Christopher Howell - Cover Model

We are proud and excited to be sponsoring cover model, Christopher Howell in the Mr. Romance 2008 competition at this year's RT convention!

There is a virtual competition going on at Dorchester right now where you can vote for him. Chris is a true gentleman, a charming, down-to-earth sweetheart who can always make you smile. He makes everyone feel right at home, so go on over and cast your vote for him!

If you are attending the RT convention in Pittsburgh, stop by the Between Your Sheets booth at the E-Expo on Wednesday to chat with Chris. He'll be autographing photos and would love the chance to meet you! Between Your Sheets will also be giving away all kinds of Bookworm Bags as well as raffling off several items, including two tote bags from Essence of Romance full of goodies.

Y'all be sure to stop by and say Hi!

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Chat with loveyoudivine tonight

Join us tonight at Fallen Angel Reviews as we sponsor a chat with authors from loveyoudivine. They will be discussing their latest releases in all Erotica genres, answering questions, and giving out some fabulous prizes, including free ebooks, Bookworm Bags, a 3-mth membership to Essence of Romance, and a Spring Fling basket filled with books and goodies created by Lady Divine!

Where: Fallen Angel Reviews Chat Room
When: Tonight, 8:00 P.M. CDT, April 9th
Who: loveyoudivine Authors and Publisher, Essence of Romance

Come join the fun; we look forward to seeing you!

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New Forum - Come introduce yourself!

We have recently added a forum to the Essence of Romance. There are boards for everyone, authors, publishers, reviewers, etc, to post about themselves and promote their work. Please come by and intro yourself and feel free to promote your work as often as you like. With the bulk of our members being bookstores and libraries, it's a great way to get your name out to those in the "trenches" who are recommending and selling books on a daily basis.

There are also boards for general discussion... discuss your favorite genres, characters, scenes, authors, etc.

The forum is located at http://forum.eordb.com/

Though the Essence of Romance database is dedicated to the Romance genre, the forum is open to everyone and all genres.

And don't forget to contact us if you are a Romance author... if you write any kind of Romance, you should be listed in the Essence of Romance!

Looking forward to seeing you!
~Melanie

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October Contest

REFERRAL CONTEST - Win a 3-mth or 6-mth subscription to the Essence of Romance!

~ Everyone who refers five (5) friends wins a 3-mth subscription, no limit to the amount of referrals you can send or subscriptions you can receive
~ Whoever refers the most people during the contest will win a 6-mth subscription

Rules & Stuff:

~ All referrals must sign up for a free 10-day trial or a paid subscription (by month or year)
~ When referrals sign up, they must enter YOUR name in the "How did you find us?" box so you receive credit for them
~ Contest ends November 10, 2007
~ Prizes are awarded directly or as a Gift Certificate. There is no expiration date on Gift Certificates so they can be used any time.

Good luck and thanks to all for your continued support!

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Repost: Authors Take a Stand

Reposted below by permission. I encourage all authors to check out what Kerry E. Wagner is trying to do and sign up if you want to be heard.

~Melanie

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Do you think authors deserve a page on MySpace?

It's one thing to talk about it...but we are doing something about it.

Calling all poets, writers, authors, aspiring authors...

Comedians, musicians, actors and producers all have pages designed for their craft. Why not authors? Kerry E. Wagner and staff are working hard to change this...and we are shooting for 10,000 author signatures on this petition. There are several lists circulating throughout the literary community. This is not just for authors but for aspiring authors as well. No literary voice will go unheard. If you have not signed up leave your name and book title(s) if your book is published as a blog entry.

Read & Sign Up Here

Change begins with you!

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Writers Workshop at Lavender Isis Press

Lavender Isis Press is in it's 3rd day of the "Midsummer Online Writers Workshop" and has some great discussions going on in such varied topics as character development, writing reviews, marketing, how to get published and more.

With such a diverse range, there is good info for authors who are published and aspiring authors who are looking to get their first book published. Stop by and say hello, feel free to ask questions, or post your own topics. You have to register to post, but registration is free, simple and quick: Lavender Isis Press Forum.

We look forward to seeing you there!

~Melanie

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Romance Writers Competition

There's a fantastic Romance writing competition being held by Gather and I'd encourage all aspiring authors to check it out. Details below...happy reading and good luck to all!

~Melanie

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Gather is very pleased to announce the next generation of First Chapters: The Gather.com First Chapters Romance Writing Competition. On August 1, we'll launch this new competition in conjunction with Simon & Schuster's Pocket Books imprint and Borders. This unique opportunity will enable one talented Gather member to win a guaranteed publishing contract, along with a $5000 cash advance!

Here's How It Works: From August 1 through August 22, aspiring romance writers will have the opportunity to submit a full-length romantic fiction manuscript for consideration. Over the course of the competition, authors will post chapter one of their manuscripts in the First Chapters Romance Group. These chapters will be rated by the Gather community and the Gather Editorial Team, and five finalists will be selected through two rounds of voting. (See our new voting guidelines.) One Grand Prize Winner will then be chosen for publication by a panel of judges. Visit http://romancenovel.gather.com for more details.

So are you an unpublished author who's passionate about getting your romance novel into bookstores? Well, put away your unrequited query letters and enter The Gather.com First Chapters Romance Writing Competition. For those of you who don't have a romance novel at the ready, readers are needed, too! In the weeks to come, you can join other romance lovers and writers to help read and rate the entries. Who deserves their big break? YOU can help decide.

If you're not into romance, stay tuned for another First Chapters announcement very soon.

Program Details:

Submission Period: August 1 – August 22, 2007
From August 1 through August 22, romance authors can post the chapter one of their manuscripts in the First Chapters Romance Group, and email their full manuscripts to romancenovel@gatherinc.com.

Round 1 Voting: August 27 – September 18, 2007
Reading and voting on entrants' first chapters officially begins on August 27. At the end of the Round 1 voting period, 25 writers will advance to the next round of the competition – 15 based on the most "10" ratings from Gather members, and 10 selected by the Gather Editorial Team. Votes cast before August 27 or after September 18 will not be considered. The 25 semifinalists will be announced on September 24.

Round 2: September 24 – October 8, 2007

The 25 remaining novelists will post their second chapters in the First Chapters Romance Group, where the Gather community and Editorial Team will narrow the pool down to five finalists. The five finalists will be announced on October 11.

Round 3: October 11 – October 30, 2007

The judging panel will review the complete manuscripts of the five finalists and select the Grand Prize-winning author.

Grand Prize Winner Announced: October 30, 2007

The Grand Prize Judging Panel:

· Maggie Crawford, Editorial Director, Pocket Books

· Lauren McKenna, Editor, Pocket Books

· Sue Grimshaw, Romance Buyer, Borders Group, Inc.

· Tom Gerace, Founder & CEO, Gather.com

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Night Owl Romance

The Essence of Romance has partnered with some great industry sites and we'll be telling you all about them here. The first one we'd like to introduce is Night Owl Romance…

Night Owl Romance is a Book Review site specializing in Romance and Erotica. NOR hosts weekly chats with some of the most in demand authors around, as well as debuting new authors. Members have chances to win free prizes in all NOR chats, including a 30-day free trial to the Essence of Romance, as well as being kept up to date on the latest titles in the Romance & Erotica genres.

The debut issue of the new NOR E-zine has just been posted on the NOR forum. You must register to receive a copy (registration is free) and I highly recommend it for some great reviews on the latest Romance novels. To check out the message board and register to receive the e-zine, please visit http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/forum/. Drop in to say hello and tell Tammie we sent you. ;-)

NOR also offers Book Flicks™, Author News & Interviews, an online Bookstore, and much more. To see everything NOR has to offer, please visit www.nightowlromance.com.

ATTN: AUTHORS – If you haven't been reviewed or featured in a chat via NOR yet, you're missing out on some great promotion! Even if you can't be available for a chat, NOR is accepting and will give out your promo items to help get your name out to a wider audience. Contact Tammie King at Tammie.King@gmail.com for more info.

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday to all!
~Melanie

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May Contest - It's Raining Author Treasures!

Did you miss the RT convention this year? Not to worry, you can still get all kinds of treasures from your favorite authors!

We are running a contest until May 31st for TWO gift baskets full of all kinds of cool goodies from the RT convention (books, notepads, keychains, pens, earrings, autographed book covers, bookmarks galore, and the list goes on… )! What do you have to do to be entered? Just tell your friends about us and send them over to www.eordb.com to sign up for a FREE 10-day trial! Make sure your friends enter your name in the Referral field when they sign up for a free trial.

We are giving away two prizes:

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ATTN: Readers

If you haven't heard, we are upgrading the Essence of Romance to add more features and make the database more interactive for users. We'd like to hear from YOU!

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