do so no matter which publishing house they are with? Once upon a time I would have said, my sole loyalty is to the author. My view has shifted somewhat since then as I think it falls somewhere in between, although more weight still goes to the author. For new authors, I would say more weight goes to the publishing house. I see trends in certain publishing houses and always take note. If I read books of 2 (two) new authors from Publishing House A and I don’t particularly like them, more often than not I won’t pick up another new author from them unless the book comes highly recommended by someone I trust and knows my tastes.
Lately, I’ve been hearing from readers, friends, fellow authors, Publishing House A only publishes these kinds of stories, or Publishing House B only likes authors with this particular kind of voice. Yesterday, one of my writer friends said that a reader told her how refreshing her book was as she was used to reading a certain type of books from Publishing House C. As a writer, I find all of this information very interesting and eye-opening. Are readers taking note of this too?
What about you? If you were to peruse your bookshelf, which publisher dominates your historical romance collection? And if there is a particular publisher that you believe is doing a great job at selecting and putting out quality, engaging stories from good authors, let me know who that is for you.
[poll id=”17″]
When I look at my TBR shelves, I seen mostly Avon books with Kensington running a close 2nd. Grand Central is picking up too. I have to say that I really don’t pay that much attention to publisher. In the case of my favorite authors (and several have changed publishers recently), I would follow them anywhere. I can’t say that I notice much change in their writing but I’m sure there are subtle differences that I haven’t picked up on. Change is good for the soul and in this case, I think it would go a long way to help keep the author’s work fresh and inviting.
The only thing that bothers me when my favorites change publishers is having to leave a potentially unfinished series behind. Don’t recall right now the name of the author and/or the series but after the original 3 book contract was done, there was at least one left-over character that really cried out for their own story. The author said she always had plans to write more but couldn’t continue on with that storyline/series because of the publisher change.
I have more Kensington Books, with Avon being very close behind and Dorchester also. I will read maybe a new author and say hmmm.. I wonder who their publisher is and then take a second look. Normally I don’t buy by publisher, but author. With the use of internet and such, I think we can educate ourselves so much better on different publishers and their new authors and I think that is a great help!
Happy Birthday to your little man! I have a little man turning 7 tomorrow 🙂 2003 was a good year!
I buy more Avon historical romances (at least on my shelf there are more at the moment) I don’t really pay attention to who the publisher is that often. It is more about the author than the publisher.
Avon for me. My must buys (yes, I’m predictable) are Julia Quinn and Lisa Kleypas.
It use to be Avon and Silhouette (now Harlequin), but many of my favorite authors have switched publishers. I still read a lot of Avon releases, but other publishing houses are sprinkled in, too. I always thought Avon was the gold standard in romance publishing, but that’s no longer necessarily true. When a favorite authors switches publishers, I often wonder if there’s a problem at the old publishing house that readers don’t know about or if the new one just offered a more lucrative deal.
The truth is, I’d have to look at the bookshelf to know who the publisher’s are. I follow authors really, and never paid much attention to who published the books. Other than the authors I follow, I tend to pick up other books based on recommendations from sites like here, or other author pages/blogs…if they recommend their own publisher, then I probably read one publisher more than another without realizing it 🙂
P.S. Just read Sinful Surrender this week, great debut, very much enjoyed it!
I notice that I have alot of Kensington books on my shelf. Does that mean I go by the publisher? No not necessarily. I tend to follow my favorite authors and when they switch publishers I often wonder if its because of a problem. I have a favorite romance suspense author and she is no longer continuing her series right now because the publisher wants her to go in a different direction. I’m thinking why should she? Her books are great! So she announce she is shopping around for a new publisher. So when authors switch up I think sometimes it can be a good thing.
Happy Birthday to your little guy. I rarely pay attention to publisher buy new from Harlequin I hate unfinished series as well and will stop reading an author sometimes because of it. Unfair, I know but that seems to be how it works with me. $ books for a series is generally enough for me with a few exceptions. I seem to follow authors not publishers. I just wish authors would update their web sites a month before a book is due!
Most of my bookshelves are Avon/Harpercollins and Harlequinn. My mind tends to associate good books with those brands since i the most luck with them.
I had to check but I definitely have more books published by Avon. Some Hachette and Pocket books but a big majority of Avon.
I definitely have an affinity for books published by Avon. However, I’m finding less and less that I’m sticking with Avon. I’m also reading books from Kensington, Grand Central, and Pocket. As an aspiring author, my dream publishing house has always been Avon, but if that didn’t happen today, I wouldn’t be disappointed. There are so many publishers offering quality work these days. I would be just as proud to be published by Pocket or St. Martin’s or Kensington as Avon.
It used to be that my shelf was more Avon than any other, but over the years it seems as if Pocket is dominating more these days.
The only time I get frustrated with a publishing house is when they start to dictate to the author…say they want them to switch from historicals to contemporary, and nothing gets me fuming if a series is left unfinished, due to the publisher.
In the end, I must say I will choose my favorite author over the publishing house they are in.
I seem to have mostly Avon, but I thing that Berkley runs and easy second
Had to stop back and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to your little guy! Hope he and mom had a fun day!
Happy Birthday to your son! I hope you had a great time.
I only buy books because of the author. I only buy new authors on recommendation from romance blogs. Only if theres a good buzz about it. But looking at my books, they seem to be mostly Berkley and Avon. I don’t know if that’s because of the quality of the publishers or the authors.
I think I have a mix of books, and I definitely go by author when I decide what to buy. That said, I just read my first book by a particular author from a publisher I’ve never bought from before, and I thought it was crap, so I’d be reluctant to pick up another one from that publisher.
Happy birthday to your little Guy I hope he has a fantastic day
Looking at my read books most of them are Avon but the TBR pile has a big mixture of publishers I don’t really care who publishes the book I buy books because of the author or the story line and of course from recomendations.
Have Fun
Helen
It has to be Avon/HarperCollins
I mostly by avon historical romance books.
Happy Birthday to your son.
Most of mine are from Avon, too.
I checked my shelves and the publishers are pretty evenly represented. Of course, I’m way behind on my reading and have lost of books that came out years ago. I do have quite a few Harlequin Historicals. The make good quick reads when I don’t have time to get serious about a longer book. I have heard authors commenting about having to change their style or include certain things in their stories because their publishers want it. Even their story arcs and series are being changed or canceled. It really isn’t right that an author has so little control over their work.