Writers' Week and Launch Party

So it's finally here - publication week for the 2nd edition of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. (OK - we'll just stick with the 12 Point Guide as the shortened form from now on)(or even 12PGTWR2)

The official publication day is tomorrow but I thought it was worth celebrating all week - and I have the Writers' Q&A to post as well so I thought we'd run this through the whole week.

So - for the Writers'Q&A - first of all I have a big appology to make. I know I have lost one of the questions.

Sorry, sorry, sorry - I've been through my emails and I just can't find it anywhere. I know I had a question from someone about characters running away with you! But I've been through my email box and I just can't find it anywhere.

But today is just an introduction so if that person is you - can you please resend your question and I promise I will answer it.

Also, any more new questions - send them to me here and please put Writers' Q&A in the subject line and then they should go into the right folder - unlike the missing one!

But first I want to tell you a little more about the 2nd edition of the 12 PGTWR.

Why did I want to write a second edition?

Well, first there's the obvious reason - the fact that the first editon sold out. That meant that no one could get a copy any more, unless they found one secondhand. Even Amazon doesn't have any used copies available.

Well - they do - if you want

a. A copy sent from Lebanon . I think that's Lebanon NY

b. A used copy for £60-82 - £60-82 !!!!

c. A 'like new' copy for £67 - 40

I think not!
And no way am I claiming that my book is worth 6 - nearly 7 times what it originally cost.

Then there was the fact that some of the information in the original edit0on needed updating - for example, there were the names of some lines - Mills and Boon 'Tender Romance' was back to being just Mills & Boon Romance. And Silhouette Romance had merged with that line to be Harlequin Romance.

Then there was the Modern Extra line which is now selling as Modern Heat . . . Nothng stays exactly the same in romance publishing for very long.

And that includes the focus of the different lines, there are changes in the guidelines and the things that editors are looking for in submissions.

So obviously it was time to plan a second edition.

But I also decided that if I was going to bring out a second edition, it was going to be an improved and expanded new edition as well as a revised one. I know a lot about writing romance but there are some things that only the authors who write for specific lines really know about.

And so I decided that the best way to make the book even more helpful would be to include advice from the horses' mouths so to speak. Only I didn't call it that - I called this new section From The Authors' Desks. I sent out questionnaires to lots of my wonderful friends who write romance for many different lines - and 21 of them answered.

So I'm thrilled to be able to say that the new edition is not only revised and updated, it also has this 40+ pages extra with advice and tips from 21 currently published authors. Authors like Michelle Reid, Anne McAllister, Sandra Marton in Presents, Liz Fielding, Natasha Oakley, in Romance, Trish Wylie and Julie Cohen in Modern Heat (Trish in Romance too!) - and Kate Hardy in Mod Heat and Medicals - along with Gill Sanderson and Margaret McDonagh. And in Historicals there's Nicola Cornick and Michelle Styles . . . and that's only as a taster. There's also Holly Jacobs from Harlequin Everlasting - er - Superromance (see there's another of those lines that came and went) and Yvonne Lindsay from Desire. Hopefully, whatever line you're aiming for you'll find something to help you there.

And it won't cost you £ 67-00 - I promise!

No, this new expanded edition will be exactly the same price as the first edition - that's £10.99

And over on Amazon.co.uk you can pre-order it for £7.25 - so that's a saving of one third off the price.

From tomorrow - the actual publication date - I will be holding a special launch party, with many of the authors who contributed to the From the Authors' Desks section joining me in the celebrations - and many of them are offering prizes too. So don't miss out on that.

And I'll be answering the questions in the Writers' Q&A as well. So I hope I'll see you here.

Oh -and as I've been asked for these details again - here's what you need if you want to order the 12 PGTWR 2

The details you'll need are:

12-Point Guide to Writing Romance(Studymates Writers Guides)

By Kate Walker
2Rev Ed edition Pub April 8th

RRP: £10.99

Publisher: Studymates Ltd

ISBN: 978-1842851319

In America you should be able to order it from Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters/Indigo - just tell them to order it through Transatlantic Publishers (http://www.transatlanticpub.com/)
Or get one of the bookmarks I've mentioned from Lee at AuthorSound and take it in to the shop.
Australian readers can order it through Dymocks and other bookshops.

Tomorrow the party starts

PS just heard from the publisher and he says that the books are on their way from the printers to him - and so that means they're on their way to the shops! It's actually out there.