This article first appeared in the October 2005 edition of the New Jersey Romance Writers’ Heartline Herald.  

            Come on, ‘fess up.  You do it.  A fan/friend/third cousin on your mother’s side of the family just e-mailed to let you know that your latest book is up on Amazon even though it isn’t going to be released for another six months. And so it begins — the Amazon Addiction.
            You immediately rush to the site and search out your release only to find your novel hasn’t generated enough interest to earn a sales rank.  So what’s an author to do about her unloved child?
            For some, it becomes a quest much like the Holy Grail, checking Amazon daily in the hopes of finally seeing some movement.  Querying authors of similar books to see how sales compare.
            Berta Platas, author of Cinderella Lopez which is slated for release in March 2006 and hit the Amazon list a few months ago confesses, “. . . I’m not addicted to the numbers.  Really, I’m not.  So . . . I’m tracking our anthology. It’s doing decently. But is it decent enough?  So I put in the ISBN for somebody who’s really racing. . . Then I add ISBNs for friend’s books, since I have 25 slots I can fill. Every day I log on to see how my book is doing. . .  But I’m not addicted. I can quit anytime. Honest.”
            Do the numbers change so radically that such frequent checking accomplishes anything?
            Amazon updates its numbers on an hourly basis so you may see the sales rank change quite often.  But the numbers at Amazon can be deceptive for a number of reasons.  First, it is my understanding that the sales rank number does not reflect just actual sales, but also popularity of the item based on searches conducted by users as well as the number of books ordered in one sale.
            I decided to test my understanding.  Checking the sales rank on my two latest releases, DANGER CALLS and TEMPTATION CALLS, I found that the books sat at 359469 and 418471 respectively.  Would my single order drastically change the rank?  After placing an order for 5 copies of TEMPTATION CALLS, I watched the number rise to 78605 by the next day (and this was nearly two months before its release date).
            Hmm?  What would multiple orders do to the sales rank on a book? I wondered.  DARKNESS CALLS is sold out and so only used copies are available.  When I began this exercise, DARKNESS CALLS had a sales rank of 244261.  After ordering five books from 5 different vendors at Amazon Marketplace, the sales rank jumped to 12181 within the hour.
           Amazon numbers are, therefore, apparently ephemeral and affected by an assortment of factors.  Agent Caren Johnson of the Peter Rubie Literary Agency notes, “I never check the numbers. . . Instead I check sales reports and royalty statements.”  This opinion was echoed by Editor Stacy Boyd of Silhouette.  “I tend to get my sales info from the point of sales data collected by our company, as well as figures from Waldenbooks and other chains.”
            What is clear is that with hourly updates, an author lucky enough to appear on television or have a news article featuring them can rush to Amazon and determine whether or not that appearance/article has achieved an increase in their Amazon number.  Caren Johnson concurs.  “Amazon numbers are a great way to gauge public interest in your book, which is helpful, especially when you have a marketing campaign you’re starting or the like.  Then you can see what is most effective for driving sales to your book.”
            Can the Amazon sales ranks be extrapolated as an indication of the actual position of your book in the marketplace?
            In his July 2000 article in Time magazine, Richard Corliss noted that “(t)he Amazon sample can be misleading since the taste of its buyers doesn’t always match that of bookstore browsers.  Self-improvement texts do better . . . romance novels far worse.”
            Does that principle still apply?
            A recent check of the New York Times Bestsellers versus the Amazon Top Sellers revealed that not one romance had apparently made it into the Amazon Top 50. So how did romances fare on the NYT Bestseller list compared to the Amazon Sales rank?  See for yourself in the following table: 

           In addition, it is my understanding that for category novels, most sales occur through bookstores and direct sales and not through Amazon.  What about other paperback novels?  Estimates from various sources indicate that anywhere from 5% of 15% of sales are generated through Amazon.  Silhouette Editor Jessica Alvarez notes, “Amazon numbers represent only a part of our distribution and the final national result is much more important to us.  Still, it is interesting to see how books perform at different retailers and how the rankings can shift from place to place. “
           So what’s the moral of this story?  Whether or not your book has sold well is best determined by the sales data and royalty sheets provided by your publisher.  However, Amazon can gauge increased activity related to your book.
           Not to mention that it is such a rush when your Amazon Addiction lets you see that the sales rank on your novel has broken through to the top 1000.  How do I know?  I’m a recovering Amazon Addict!

Copyright 2005 Caridad Pineiro Scordato

This Article was first published in August 2006 in the New Jersey Romance Writers Heartline Herald:

Mystery.  Action.  Passion.  These are the integral elements of the romance subgenre titled Romantic Suspense.  In the 2005 Romance Writers of America Market survey, “Mystery, Action and Thriller” were plot elements that nearly 48% of readers indicated that they enjoyed, a testament to the enduring appeal of the Romantic Suspense subgenre. According to industry statistics gathered by RWA, nearly 29.6% of popular fiction sales were for Mystery/Detective/Suspense novels.

But just how many parts of each of these elements do you need in order for a novel to be considered Romantic Suspense and not just a mystery, thriller or romance?

A balance of romance and mystery is key to creating a Romantic Suspense because readers of this subgenre expect two key things:  1) that there is some mystery that will need to be solved; and 2) that the protagonists will eventually fall in love.  With today’s trends toward stronger, more independent heroines, expect that many Romantic Suspenses may also have a fair share of action as part of the mystery subplot.  In addition, with the growing popularity of paranormals, you may also find paranormal elements creeping into Romantic Suspense.  For example, my first vampire novel, DARKNESS CALLS, was crafted to be predominantly a Romantic Suspense with a secondary vampire subplot.

What kinds of novels fit the mold of Romantic Suspense?  Single titles such as  BREAKWATER by Carla Neggers, CLOSE-UP by Virginia Kantra, and COLD TRUTH by Mariah Stewart exemplify the subgenre.  Single title novels generally run from 85,000 to 100,000 words and with the longer length thanks to this word count, both the mystery and romance elements may include secondary characters and plots, but key to having a Romantic Suspense will be the coexistence of both romance and mystery in the storyline and the resolution that Romantic Suspense readers expect, namely, a happily-ever-after for a hero and heroine who have found love along the way to solving the mystery.

Romantic Suspense single titles are being sought by publishers like Avon, Berkley/Jove, Dorchester and Harlequin just to name a few although there are many others (check out http://www.karenafox.com/publishers.htm for addtional information).

Series such as Silhouette Bombshell, Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Intimate Moments typify Romantic Suspense category novels.

Silhouette Bombshell personifies the trend toward action-packed novels with larger-than-life kick butt heroines.  Think Alias, Lara Croft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all of which contained peril, mystery and of course, romance.  For Bombshell, keep in mind that the guidelines stress that the heroine’s savvy, sexiness and strength will help her get herself and others out of difficult situations and provide a thrill-ride for the reader.  The novels, however, “also contain an exciting romance subplot, and, in the end, the heroine always gets her man!”  The Bombshell word count is from 70,000 to 75,000.

So if Bombshell is one part mystery, two parts action and one part romance, how can we categorize Romantic Suspense lines such as Harlequin Intrigue and Silhouette Intimate Moments?

Silhouette Intimate Moments seems to have struggled with its identity in past years, but the rebranding that will begin in October and finish with the line being renamed Silhouette Romantic Suspense in February 2007 makes it clear what this line is all about – action, mystery and romance.  But are Silhouette Intimate Moments one part mystery and two parts romance?  The guidelines available at eharlequin.com make it clear that “(a) strong, compelling romance should dominate the book, but there must be a suspense plot. Silhouette Intimate Moments romances are fueled by the romance and not the suspense.”

The Capturing the Crown Series from Silhouette Intimate Moments is one example of a Romantic Suspense continuity series.  A continuity series is a set of novels written by several different authors, but with a story arc that spans all the novels.  This involves working with a detailed “bible” created by either the publisher or the authors.  The “bible” will detail the elements of each novel as well as the continuing story threads that each author must place in their novels in order to keep the story arc going from one novel to the next.

The Silhouette Intimate Moments/Romantic Suspense word count is from 60,000 to 65,000.

Harlequin Intrigue, on the other hand, clearly places its focus on having two parts peril to one part romance.  As noted in the guidelines at eharlequin.com, “(w)hether a murder mystery, psychological suspense or thriller, the love story must be inextricably bound to the mystery where all loose ends are tied up neatly…and shared dangers lead right to shared passions.”  Kathleen Long’s WHEN A STRANGER CALLS is one example of  the kind of Romantic Suspense in the Harlequin Intrigue line, which has a word count of 60,000 to 65,000.

So what is the perfect recipe for a Romantic Suspense?

Regardless of how many parts action, mystery or thriller you include in your recipe, there’s one element you can’t be without – romance.  It’s the spice providing the essential flavoring to all the other elements in the subgenre known as Romantic Suspense.

Copyright 2006 Caridad Pineiro Scordato