Category Archives: Top Historical Fiction Sites

Top Historical Fiction Sites – The History Girls

10 Friday Aug 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, Historical Fiction, Top Historical Fiction Sites

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Running the data from the historical fiction survey resulted in four top digital sites however, restricting the data to UK participants resulted in two additional favourites and today I am pleased to welcome The History Girls to the blog.

They describe themselves as “a group of best-selling, award-winning writers of historical fiction. Some of us write for young adults, some for fully fledged adults, some for younger readers.” Mary Hoffman the originator of the blog tells us about their philosophy, how they came together, and other interesting insights about historical fiction. Mary has written over ninety books for children and teenagers – a very impressive body of work.

Why did you start blogging? Did your group come together to create the blog or did you add folks as time progressed?

To be brutally frank, I had the idea for The History Girls blog as part of a campaign to raise awareness about my own historical novel, DAVID – the story of the young man who posed for Michelangelo’s famous statue. (published by Bloomsbury in July 2011) But it soon became so much more.

We did start with 28 bloggers but several have left and been replaced as the year progressed.

What is your philosophy for the blog?

My personal philosophy is to raise awareness of the richness of historical fiction for adults and for younger readers. Each History Girl probably has her own philosophy and this is reflected in the richness and variety of the blogposts.

We have contributors who write historical fantasy, those who write about battles and war. Some who cover the ancient world, Dark Ages, Medieval and Renaissance history, others who write about World War One or Queen Victoria. French Revolution, American Wild West – it’s pretty much all there.

What trends have you seen in historical fiction in the past? What new trends are emerging?

It seems to have suddenly become more respectable with the emergence of more “literary” writers such as Hilary Mantel. (She was our guest blogger on 10th May, publication day of BRING UP THE BODIES – something of which I am extremely proud!). An unwelcome trend, not just in Historical fiction, is for “adult” authors to start writing for a YA audience, such as Philippa Gregory. I can assure you it doesn’t work the other way round, at least not in the UK.

Is historical fiction growing in popularity? If so, why?

It certainly seems to be and there are a lot of fine historical novels for teenagers too though not all British publishers will take them. (And I have been told that the only periods American readers are interested in are Tudor, Elizabethan and World War 2!)

I don’t really know. Perhaps because readers find it a good way in to historical fact. Or perhaps because there are such good stories there.

Who are your readers? What do you know about them? Do you collect specific data about them?

Yes, we have a Statistics page that Admins like myself can see. We have almost as many readers in the US as in the UK but 79 in Russia and 77 in India! Our aim is to conquer the world.

What features does your blog include? What features are most popular? Your blog has pages for Reviews and Interviews – do you plan to activate these in the future?

We do plan to put links to our Reviews and Interviews (already carried) in the future. It just requires a bit more time (even more time) from me or one of the other Admins. We do interviews and reviews, run competitions and give away prizes at the end of each month and have occasional series like The Historical Character I Just Don’t Get.

Sometimes a month’s posts might have a loose theme. This July it was our favourite historical characters but we have also featured Cross-dressing and Ghosts.

Do you think of the blog as having a brand? If so, what is it?

Female (though not necessarily feminist) writers of historical fiction explaining their work or exploring a fascinating aspect of History. I have not thought of us as having a brand until answering this question, though.

What are your marketing strategies for the blog?

We have a Twitter account: @history_girls and a Facebook page. Each time a new post goes up they are flagged in those two places. I sent out a Press Release to British magazines and organisations when we began but have not done much since. I wanted to see how the blog bedded down after its first year.

Why do you think so many people blog about historical fiction or participate in blogs about historical fiction? What are the implications for writers, agents and publishers?

I don’t think I realised they did!  Your site and Historical Tapestry’s has opened my eyes. I must look some up. For us, and I can only talk about writers, I think it has given us a sense of community in a world where you can often feel isolated. We email each other regularly and arrange meetings several times in the year – although not everyone can attend, since some HGs live in Devon, others in Scotland. For your American readers, that means a long distance to travel to London.

What do you see writers doing differently to market their books and build their platforms? What about publishers?

I’m sure that people in publishers’ Marketing Departments work very hard in order to get “their” books noticed in a crowded marketplace. But after publication day they are marketing the next book and then it is very much up to writers to keep public interest in their work alive. Blogs can help with that as can Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc.

What advice do you have for writers?

We don’t have joint advice and I can’t speak for the other HGs. My own writing advice can be found on www.maryhoffman.co.uk (Writing Tips) but that is very personal. On the About Us Page of the HGs there are  links to all our websites and I’m sure that is something most of us have addressed.

Is there a question I should have asked?

I can’t think of one. We are very happy that you have decided to feature us on your blog and hope we will acquire more North American followers as a result.

Many thanks from one Mary to another! The History Girls is on my RSS feed. I dip into it frequently for inspiration or sometimes just for a change of pace from the era of WWI and WWII.

Top Historical Fiction Sites – English Historical Fiction Authors

06 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Sites

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Running the data from the historical fiction survey resulted in four top digital sites however, restricting the data to UK participants resulted in two additional favourites and today I am pleased to welcome English Historical Fiction Authors to the blog.

This lively site is run by a well-known group of authors writing historical fiction set in England. As their home page says they have “come together to share our historical work and to reach out to our much appreciated readers”. Have a read as Debra Brown, Nancy Bilyeau, Sam Thomas, Judith Arnopp and Sherry Jones talk about their passion.

Why did you start blogging? Did your group come together to create the blog or did you add authors as time progressed?

Debra Brown: In today’s publishing world, authors and readers are much more in contact than they ever were before. Social media and book sites have opened up a whole new way of interacting. To be found on the internet authors must have some kind of presence. Blogging provides one means, and we felt that those who love British history could meet together in one place to learn and share with each other. Authors write a daily post and readers can discuss them via their comments. We launched the blog on Sept. 23rd, 2011 with thirty authors. A few have been added over time as life and/or genre changed for some authors and we saw the need for others to keep things running smoothly.

Nancy Bilyeau: In the months before my first novel, THE CROWN, was published, I explored blogging and read all sorts of philosophies. Some people wrote a lot about the experience of being published or writing fiction, others focused on sharing original content. Because my book is set in the Tudor age and during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, I felt there was a wealth of material to write about. I knew I found it all extremely interesting, and I hoped readers would too. Just at the time I decided to do this, I found out about English Historical Fiction Authors, formed by Debbie Brown so that writers could take turns posting on the same site. The theory was that readers would have a lot of posts and a rich variety in historical periods to choose from and so would come back regularly. I think Debbie’s original idea was proven correct!

Sam Thomas: For me, blogging has been an extension of the other writing I’ve done. Before writing fiction, I wrote academic history, and in each case, my goal is to talk about the past in a way that the reader will find both entertaining and informative.

Judith Arnopp: Regarding my personal blog. I was advised to blog when I first published and found I really enjoyed it. I’m not the most regular of bloggers, I have to be inspired and not too busy working on a novel. I stumbled on the EHFA blog by accident and thought it was great and asked to join. It has put me in touch with a lot of other historical authors and I’ve learned a lot through them. I also enjoy promoting their work, not just my own. Debbie Brown should have a medal I think for all the hard work she puts in to the blog.

What is your philosophy for the blog? Why did you choose that philosophy?

Nancy Bilyeau: My background is magazine journalism, so I’m comfortable with nonfiction narrative. I enjoy writing about people who pass through my novel, which is a mix of fictional characters and people from history. But also I wonder if anyone besides fellow writers wants to read all the blogs about getting published. I really like writers but I want to find readers.

Debra Brown: I feel that readers of historical fiction are fascinated with the past, as I am. Yet most of us have questions about the eras we are reading – the customs, the people and the locations. The blog posts greatly enrich my knowledge of Britain – past putting context to the stories and helping them to make more sense to me. I hope that they do the same for others.

What trends have you seen in historical fiction in the past? What new trends are emerging?

Sherry Jones: It seems to me that literary authors, seeing the popularity of historical fiction with readers, are now jumping on the bandwagon and writing their own historical fiction novels in greater numbers. I’ve also heard that interest in the Tudors is waning — could it be that Hilary Mantel has finally tapped them out?

Is historical fiction growing in popularity? If so, why?

Nancy Bilyeau: Unfortunately, I have been told the opposite, that it has peaked in sales. But I see so much interest out there in the books by authors who contribute to English Historical Fiction Authors, and there are always new historicals coming out that are so rich and interesting to read. So I think the market is thriving.

Judith Arnopp: It doesn’t make much difference to me as an author, I would still write historicals. I think, like everything, popularity fluctuates and if it declines for a while it will soon perk up again. TV series like The Tudors and The Borgias seem to affect popularity of historical fiction so with the BBC running The Hollow Crown, who knows we might see a flood of Plantagenet interest. That should keep us busy.

Who are your readers? What do you know about them? Do you collect specific data about them?

Debra Brown: On our blog we do not keep track of much other than the locations that Blogger provides. We get most of our visits from Commonwealth and English-speaking countries, and interestingly, Russia. We also have a Facebook group by the same name as the blog, and many of our readers are members there, so we get to know them in person.

Nancy Bilyeau: I’m not aware of any method to collect data about my readers. On my own website blog I have a “contact” feature and I do get emails from readers. I reply to all of them, and I learn a lot from their comments.

Judith Arnopp: I only know the readers who contact me. I respond to them because they are the reason I write and I value their feedback. Each time someone bothers to contact me to say how much they’ve enjoyed one of my books it makes my day.

What features does your blog include? What features or topics are most popular? Do you plan to add other features in the future?

Debra Brown: Besides a daily post on a historical topic, we have a weekly book giveaway on a separate page. We have a page to introduce our authors and a page listing many of our books. We also have a Guestbook and enjoy comments that people leave there. We have a contact page and I reply to email or ask if others wish to at times if it is relevant to do so.

Sam Thomas: Based on what I’ve seen (which could be wrong), it’s violence, sex and death. If memory serves, our top post last year was about lingerie, and posts about murders also do well. It’s many of the same things that make books sell!

Do you think of the blog as having a brand? If so, how would you describe it?

Debra Brown: I understand the importance of branding, and we have a picture that perhaps people recognize and think of us, but to be perfectly honest, I am so busy with keeping things going and doing some writing that I have not put much time into worrying about branding for the blog. It does not seem to have hurt us as we have had to date nearly 56,000 unique visitors and we have about 1000 page views per day.  We do have our Twitter hashtag #EHFA!

What are your marketing strategies for the blog?

Debra Brown: Authors that join the blog agree to share the daily post and the weekly giveaway via Twitter, Facebook and/or whatever means they prefer to use for marketing. They have been very cooperative and successful at that. For quite some time, now, we are usually found on page one of Google for most relevant search terms, so it seems to have taken on a much-appreciated life of its own.

Nancy Bilyeau: Whenever I write a new blog post, I link it to my facebook, twitter and linked-in feeds with a little topic phrase or some way to entice people to read. Then I just hope it gets picked up! I am not good at marketing, it is a totally different skill so I just try to engage my readers in something interesting and hope it prompts them to look at my books.

Why do you think so many people blog about historical fiction or participate in blogs about historical fiction? What are the implications for writers, agents and publishers?

Sherry Jones: Historical fiction readers tend to be history buffs. They read for pleasure but also for education. And, recognizing the “fiction” in historical fiction, they want to know the history behind that. A lot of historical fiction bloggers are discussing their research in their blog posts, giving readers the history in their books in a form that is not only informational, but also well written — something a lot of academic history is not.

Judith Arnopp: It is such a vast subject that most people will have some sort of interest in the past even if it is as recent as the 1970′s. There are also many different types of historical reader; there are those who require deadly serious, very accurate books and those who like to read about a more colourful past, see the blood and taste the tainted meat, if you like. Personally, I like them all, so long as they are well written. The ‘past’ is expanding all the time so this guaranteed continued areas of interest can only be a good thing. Of course, everyone has a pet theory and this can make for some pretty heated exchanges on the blogs. I’m not sure if this draws people in or drives them away but with so much past to write about, so many different styles of historical writing and such a variety of reader, the long term future of historical fiction can only be a good one.

What do you see writers doing differently to market their books and build their platforms? What about publishers?

Sherry Jones: One new trend is the release of a short story or novella in e-book form before the release of a long novel, as a prequel. I did this, releasing WHITE HEART, telling the story of the early life of Blanche de Castille, the White Queen of France in the 13th century, before the debut of FOUR SISTERS, ALL QUEENS, in which Blanche is a mother-in-law and antagonist to the eldest sister, Marguerite. Anne O’Brien has most recently released THE UNCROWNED QUEEN, a short story prequel to her THE KING’s CONCUBINE, and I expect others will follow.

Sam Thomas: It’s become cliche that more and more responsibility for marketing is laid at the author’s doorstep and in the author’s wallet. We have to put up our own websites, arrange our own signings, etc.

Judith Arnopp: Some authors are doing lovely book trailers and things on youtube etc. but personally I stick to blogging and discussing my work on social networking sites. I don’t enjoy marketing but we have to do it. It wastes an awful lot of writing time.

What advice do you have for writers?

Sherry Jones: Historical accuracy is a must for readers, but historical detail should add to the story. It is not the story. The emotional lives of the characters is paramount; all else is subservient.

Judith Arnopp: Stick to your guns, write for yourself, don’t try to follow trends or be something you aren’t. Also never believe you are good enough, never stop striving for improvement.

I love Sam Thomas’ comment on “violence, sex and death” being popular with readers just as it is in any genre. Another aspect that strikes a chord for me is the group’s desire to appeal to readers. I am very impressed that a site launched only eleven months ago already has so many followers! Many thanks for doing the interview. Best wishes as you continue to flourish.

Top Historical Fiction Sites – Historical Novel Society

27 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, Historical Fiction, Top Historical Fiction Sites

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

I am vey pleased to welcome Richard Lee of the Historical Novel Society to today’s post. HNS was one of four top digital sites selected by survey participants – a wonderful accomplishment! If you have not yet investigated the society’s online site, you should do so; it offers a wealth of information as well as significant benefits for members. I recently subscribed to one of its services, the Historical Fiction Daily, which features a wide range of articles in an easily readable format.

Why did you create the Historical Novel Society?     I wanted to join the society and it didn’t exist. I thought long and hard about starting up because I’d founded a literary magazine during my Oxford days, and it was successful but very hard work – and financially exposed. I knew that with the HNS I was going to be committing myself to considerable expense (printing and mailing magazines) as well as exposing myself to flak from those who would believe I wasn’t ‘qualified’ to run this kind of thing. So I didn’t jump blind, and I didn’t jump straight away – but I did jump in the end! Happily people were kinder than I’d expected, and though I was bank-rolling the society for a few years, we eventually got to break even, and have some surplus now.

Why are you passionate about historical fiction?     I am passionate about fiction. For me it is the highest art, and my favourite form of fiction is the novel. I love historical fiction because it continually challenges authors. Many writers essentially have one idea, and write the same book every time. This is less possible with historical fiction, because you always have something new to challenge yourself with. You can’t write the same book in two different periods. If you are a committed author, you cannot write the same book about different historical characters. I’m also drawn to historical fiction because I love history: archives, architecture, and culture in its broadest sense. Historical fiction can sometimes bring history closer: you can touch back to the way that people used to think. I find it magical when that happens.

What twists and turns in the Society’s offerings have been most significant?     So many! The real point about a society is that it changes as the people change. You get different input, different enthusiasms – and I have always given a pretty free rein to those who are willing to follow their ideas through.  Also, my life changes, so I have had to stand back a lot over the years (I have a business and three children). We are more a North American society now than a UK group, both in terms of member numbers and numbers of active members. I’m delighted at that. I’m also delighted that technology has made things so much more dynamic for literary societies in general. The idea that we can conduct interviews by skype and promote them on our own YouTube channel would have seemed like science fiction when we started out.

What trends have you seen in HF novels in the past? What new trends are emerging?     My view is that publishing works by following the ‘boom’ authors. I talk a bit about this here: http://historicalnovelsociety.org/the-bleeding-land/. Examples of ‘boom’ historical fiction authors since the society began are Philippa Gregory (though she had a following before), Conn Iggulden, Tracy Chevalier and, right now, Hilary Mantel. In a lesser way there have been several others. There have also been some influential movies and TV. Gladiator has done wonders for making men read historical fiction again – and Gladiator allied with the lasting popularity of Bernard Cornwell has had a large impact on the UK market. The film of The Other Boleyn Girl reached a different audience from the books. The success of Sharpe led to Hornblower on TV, and Jack Aubrey on film. The future? I think we are going to see a lot of less-literary, less-exigent versions of Hilary Mantel. I also think that the fantasy Game of Thrones will have an impact, though what impact is unclear to me. I also think that the genre that is loosely based on genealogy will continue in popularity: our grandparents and great grandparents lived through times that will seem increasingly mythical.

Is historical fiction growing in popularity? If so, why?     One of the things we set out to say from the beginning with the HNS is that historical fiction is ALWAYS very popular. The perception back in 1997 was that it was the genre that dare not speak its name. But the reality was that in the top twenty UK fiction paperbacks for the year in those days there would always be something by Wilbur Smith, something by Bernard Cornwell, something by Catherine Cookson and a ‘surprise’ – so 4 out of 20. I think we are actually less certain of getting that kind of result in the UK now. But happily the second rung authors seem stronger, and the perception of the genre is stronger. Literary HF has also always done well.

What debates are occurring today about historical fiction?  Can you provide a perspective on them?      The main debate I always hear is about whether novels are good history or not. I sometimes despair. Novels have to be good novels. It is history that has to be good history. Hilary Mantel is no more writing the real Thomas Cromwell than Shakespeare was writing the real Macbeth – or Jane Austen the real Elizabeth Bennett. My perspective is that I wish more of the discussion was about the skill (or not) of the writing (literary or mainstream). Other debates – yes – centre on commercial versus literary historicals, but there is confusion about what these terms actually mean. To that end we wrote as series of articles about the Walter Scott Prize shortlist, trying to define ‘literary’. Strangely, I think it is even more difficult to define ‘commercial’.

Who are the Society’s members? What do you know about them? Do you collect specific data about them?     I have always tried to respect members’ privacy – perhaps too much – so no, I have never attempted to collect specific data. Now that I see member sign-ups through our new website I can see that a lot of us are writers as well as avid readers. My guess is that people join because they approve of the project, and of the care and work that goes into it. Essentially we are a volunteer organization, and happily there are a lot of people out there who love historical fiction enough to want to help us promote it.

What prompted the Society’s recent overhaul of its web presence? What are the most popular features? Are you planning to add further features?      We have been meaning to get the site overhauled for years, and to make our archives freely available. It is a fairly huge job for volunteers, and it had to wait till someone had the time and drive to devote to leading it (I tried several other people before taking it on myself). The most popular thing will always be the breadth of what we offer: the sheer number of reviews and features, all searchable in one place. So far what you see is the tip of the iceberg. New features? I am really looking forward to being able to have space to review more classic historical fiction. Our USP for the magazines was our ability to give the most complete coverage to new historical fiction. With the website we have scope to add to this much more of the history of historical fiction. After all, we all still love Dumas, Graves, Renault, Dunnett et al. There are also many of once popular authors who have now disappeared from view. We’d like to make them visible again.

Do you think of HNS as having a brand? If so, what is it?     Not really. We didn’t even have a logo till this year. I confess I’m not really all that clued up in marketing terms: that’s perhaps another area we need to improve on.

Where would you want HNS to be in 5 to 10 years? What are your marketing strategies to achieve these objectives?     As I just said, I’m not much good at marketing, but the aim is always to get more ‘reach’. That doesn’t mean more members necessarily, but hopefully more visitors to the website, and a better percentage of the membership who are actively helping with our projects. To that end I hope that the website will provide more connectivity. And of course we need more completeness in our coverage of historical fiction. We should have 10,000 reviews on the site by the end of this year. Maybe 20,000 is a good number to aim at for 10 years’ time?

Why do you think so many people blog about historical fiction or participate in blogs about historical fiction? What are the implications for writers, agents and publishers?     People are enthusiastic about historical fiction, and they are probably a little star-struck by their favourite authors. Blogs allow them to show their enthusiasm and, sometimes, to interact with the authors. Another thing is people have their own point of view and like to express it. Blogs are a very cost-effective way of doing that, and of connecting with people whose interests and views coincide. The implication for writers and the industry is that there is much more democratization of reviewing and ‘word-of-mouth’. It also means that you have to be VERY careful with how you spend your time. Blogs, twitter, facebook… all eat up hours.

What do you see writers doing differently to market their books and build their platforms? What about publishers?     I always remember talking with Iain Pears in the days when An Instance of the Fingerpost was only part written. He was a Reuters journalist, really gifted, had had a few of his art-world mysteries published, and I could see that he had a future. I can’t remember how the subject came up, but he surprised me then by saying that he was not prepared to be a ‘public’ author. He wasn’t going to do the whole interview thing, the standing on stage. I thought – well you won’t get far then. I was wrong. Some authors will – always have – built their platform. The UK author I think remarkable for this is Alison Weir, who endlessly tours and lectures. She has made herself powerful with little help at the beginning from her publishers, and without a ‘boom’ book. But others are very head-in-the-clouds, either intentionally, like Iain Pears, or unintentionally. For them, the writing is the only thing. And if the writing is good enough, that can work too.

What advice do you have for writers?     All writers are different, so you can make few generalizations, but one thing that Tracy Chevalier once said to me has always struck me as very good advice. Before she was published she attended the University of East Anglia Writing MA – the most prestigious writing course in the UK. She said that she knew pretty early on which of her fellow course members would be successful and which would not. It wasn’t the talent, she said – in fact, she said, the most talented of the writers had never succeeded. It was the attitude that mattered, the commitment. I think there is something for all of us in that.

Top Historical Fiction Sites – Historical Tapestry

12 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by in Connecting Readers & Writers, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Sites

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

The survey asked readers to list favourite sources for book recommendations. Four top sites emerged from their responses. Historical Tapestry is one of those sites and I am delighted that Marg, Teddy, Kelly, Ana and Alex agreed to be interviewed. Marg kindly colour-coded their responses.

Happily, this week is their blogiversary week. Make sure you drop by for a visit.

Why did you start blogging? Did your group come together to create the blog or did you add folks as time progressed?

Marg: I had a period of seven years where I didn’t read much at all. Once I did return to reading with a vengeance, the next thing was that I wanted to find people to talk to about the books I was reading. I started hanging out on the Oprah books boards where I met Kelly and Teddy and some other bloggers and then I started hanging out on other forums as well. I can’t remember how I found my first book blogs but after watching those blogs I started to think I could do that. Then I read a book that I just HAD to talk about and my book review blog was born.

Teddy: I use to keep a spiral notebook with notes about all the books I read.  I always had such a hard time referring back to any specific book because there was no order.  I was in a book club in Yahoo groups and a couple of the members started their own book blogs.  I started reading them and realized that a book blog would be a much more organized way to keep track of books that I read.  I never dreamed that people would actually read and follow my blog, much less, that publishers would start sending me books to review.  Seriously, who knew?  Then one day I was invited to join Historical Tapestry, wow what an honor that was!

Kelly: I never even really paid a lot of attention to blogs until I decided to have one of my own. I had an old Livejournal account where I sort of rambled, but that was about it and hardly anyone ever followed it. I knew that I liked talking about books, though, which lead me to online areas and then that lead to meeting Marg. She started her blog in November of 2005 and I followed suit in December. It was initially just a fancier place to ramble, just about books this time, but it grew to be much more than that.

Ana: I have always written the titles of the books I read. When I started discovering the internet, one of my first interests was joining book groups and book forums. I started reading everyone else’s blogs and one of my friends challenged me to start one. A few years later I met Marg at one of the books groups, she invited me to join Historical Tapestry and the rest, as they say, is history! 

Marg: In terms of how Historical Tapestry began, I had been chatting with Kelly on MSN Messenger (remember that?) and I said to her I am thinking I would like to do a historical fiction group blog and she said I have been thinking about something similar. I knew Ana from a historical romance focused Yahoo group and initially there were a couple of other people that Kelly and I knew from the Oprah boards. They didn’t stay too long so then we asked Teddy to join us and Alex initially was involved because she did all our fabulous graphics and did a couple of guest posts and then joined permanently.

Kelly: Man, we used to chat on MSN all the time! Now there are so many other ways to chat… Anyway, I remember our initial conversations about starting Historical Tapestry. I even remember the discussion about a name and our search for our first background. (Thankfully we have Alex now, so our backgrounds look much nicer!) It is too bad that our other early members don’t even blog at their own blogs anymore, but I like the group we have now. I did know Teddy a bit, but I only met Ana and Alex through this blog. 

Alex: I’m the latest addition to our group. If my memory is correct, I already knew Marg because we were both in an HF discussion group. Teddy and Kelly I only knew through this blog, but Ana is a good friend of mine for several years now. We used to blog about period dramas (another passion!).

Why do you review historical fiction?

Kelly: I read historical fiction because history is my ‘thing’. I am a huge history buff. I have always been one, too. It was my favourite subject all through school and I took all the variations that were offered. I actually used to read more non-fiction than historical-fiction, but after I graduated from university I was a bit burned out on academic work. And now, my reading interests are just so eclectic it is hard to find time for everything. There are some subjects I still prefer non-fiction to fiction, but for me it is all about experiencing these time periods in a readable way with characters and situations you can get lost in. It just seems to help make history more real when spend time with the characters that lived it. I am not sure if that makes sense, but non-fiction is more aloof than fiction.

Alex: Like everyone in our group, I’ve been interested in history for as long as I can remember. It was really my passion and I even decided to follow this interested and study archaeology and history at university. When I think about it, I enjoy many genres (HF, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, non-fiction…), but each time I need a comfort read, most of the time I choose an HF book.

Ana: I read a variety of genres but historical fiction is my first and biggest passion. Like my blog colleagues I have always been interested in history and reading is one way of making the past come alive.

What trends have you seen in HF novels in the past? What new trends are emerging?

Alex: The most recent HF trend that comes to my mind is the Tudor period. I don’t think I ever saw as many books about those times as these past 10 years or so. Right now I’m noticing an interest in Spanish Inquisition, but maybe this is just wishful thinking.

Ana: Yes, I agree that the Tudors were a big trend. I do hope we get to see some other themes soon though.

Kelly: A more recent trend was the large amounts of books related to the Titanic to coincide with the anniversary of the Titanic sinking. One that I find emerging is WWI books with the upcoming anniversary of the start of that war in 1914. I think that those books will become popular in the next little while. I don’t think anything competes with the Tudor obsession, though.

Is historical fiction growing in popularity? If so, why.

Kelly: That’s a really good question. I have been pondering it since I originally read it. I have found that more blogs seems to talk about historical fiction, but it could also be that I am paying more attention to it. There does seem to be books that are transcending their genre and being read more mainstream. It seemed like for years historical fiction was either something you liked or something you found boring. There was no in-between. Now I find that people who swore off historical fiction entirely, and blatantly admit that in their posts, are sneaking one or two in and then slowly historical fiction is becoming a genre they enjoy. Maybe this is just something I hope is happening?

Who are your readers? What do you know about them? Do you collect specific data about them?

Alex: We do know that most of our readers are from North America, but we don’t really look for any detailed information about them. We have several countries represented in our group (Canada, Australia, Portugal and France) and we know that we have readers from all those nationalities too.

Stats from Sitemeter.com

Ana: Other than that we also know their favourite features on our blog: Reviews and The Why I Love Guest Posts

What features does your blog include? What features are most popular? Are you planning to add any features?

Marg: We do have a few features that we use on a regular basis. Personally, my favourite is the WhyILove feature where authors tell us something they love about their characters, or their story/book. I really enjoy seeing what authors are passionate about in their own books and some of the posts we have had have been completely fascinating. Another regular feature is the BooksofaLifetime where we ask our guests to talk about the books and authors that have influenced them as readers and writers. In addition, there are Spotlights on particular series/authors, CoverStory posts about the book covers for specific titles which might just be different editions or covers from different countries.

We have also been known to run weeks focusing on particular authors. For example, we have had SusannaKearsley, ElizabethChadwick and MichelleMoran as our focus over the years. On a larger scale we are currently in the midst of ourfourthseason, where we spend a month talking about particular author – in this case Daphne du Maurier.

When you add in the HistoricalFictionReadingChallenge and the new feature that we are hoping to announce in our upcoming blogiversary, there’s quite a lot on!

Ana: I think Marg pretty much said it all about the features we currently have. I think we probably have to do a new poll to find out what appeals more to our readers but the Challenge is definitely a favourite.

Do you think of the blog as having a brand? If so, what is it?

Marg: I don’t think that we have consciously developed a brand as such, but thanks to Alex’s fantastic graphics I think we definitely have a cohesive feel to our blog, and we have tried to keep that feel going to the other sites that we use as well.

Do you conduct reviews on a paid basis for any other publications?

Ana: No, I only review for the fun of it. I do receive books from authors for review but that’s about it.

Kelly: Same here.

Marg: Nope. Do it all just for the love of it here too.

Why do you think so many people blog about historical fiction or participate in blogs about historical fiction? What are the implications for writers, agents and publishers?

Ana: I think blogs are an easy and fast way to share information about book releases, likes and dislikes. With so many blogs around today you can choose the one(s) that better fits your reading tastes and interact with people who share the same tastes on a daily basis. I think authors and publishers already see that they can use it as a big promotion tool.

What do you see writers doing differently to market their books and build their platforms? What about publishers?

Marg: There is a definite increase in the number of authors who are looking to online sites like blogs etc to publicise their books, whether it be through guest posting, getting reviews etc and social media like Facebook and Twitter. Anything that helps find your audience is a good thing!

What advice do you have for writers?

Marg: Whilst I wouldn’t dare give advice in relation to actual writing, I would say one thing and that is that at the very least you should have some web presence. Some authors manage to blog, be on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and so much more. I am not suggesting that all authors need to do that, but at the very least there should be a website where readers can go to find out more about the books you have out.

If you are going to do any of the other stuff like blogging then it is important to be consistent. For example, if your blog hasn’t been updated for more than a year and there is no post saying anything as to why, then it just looks bad and it would be better to have no reference to the blog on your website.

Other than that, write on! There are plenty of avid readers out there who are looking for interesting books, with interesting settings and characters!

Top Historical Fiction sites – Reading the Past

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Survey, Top Historical Fiction Sites

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

I am so very pleased to announce that Sarah Johnson of Reading the Past is the first historical fiction blogger to be interviewed. Reading the Past was listed as the number one site in my recent historical fiction survey.

I ‘met’ Sarah online some time ago and we have had several interactions in the ensuing months. I am very grateful that Sarah posted a link to the historical fiction survey on the day it went live.

Sarah has graciously offered to respond to feedback. Please use the comments feature (on the bottom left)  to post your questions.

Why did you start blogging?  Back in early 2006, some of the most in-depth conversations about the genre were happening on blogs, and I wanted to join in with my own thoughts.  Reading the Past didn’t start out as a book review blog; I was already writing many reviews for the Historical Novels Review and hadn’t been looking for a new place to post reviews.  The reviews I did for the site back then were of older, out of print titles, but publishers and authors found me, and many of the novels they offered me were hard to resist.  This is one reason my TBR and house are so overcrowded at the moment.

Why do you review historical fiction?  The majority of my reading material is historical fiction, and I enjoy sharing my thoughts about what I’ve read and recommending worthwhile novels to others.  I don’t have any real preferences in terms of subgenre, time period, or setting, and I especially like informing readers about novels they may not have heard about anywhere else.  It can occasionally be challenging to find something unique to say about each book; in the course of editing the HNR and writing my two historical fiction guides, I’ve written a large number of historical fiction reviews and edited even more, and I don’t care for repeating myself (or anyone else, for that matter).  Coming up with original phrasing to describe an author’s strengths or writing style can sometimes be difficult for that reason, but I take it as a challenge.

In addition, one of the rewards I’ve found in reviewing historical fiction I’ve been assigned, rather than titles I’ve bought and chosen myself, is that I’ve been introduced to many wonderful novels I may not otherwise have read.  Elliot Perlman’s The Street Sweeper is one of these; this assignment made me nervous not only because it was an enormous literary novel that came with pages upon pages of glowing praise, but also because I knew it would take me places I was very hesitant to visit (the Holocaust death camps).  But although it had some scenes I found incredibly difficult to read, I loved the book and am so glad that I was asked to read it.  I also review many “orphan” titles for the HNR, ones that for some reason or other (unpopular setting or theme, typically) don’t get chosen by reviewers.  These often turn out to be excellent reads.  This has taught me to read widely and not limit myself to novels set in certain eras or by favorite authors. In addition, I’m always looking to stretch my writing skills, and I find that there’s little new to learn if I only reviewed novels I would have read anyway.

What trends have you seen in HF novels in the past?  What new trends are emerging?   The famous-women-in-history theme has prevailed for the last decade but may have had its day; I’m still seeing new novels about royalty, but not nearly as many as before.   If readers were to pick up one of these books at this point, they’re going to want to see a unique interpretation, such as can be found in the Tudor fiction of Hilary Mantel or Margaret George.  Austen retellings were popular for ages, but I don’t see as many of these any longer.  Trends come and go depending on the year; for 2012, it’s Titanic fiction, with novels like Katherine Howe’s The House of Velvet and Glass and Kate Alcott’s The Dressmaker.  World War II settings are the latest thing, too, which I find interesting because just ten years ago, there was debate over whether WWII could be considered “historical” at all.   It sat within the living memory of many readers.  Now, many up-and-coming novelists (Kristina McMorris with her Bridge of Scarlet Leaves, for instance) are looking back to their grandparents’ lives and discovering sterling material for fiction.  Multi-time novels are popular, as these books appeal to readers of both contemporary and historical fiction.  Strong female leads are perennial hits – most fiction readers are women – but the field seems to be slightly more open to lesser-known figures or fictional characters.  This will vary depending on the publisher or agent you ask, though!

Is historical fiction growing in popularity? If so, why?   I feel historical fiction is holding steady.  The big renaissance started in the mid-1990s and hasn’t slowed down yet.  There are many readers who are being introduced to historical fiction for the first time – many of them are starting up new blogs, too – and this helps keep the market healthy.

Who are your readers? What do you know about them? Do you collect specific data about them?    My blog stats program (Sitemeter) isn’t very sophisticated; it tells me that about 40% of my readership is American, while the remainder come from Canada, the UK, and various other countries around the world.  I don’t keep data otherwise, although anecdotally I believe it has a strong readership among librarians and library patrons (my blog is linked from a number of library sites).  One thing I’ve discovered is that it’s impossible to gauge readership by blog comments.  Most readers don’t comment (I wish more did!) but I did a mini-survey along with my 6th anniversary giveaway contest, and many readers stopped by to tell me their thoughts about the blog.  The majority were complimentary!

What features does your blog include? Are you planning to ann any features?  I do visual previews of forthcoming books for each season; these have been among the most highly-trafficked posts.  Another favorite feature covered examples of tacky vintage cover art from my personal collection, and I’ve also enjoyed reviewing obscure, out of print historical novels because they don’t get much press anywhere else.  Sitemeter tells me that there are many people out there seeking details on these hits from yesteryear; there are at least a few people each week who find my site by googling for Diana Norman’s Fitzempress’ Law.  I have no plans to implement new features, I have a hard enough time keeping up as it is, but this year I’m participating in the Chunkster Challenge.  It pleases me that I’ve already reached Plump Primer level with eight chunksters (450pp and up) already read during 2012.  Although this may explain why I’m so pressed for time now…

Do you think of yourself as having a brand? If so, what is it?   This isn’t something I’ve thought about, other than in terms of my blog’s tagline: News, Views, and Reviews of Historical Fiction. That about says it as far as a brand goes.  Or it could be restated as: All historical fiction, all the time.

What are your marketing strategies for the blog?   I wish I could say I actively came up with one.  I haven’t gone out of my way to publicize the site, but since it’s been around for quite a while and has many reviews linked from my review/interview index, it tends to come up highly in search results (It’s #2 in Google searches for “historical fiction blog” after Arleigh Johnson’s Historical-Fiction.com).  I have a twitter account and cross-post reviews on Facebook and Goodreads, which adds some additional traffic.

How do your reviews for publications like The Globe & Mail enhance your blog presence? Or vice versa?  Probably mostly in terms of adding variety and additional content.  The novels I’ve reviewed for the Globe have predominantly been popular bestsellers, and if I repost them on the blog after publication (which I’m permitted to do) they draw a larger-than-usual audience to the site.  For Booklist, I’m assigned a wide range of historicals, from epic bestsellers to small-press literary fiction and everything in between.  Each place has different requirements in terms of style and word count, but I aim to keep to the same approach to reviewing regardless of the venue, whether it be a newspaper essay or a blog posting.  I also tend to be offered different review copies for the blog than for professional assignments… for example, publishers and authors of literary historical novels don’t seem to have historical fiction blogs on their radar.  (Hilary Mantel’s novels are the exception.)  Some of the most impressive novels I’ve read over the last 12 months have fit that description, though, so I think some publishers are missing out on an opportunity!

How do you manage to review so many books, work full time and actively participate in HNS?   I’m not sure myself.  The pace has been pretty relentless; the other day I looked at my Goodreads account and noted that I’d written reviews for the last 15 books I’d read.  That’s a lot.  My reading schedule is planned out a while in advance, but I also have to make room for new assignments as they arrive.  After I get home from the library, I spend a good part of each evening reading or answering email. I don’t have much of a life!  One of these days/months/years I hope to read more books I’ve had on the TBR for a while.  I have some conferences coming up that will let me get out of town, but of course they’re all book-related!

Why do you think so many people blog about historical fiction or participate in blogs about historical fiction? What are the implications for writers, agents and publishers?   I imagine it’s because the genre has many enthusiasts and passionate readers, and people want to spread the word about good reads.  That’s why I do it.  If a novel is flawed, I’ll let readers know that too.  Authors are under a lot of pressure nowadays (from their agents or publishers) to get reviewed by bloggers and get their novels mentioned on blogs, and from that standpoint, it’s good that so many historical fiction blogs have popped up in the last few years.  On the other hand, bloggers have a limited amount of reading time, and I know I’m not the only one who’s been inundated with requests for reviews, interviews, guest blog spots, etc.  It can be easy for bloggers to become overwhelmed; the key is to aim for a balance and realize that it’s your blog and you have the right to accept and review only what you want to review.

What do you see writers doing differently to market their books and build their platforms? What about publishers?   Social networking of all types is the big thing, of course – tweeting, Facebook, blogging.  But since everyone’s doing it, or strongly encouraged to do it, it can be hard for an author to stand out from the pack.  I’m also not sure how effective it is at increasing book sales. I have author friends with websites but who don’t blog or tweet because it takes away from their concentration and writing time. As for publishers – it’s rare for readers to choose novels to read according to publisher, but I see them getting their ARCs online with sites like NetGalley in order to reach more potential reviewers.  Sites like this give bloggers the freedom to choose their own review copies, too, rather than waiting for pitches to arrive in their inbox from publishers.  Bloggers can always make requests directly to publicists via email, but it’s often hard to find exactly who to contact.  The trend towards sending extra loot or holding contests just for bloggers seems to be a fading trend, which is fine with me.  I never cared for these since I don’t feel right about accepting remuneration of this type from writers or publishers.  Just the review copy is sufficient.

What advice do you have for writers?   If you plan to request blog reviews, start as early as possible!  Not long ago I was asked about reviewing a historical novel set to come out in winter 2013.  This is so, so helpful.  It was a sign that the writer was prepared, and it gives me nine months to look forward to the book.  Oftentimes writers or their publishers don’t contact bloggers until after the book’s publication date, not realizing, perhaps, that many bloggers have very full schedules and might not be able to find time until 3-4 months later.  Other than that:  get to know the blogosphere and which blogs fit your novel’s topic the best.  Start establishing relationships with the blogs you enjoy early on, and by the time your novel is published, you’ll have a built-in audience who knows about your book and will be willing to consider reading it or interviewing you.  Personalize your requests; proofread your emails (and make sure you have the blogger’s name correct!). Keep it professional, and don’t take it personally if a blogger doesn’t have time to review your book or if it doesn’t fit her interests.  Other than that, just write the best book you can, and if you’re going the self-publishing route, have your manuscript professionally edited before putting it up on Amazon or wherever.  There will always be an audience for well-written historical fiction, and I look forward to reading more of it.

Thank you, Sarah. I’m sure both readers and writers will be fascinated to hear your thoughts.