Tossing out the Ritas by Cheryl Bolen

I was outraged this week when I received a communication from an organization I’ve been committed to for three decades, the Romance Writers of America. The new replacement board—after the organization’s entire board resigned at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020—decided to scrap our Rita awards and rename them the Vivian.

Membership was not consulted about this move. 

The Rita has been for more than 30 years the romance writers’ equivalent of the Oscars. It’s even a gold statuette of an elegant lady in a long dress, and the winning books are voted upon by peers. It’s the highest possible honor, imo, that a romance author could ever attain. Like the Oscars, it’s presented at a gala ceremony at the national group’s annual conference with many hundreds of onlookers. Most the honorees coming swishing up to the stage in long formal gowns.

It’s a really big deal.

It’s About White and Black

The original Rita award was named after two of the RWA’s six founders, Rita Clay Estrada and her mother, Rita Gallagher, who both happened to be white.

RWA’s new board thinks the award should have been named after another of the organization’s founders, Vivian Stephens, who is black.

I believe the board’s rationale is that they perceive the Rita contest has discriminated against women of color. No African American had ever received a Rita until 2019, when two different winners were African Americans.

Apparently, this new board wants to completely revamp the award by throwing out everything about it to make it more inclusive to women of color.

The topic of inclusion is not being addressed in this blog.

Erasing History in One Fell Swoop

My gripe is that this board has wiped away the award’s prestige which had been painstakingly built over a period of 30 years. Publishers had come to slap “Rita Winning Author” or “Rita Finalist” on book covers. Publishers and agents alike had come to recognize that authors who had been nominated for Ritas were authors of the highest caliber. And authors, like me, who had never won a Rita have long aspired to one day wear a title like “Rita Winner” or “Rita Nominee” or to walk up on that stage and collect the award in front of our peers.

It had taken a number of years for the industry to recognize the importance of the Ritas, but it had come to be a meaningful award in the romance publishing industry. The award gave credulity to a genre that had gotten a negative reputation for many years.

Think about renaming the Oscars the Hatties after Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Oscar. 

Perhaps because I write historical novels, I’m a huge advocate of history and tradition. I don’t like changing either. I’m angry that this new board has slapped in the face all those talented authors who have earned Ritas during the last three decades.—Cheryl Bolen’s June 1^st release is the Christmas novella, One Room at the Inn, which appeared in last year’s USA Today bestselling anthology titled Winter Wishes. This is the first time her novella has been for sale in English as a solo title.

Getting Paid to Write by Cheryl Bolen

The Author’s Guild recently released a survey that has shaken the publishing industry, particularly authors because it glaringly demonstrates significantly reduced incomes over the last several decades. This didn’t really come as news to those vanishing “midlist” authors at the big publishing houses who’ve seen their advances and print runs shrink along with their incomes.

Our Romance Writer of America’s Published Authors’ email loops have been buzzing with that topic. Those who want to see the full survey from Authors Guild can read the harrowing facts here.

Internet Has Made Publishing Accessible to All

We’ve always had writers who were so eager to get their work published they would either give it away or sell it for almost nothing. Then we’ve had writers who spent many years developing their craft to the point where they could expect to be compensated at a respectable level for delivering a product that had value. The way the internet has made publishing so accessible to all has contributed to the industry's financial chaos.

I remember when one of my journalism professors decades ago said the only way you could get an “A” in his class was to sell your feature article. “You can always find a publication that will print stuff for free,” he said. He wanted his students to aim higher. (By the way, I did make an “A.” And I’ve never devalued my work since then.)

Authors are saying they “have” to write whether they get paid or not. I get that. I can’t imagine not writing. I’ve always written. I earned a living for two decades, full time, writing for newspapers. I could support a family on what I earn writing books. I knock off articles for my local RWA newsletter. I blog. The latter two, I do gratis.

Writing Novels is Hard Work

I can’t imagine not writing. HOWEVER, and, yes, there’s a reason I capitalized that word, there’s no way I would make myself sit in my chair all day, every day grinding out novels if I didn’t earn a nice income doing so. Writing novels is very hard work. I sold my first one more than 22 years ago, and it doesn’t ever get any easier. They DO NOT write themselves. Plot problems keep me awake at night. Deadlines interfere with life.

I admit I love what I do. I love writing. I love being in charge of my own schedule, working in my yoga pants, throwing clothes in the washer as I write. I love starting a book and finishing a book. I love the satisfaction of finishing a book of which I'm proud. But there are plenty of things about writing that are just plain hard. Like the middle of the book.

All You've Got is a Blank Page

And I’ll say writing non-fiction is much, much easier. You’ve facts to gather and organize, and I’m a good organizer. With fiction, all you’ve got is a blank page. You’ve got to imagine every single scene. Make up every character, every word of dialogue. Don’t bore your reader. Have an interesting, unique plot, great romance. Yada, Yada, Yada. 

So, no, I would not write novels for piddly money. After so many years of writing I would retire if I weren’t still making good money. I would travel even more than I already do. After all, my husband has already retired. 

I happen to be one of the fortune authors who makes a decent income writing novels, and I’m very grateful to my loyal readers who allow me to continue doing what I love to do. –Cheryl Bolen’s 39^th book, Last Duke Standing, released in January. She’s currently working on the lead novella for a Regency Christmas anthology to release in October.

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