Happy 27th Birthday Sourcebooks!

​September 30th was Sourcebooks' 27th birthday.

As our team of more than 115 book-loving colleagues gathered to celebrate, I talked a little bit about that first day 27 years ago. The truth is that the day I started Sourcebooks was one of the loneliest days of my life. I walked into an empty bedroom with a desk, a phone, and a Mac. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, I thought it would be easy. It wasn’t.

1987 was the birth of the desktop publishing revolution, tens of thousands of other publishers started that year. Today, Sourcebooks is one of just a few publishers from that frenzy of startups that still exists. We started as part of one revolution, and it’s inspiring that today we are part of another.

In some ways, the book publishing industry is really beginning anew today, while building on the incredible work that’s come before. There are so many ways to explore and rethink how we work together and connect authors to readers. I believe that today there is far more opportunity for Sourcebooks than there was all those years ago. It is very much Day One.

So on this occasion I’d like to take time to give thanks. There’s so much more we want to do, and it would not be possible without all of you.

• To our amazing authors for all their life-changing books. You inspire me every day and we’re proud to be beside you bringing your work to so many readers.
• To all our business partners: booksellers, librarians, agents, media, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and so many more...it’s great to have you as co-revolutionaries on this journey!
• To the friends who offer us advice, counsel, and feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. We can’t build the future without you.
• To the people of Sourcebooks, who creatively and joyfully do the hard work on behalf of our authors and business partners.
• To readers everywhere. It’s our mission for there to be many more of you!

​We had a surprise birthday party that filled up a BIG room. What a difference 27 years makes! At the party, we had (yes, it's Sourcebooks) a poetry contest!! Sixteen poems, quite a few haikus (some taking creative liberties with the 5-7-5 rule), and one rap were written by and presented by members of the Sourcebooks family. The poems highlighted our past, our genres and authors, and our extraordinary growth, all while looking towards an incredible future.

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Day One - WINNING POEM

(Brought to you by Phil Norton, Sharon Schmid, Tina Silva, Kelly Lawler, Kelsey Kulp, Agnes Godziszewski, Steve Geck, and Jean Johnson)

It started out, what a thrill
A small bedroom in Naperville
A mind, a computer, and a phone
Our publisher was so alone

Finance was all we had from the start
Now there's romance, YA, history, and art
So many new genres in which to immerse
Regional, entertainment, and ecommerce

From one to a hundred
The family has grown
More friends each year
Than we could ever have known

​It has been a great twenty-seven years
Filled with joy, laughter, and even tears
But the company has just begun
So welcome, all, to Day One