Subj: Rapture Date: 97-11-15 16:28:00 EST From: CNeggers To: Whooshhead Hi---- Ah, tales from the past... I wrote one book for Rapture, after Loveswept and before Harlequin Temptation, when they were trying to breathe new life into the line and I was still "finding my stories." I did a lot of different things early in my career, which was tons of fun if not always terribly "businesslike." But, what the hell. I was just a kid. :-) Anyway, no one at Rapture ever brought up using a pseudonym, probably because I'd established myself in category romance at Loveswept, where pseudonyms weren't an option. Btw, I have maybe two copies of Delinquent Desire. It's not that easy to find! If you have any other questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them. Take care, and thanks, Carla
The sensual contemporary romance that's part of a brand name line is the
biggest and fastest growing segment of the paperback market. It's also
where the heaviest competition is among publishers, something that hasn't
deterred New American Library from making a bid for consumer dollars with
Rapture Romance, launched in January 1983.
"Our plots are stronger, the characters more realistic, and the love
stories more satisfying," states editor Robin Grunder of the 50,000 to
60,000 word novels. "There's still room in the market for that kind of
book, because I don't think any line has achieved the consistenly good
romance." She says that typical Rapture Romance "illustrates the theme of
finding, not the perfect man, as if there were a perfect man, but the
perfect man for you."
Rapture marks NAL's major entry into the contemporary brand name field.
Under its Signet impring, the publisher has established a strong presence
in historicals and Regencies. Also under Signet [Signet is still a viable
publisher], NAL has published a series of contemporary romances called
Adventures in Love. Under consideration is another contemporary line
featuring older heroines [wonder what happened to this idea?].
Planning for Rapture, based on market research, began in late 1981.
Silhouette had considered the name "Rapture," but editors there said it
didn't test well. But it tested well for NAL in house and in focus groups,
and seemed to capture the essence of the new line. "It best expresses the
emotion of being swept beyond yourself by the strength of the most
powerful of emotions-love," observes Robin.
Work began on press kits, promotional materials and a logo and design
theme. The decision was made to use a double "R" for the logo rather than
the Signet logo to further strengthen the name identification of the line.
"It has continuity with our regular Signet logo, but it's all a little
more delicate," noted the art director.
The covers feature a bold wave of deep. eye catching magenta, accented
with red. The "undulating wave of passion" plus the illustration that
depict passionately aroused couples combine to communicate subliminal
sexual messages. "We wanted the cover to be as distinctive as possible to
combat other lines who have heavy consumer advertising budgets. Within the
illustrations, we wanted to show that this was a sexier product than other
romances. We're playing directly against Silhouette Desire and Candlelight
Ecstasy."
Magenta was the art director's choice of dominant color right form the
start. "I wanted a color that would work with everything else," he says,
adding that magenta is more evocative of passion than red, which is also
used for anger. The authors' names are positioned more prominently thant
the book titles, because research has shown that consumers are buying more
by author name than anything else.
Authors, however, are required to have pseudonyms used exclusively for
Rapture. The reason is competition. Any reader following built on a
Rapture name can't benefit another publisher. Robin's background in
roomances was in Regencies, and she freely acknowledges that she used to
turn her nose up in disdain at short brand name contemporaries. Her first
task-extensive reading of the competition. Then she created a tip sheet
for writers, which really crystallized what they were looking for. That
means strong, successful, active characters, no stereotypes, realistic
conficts, no clliche contrivances and the development of a warm,
passionate, sensual relationshiip. "In many romances, it just doesn't make
sense that the characters bitch and moan at each other the whole way
through until the last page, and then they suddenly decide to get married.
How can anybody understand how they could possibly like each other, except
for their physical attraction. [We here at Ultimate Internet RomanceBook
Web site totally concur!]
Once Robin knew what she was looking for, her next challenge was to
recruit the right authors. She attended many romance conferences and
talked to many more agents. Although there are thousands of apsiring
romance writers wanting, even dying, to get published, there is a very
small pool of fine writers, and the competition for them is intense. "If
all I wanted to do was fill the line, I could be booked into 1986 by
tomorrow."
Leading off the launch were Love so Fearful by Nina Coombs, River of Love
by Lisa McConnell, Lover's Lair by Jeanette Ernest and Welcome Intruder by
Charlotte Wisely. As part of the launch promotion, Love So Fearful was
given away to 1,000 readers. [We now know why they're not in business
anymore but we like the idea of freebies...]
While realism is desired in today's contemporary romance, the fantasy
element shouldn't be lost, notes Robin. "The point of these books is not
having depressing real-life problems but in getting married and living
happily ever after. These books have a temendous appeal. I don't think
romance is going to die, ever."
Well, after reading this we wonder what ever happened? It sounded like
a great line. I do notice though that Joan Wolf and Carla Neggers wrote for
this line when one of the prerequisites was a pseudonym. Maybe they
changed their policy when their sales were down and this was an effort to
divert readers from other lines.
Front Door