Sunday, June 28, 2009
Interview with a Winner: Lori Green Talks Books + Reading
Lori Green is a winner. Well, probably for lots of reasons, but for Quartet Press, Lori is winner for coming up with our new tagline: “For the Readers. For the Authors. For the Stories.”
Lovely, isn’t it? And, it really embodies what Quartet aims to be all about. We want to be a hub for the bookish community, and we really want to get to know our readers.
So, we’re starting with getting to know someone who we hope already feels at home in our community: Lori Green!
Recently I asked Lori a few questions about books, and ebooks, and reading, and publishers, and writing, oh – and winning contests! Read the interview below. And once again, thanks to Lori, and thanks to all of you who entered the Quartet Press Tagline Contest!
~ Kat
Q: How’d you find out about the Quartet Press slogan contest?
A: Saw the contest announced on Twitter and went over to see what it was. I’m a contest ho and was following Quartet Press and it’s founders. Just seemed fun. I’m really grateful for the variation of my slogan being picked (as is my daughter who grabbed that package out of my hands so fast you’d think she was a frog and the ipod a fly).
Q:What’s your literary poison (or should I say, passion)?
A: I’m a huge fan of contemporary and paranormal romance written with humor. Also, I love literary fiction.
Q: Do you write?
A: My own writing is a pastiche of the three genres which explains my unpublished status.
Q: When it comes to dealing authors and readers, what are publishers doing right?
A: I’m a huge fan girl of Angela James and Samhain, simply because her authors stay with her even once they move to the big New York sales. If some of the top names in romance are still writing for Samhain, you know they’re doing things right.
Harlequin also embraces its readers and writers with remaining contemporary and market savvy as well as treating their authors and readers respectfully.
Q: What irks you about publishers?
A: I love imploding publishers. Makes for great reading on the writer’s blogs!
Q: What are you currently reading and how are you reading it?
A: I’m reading Witch Heart by Anya Bast (Book 3 in the Elemental Witches series). It’s a paperback. After that I’ll be reading either Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer, or Too Good to be True by Kristan Higgans or … well, the pile of books is daunting.
Q: What’s your all-time favorite book?
A: To Kill a Mockingbird is the finest book I’ve ever read and reread. Elegant, deep and makes me cry even after the 100th reading. My all-time favorite romance is Crazy for You by Jennifer Cruisie: it’s hot, funny, and I think I love every character in it.
Q: Any thoughts on pricing of ebooks?
A: I know epubs have overhead, but ebooks need to be priced cheaper. Otherwise why would I buy an ebook when I can get a paperback and either resell or trade it, something I can’t do with an ebook. And trust me, I am a great fan of paperbackswap, resell book stores and Amazon customer sellers.
Q: Do you read ebooks or print books exclusively, and if so, why?
A: I mostly read paperbacks because I don’t yet have an ereader (I will with my next tax refund check). But I do have a number of ebooks on my computer although I’ve read more e-novellas and short stories than full length books because I hate reading at my computer.
Q: What would your ideal ereading device look like, do, and cost?
A: I’ll probably buy a Sony because as much as I crave the Kindle I don’t like that it doesn’t take pdf files. And I think they’re all priced too high but I want one anyway.
I’d like to add that myself and some of my friends are very excited about Quartet Press. Seeing people with the backgrounds that you and Kassia and Kirk have are making us eager to see another quality publisher coming to the table.