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Top 10 Things a Romance Publicist Hopes For...

by Danielle Jackson

Or at least what I hope for!

10. That you will remember to name your guest blog/interview attachments at the blog’s name, and not “Blog 4”. This is one of those teeny tiny nitpicky things that helps with my OCD about organizing my computer folders in chronological order.

9. That the all major bookstores (chain retailers, mass market stores and even the indies!) buy all of our books. There are times when for whatever reason, a book store buyer won’t buy a book. And it’s understandable—they are presented with so many titles day in and day out, and they have to make tough decisions all the time. But a girl can hope, right?

8. That NONE of my authors receive negative reviews. You all know my policy—I only send you the good reviews directly (or the ones that might be mixed, but are overall good). But I do know you find the bad ones. And I know how much it hurts because it hurts me, too! I didn’t write the books or spend so much time working on edits and pages and updates… but I spend a lot of time with each and every one of your titles, and do my best to read all of them before they go in stores—so that pang you feel when someone doesn’t like your book? I feel it, too!

7. That the covers will always be awesome. Let’s face it—Sourcebooks is blessed with an arsenal of very talented, creative cover designers (and awesome freelancers!) who make beautiful romance covers.

6. That all those chocolate gifts you guys send won’t show up as extra pounds on my butt. One of the major perks of working with romance authors is the chocolate. And I can’t thank you all enough for being fabulous enough to send me little presents. :-) I never expect any of it, and the rest of the PR department is rife with jealousy (not to mention most of the company). You all are far too generous to your little publicist—but I love you all for it!

5. That one day, I’ll be able to clone myself. I LOVE the fact that I can say I’m the lead publicist for Sourcebooks Casablanca. And I’m learning to delegate more tasks to interns (it’s an ongoing process… remember that OCD thing I mentioned earlier?)… but if anyone has any early tips on human cloning, please let me know, so there can be two of me to work with 30+ authors and close to 70 books a year!

4. That more mainstream outlets will take romance seriously. We all know the old adage that most major review outlets only review “fiction.” Little do they know, 1 in 4 books sold in the US is a romance novel, and roughly 50% of fiction books sold are romance novels (Thanks for the info, RWA!). It’s a multi-billion dollar industry—and the readers and authors are wicked smart and can comment on just about anything.

3. That one day, I’ll get the hype of Twitter. Because even though I tweet every day, I’m still figuring it out (and while you’re figuring it out to, follow me! @SourcebooksCasa).

2. That my boyfriend will always listen to me talk about romance novels and smile through it (and maybe one day indulges me and reads one). Considering I come home just about every day with a new manuscript or ARC or I’m reading my Kindle while “watching” Sports Show with Norm McDonald, my boyfriend puts up with my romance addiction and listens to me discuss the finer points of romance novels. Really, I just think he wants me to read sex scenes out loud, and I’ll consider it… once he’s read one of our novels in its entirety. ;-)

1. That no matter what, I’ll always have a fabulous group of women (and men—just you wait for what, and who, we have coming out in 2012!) to work with, and consider my friends.

The romance community/genre/industry is ever-changing—what are some of the things you hope to see?

Comments

  1. Danielle, That's a lovely list, but you buried the lead. If Mr. Darcy is penning his memoirs (or Mr. Rochester, or Sir Guy of Gismore, et al) in 2012, we want to interview him right here, right now.
    And we wish we could clone you too.

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  2. Danielle,

    Love your list. You'll never have to worry about #10 with me. If anything, I put far too much information in my file titles. LOL

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  3. Great post! Thanks for the link, Tracey!

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  4. LOL! What do I hope for? MORE MONEY!!!!

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  5. Great list! What do I personally hope for? That Danielle grows old at Sourcebooks and never, ever leaves!

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  6. Wow! Lead publicist! That's awesome Danielle. Congrats!! :) Love the list.

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  7. Danielle,
    You get so much done I thought there were two of you!

    You have taught me so much about blogging and I continue to learn from you. So, on top of everything else you are one fine teacher.

    Amelia

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  8. I second Carolyn's motion - I hope we always have you at Sourcebooks to help us! You're like a benevolent goddess of blogging and publicity. Thanks for making our books shine!

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  9. Stellar blog as always! You are amazing, Danielle!! My hopes? The obvious one would be robust sales numbers. :) But beyond that, I look forward to reader letters - hearing personal stories about why my book touched them or helped them through something. I treasure up those moments and am truly grateful to have the opportunity to touch a reader's heart the way so many romance novels have touched mine over the years.

    What can I say? I love my job!

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  10. Thank you very much, everyone--you are all the very best to work with!

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  11. Taking notes on this, Danielle. So, exactly what kind of chocolate do you like best? ;)

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  12. Hey Danielle ~ one of my favorite Audrey Hepburn movies is Roman Holiday. :)

    Loved the post and because I understand your OCD, I checked my email to see if I followed your hopeful suggestion re the blogs...but I cleaned out my old email so I can't double-check!!

    You are amazing and I'm so grateful that you were so patient and answered all of my questions.

    Thanks!!!!

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  13. Is it safe to comment now?! Sorry you got stuck with your post on the blogger update day. We love you!

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  14. Oh, Geez, Danielle! Number six made me laugh! And it's wonderful to have someone like you on our side. :}

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