About a year ago, my debut novel, Drew in Blue, hit the virtual shelves. While hunting for places to review my work, I noticed a few things: eBooks weren't yet universally embraced. I had to click away from a lot of blogs that still only accepted physical copies of books. And more importantly, indie romances weren't exactly given the red carpet treatment.
Then, I had this nutso idea: I should start my own review blog! Romance authors publishing digitally through small presses and publishing independently needed a sanctuary. A place they were welcomed with open arms.
To be frank, I never thought I'd have the follow-through, though I loved the notion.I'm glad I was wrong about that.
Eventually, wonders of wonders, it all started to fall into place. I found a lovely crop of reviewers, and am still surrounded by the ladies who feel the same way I do. Laura, Babs, Brandi, Deniz, and Annie are voracious readers and I adore seeing their enthusiasm for this project! They make this crazy little blog a success.
But, as the year began drawing to a close, I started wondering about what happens next. I mean, the point was to find the best reads of 2011. I hadn't anticipated the idea of what came after December 31, 2011. After conferring with the girls, the decision was simple: We're going to press on with a new challenge to find the best new reads of 2012!
Naturally, that means we have to do a little work. First off, we're adding a new reviewer to the fold. Stacy, welcome aboard! Keep an eye out for Stacy's intro on the Meet the Reviewers page in the near future.
Secondly, we have to wrap up 2011. With that in mind, we will be closing to review requests this Saturday, December 10, 2011. After that point, we will do our best to get the email folders emptied out, and address all 2011 reads once and for all.
I anticipate this will take us into January of 2012, in which we will present our final list of The Top 100 Reads of 2011. And once that takes place, we will be open once again to submissions for any works published in 2012. An announcement will be posted when we re-open to reviews.
We thank you all for making this blog a success. Authors, thank you for providing us with terrific romances to curl up with, and for the opportunity to shine the spotlight on the fruits of your labors. Readers, thanks for coming on this ride with us, and especially for supporting the works of these fantastic writers. We certainly hope you'll join us in the New Year!
Any questions? Feel free to comment or contact us for clarification!
--Joey
