Today I slipped into the RT Booklovers Convention to hear the Sourcebooks Spotlight Presentation.
I was thrilled to attend from the get-go—it was the a wonderful opportunity to meet my editor for While He Was Away, Leah Hultenschmidt, for the first time. (For more on Leah, check out this interview.) I was not surprised to find Leah in person just as I’d experienced her on the phone: smart, empathic, engaged and engaging, quick-witted, and really quite lovely in every way.
I was surprised when I was completely blown away by the presentation. I suppose I should have expected it—Sourcebooks, which, by the way, is the largest, woman-owned trade publisher in the U.S., is known for its independent, forward-thinking approach to publishing. But watching and hearing Dominique Raccah, Leah, and other members of the Sourcebooks’ team describe why they do what they do, in terms of acquisition, editing, design, marketing, publicity, and relationships really inspired in me a new depth of gratitude that I’ve been given the chance to be a part of the Sourcebooks’ community.
These folks are not afraid to create new ways to think about what’s next for books, what more can they do for and bring to the experiences of readers and authors.
Being reader-focused, they’re doing things like establishing online book clubs—Discover a New Love is an example.
Sourcebooks will consider agented and non-agented work, and regularly features debut authors. Oh, and their percentages in terms of sales are truly incredible.
And once you’re a part of Sourcebooks, they’ll do their best to build your career, and they’re not afraid to say they’ve got the hardest-working authors in the industry.
I spoke with some of the Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance authors today—people like Susanna Kearsley, Grace Burrowes, and Tes Hilaire, and I have to say . . . not only are they hardworking, they’re incredibly nice, too.
