So here we come to the Great Season of giving thanks. If you don't mind, I'd like to give thanks and also to really go off on how incredible the people are behind the scenes of the Romance Novel business. Repeatedly I am amazed at how large this industry is. The number of books that hit the shelves every year is only growing. Last year, in 2002, there were an estimated 51 million Romance Readers. Make no mistake about it, this industry of book selling is huge!
Little known though, are the amazing, talented men and women behind the scenes that make it all come together. I've been so lucky to have had the chance to get to know many of them, and I'm very enriched by the experience.
Did you know that 99% of all book covers are shot in just four studios here in NYC. Studios by Michael Frost, Shirley Green, Michel LeGrou, and Bob Osonitch respectively are the pros behind it all. Beyond their mastery of shooting and lighting, they have developed a knowledge of the body and of emotion - and how to bring it out of two people in front of the camera and capture it forever.
From the lens to the canvas, the work goes to the Artists who flesh out our images and breathe such beautiful color, depth and feeling into our still forms. Alan Ayers, Franco Accornero, Steve Brennan, George Cornell, Pino Daeni, Jaime DeJesus, Jim Griffin, Greg Gulbronson, Richard Newton, Rob Papp, Jon Paul, Anthony Russo, and fabulous Judy York - these are some of the finest in their fields. Many have sites and galleries, even books of their own. And they deserve it. Their work is so beautiful, you would be thrown off by their unpretentiousness if you ever have the favor to meet them.
Professionally - it is these people that make this industry work.
Individually - they are some of the great people I have come across thus far in my life. Not for their talents, but for their unassuming humbleness and genuineness. I enjoy going to see and work for them as often as they'll have me. They are the reason that I got turned on to this business. To them, I owe a very large debt for allowing me to share a part of this world. Thanks, really.
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