The Perfect PR Recipe

I spend a lot of time thinking about what will “break” a book—what does it take to bring a book to not only its fullest potential, but also the next level? I wish there was a direct answer, but something I’ve learned over my almost 3 years with Sourcebooks is that each book and author is different, but by starting out small and (sometimes slowly) building upwards and outwards, world domination is just around the corner.

For example, when I started in late 2007, we had 2 romance novels (Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake by Laurie Brown and No Regrets by Michele Ann Young) and 1 Georgette Heyer novel (Cotillion) in stores. Now, Sourcebooks Casablanca publishes 5-8 mass market romance novels each month, by February 2012 we’ll be the North American publisher of all of Heyer’s novels (including a rare reprint of her book of short stories!), and we’re home to authors who are trying new things in the romance genre, not to mention a fun and busy group blog where you can find so many of them in one place! And did I mention award-winning? Just last week we found out we have FOUR RT Book Reviews Reviewers' Choice nominees (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!):

Best Regency-Set Historical Romance
Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale

Best Historical Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
The Fire Lord's Lover by Kathryne Kennedy

Best Historical Fiction
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley

Best Historical "Knight in Shining Silver" (or Best Historical Hero)
Armand Harcourt from The Making of a Gentleman by Shana Galen

Just like a lot of recipes that you go back to year after year, when you give that recipe to a friend or family member, it just tastes different. One of the most fulfilling, and yet challenging, things about my job is figuring out what works for each and every one of our authors (and there are 30+ of you!). There are certain basics that will never change—so don’t get any funny ideas that I’m not going to put you on a blog tour during your pub month—but those new and unexpected things that happen every day are always interesting to explore!

And now—a recipe that I stole from my mother (affectionately known around these parts as Mama Jackson), and modified ever so slightly—don’t tell her, but I think my way is better  Honestly, I don’t even like pumpkin pie (or pumpkin anything really, aside from pumpkin seeds), but I’d roll around in a tub of this. It has become my go-to dessert to bring to Fall and Holiday parties, and the general consensus is a long “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.” Enjoy!

Pumpkin Smush Cake

Ingredients
- 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin pie filling (not just pumpkin puree—pumpkin pie filling, there’s a difference. Most of the time, I can only find the pumpkin pie filling in the 30 oz. size, and will use about 3/4 of the can... no need to adjust the rest of the recipe, because it's a lovely pumpkinny flavor. The brand is Libby's.)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (You can buy this, but it’s one of those pricey spices that comes in a tiny little jar… I just make a mix of equal parts nutmeg and cinnamon and a bit of ginger, to counter all of the sweetness)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk (not condensed!)
- 1box yellow cake mix (any will do—I generally buy what's on sale)
- 2 sticks of butter
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I put WAY more than this, probably around a cup or a cup and a half; the nuts add a texture to the dessert that I find entirely necessary to have across all of it)

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease a 9x13 pan
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together pumpkin pie filling, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt and evaporated milk
- Pour mixture into greased pan
- Sprinkle cake mix over top of mixture (some will seep into the mixture—this is ok)
- Melt butter; drizzle melted butter over top of mixture
- Sprinkle nuts on top
- Bake for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean (because I use a bit more pumpkin filling, I usually have to let it back for an hour and ten minutes or so)
- Serve warm or cold with whipped cream (you can be an overachiever like me and make your own! Oooooor you can just buy it [lame])