Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

By Danielle Dresser Happy New Year! It’s always exciting to have a fresh start. I thought I’d share my list of things I’m working towards this year, in regards to publicity: 1. Social Media. It seems like everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, is doing it… Some people sing it’s praises, some people hate it. Secret confession—I fall in the latter category. However, it has become a great way for authors and readers to connect, and a fast way to get information out to a targeted audience. Are hashtags really the only way to reach that targeted audience? What can Instagram add to a romance author’s profile (aside from showing the world what you had for dinner)? How many pins does it take to make an impact on Pinterest? I’m not sure I’ll find out all of these answers, but I plan on doing some research into what makes sense. 2. New Romance Media. New blogs pop up every day. New requests for books for review are sent to me every day. Do I approve every single review request that c...

By Danielle L. Jackson  Well, I’ve done it—forgot to post on my scheduled blog day on the Casa blog! It happens right? Actually, no, it’s not! You see, as trivial as it seems, I was scheduled to be on the blog on this day, and we all make a pretty good point to post our blogs up early in the morning so all time zones are accommodated. I also made a commitment to the blog to post once a month—how hard can that be? But, Danielle, you have a million things going on… multiple work meetings every day this week, two book clubs, WEDDING PLANNING, a dog to walk, a fiancé to make dinner for, a dinner party to make dessert for, parents to visit, future-in-laws to keep in the loop, a brother across the country threatening to bring a complete stranger to the wedding as his date… missing the blog is ok, ok? No, still not ok. My public image as a trustworthy, hardworking, multitasking senior publicist is on the line. Even on one blog post, or showing up to a local RWA ...

  As I mentioned in January, I’m getting MARRIED in the Fall! And with all of this wedding stuff (seriously, why didn’t you guys tell me this was going to be a second full time job?), I couldn’t help but see the resemblances between planning a wedding and planning out virtual tours for my romance authors! 1. You have to start early. Almost 10 months before my wedding date, I was signing a contract ensuring I had a great venue for my wedding; around 9 months before I booked a photographer; and at 8 months prior I had a DJ. Different bloggers and review sites have different timelines they follow when booking guest blogs or interviews, but they all like to do things EARLY. There are dates I book for virtual tours almost a year in advance, but then there are others that I can work within 2-3 months. 2. You have to think about other people. Yes I know, everyone says that your wedding is all about you. That’s a LIE. Yes, your wedding should be reflective of your personal...

by Danielle Jackson, Senior Publicist, Sourcebooks Over the last few months, I’ve been invited to speak at various writers conferences—RT Booklovers Convention, Chicago-North’s Spring Fling, RWA National Conference, Evanston Writers Workshop—about publicity and marketing of books in today’s ever-changing publishing climate. It’s always hard for me to prepare for these things, because everyone involved is at a different stage in their publishing journey! But I have noticed some similar questions/ideas come up at almost every event, and I thought I’d share them here today. 1. I have to do all kinds of social media to be successful. I don’t believe this… with so many different ways to connect (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs, Websites, Four Square, Apps, Reddit, Google+… among others), social media can become very overwhelming. My advice to authors is to find one or two that you like and can handle, and stick with those. Can you reach more people if you do more? Perhaps,...

by Danielle Jackson I love gardens—especially the kind that you have to work at for years and finally one day, you look out and see a gorgeous array of flora and fauna. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly), growing a garden reminds me of building an author’s career—because those “silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row” play a big part in the complete picture! Silver Bells Part of my job is to get reviews for our romance novels. Whether they come from trade magazines like Publishers Weekly, RT Book Reviews or book bloggers, the recognition of your book means a lot. What do I use reviews for? Following up with media contacts, to make sure they know about the praise and accolades your book is receiving, adding reviews to press release and media pitches to let people know what everyone is thinks, and helping our content delivery department create pages and pages of praise in the front of your books! And there’s nothing more I love than sending yo...