I got back from the RNA conference yesterday and I’m still shattered. It was an incredibly useful conference this year, especially as Sarah Wendell from SmartBitches came and gave us some insights into the US market.

• The definition of ‘Romance’ in the US is much narrower than the definition of the genre here. The relationship between the hero and heroine in front and centre of the books.
• Chicklit isn’t a thing in the US.
• US readers are much more likely to tell you if they’ve loved or hated your books.
• Beverly Jenkins is amazing. I want to be like her when I grow up.
• The ‘almost kiss’ is the most popular romance book cover pose (I don’t know why, but this tickled me).
• Positioning in bookshops is paid for (we knew this, it’s the same here). Positions in bestseller type charts in bookshops are also paid for by the publishers. I hadn’t realised this.

I will write myself some notes at some point, but in the mean time, here’s my silly video of what happened. I’m not too keen on selfies (the chins! Aargh) so I took my Lego stormtroopers along and took some photos of them instead. Here’s a nice video of what happened.