Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

by Carolyn Brown Thirteen years ago I got my first call from an editor saying that if I'd put some sex in the two books I'd submitted to her that she'd buy them. The line died after I'd sold her six books (four of them were published and the other two are still holding down a shelf in a back room of publisher's never-never land). I submitted to another editor and got the second call saying if I'd take the sex out of the book that I'd submitted to her that she'd buy it. When both calls came I actually managed to sound semi-intelligent even if I was breathless and dancing around like a club footed hippo with an ingrown toenail. Then one of my friends was raving about Sourcebooks and what a great company they were so I decided to pitch Lucky in Love to them. Deb said I could send a full manuscript to her so I did but I figured that I'd just get a nice rejection slip...like most of the time. I almost had enough to wall paper the White House...not that ...

Instead of sharing the first time I received the call, I decided to share the second time because it will give you a sense of why my decision to keep moving forward despite the rejections helped me to hone my craft along the way. Before I do, you need to know that my Purcell ancestors’ motto is Aut Vincam, Aut Periam : I will either conquer or perish.  Two months before my first book was published my editor left, and I was orphaned. Sad but true and not uncommon in this business, unfortunately for me the new editor turned down my next book and another trilogy. Devastated, but undaunted, I kept writing, submitting, receiving rejections and attending conferences and writers' meetings..because the more one writes the better one's writing becomes (IMHO). Thank goodness my characters kept me busy writing while my family kept me sane. I have always believed that because there are hundreds of fabulous writers out there, my book needed to land on the right editor's desk at t...

By: Danielle Jackson My Call is a little different that all of yours. It wasn’t even a call really, but a face to face meeting—I was called into Dominique Raccah’s office (the CEO and publisher of Sourcebooks), and she told me I was going to be working on our Sourcebooks Casablanca Fiction imprint. What?! At that point, being called into Dom’s office was a rare occurrence, and I didn’t know her that well and I was very green to Sourcebooks and quite nervous. You see, when I was hired, I didn’t work on fiction—our department was set up a little differe ntly back then, and I worked on securing radio and internet hits for a variety of books and authors. Sourcebooks Casablanca had only been around for one season as that point—where we had 3 books: Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake by Laurie Brown, No Regrets by Michele Ann Young and Cotillion , a Georgette Heyer reissue. I knew we were gearing up for the next season’s books, but I had no idea what exactly that would mean… but...

Deciding which call story to tell is hard for me. I feel like careers are often baby steps we take as authors. Each step encourages us to keep going. For me, that first moment that I said -- I have to keep going - I have to keep writing - came from a Romantic Times Contest. I was still in the corporate world, about to sell my business, and I dared to enter at RT aspiring writers contest. Then I registered for the convention and went alone. I was SCARED TO DEATH. The first night at the convention, I walked into an event and then walked out and went to my room. I was ready to go home. But I forced myself to a breakfast event and met wonderful people. Later, I found out that I had won first place in the contest. It was a moment I needed, that belief that maybe -- just maybe -- this world could be mine as the corporate world had been. I was shaking when they handed me the award because that is what I do. I shake when I get excited. I hate that about me and I remember being embarrassed. But...

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 ...

My call story is a little unusual. I had to make it myself. I had submitted a book to Avalon Books. I'd been submitting and receiving rejections for a few years so I wasn't surprised when I didn't hear back from Avalon for three or four months. But when six months had passed, I thought, what the hell, it can't hurt to call. I was a little surprised to hear the person who answered the phone say, "Oh, hang on a minute," but I figured maybe the receptionist was busy or flustered or whatever. I later learned that the woman who'd answered the phone was not the receptionist but the editor's assistant and she'd recognized my name. When the editor picked up the phone second's later, I learned why the assistant had passed me on so quickly. "I'm so glad you called," she said. "We've been trying to reach you but the phone number on your query letter is wrong. We want your book." Oops. How the hell had I done that?...

by Tamara Hogan  This month's blog topic is "The Call" - that fabled moment when, with a single phone call, an editor extends a purchase offer that transforms an aspiring author into a pro, regardless of how little experience he or she may have. These days, most of that process is handled via email, and I must admit that I prefer it that way. I'm definitely an email girl. I have email addresses older than some college students, and between my day job, the business of writing, and personal email accounts, I triage over a thousand emails a day. Some I dutifully read and file for later use. About 10% require detailed analysis and response. Others can be skimmed and deleted, a few more discarded bits and bytes tossed, hissing, onto the digital discard pile. But some emails stay with you. In 2009, a very special email hit my in-pan: Sourcebooks editor Deb Werksman, responding to...

Please give a warm welcome to Leigh Michaels, who is back to party with the Casababes to celebrate the release of her second book with Sourcebooks, Just One Season in London! Thank you to the fantastic company here at the Casablanca Authors blog, for inviting me back to celebrate the launch this month of Just One Season in London , my second historical novel. After writing 80 sweet traditional contemporary novels, I was ready for a change – that’s why my most recent books are historical romances instead. But with every book I write, I try to do something different – to push just a little harder, to see if there’s something extra I can do to make the story spectacular for readers. So though Just One Season (like my first historical, The Mistress’ House ) is a triple story, it’s a tale with a difference. This time the three stories are woven together. The three romances of the Ryecroft family – young Viscount Ryecroft, his sister Sophie, and their mother Miranda – are going ...

Please welcome fellow Casablanca Author, Stephanie Rowe , whose second book in her super sexy Soulfire series is in stores this month! Hooray! I'm SO excited for the launch party for my new book, TOUCH IF YOU DARE , the second book in my Soulfire series. I love all the books in this series, and I adore all the manly warriors who are so resistant to their softer side (e.g. "Who me? Expert hair stylist? I have no idea what you're talking about." Tattooed warrior attempts an innocent expression while shoving his round hairbrushes behind his oh-so-sharp sword.) Yep, you got it. Jarvis Swain, the uber dangerous and terribly tormented Guardian of Hate has been outed. The man can French-braid like there's no tomorrow, and he gets off on sifting his fingers through those silken locks of Death's more troublesome assistant, Reina Fleming, much to the delight of her desperate and over-stressed soul. When a man can wield a deadly sword and help you save your sister...