Sourcebooks is thrilled to introduce a new line of growth mindset books for children and parents! The Adventures of Everyday Geniuses are a series of positive, humorous stories designed to demonstrate varying forms of learning, creativity and intelligence. Each book introduces readers to a specific learning style or learning difference, while offering realistic examples of triumph over difficulty.

Barbara began writing the books because of a personal need with her child’s learning disability/diagnosis. She couldn’t find good resources for her daughter (or for herself, as a parent), and so she put together mock-ups of books tackling topics like attention, distraction, creativity, perfection, dyslexia, and independence.
 
From Barbara: “The information to absorb to help a child is overwhelming. By the time you understand it all, the kid is 26.” These books are meant to help kids but also to reach the parents by showing them the child's experiences through their eyes. She calls it a “trickle up” instead of a trickle down.

Complete with a fresh repackage and newly created back matter, the first six books in the series will be released May 1.

For more information, please check out the Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf story, "Little Pickle Gives New Life to Series for Learning Challenged Kids."

Many were no doubt surprised and saddened by the news that Sally Dedecker passed away on Monday night.

Sally was a close friend, and an extraordinary asset to the publishing industry. So many have since come out to talk about the ways that Sally impacted their life, their work, and themselves.
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In September, I had the honor of presenting her with the BISG Lifetime Service Award. I spoke of Sally’s many achievements and contributions to BISG and the entire book industry. I was speaking on behalf of all of her many friends at BISG:

As we continue to reinvent BISG, there's no better example of what our core values mean in practice than Sally Dedecker. For more than half of the time that BISG has been serving the industry, Sally has been serving BISG.
Her knowledge and experience make her invaluable to this organization and the publishing industry as a whole. 

As seen through her work with BookExpo, uPublishU, BISG, and more, Sally’s collaborative nature has helped publishers, authors, readers, and so many others connect for meaningful conversations that help our industry move forward.
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In a sense, Sally is an unsung hero, with an incredible breadth of knowledge. Through her comprehensive consultant agency, Sally Dedecker Enterprises, Sally has helped provide solutions in distribution, sales, marketing, product development, among other areas of the digital and print publishing process.  As many of you know, she has also developed and curated the educational conferences for BookExpo America.

When asked about Sally, Maureen McMahon said, "If I had to describe Sally Dedecker in one word, it would be 'unstoppable.' Her combination of industry knowledge, energetic problem solving, and generous friendship put her at the top of the list of colleagues we turn to for advice -- or when we just need a dose of Sally's no-holds-barred candor. You can always count on Sally to tell it like it is."

No task has been too small, no project has been too big for Sally. She has looked at our business as if it were her own, because truly, it has been. Sally has dedicated her life to this industry, and has made an incredible impact.
Sally once again chaired this year's jury to select the recipients of BISG's 2017 awards. We couldn't tell her that we'd also picked out one for her. I am happy, proud, and honored, to present Sally Dedecker with the 2017 Lifetime Service Award, given by all of her colleagues, past and present, who know all the many and amazing things she has done to make BISG work for its members and for our industry.
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I will miss my friend. I know we all will. She made an enormous difference in our lives, for which I will always be grateful.
—Dominique Raccah, CEO and Publisher, Sourcebooks

Today, America’s Test Kitchen and Sourcebooks, two of the country’s leading book and media publishers, announced the creation of America’s Test Kitchen Kids, a partnership to create a series of co-branded books designed to educate, inspire creativity, and shape a child’s relationship with food and cooking.

Under the agreement, America’s Test Kitchen and Sourcebooks will develop and publish a variety of uniquely targeted books from baby to board, kids to teen. Combining the expertise of Sourcebooks in the children’s book market with the exceptional content development from America’s Test Kitchen, the books are designed to create new ways for children to connect with food, from baby’s first foods and STEM-based picture books, to cookbooks that bring the test kitchen experience to kids of all ages.

Over the last 25 years, through its magazines, cookbooks and instructional cooking shows, America’s Test Kitchen has solidified its place as one of the most respected brands in food publishing and media, with millions of home cooks who trust its experts for tried-and-true advice on recipes, ingredients and cookware.

“America’s Test Kitchen is dedicated to helping home cooks succeed in the kitchen,” said David Nussbaum, CEO of America’s Test Kitchen. “We are teachers. That's what we do. By partnering with Sourcebooks to focus on children through America’s Test Kitchen Kids, we hope to instruct and inspire the next generation of cooks,” he added.  

“We are thrilled to be adding America’s Test Kitchen Kids to our growing children’s nonfiction business,” said Dominique Raccah, CEO and publisher of Sourcebooks. “Their focus on combining the science, math, and creativity of food, paired with our aptitude for producing books that transcend categories, will create the perfect doorway to developing a child’s positive relationship with food at every stage, baby to teen.”

America’s Test Kitchen is passionate about food and cooking—discovering why recipes work and why they don’t. Now they will working with the youngest among us to create confident, passionate, and knowledgeable food-lovers. To do this, they will be working in-person with America's Test Kitchen test cooks at their new Boston test kitchen/headquarters as well as online.
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Jack Bishop, chief creative officer at America’s Test Kitchen, and Kelly Barrales-Saylor, editorial director for children’s nonfiction at Sourcebooks, will lead the creative teams working on book development and new product generation. America’s Test Kitchen and Sourcebooks expect to publish six to 10 titles per year across a range of age groups, beginning fall 2018.

About America’s Test Kitchen

America’s Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 15,000 sq.ft. test kitchen in Boston’s Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Fifty full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America’s Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook’s Country, in 2008.
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Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/

About Sourcebooks

Sourcebooks is a thriving entrepreneurial company that brings extraordinary authors and brands to readers in the most dynamic, data-driven ways. We create books that transcend categories and defy odds and have been honored with hundreds of national bestsellers and awards. We are home to enthusiastic, book-loving employees who are dedicated to connecting books to readers in new and innovative ways. Today, Sourcebooks is proud to be the 10th largest book publisher in America and the only one of the top ten headquartered outside of New York City. Story by story, book by book, we have touched over 100 million lives. Join us as we change 100 million more.

​Visit www.sourcebooks.com for more information.

Sourcebooks, Inc., one of the country’s leading book publishers, announced today that it has signed The Gotham Group as its exclusive representative for all film and television projects for the company. The agreement covers all books in which Sourcebooks controls the film and television rights from its current catalogs and backlist, including the New York Times and USA Today bestselling children’s book series by Adam Wallace, How to Catch a Leprechaun, How to Catch an Elf, and How to Catch a Monster.
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Sourcebooks will also work directly with Gotham to develop, publish, and produce original content across multimedia platforms.

“We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Eddie Gamarra, and all of Gotham Group. They’re brilliant,” said Dominique Raccah, CEO and publisher of Sourcebooks. “Their expertise across the animation, film, and television markets, combined with our bestselling books and content, will significantly expand opportunities for Sourcebooks authors.”
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“We are excited to work with the team at Sourcebooks,” said Goldsmith-Vein, founder and CEO of The Gotham Group. “Not only are we fans of their current authors and titles, but we’re looking forward to the original IP ideas we can brainstorm for their roster. We’re committed to making even more opportunities for their multi-platform storytellers who defy the traditional ‘silo’ mentality and whose creative output can’t be limited to one entertainment sector.”

About The Gotham Group:
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The Gotham Group is a multifaceted management and production company representing some of the most creative minds in Hollywood. Goldsmith-Vein and The Gotham Group, cited in Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch series, have been producers on such hits as The Spiderwick Chronicles and the Maze Runner franchise. Gotham also produced Kodachromewith Jason Sudeikis, Elizabeth Olsen, and Ed Harris, which just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival; Stephanie, directed by Akiva Goldsman; The Big Game, which chronicles the phenomenon of daily fantasy sports; and Train Man, starring Julia Roberts as the lawyer defending Darius McCollum, the New Yorker who became notorious for driving subway trains illegally. On the television side, Gotham has Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto set to star in and executive produce Biopunk and is developing Randi Zuckerberg’s New York Times bestselling book Dot Complicated: Untangling Our Wired Lives as a series. Gotham also just optioned film rights to three of this summer’s hottest book titles over the past four weeks: Ruth Ware’s The Lying Game, which debuted at number three on the New York Times bestseller list and is the August pick for Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club; Janelle Brown’s critically acclaimed suspense thriller Watch Me Disappear, and Robyn Harding’s bestseller The Party. Gotham is also producing Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10horror novels.

Sourcebooks was founded on the belief that books change lives. To help change the lives of animals and the people who love them, Sourcebooks is proud to support The Humane Society of the United States with the release of personalized dog books, available exclusively on PutMeInTheStory.com and SimpleTruths.com.

Melissa Rubin, senior vice president of animal response, care, and sanctuary for the HSUS, said, “We’re thrilled that Sourcebooks has found a way to express the special impact dogs have on our lives with the creation of these creative keepsakes.”

Live. Love. Bark., You Had Me at Woof, and Who Rescued Who offer the more than 60 million dog-loving families in the U.S.1 the chance to celebrate the four-legged friends who have brought so much joy to their lives in a very personal way.

“From the moment I met my dog Ariel, I loved her,” said Sourcebooks CEO and publisher Dominique Raccah. “We are overjoyed to provide a way for families to create a truly unique book that can celebrate or commemorate the dogs, like Ariel, that have touched their lives.”

Featuring your dog’s name and photo on the cover, and photos sprinkled throughout the book, plus a dedication page for families to write a special note about their pup, these personalized books capture love and friendship in one beautiful package.

Who Rescued Who, the special rescue edition, also has a space to put the logo of the rescue shelter that brought your family together with your lucky pup.

Live. Love. Bark., You Had Me at Woof, and Who Rescued Who are filled with “dogmas” that only a relationship with your best friend can teach you: how to live big, love unconditionally, and bark to the beat of your own drum!

Available exclusively on PutMeInTheStory.com and SimpleTruths.com, these delightful personalized gift books are great for every dog lover to remind them that all you need is love… and a dog!

​A non-personalized edition of Live. Love. Bark. is also available wherever books are sold.

Put Me In The Story
 
Put Me In The Story, the #1 personalized books platform in the United States, creates personalized versions of bestselling books where your kids star alongside their favorite characters. Our gifts capture moments that matter and create memories that last. With each touching picture and special dedication, our readers have become our most dynamic characters.
 
Put Me In The Story inspires a love for reading, across all ages and generations, through the experience of shared, personalized stories.

​The Humane Society of the United States

​The Humane Society of the United States is the most effective animal protection organization, as rated by our peers. For more than sixty years, we have celebrated the protection of all animals and confronted all forms of cruelty. We and our affiliates are the nation’s largest provider of hands-on services for animals, caring for more than 150,000 animals each year, and we prevent cruelty to millions more through our advocacy campaigns. Read about our more than sixty years of transformational change for animals and people. HumaneSociety.org

We are so pleased to share that The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel was selected as the RITA award winner for Best Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance!

​Roughly, 2,000 romance writers entered in the RITA competition, and the winners were announced on July 27 at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. The RITA is the most prominent award given throughout the genre of romance fiction.

​Dai Randel is a Chinese American writer who came to the U.S. for the first time at twenty-three. After becoming fluent in English and writing, Dai Randel earned an M.A. in English from Texas Woman’s University in Denton, and has worked as a journalist, magazine editor, and adjunct professor, before becoming a writer.  It took Dai Randel ten years to write the RITA awarded novel, The Moon in the Palace, and its follow up, The Empress of Bright Moon. Dai Randel received eighty-two rejection letters before Sourcebooks Landmark picked up the duology.

“Weina stands out as one of the hardest-working authors I've ever had the privilege of editing," said Anna Michels, editor at Sourcebooks. "The time and attention she took in making sure each detail was correct shows on every page. Editing her was truly a joy, as she is always willing to dive back into the book to tweak and refine details as necessary—but it's her evocative narrative voice, which is impossible to edit, as it comes straight from her heart, is what makes The Moon in the Palace sing.”

Dai Randel was inspired to write the story of Empress Wu of China while studying at Texas Woman's University.  It was there, during an Asian American literature class that she recalls “reading Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. Because that story was so depressing, I wanted to show my classmates that not all women had that kind of fate in China. I decided to write about Chinese women who succeeded in controlling their destinies. And who else controlled her destiny better than Empress Wu?”

A couple of years ago, determined to seek out new opportunities in fiction, Sourcebooks conducted a deep dive into the mystery and suspense categories. That data analysis made a strong case for development of a mystery program at Sourcebooks. A year and a half later, we launched our first mystery titles, and, in true Sourcebooks fashion, we continue to turn to the data to tell us what's working (or not) in this ever-growing space.

The Strand Magazine, a leading mystery magazine, recently profiled Sourcebooks and our expansion into mystery & suspense. In "Sourcebooks: Driving Change in the Publishing World," editor Garrett Kim cited Sourcebooks' "reputation for the intimacy it cultivates when working with authors" and went on to say, "While Sourcebooks has become a haven for authors looking to make their debuts, the firm has also become a source for more accomplished authors to find a personal relationship with a publisher that they won’t get with other firms."

We are incredibly excited about some of the successes we are experiencing in mystery, including Randall Silvis' Ryan DeMarco Mystery series--Two Days Gone (January 2017), and the forthcoming, Walking the Bones (January 2018)--and the soon-to-be-launched cozy mystery series with New York Times Bestselling author Denise Swanson, Dead in the Water (on-sale September 5).

​Both Silvis and Swanson shared their own experiences working with Sourcebooks, with Swanson noting that "Working with [Sourcebooks] is experiencing what you think publishing is going to be like before you’re actually published."
You can read the full article on Strand.com.

In celebration of Children’s Book Week, March 4th and Sourcebooks recently made a joint donation of 21,000 books to First Book, the nonprofit social enterprise that has distributed more than 160 million books and educational resources to programs and schools serving children from low-income families. The donation of six Little Pickle Press titles appealing to children from preschool to middle grades is being made in support of First Book’s partnership with Every Child a Reader, the charitable arm of the Children’s Book Council and sponsor of Children’s Book Week, which will take place May 1 to 7, 2017.

Little Pickle Press is known for award-winning books that help children make sense of complex issues. Titles donated include: A Bird on Water Street by Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Roar Like a Girl by Coleen Murtagh Paratore, Spaghetti Is Not a Finger Food (and Other Life Lessons) by Jodi Carmichael, The Treasure of Barracuda by Llanos Campos and translated by Lawrence Schimel, What Does It Mean to Be an Entrepreneur? by Rana DiOrio and Emma D. Dryden, and What Does It Mean to Be Safe? by Rana DiOrio.

In January, Sourcebooks and March 4th (formerly Little Pickle Press) announced an innovative publishing partnership, and this donation is one of the first efforts undertaken as part of their on-going relationship.

“We are honored to help make these books available to schools and families who may not otherwise have access to quality children’s content,” said Rana DiOrio, CEO of March 4th and founder of Little Pickle Press. “We have always believed that for society to thrive, it must promote literacy and instill values in its young people. Getting meaningful messages into the hearts and minds of more children has always been the keystone of our approach.”

​To learn how to participate in Children’s Book Week, visit Every Child a Reader.

March 4th is catalyzing a universe of character-driven stories that meet the cross-format demands of young consumers and their caring adults. Brought to life through video, film, aStories™, and merchandise, this universe increases market awareness and penetration for its publishing partners.

​Sourcebooks brings extraordinary authors to readers in the most dynamic and data-driven ways. Through innovative publishing, exploring every platform, and creating breakthrough models, Sourcebooks is consistently finding new ways to help authors touch people and change lives. In 2016, Sourcebooks CEO and publisher Dominique Raccah was named PW Person of the Year and BISG Innovator of the Year. Visit www.sourcebooks.com for more information, and check out the Sourcebooks blog.

Contact

March 4th, Inc.:
3701 Sacramento Street #494, San Francisco, CA, 94118; (877) 415-4488; dprichard@march4thinc.com

​Sourcebooks, Inc.:
1935 Brookdale Rd, Ste 139, Naperville, IL, 60563; (800) 432-7444; heather.moore@sourcebooks.com

The Quantum Conference was held on Monday, March 13, at The London Book Fair. This year’s conference focused on the consumer by looking at “how different audiences discover, purchase and interact with content.”

Dominique Raccah joined Nigel Newton, founder and CEO of Bloomsbury Publishing, and Jacks Thomas, director of The London Book Fair, for a conversation on the future of publishing and re-defining the role of publisher in that space.

​The Bookseller, a book business magazine, ran this write-up of the panel:

Raccah hails publishing's 'golden age of opportunity'

Published March 14, 2017 by Natasha Onwuemezi

Publishers should make the most of the “golden age of opportunity” the industry is currently in, Dominique Raccah, publisher and c.e.o. of Sourcebooks has said, while urging publishers to use this opportunity to redefine their roles.

Speaking at the London Book Fair’s Quantum Conference yesterday (13th March) in conversation with Nigel Newton, c.e.o. and founder of Bloomsbury, and LBF director Jacks Thomas, Raccah advised new publishers to consider their strategy and what they bring to market in an age where books have to compete with film, music and TV for the consumer's time.

​“We are watching the collapse of entertainment in terms of formats", she said. "In terms of your time, you now have immediately available to you at all times not only a book, but music, TV, film. [A smartphone] has all the entertainment I could possibly want for the rest of my life. It puts books into the same competitive frame as TV, film, and music. Music is priced at 99 cents a cut, film has a Netflix model. [These models] are changing the dynamics of the monetary exchange between us and our customers. If you want to start a publishing company today, you have to think about what your model can be to allow you to survive as the intermediary between the content creator and the consumer."

​She added: "We're now in the golden age of opportunity. There was a time when the publishers had the right to exist because we owned the printing presses. There was an immediate role for publishers; today that role is less immediate, so now you get to define it."