Atlanta Journal Constitution

Booknotes

"6 Southerners Go Up Against the Publishing Giants"
Don O'Briant
June, 1999

As the New York book industry continues to consolidate, more small publishers are springing up to fill niches left by the conglomerates. The latest such press is BelleBooks, a new publishing company formed by six Southern female authors.

The publisher's purpose is to "showcase the rich storytelling traditions of Southern women," says company president Debra Dixon, an author and Tennessee business consultant. BelleBooks' first offering, "Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes," a collection of humorous and poignant short stories will be published in May.

Among the collections authors are Georgia natives Deborah Smith, Donna Boyd and Sandra Chastain. Smith, the author of the 1997 best-selling novel "A Place to Call Home," made news this year with a two-book, $1.2 million deal with Little, Brown. Boyd is the author of more than 80 novels in both genre and general-list fiction. Chastain is the author of more than 40 novels in contemporary and historical women's fiction. Her latest, "The Runaway Bride," (Bantam Books, $5.99 paperback), is a featured selection of the Doubleday Book Club.

The press eventually will acquire novels and story collections from outside writers, but Dixon says the first projects will involve only the six authors. Other partners are Florida romance author Gin Ellis, a former NFL photographer who has extensive graphics and design experience, and Georgia writer Nancy Knight, author of the critically acclaimed 1998 play, "New Christmas Gathering and her 1997 play, Chattahoochee Rising."

So why would successful authors want to get into publishing? Smith says it's a matter of control. "Even for the rare author who has achieved a certain amount of success, the business of publishing will always be capricious."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

DEBORAH SMITH
Director of Marketing
Phone: (706) 864-3306
Fax: (706) 867-6119
E-Mail: debbsmith@aol.com

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