I've been interviewed!!!
From Lulu Press Italy. The interview is in italian and here is the link:
http://people.lulu.com/blogs/view_post.php?post_id=40425
I try to translate it for you, but you have to be indulgent with me, cause Italian/English translation is not my field..
"The Blogosfera is commonly recognized as the virtual place where not only people can interact and exchange views on the most various topics, but also a channel through which, in real time, emerging trends that are the hint of what a great part of population, global or loval, feels the need to investigate and discuss with their peers. In this sense, Blogosfera allows a democratization of thought on a large scale that would otherwise be difficult to reach, with "traditional" methods of communication. You can so discover worlds, made of real people, that you really have never thought, or that we believed sleeping from a long time ago. And we realize that perhaps we have the radar a bit rusty.
Take the romance in Italy, for example. All of us, the female is a must when it comes to romance, remember perfectly the Harlequin series we "eat" during our adolescence and that made us dream ... The general impression is that many of us are then took a distance from this genre considered light and for girls or bored housewives, but is it really so? The Blogosfera tells a very different story...
Elisa Rolle, with whom I have long spoken on the phone, has enlightened me on the matter: until recently she take part to 'Isn't it Romantic' blog, born in May 2006. She recently opened another blog on the same theme, 'Rosa is for Romance' which attracts about 200 unique visitors per day, of which 80% comes from Italy, which total access to an average of 800 pages. Elisa has understood that women wish to speak and read romance when, a couple of years ago, she sold on eBay, in a nutshell and at high price, many old romances that she could no longer accommodate at her home in Padua. Thus, by rising star of the digital market, she has turned into spokesman of the romance in Italy, activity that doesn't fills her pockets with money (in fact she continues to work as an process analyst for bank software solutions), but which allows her to cultivate her passion with enthusiasm. 'Rosa is for Romance' is available in Italian and English and consists of a section 'News' which reported the release of new books, a space reserved for chatting with the authors, which is very popular among readers and an area dedicated to curiosity, such as emerging genres and booktrailers. Through statistical tracking website and interaction with the readers, Elisa has a fairly precise idea of her readership: it is an average of women between 20 and 35 years, with a good knowledge of the Internet. Among the more active visitors there are housewives, wanna to be writers, clerck - these are examples to demonstrate how various are the professional profiles. As for the geographical distribution in Italy, there is a good balance between the various parts of the country, although there is a trend towards a slight increase in the centre-south.
It's interesting what Elisa told me about the changes occurring in the world of the romance in Italy in the last ten years. In the past romance books were generally of lesser quality, virtually all American imports, and attracted an audience less demanding from the intellectual point of view. Over the years some things have changed. It remains always a certain mistrust towards the Italian authors who are considered less capable. Few known names: Mariangela Camocardi, Ornella Albanian and Theresa Melville, in fact very italian. Indeed, the stranger names like and books written by Italian authors represent only 15% of the total. The romance is still underestimated in Italy, so much so that some Italian online retailers, for example, do not have a 'romance' category in their catalogues. Exentially the romance books, in our country, are published by Harlequin (the famous Harmony) and Arnoldo Mondadori which distributes through newsstands. What has changed in the way the romance is proposed in Italy, reflects the change in women in recent years. Women today are more cultured, they work more high profile, are more accustomed to get what they want - even in the field of books. Having a busy life, many women looking for a book to relax, recreation, enjoy an happy ending after many troubles in their life. The book may 'have a light content', but 'banality' but is little tolerated. The publishing houses are opening their eyes to this reality and today propose things more interesting. Elisa believes that the Internet has helped. For example, in the past there was a tendency to cut imported books till 30%, mainly due to the need for distribution at newsstands, with an impact on the quality of the text. Today, thanks to the vision that the Internet has given to the readers and the resulting power to be able to share opinions, something is moving." (Cristina Zorat)