Kassia Krozser, unpublished fiction author, was feeling under the weather and trying to sleep, but her husband had another idea. He woke her up to tell her his grand idea… RomanceWiki! As he recalls it, she grunted ‘Fine,’ and went back to sleep, though Krozser insists, “I'm sure I was way more enthusiastic than the story goes. I mean, it's an awesome idea.”
Working with the Wiki Format
Krozser and her husband had been looking for a way to work with the Wiki format—an online encyclopedia open to entry creation and editing by virtually anyone—for a while. Wikis, Krozser says, like Wikipedia, one of the most popular sites on the internet, “are really terrific for non-linear content. They're also great for capturing large swaths of inter-connected information. And, of course, they're easy to use. That's really important. I started with a blank page and no plan (for RomanceWiki). First step, learn how things worked. I started by adding information about published friends.”
But there was so much more, she explains: “Then I hit on the notion of building pages for the books and authors who had won RITAs (RITAs are romance fiction awards handed out annually by Romance Writers of America). Then...well, once you start, it's hard to stop.”
In the beginning…
And on February 14th, 2006, RomanceWiki debuted online, “in celebration of the official holiday of romance novels, Valentine’s Day” as the official RomanceWiki history states. “Never before,” it goes on, “has there been a single resource to combine the various elements of the genre: authors, books, publishers, awards, reviews, influences, and connections. In addition to building the history of romance novels, RomanceWiki provides resources for journalists, authors, and readers.”
Readers, Writers Contribute
Krozser is undeniably passionate about the importance of the RomanceWiki, and the people who contribute. “One of the really cool aspects of any wiki is the community. Ours is small but really great. Each person brings a different focus and skills to the project. Some are natural editors, some are innate librarians, some are just fans of a particular author or book. I am huge on research and new content. Most of my efforts are involved in tracking down information about authors and building biographies. It's time-intensive and sometimes difficult. I find it very sad that a woman can write over 20 novels and there's nothing else to say about her. As a genre, we have lost so much of our history and I think it's really important that we stop (losing romance fiction history).”
Krozser is quick to point out that RomanceWiki has been greatly enhanced by a team of dedicated romance fiction devotees. “In the beginning, Jill Monroe (the drawbacks of being my friend) did a lot of work on the Golden Heart pages. Since then, regulars like KayT, Amy, Robin, Dawn and Leigh (among many others!) have done incredible, fantastic, amazing work. As I noted above, each person brings a particular skill or focus to the wiki, and it's really neat to see how all the pieces mesh together."
Asked how RomanceWiki is developing, two years plus down the road, Krozser says, “We have over 15,000 pages. Of those, maybe 11,000 are ‘real’ pages, containing more than the most minimal information. We've had at least 1.5 million page views.” It is, she realizes, an enormous undertaking which will never be ‘done’ in any sense.
“There are a lot of people out there seeking information about romance novels and authors, particularly ‘old’ authors, pre-Internet age authors,” Krozser says. “Violet Winspear, Anne Hampson, Anne Weale, Sara Seale, you name it. People are seeking information about books written by these authors. I think there's a genuine hunger for this information. So I'm really proud of the fact that we-all of us-have created a resource that answers, hopefully, some of these questions for people.”
A Fan of the Genre
Krozser, whose love affair with romance fiction began even before a relative gave her “grocery bags full of old Harlequin Romances” when she was a senior in high school, formerly worked in the motion picture industry. After taking “a (very!) early retirement”, as she puts it, she began work on Booksquare.com in 2004, a site that “focuses on publishing, the future of publishing, and how technology is changing our world” and its sister site Medialoper.com, which focuses on the entertainment industry.
Still, with everything else she has going on, Krozser shows her incredible enthusiasm for RomanceWiki. “If we don't document the good, the bad, and the amazing about the romance genre, who will?” she asks. “Each person who comes to the wiki brings a bit of information. Rather than one person trying to get her arms around the breadth and depth of the genre, we're telling this story a little at a time.”
Krozser is justifiably proud: “I'm thrilled that we have built a place where romance lovers can share what they know and love with others. Maybe it's just one thing,” she says, referring to the millions of bits of information that make up the encyclopedia, “but that one thing is important to someone.”
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