Authors, Now This Is How To Sell Yourself, And Your Book!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008Posted in: Cheryl Holt, I love me who do you love?, Uncategorized
I love Cheryl Holt, I do, even though her last few books have been carbon copies of each other, I still buy her, even when I swear that I’ll never buy her again.
As most Holt fans will know, she’s releasing her 15th and last historical erotic romance this year, as well as writing her first book under her new pseudonym, Vanessa Marlowe. After that, she’s moving towards more traditional romances, i.e no more dirty, nasty ‘sex with rakes’ books.
Anyway, apart from wondering whether she’ll still sell as well without the erotic bit, this news pretty much sailed right over my head, when I read it on her website. What really interested me was this video of an interview that she did at lasy year’s Romantic Times conference.
It amused me so much, I thought I’d post it on here, but for those of you who can’t be arsed watching the interview, I’ve included some quotes from the lady herself.
She starts:
“I’m the Queen of erotic romance and the International Queen of Villains, I write some of the best villains that has ever been created in fiction.
This amused me greatly because some of the most frequent complaints about her books are that her villains are ridiculously over-the-top bad, and totally one-dimensional.
“One of the great American love stories …It’s just the best love story ever”..
She’s describing her 2003 book, Complete Abandon. I liked it muchly, but I don’t recall ever thinking it was the best love story ever. *g*
“I just have the greatest knack of writing the best love stories”
You gotta love the modesty, right?
“I write some of the greatest love stories ever told”
She said that so convincingly, that even I nearly bought it.
“I tell really great stories that people like to read”
I wish she’d stop being so damn humble. *g*
“The pacing, very fast pacing. By the time a reader opens the first page, they are so excited that they can’t stop reading till the end. I write high entertainment value books.”
This was her answer when asked what makes her stories so appealing to other people. Fast-paced? Dude, I love her books, but it aint cuz of the pacing!
“Fans love the characters, and the very emotional depth of the characters, and the great personalities that I create”
*Hehe*
That gal sure knows how to sell herself well, doesn’t she? Anybody would think she used to be an attorney. *g*
I love the fact that she doesn’t bother with the whole “Aww shucks, I’m really not that great” false modesty. She thinks she’s great, and she says so. You gotta admire that, admittedly whilst laughing your tits off.
Nora Roberts
March 4
12:06 pm
I think maybe she hasn’t had any media training and seems to have gotten very caught up in the excitement of being interviewed and asked about her books.
But she sure doesn’t lack for confidence.
(Note: I believe the title viscount is pronounce VI-count.)
Kristie(J)
March 4
12:52 pm
LOL – I’ve read a few Cheryl Holt books and while kudos to her confidence in her writing – we don’t quite seem to see eye to eye. And like Nora *chuckling* I picked up her mispronunciation of viscount too.
Which reminded me of a long discussion we had a work last week – why is the word colonel pronounced cornel when there is no R in the word how did they ever get that r sound? and why? – totally unrelated I know – but it was one of not so busy days.
Capo
March 4
2:10 pm
grumble, grumble, the video won’t play for me. Lucky for my tits, huh? 😉
The woman writes well, I’ll give her that. However – and call me a chauvinist pig if you want – but I find modesty in a woman an attractive quality.
azteclady
March 4
3:02 pm
I find modesty attractive, regardless of the person’s gender–but then I’m not the most modest person you’ve ever met, so perhaps I should add hypocrisy to my looooooooong list of sins.
Nah.
(To the best of my recollection, I’ve never read a book by Cheryl Holt, by the way)
Daphne
March 4
5:46 pm
I saw Cheryl Holt at the RT booksigning last year. She’s her very own vocal cheerleader, believe me. She told everyone who cared to listen, or just happened to overhear, that she’s the Queen of Erotic Romance. Wait-what? Was there a vote on that one and I missed it? *g*
She’s certainly not lacking in self-confidence.
Barbara B.
March 4
6:24 pm
Does Holt even write erotic romance? I’ve read several of her books and they didn’t strike me as particularly erotic. I remember her heroines being pushovers and her heroes being selfish assholes. I’d rather see more pushover heroes and selfish assholes heroines. Just to mix it up a bit, you know? I do like Holt’s big, shiny brass balls, however. I like that quite a bit.
Queen of Erotic Romance? Hmmm…I’d have to say that the craptastic Lora Leigh is probably deserving of that title.
OhPlease
March 5
12:10 am
I had to stop halfway through, being more than a little annoyed.
What a twit.
kirsten saell
March 5
7:00 am
Actually, queens aren’t elected, they are ordained by God Himself.
Misa
March 5
7:08 am
Next…never read her…and due to her *modesty* probably won’t.
Misa
March 5
7:09 am
Opps hit post before I was done…
What is she, the Kanye West of the Romance World. That’s not cute.
Mrs Giggles
March 5
11:04 am
I wonder why she uses the name Vanessa Marlow for her next book. Under the name Cheryl Holt, she had recently started to hit the bestseller lists, so it seems odd to me that she’d start from square one again with a new name when she was already getting there. She’s still with the same publisher and she’s still writing erotic contemporary stuff like her last few books. So why the need to change the name? Hmm.
Dee Tenorio
March 5
3:24 pm
Just had to share this one. I was reading the quotes to hubby and he replied, “And I write the songs that make the whole world sing…”
bam
March 7
1:33 pm
Damn, Dee. that’s some funny shit.
Mitzi Szereto
September 20
11:29 am
Cheryl’s a lovely lady and a great storyteller, I’ve communicated with her for years. I look forward to seeing what she does next!