When I started reading romances, I only knew of a couple other readers who liked romance books. They were my twin sister and a few of our friends. We traded, recommended, and discussed the books as often as we could. When we finally got our drivers licenses, we would pile up in a car and make trips to romance-friendly bookstores.
Our group of readers was small. I knew these romance readers because they were already in my circle of friends. Eventually our reading tastes shifted and developed, and we realized we wanted very different things from our books. One was really into the dark gothic stories while another was on the perpetual hunt for traditional Regencies. As for me, I couldn't get enough of the Harlequins and the contemporaries.
Then came the Internet.
I was thrilled when authors I've read for years put up their own websites. I found out more about their books, their booklists and what was coming next. I thought it was great when Harlequin developed their online community at eharlequin.com. I now could hear from others who read the same kind of books I did. I couldn't imagine anything better than that.
Until the emergence of bulletin boards and blogs. And then there was Yahoogroups, which allowed people of a specific interest to go off on their own and discuss. Suddenly there was MySpace, where a reader could gather all of her friends and her specific interests onto one page.
Our group of readers was small. I knew these romance readers because they were already in my circle of friends. Eventually our reading tastes shifted and developed, and we realized we wanted very different things from our books. One was really into the dark gothic stories while another was on the perpetual hunt for traditional Regencies. As for me, I couldn't get enough of the Harlequins and the contemporaries.
Then came the Internet.
I was thrilled when authors I've read for years put up their own websites. I found out more about their books, their booklists and what was coming next. I thought it was great when Harlequin developed their online community at eharlequin.com. I now could hear from others who read the same kind of books I did. I couldn't imagine anything better than that.
Until the emergence of bulletin boards and blogs. And then there was Yahoogroups, which allowed people of a specific interest to go off on their own and discuss. Suddenly there was MySpace, where a reader could gather all of her friends and her specific interests onto one page.
I've heard of Bebo and Facebook, but I haven't really looked into those to see what makes them different than MySpace. Why haven't I looked? Because I'm busy building my shelf at Shelfari.com. Add a book on the shelf and you will immediately find out who else has that book on their shelf. This is a reader's paradise.
I wished I had this community when I was a teenager and trying to find a book that would deliver what I want, but there is a price to the sense of connection. All of this technology is quickly becoming an addiction—and eating into my reading time!
Susanna
