Contest for THE SHE-HULK DIARIES & NANCY'S THEORY OF STYLE Giveaway

 "A fun, escapist romantic romp with superheroes—who can resist?"

 --Kirkus Reviews

I just got a box of spanking new The She-Hulk Diaries books, so I'm having a contest with multiple prizes. I'm also doing a big ol' giveaway of Nancy's Theory of Style ebook free on Amazon starting tomorrow, Thursday, May 23, and going through Friday, May 24.

First Prize

•  a signed copy of The She-Hulk Diaries 
• a signed hard cover copy of Dark Companion, which is coming out in paperback on 6/18. 
• a signed copy of Nancy's Theory of Style
• various bookmarks and postcards

Second Prize

• a signed copy of The She-Hulk Diaries
• a signed copy of Midnight Brunch, Casa Dracula book 2,
• various bookmarks and postcards 

Third Prize

•  a signed cover flat of The She-Hulk Diaries
• various bookmarks and postcards

So...let's do the contest this way. Leave a comment here about anything--like what you're doing for the Memorial Day weekend or what you're reading or how you feel about the new Star Trek movie, whatever--and you get one entry in the contest. You can get an additional entry for each Tweet, Blog, Facebook Like or post, or other social media mention about my Nancy's Theory of Style giveaway on Amazon, 5/23-24/2013. (It won't be free after that date.)

The contest is limited to the United States, Canada, and the UK, and runs through June 5th, but you can only get these extra points through Friday, May 24. Here's the link to share and the free book giveaway starts tomorrow.

Nancy's Theory of Style

www.amazon.com/Nancys-Theory-of-Style-ebook/dp/B00CM1BPAO/

Please tell people about my Nancy's Theory of Style giveaway! My fun and frothy read is a great way to start off the summer.

"A fiercely fun and witty contemporary love story nestled in one of San Francisco's trendiest neighborhoods, Pacific Heights."

--Nob Hill Gazette

"To borrow a phrase from Nancy, you will be absolutely thrillified! I was. It was the perfect flirty, happy, sweet, and thoroughly enjoyable read."

--Love Romance Passion

Speaking of contests, Michelle Par, please email me with your mailing address so I can go to the post office and mail off the cover flats for the last contest.


GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Since Nancy and She-Hulk are both romantic comedies, the theme today is romantic comedy, and, yes, I do think Jane Austen wrote them.

I love the fantasy comedy miniseries Lost in Austen about a loony contemporary girl from London who finds herself in the world of Pride and Prejudice. And Fitzwilliam Darcy hates her...a lot.



Okay, last year I gave a frickin lecture on Edgar Allan Poe at a screening of the heinous The Raven. (Don't even ask how I'm suddenly an EAP expert.) But John Cusack's role as Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything gives him a lifelong pass to do any heinous movie he likes. In fact, there are brother in Nancy's Theory of Style named Lloyd and Dobler.

Gendered Covers, Girl Cooties, & Winners of the She-Hulk Cover Flats!

Congratulations to the winners of my contest for signed cover flats of The She-Hulk Diaries, to be released June 14!

Michelle Par

BN100

I'll send you emails to get your addresses.


There's been a lot of chatter on the internets lately about book cover design and gender. It started with a tweet by author Maureen Johnson, who then wrote "The Gender Coverup" in the Huffington Post.  Here's the gist of it: women are given cover art with feminine coded stuff and men are usually given  gender neutral covers. Allow me to summarize the basic points:

• Men assume rightly that their readers will be male and female.
• Women assume rightly that most men will not be inclined to pick up their books if they see a woman's name on the covers and/or any kind of female gender coding in colors or imagery.
• Critics do not take books with gender coded covers seriously, putting women authors at a disadvantage for the awards and accolades that generate increased sales.
• Women assume that the covers convince the critics that these female gendered books are froth.
• Actually, the critics think women's books are froth because they were written by women, and therefore have the dreaded GIRL COOTIES! but the critics can't really say that so they just say, "Look at the cover! It's pretty so it must be pretty shallow, duh!" even though they know authors don't have control over covers.
• Many women authors think that they will be taken more seriously if their book covers don't have gender coding and many women still use initials instead of first names to conceal their gender.
• Gender-neutral covers for women are the literary equivalent of writing V.A.C. on the back of your hand: Vaccination Against Cooties, although girls are seen to be the only carriers of this terrible condition. (Alternative form of vaccination is drawing a circle, circle, dot, dot.)

And women are the ones who are supposed to cater to this sexism and sexual insecurity...because? Why? I don't get it. I do understand wanting to be taken seriously by critics especially if it means more money money money from sales. Things get more complicated when we're discussing publishers' motives with gendered covers. If gendered covers didn't increase sales for most books by women, I don't think publishers would use them. But I doubt publishers do actual market research, so who knows?

Women are the majority of readers. Women are the majority of writers. Hell, women are the majority of the fricking population. Here's what I think: all women readers should demand that publishers make the covers of men's books prettier. All books should have pretty covers. Stephen King, I'm talking to you! (And what is this obsession with door knockers on the covers of books by men?)

Yawn

 More reading on the topic:

• Aja Romano at The Mary Sue: "NY Times to YA Publishing: Stop Being So Girly" 
• Amanda Hocking "My Reaction to the Gender Coverup"
• See a slideshow of coverflips at the Huffington Post