We went to the Auto Show this past weekend, to look at cars. It sounds mad, doesn't it? Walk for miles, weave through the crowds, and just to look at every car that is now available, or may never be if you're examining a hybrid prototype. And you can sit behind the wheel of some of them and pretend you're driving. Brilliant marketing strategy.
Granted, it was largely a testosterone fueled herd that milled about, but there were plenty of females examining the goods. If you're in the market for a new car, whether it's the family taxi or something that fits in the most minuscule of city parking spots, there's no better place to see the full range of every manufacturer. Beats going from dealership to dealership, and it's more organized that the average car lot.
Harlequin was sorely missed at the auto show. What were they thinking, or rather, how did they not think of it? A new line is about to be released, the same old love sopped soap operas, but now, with a NASCAR theme. The Army was there this weekend, pushing their product line (over an hour wait just to sit in the tank), so why not a booth near the Bridgestone Tire display, featuring the new books?
Not all the NASCAR lovers were at the Daytona 500 over the weekend, and surely Harlequin could afford to send one or two reps with a crate of books. Hand out book markers, let the ladies know about the new car-oriented theme that will soon arrive in a Wal-Mart near you. Publicity is everything in marketing.
The tie-in is a natural, especially if Harlequin is trying to appeal to their readers by giving them stories that they can relate to. Make that male protagonist a NASCAR driver and she can almost imagine her significant other as a more desirable suitor. After all, he's doubtless imagining himself as a race car driver as it is, so for the female reader, it's not a stretch to go from her everyday humdrum existence to the oil-soaked pits of the track. It's been a difficult exercise in imagination to picture the dolt as a Regency lord of the manor. At least a NASCAR driver probably looks a bit like the man of the house.
The basic plots are the same from one Harlequin romance to the next, usually involving the boy meets girl, loses girl, gets girl spin. Literary agents are looking for fresh, new takes on the old line, and by setting the tale in a different place, the author has a chance at publication. After all, there's only so many paranormal vampire love stories that are going to be bought before the genre crashes and burns.
Romance authors, start your engines.
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