Around and Around

I took a bit of an Internet vacation, because the nominees for the RITA and Golden Heart awards came out and the blogosphere was a bit tiring for a while. If you don't know, the RITAs are RWA's industry awards for published books, and the Golden Heart is the award for unpublished works.

Most of the Internet frenzy (besides the nominees already hitting us over the head flogging their books and their friends' books) was about whether the RITAs are "fair" or not. I won't get into that here (besides saying that any awards for creative work are inherently impossible, and that I'm not much interested in paying 40 bucks for my manuscript to receive a number that I could just as easily pull out of my ass. But that's just me.) The craziness seems to have died down, at least until July, when the Conference (and the awards ceremony) comes around and once again I'll take a little vacation from my own genre.

Since I work for the media, I was most surprised by comments like this:

Why don’t the winning authors make the rounds (blogger, website, traditional media) doing interviews and promoting the award (as Oscar winners do)? The media, at first, didn’t approach Oscar winners. Oscar winners approached them. Its only now that the media chases winners.

And this:

I agree that the RITAS are like the Oscars to the Romance industry, but it’s up to the authors to get the word out about it before readers will see its validity.

Here's what the Oscars have to attract the media that the RITAs don't:

1. Sex
2. Gorgeous people
3. Tons of money
4. Hot guys
5. ANY guys
6. Drinking, drugs, and wild partying
7. Sex
8. High fashion
9. Sex.

And actually, the media have loved the Oscars since Mary Pickford won the very first one. See the reasons above.

The closest thing we RWAers have to a movie star is Nora Roberts. And though La Nora is quite foxy (if you've ever seen her in a TV interview, you know what I'm talking about), she still isn't featured on the cover of US with a big arrow and the headline "BABY BUMP?" Which means that the mainstream media doesn't think she's sexy, even if we do.

No, the media just isn't interested in a bunch of women who, due to our pitiful incomes as writers, have had to raid the discount racks at Ann Taylor for something to wear and scrimp for a year to afford to get to Dallas, and who lie awake nights wondering if it's possible to have a career without submitting to an author photo EVER.

So, give some RITAs to George Clooney and Daniel Craig, and maybe you'll see a different reaction. I would SO go to that ceremony.