Lucynda Storey-Erotic Romance Writer

One would think the publisher of Romantic Times BOOKreviews Magazine would be smarter than they are.    This group opened a can of worms when they refused to act responsibly in dealing with the flak from promo row. 

How could they have done better?

1. They could have called Laura Baumbach and told her that her promo was removed.

2. They could have requested Laura’s promo be moved.

3. They could have addressed the box issue with management on their own.

4. They could have backed up Laura with support to the Hyatt management that her promo items were not the most risque items out in plain view. (And it wasn’t.)

5. They could have pointed out that guests should not have been in the convention area (there were no hotel sleeping rooms on the 2nd floor level and the pool was located on the 6th floor).

6. They could have requested to know the number of complaints the Hyatt actually received.  One, ten, one hundred?

7. They could have asked why the Hyatt management only discriminated against Laura’s promotional items.

8.  They could have asked why the management had no issues with the book trailer videos that were also far more risque than anything on author’s tables.

9.  They should not have suggested Laura make sure her promo was “appropriate” (because children would be present)  for the book signing…meaning just what they didn’t explain.  At Sharon’s own personal confession, that Laura’s items were far more tame than the het writers, RT could have and should have screened the book trailers that were displayed for public consumption.

10. They could have protested  the discriminatory behavior of the Hyatt to the appropriate management at the hotel and higher.

The sad fact is that the Romantic Times BOOKreviews Magazine did none of these things to our knowledge, and if they did, they failed to inform Laura.   In addition, RT is refusing to answer the emails of those complaining about the obvoius discrimination against Laura and her gay erotica, and are harassing Laura at home.  Laura paid her money for services she did not get and has no need to address these people any longer. 

 Laura did nothing wrong…it is the staff of Romantic Times that needs to address the concerns of the authors they take money from for advertising.  It is Romantic Times that needs to look at and clearly state their policies regarding reviewing m/m romances, it is Romantic Times that needs to ask for author information regarding the romantic genres they write so authors can make better informed decisions of where to spend their limited promotional funds, and it is Romantic Times that needs to make it easy for authors to communicate this information.

Some say the winds of change are happening at Romantic Times.  On the surface, it looks like a trip back to Salem.