American-set historicals

What is the state of the romance genre when it comes to American-set historicals?  Regencies and Scotland, of course, sell well.  And vampires.  I'm being told that American-set historicals are a hard sell, especially in the romance genre.  Why would that be?

Digital publishers ARE publishing these, yet traditional publishers seem to shy away from them. Why the gap?  And are they selling well?  I don't know how to get numbers on digital publishing--will have to ask my friend Karen Harbaugh, who's an absolute genius at divining trends from the market. If they're selling well digitally, then why wouldn't print publishers be interested? 

Is it because Americans think they already know their history?  Is it because American history is somehow seen as 'unromantic', and therefore not worthy?  We obviously didn't have kings and queens strutting around doing odd things, throwing lavish parties or building pleasure palaces.  And Americans are a practical lot.  Even in colonial times, education and reading material was almost exclusively based on useful information; growing crops, staying warm. . . .staying alive.  Things that were "fun" were frowned upon because they took time away from the important business of living. 

Or is it a lack of authors willing to take a risk and write in this area?  Geralyn Dawson, Sharon Ihle and Alexis Harrington all have e-books or even a traditional book (in the case of Alexis Harrington) out right now that are American-set historicals.  Westerns have had their rise and fall in popularity, but haven't hit the sustained sales figures of Regencies and Scottish-set historicals.  If it's because people like to read about other places and times, then American-set historicals should be selling well in the U.K. and elsewhere.

Thoughts?  Am I missing something here?

What to cut?

Since I've been in editing mode for a while now, I'm finding in some parts it's darned difficult to tell what needs to be cut versus kept versus re-written.  Kept some scenes, but did a POV switch.  I **think** it's better, but crap, when you're in the middle of it all, it's really hard to be objective.

Of course, since it's my book and by definition I love it, I can justify keeping just about anything.  That's what happened the first time I came at this.  I cut it from about 103,000 words to about 102,500.  Not exactly an effective job.  It's kind of like getting a run at Queen Anne Hill in the snow, getting halfway up and then sliding back down to the bottom (Snow reference since we're in the middle of Snowmageddon here). 

This time I'm trying to focus with a laser beam on the primary internal conflict between the h/h and also what their own internal conflicts are.  As much as possible, anything that deviates from that gets extra scrutiny.  Or at least I hope it does.

Do you have a technique for the first pass, second pass, subsequent passes?  Or do you look for specific things each time?  My "technique" is pretty darned hit-and-miss right now, but I'd probably be a lot more effective if I could refine this a bit. 

So what are your tips for editing?

Really??

Here's something I found on a to-be-unnamed freelance site:

Job: Ghostwriter for historical romance novel
Budget:  $500 to $1,000
Description: I am looking for a writer to write a novel with a historical romance theme.  I have no specifics for the story, so you would need to come up with title, plot, characters, etc.  It must be original, engaging, sexy, fast moving, short chapters, and grab the reader from the first page.  I am not looking for a long, drawn out romance.   We will own all rights including resell and rights.  You will not be permitted to use the content for any other purpose.The novel must be 120 pages minimum, 300 pages maximum.  I also need you to include:- 3 Recommendations for a title (must be original and unique)- A basic 1-2 paragraph summary/report description that simply explains what the novel is about and what it covers.  - table of contents.  Delivery within 60 days of author selection.  I'd like to see a detailed outline with full character descriptions within 10 days.  Daily updates (short emails) are required. This is a very easy job for the right person.   Suggested payment schedule: $25 for plot development and delivery with character descriptions (2-3 pages)  $50 for first 10 pages.  $50 for next 10 pages  $100 when first 100 pages are delivered  $100 on first draft delivery of full novel.  Balance on final delivery of proofread document. 

Is the person posting this job naive, crazy, or out to insult writers?  The sad part is, people with no idea how to write a good work of fiction will bid on this, and someone around the $500 amount will win, and another work of bad romance will be pushed out there for readers, editors and reviewers to point to.  Does the person posting this job think they'll make tons of money off the work, once it's "published"? (I put that in quotes because I doubt the end result will be publishable by any reputable house, so it will have to go self-publishing, which will once again dilute the quality for all those good romance authors self-publishing out there).  Or would someone with an old manuscript that's been rejected hundreds of times decide to utilize this as a way to get some quick money?

Would you take a job like this? 

Revising and editing

Okay, I'm going to get this book edited/ revised by the end of January or die trying.  Anyone else in revision mode?  Anyone have suggestions?  This is not my favorite part of the process, so I'm looking for any and all help I can find.