Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Each year at Book Expo America, I think that we can’t possibly top last year, but I’ll say once again that we had the best BEA in the history of Sourcebooks.  BEA 2014 In past years, agents have sometimes expressed surprise at Sourcebooks’ breadth (“I didn’t know you published Romance and Children’s Books, and Women’s Fiction, and Study Aids, and YA…”). This year the agents were thoroughly familiar with Sourcebooks and how successful we are.  We met with so many literary agents and other industry professionals who pitched many promising projects that we are actively pursuing. Everyone was very excited to meet with us and stay a while in our exceptional booth. Melanie and Suzanne Brockmann I saw that the agent community is working hard to keep abreast of and understand the numerous changes in the marketplace. Across the board, we all agreed that a robust and multifaceted publishing industry is best for everyone. This includes the importance of...

I can't really tell my call story without telling you a bit about my publishing journey. It's slightly unorthodox, at least that's what they tell me. Back in 2008 I had finished my very first manuscript and had the audacity to send it out... to everyone. Agents, publishers, editors--you name it. If they published romance I wanted them to take a look at my book. Clearly, I didn't have the vaguest notion about what I was doing. No agent. No RWA chapter because I was under the mistaken impression that you had to be published to be involved in RWA. Ummm no. Let's face it. I had NO idea what I was doing. Anyway, as you can imagine, I was rejected a lot and by just about everyone. Oh, I had several nibbles, requests for full manuscripts and so on but mostly they said, "No thank you." By the summer of 2009 my book was available as an ebook and with some wrangling, print on demand. However, I realized pretty quickly that my book wasn't going to be on all the ...

By Danielle Jackson I don’t think I’m alone if I say that once you work in publishing, procrastination goes out the window. There’s literally no time to even think about procrastinating. As many of you know, publishing is a HUGE group effort—from our copy editors to our designers to our web team to our authors, it takes a lot of people to make one book… and Sourcebooks publishes around 300 books a year! Just think about what would happen if ONE person were to push things aside and put even the smallest kink in the process… Luckily, we’re pretty efficient over here at Sourcebooks (and that’s not to say that there haven’t been issues with late books or cover re-designs at the last minute), and even when something does have to be arranged differently, we stay flexible to make the proper changes. However, I do find small ways to procrastinate, in ways that won’t be detrimental to our publishing machine (which is wild and crazy and generally makes no sense): -I won’t answer a...

by Mary Margret Daughtridge Beginning writers are often advised to “Write what you know.” Beginning romance writers are told to “Write the book you would love to read.” If that wouldn’t be a romance, you’re out of luck, according to Donald Maass. "Romance," he says, "cannot be faked."Fortunately for me, romance is what I love, and today I launch my third: SEALed with a Ring. A publishing contract usually specifies a number of copies of the book that the author will receive as part of the deal. Typically your author’s copies arrive a few weeks before the book goes on sale. It’s neat. You see it before anyone else does. You slit the brown tape on the box and are immediately transported by the heady zing of fresh ink, the clean, woody aroma of paper that hasn’t been touched. You slide your fingers over the cover, relishing the smooth slipperiness of plastic coated colors. And then you take the books out and line them up side, by side, by side, by side. You...

It's always a good thing when an author loves their publishing house, and I've been very fortunate to love mine. The owner of Sourcebooks, Dominique Raccah, is a fascinating woman, who approaches authors and the industry in an entirely different way, and perhaps this is the reason for Sourcebooks fantastic success...especially during a time when most publishing houses are cutting back and/or closing lines. So it's with a great deal of pride that I'm passing along an article about Sourcebooks that appeared in Shelf Awareness (one of several articles that can be found here: http://news.shelf-awareness.com/mv/a1/804583.html ): Sourcebooks: '21st Century Book Publisher' "We're a company that's transforming in an industry that's transforming," said Dominique Raccah, founder, CEO and publisher of Sourcebooks, Naperville, Ill. Her goal, she said, is to make Sourcebooks into "what a 21st Century book publisher would look like."Here's ...

By Robin Kaye My friend Kate Duffy, the Editorial Director for Kensington, died Sunday and I spent Monday and Tuesday before writing this, laughing and crying (sometimes simultaneously) thinking about our time together. Kate was only 56 when she died, but she’d been referring to herself as a crusty old broad since I met her. Kate was wise beyond her years. She had a wicked sense of humor, and was the biggest proponent of the romance genre. In my opinion, she was the most outstanding author advocate God put on this earth. Kate was blunt—she never sugarcoated anything, but she was also one of the most giving and insightful women I ever met. Kate Duffy was a living legend in the world of Romance publishing. But to me, she’ll forever be my favorite crusty old broad. I met Kate at my first writer’s conference five or six years ago on the patio of Hilltop House, the old hotel that used to house the Washington Romance Writers Retreat. She invited me to sit with her and asked me about my work....

By Robin Kaye Last weekend I spoke at my local library about writing, my path to publication, my books, and the general state of publishing. I’m told I had a great crowd, which amazed me because there were only about 10 people in attendance, all of whom I knew. Still, it was a lot of fun to have the opportunity to speak to crowd who was actually interested in what I had to say. The best part was when my favorite librarian got off from work early to join the group. She regaled everyone with the story of how I would come into the library a few days a week, check out a gazillion books and tell her about the book I was writing. I remembered how much fun I had writing my first book. I had three small children at home and had moved across the country to a place where I had no friends or family. I came to writing through a back door, or so I like to think. I felt as if I needed to write. I needed the creative outlet that writing gave me. It never occurred to me that anyone else would be inter...

One of my new year’s resolutions for this year (whoa—when did it become April?!?!) is to try to be more green—look into ways to conserve energy, even on a small level. I grew up in a house that was very big into recycling, and it’s something I continue to do each day. And while I have to drive to the SB office every day, I’m attempting to slow down (attempting is the key word) in my fuel efficient vehicle. However, publishing is still very much a “paper-based” business. More and more, many of our processes are turning to virtual and online modes, but sometimes, when I look at the amount of paper I work with everyday, it’s unsettling! One thing that Sourcebooks is doing, though, is publishing books on how to be green. We’ve had two come out in the past year: Green Chic and The Green Bride Guide , very cool, fun and PRACTICAL books on going green. They cover all budgets, all lifestyles, are super cute and even better—they’re printed on 100% recycled paper! Something that seems to be pop...

By Robin Kaye The kids are on Spring Break, the daffodils are blooming, and it’s snowing. Okay, it’s not snowing today, but it was yesterday. Here in Maryland (and Central Pennsylvania) it flurried on and off all day. There is just something so wrong about snow-covered daffodils in April. Just when I was contemplating storing all my sweaters away in my antique cedar trunk, the temperature dropped and I was frozen again. And to add insult to injury, I had to drive through what looked like a blizzard. Of course, as soon as the snow hit the windshield or the ground it melted. Still, the snow was coming down in those big, honkin’ flurries—the kind that make you want to run around with your tongue hanging out to try to catch them. If it hadn’t been almost Mid-April, I would have enjoyed it. I suppose the changing of the seasons has me on edge, and for a few weeks, I’ll be wondering if I’m experiencing spring or if winter has returned. There are seasons to everything and they all change at p...

by Danielle Jackson When you lovely ladies are reading this, I will more than likely be sitting outside in the freezing Philadelphia winter, watching Navy take down Army in their college football game! Most of you know my little brother (who is quite tall and can lift me over his head) attends the Naval Academy, and I am beyond proud of him ! So, I won’t be commenting back to you all today, but while I’m sitting in the cold, surrounded by sailors, I’ll be thinking of you—who knows, my little scenario might even inspire a scene in one of your books, haha! I thought this particular blog would be appropriate an appropriate time to discuss what you should do in the "off season" because the entire Casablanca fiction line finds itself in a bit of a lull—no new books in stores in December and January? What should you be doing? What can we do to continue the buzz? Is it too early to start talking about the next books? And what about our fresh newbies chomping at the bit—what should ...

by Danielle Jackson On Tuesday, The New York Observer posted this article about the current economic struggles and publishing—what does this mean for romance publishing in particular? It’s something I’ve been thinking about and that Sourcebooks has been thinking about, as we head into the winter months and begin pushing for holiday sales. While “budget” has become a buzz word in almost every workplace, and even in the home, Romance Fiction continues to be a booming industry. People are searching for an escape from these hard time and many turn to romance fiction—in particular mass market romance fiction—to lift their spirits. RWA reports that Romance fiction generated $1.375 billion in sales in 2007, so people are out there, eagerly reading! I know you are all committed to doing whatever it takes to make your books be as successful as they possibly can. We’re a great team, with an awesome and dynamic new romance line bringing fresh voices, new ideas and interesting books that don’t f...

by Malena Lott We live in a society of labels, so it's no surprise one of the first questions people ask upon introduction is, "What do you do?" Over the years I've "been" many things. Eckhart Tolle ( A New Earth, The Power of Now ) says he usually answers, "I'm a writer," because, "I Am" just doesn't cut it for most people. Unlike a lot of answers, I suppose, "I'm a writer," typically gets a raised brow. A humph. Or an oooh/aaah reply. "Really? That's cool. What do you write?" I usually start with the biggie. "Novels." Then add, "fiction," because there are still a lot of people that don't know that a novelist is an author of fiction. I'd say 9 out of 10 times, the person goes on to say, "I could never write a book. Wouldn't even know where to begin." Everyone knows what a daunting task undertaking a novel can be. Especially those in the thick of i...