Press
Releases
BelleBooks Adds POD,
Ebook Divsion
BelleBooks Audio Division
Announced
BelleBooks
Sells MM Sub-Rights To Berkley for Mossy Creek Series (Apr. 2002)
Publication
Of Mossy Creek (Apr. 2001)
Movie
Deal, New Marketing Whiz, Million-Plus Contract For
BelleBooks Partners (Dec. 2000)
BelleBooks
Sells Sub-rights To Berkley (Sep. 2000)
Launch
Party Press Release (May 2000)
Initial
Press Release (Feb. 2000)
Interview
with BelleBooks President (Feb. 2000)
April 30, 2008
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
Debra Dixon, president and
publisher of BelleBooks, Inc. announced the creation of Bell Bridge
books, a new division devoted to ebook and POD titles.
“This will give us an
opportunity to publish a greater number of projects by new and emerging
authors,” Dixon said. “We feel that the future of small press publishing
depends on building new audiences through expanding markets on the
Internet. With Bell Bridge Books we’ll be able to reach a wider
audience, introduce unknown authors to enthusiastic readers, and bring
new readers to our established authors.”
Bell Bridge will publish
Southern fiction with a downhome flavor, just as parent company
BelleBooks does now, but the new division will focus on other genres as
well.
“Our primary goal is to
develop a great list of fantasy novels,” Dixon explained. “With an
emphasis on dark, edgy, outside-the-box urban fantasy, which is a very
exciting market both for readers and for us as fans of fantasy fiction.”
Bell Bridge’s first titles
will be available by Fall 2008. All will be sold as ebooks formatted for
every major platform and also as POD print editions via Lightning
Source, a subsidiary of Ingram’s.
For more information visit
www.bellbridgebooks.com.
April 1, 2008
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
BelleBooks has begun in-house
production of audiobooks under its new BelleBooks Audio division. The
company expects to release five audiobooks in 2008, both from existing
print editions and audio-only acquisitions from outside the company.
“Thanks to new technologies, the
ability to produce quality audiobooks is now affordable and very
accessible to even small publishers like BelleBooks,” said BelleBooks
Editorial Director Deborah Smith, who will manage the audio division.
“It’s literally as simple as setting up a microphone.”
Titles scheduled for release in 2008
include: Smith’s own fantasy novel, Alice At Heart, author Jacquelyn
Cook’s acclaimed historical novel, Sunrise, and author Milam McGraw
Propst’s women’s fiction novel, Creola’s Moonbeam. In addition,
BelleBooks Audio will produce Propst’s two award-winning young adult
novels, A Flower Blooms On Charlotte Street and Ociee On Her Own, which
were the inspiration for the film, The Adventures of Ociee Nash,
starring Keith Carradine, Mare Winningham and Ty Pennington.
For more information visit
www.bellebooks.com.
April 2, 2002
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
BelleBooks, a small Southern press owned by six veteran women authors,
has sold mass market rights to the first three titles in its Mossy Creek
series to Susan Allison at Berkley Books in a six-figure deal. The books,
which feature heartwarming stories about the people and events of a Mayberry-like
town in the mountains of northern Georgia, are collaborative novels penned
by a team of up to fifteen authors including the publishing company's
six owners/partners.
BelleBooks' first
collaborative effort, an autobiographical collection of short stories
titled Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes, sold in mass market to Allison at Berkley
last year, and the mass market edition was published in February. A literary
Southern fantasy series about women descended from a coastal Georgia mermaid,
(series title: Waterlilies) by partner Deborah Smith, was launched by
BelleBooks this winter with Alice At Heart as the lead title. Alice At
Heart is now in its second printing and offers for subrights are still
being assessed.
BelleBooks plans
to continue selling the original trade editions of Sweet Tea and Jesus
Shoes, Alice At Heart, and the Mossy Creek series.
Book two in the series,
Reunion At Mossy Creek, will be published by BelleBooks in June 2002 in
trade format.
Back
to top
April 30, 2001
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
Southern fiction
at its best. Good books about fine people.
Publication of Mossy Creek
A small southern press owned by six nationally known women authors, is
pleased to announce the May publication of MOSSY CREEK, the first in a
Mitford-meets-Mayberry series about a small southern town whose motto
is "Ain't goin' nowhere, and don't want to."
You'll meet Ida Hamilton
Walker, the feisty, 50-something town mayor who's still turning men's
heads; Amos Royden, the young police chief trying to follow in his father's
legendary footsteps; Millicent Hart, the grandmotherly thief, and many
others. And you'll learn why the next few years are bound to be filled
with adventure, romance, and suspense, as Georgia Governor Ham Bigelow
schemes to run for President and tries to tame his colorful hometown in
the process.
This unique "collective
novel" was co-written by six authors, including New York Times
Bestseller Deborah Smith (A Place To Call Home, Bantam Books.) The authors
also wrote last year's SWEET TEA AND JESUS SHOES, an award-winning collection
of stories about growing up Southern, which will be published in mass
market by Berkley Books next year.
"Conjures up
the charms of a sweeter, smooth-edged South." -- Publishers Weekly
Back
to top
December 15, 2000
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
Southern fiction
at its best. Good books about fine people.
with an Ingram distribution
deal, national chain orders, and a mass market subrights sale to Berkley
for the nostalgic southern collection, SWEET TEA AND JESUS SHOES, (trade,
$14.95, ISBN 0-9673035-0-8.) What's next? MOSSY CREEK, the first in a
series of collective novels featuring NYT bestseller Deborah Smith, (A
PLACE TO CALL HOME, Bantam Books,) Sandra Chastain (THE OUTLAW BRIDE,
Bantam Books,) Virginia Ellis (THE WEDDING DRESS, Ballantine Books,) Debra
Dixon, and Donna Ball.
Ellis has just optioned
WEDDING DRESS film rights to Dolly Parton and Columbia Tri-Star Pictures.
According to agents, Parton expects to star in as well as write songs
for the movie version of Ellis's lyrical Civil War novel, which is already
being compared to last year's Civil War bestseller COLD MOUNTAIN. Ballantine
will publish the book in hardcover in late 2001.
Nationally award-winning
author Martha Shields (HUSBAND FOUND, Silhouette Romance, Romantic Times
Magazine Reviewers Choice winner) has joined BelleBooks as a new director
and stockholder. "Martha Shields is a highly credentialed graphics
and communications expert," says BelleBooks President Debra Dixon.
Shields is manager of marketing for the continuing education division
at the University of Memphis, (Tennessee.) She will take over marketing
responsibilities from partner Deborah Smith, and Smith will assume the
editorial director's role.
Smith has just completed
negotiations on another seven-figure contract with Little, Brown &
Company, who have already acquired Smith's next two hardcover novels,
ON BEAR MOUNTAIN, (February 2001,) and THE STONE FLOWER GARDEN (Winter
2002). In addition, Smith is writing an e-book exclusively for Little,
Brown's sister company, Warner Books. The e-book, ALICE AT HEART, will
be published on-line this winter.
BelleBooks is a small
southern press owned by the authors. "Conjuring up the charms of
a sweeter, smoother-edged South," PUBLISHERS WEEKLY said of the publisher,
last year.
Back
to top
September 30, 2000
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
Southern fiction
at its best. Good books about fine people.
BelleBooks, an Atlanta-based
small press owned by veteran commercial fiction authors Deborah Smith,
Donna Ball, Virginia Ellis, Sandra Chastain, Debra Dixon, and Nancy Knight,
is pleased to announce the sale of mass market sub-rights for the company's
launch title, SWEET TEA AND JESUS SHOES, to Susan Allison at Berkley Books.
The title will be published in Berkley's prestigious Signature Line. BelleBooks
retains trade paperback rights and will continue to market the book's
trade edition.
Coming this spring
from BelleBooks is MOSSY CREEK, a unique "collective novel"
that is the first in a planned series about a quaint southern town. MOSSY
CREEK will be available March 1 in trade paperback. For more information,
visit BelleBooks' website at www.bellebooks.com.
In other news, BelleBooks'
partner Virginia Ellis has signed with Shauna Summers of Ballantine for
a two-book, hardcover deal. Virginia's first book for the publisher will
be THE WEDDING DRESS, a post-Civil War novel one early reviewer describes
as "a lyrical story in the tradition of Cold Mountain."
Partner Deborah Smith's
next hardcover novel, ON BEAR MOUNTAIN, will be published in February
by Little, Brown & Company.
Back
to top
MAY 20, 2000
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
Southern fiction
at its best. Good books about fine people.
On May 1 more than
a hundred fans of southern fiction crowded into a north Georgia bookstore
to help the authors and partners of BelleBooks launch their highly acclaimed
first title, SWEET TEA AND JESUS SHOES, a collection of southern-fried
short stories called "delightful" by NYT bestselling author
Rita Mae Brown and "endearing" by former Miss America Phyllis
George.
"Our initial
sales and reader response have exceeded our fondest hopes," said
Debra Dixon, publisher and president of the new small press, which was
formed by six veteran women's fiction authors, including NYT bestseller
Deborah Smith (A Place To Call Home, Bantam Books) and national bestseller
Donna Boyd (The Passion, Avon.)
The company's launch
party was hosted by Deb Cooper of Virtually Southern Books, an
independent bookseller in the picturesque mountain town of Clayton, Georgia.
By no small coincidence, the partners of BelleBooks are using Clayton
as one of the inspirations for their next project, MOSSY CREEK, which
will be the first in a series of books about life in a small southern
town.
"It's Mitford
meets Mayberry meets Lake Woebegone," Dixon said of the Mossy Creek
series. The first book will be published in spring of 2001.
SWEET TEA AND JESUS
SHOES is available through Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, Barnes &
Noble.com, brick-and-mortar Barnes & Noble, and Bellebooks.com.
Back
to top
February 15, 2000
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
Southern fiction
at its best. Good books about fine people.
Six
veteran southern authors announce their partnership in BelleBooks, a new
publishing company created to showcase the rich storytelling traditions
of southern women.
"Our
goals are quality, integrity, and innovation both as publishers and as
writers," said Debra Dixon, company president. BelleBooks plans to
launch in May 2000 with SWEET TEA AND JESUS SHOES, a collection of humorous
and poignant short stories inspired by the partners' southern roots.
Among
the collection's authors are multi-published, award-winning writers Deborah
Smith, Donna Ball, and Sandra Chastain. All three are natives of Georgia
with pioneer family backgrounds.
Smith's
1997 nationally best-selling novel, A PLACE TO CALL HOME, (Bantam Books)
received glowing reviews and was called "a page turner" by Publishers
Weekly. Smith made news this year with a two-book, $1.2 million deal to
write southern-based novels for Little, Brown.
Donna
Ball is the highly-lauded author of more than 80 novels in both genre
and general-list fiction. Her novel, THE PASSION (writing as Donna Boyd
for Avon Books) was acclaimed last year as a "brilliantly erotic
tale" by Midwest Book Review and "magical" by Publishers
Weekly.
Sandra
Chastain is the popular author of over 40 novels in contemporary and historical
women's fiction. Rendezvous Reviews calls her stories "good for the
heart." Her current title, THE RUNAWAY BRIDE (Bantam Books,) is a
featured selection of the Doubleday Book Club.
"We
have tremendous in-house talent among our partners," Dixon said.
"Although we definitely plan to acquire novels and story collections
from outside writers, the partners are excited about collaborating on
the initial projects exclusively." Dixon, a Tennessee business consultant
as well as a successful women's fiction author, added, "BelleBooks
has strong credentials in both the business and creative aspects of publishing."
Smith,
Ball, Chastain, and Dixon are partnered with award-winning Florida author
Virginia Ellis, a former NFL photographer who has extensive graphics and
design experience, and with successful Georgia playwright Nancy Knight,
whose 1998 play, CHATTAHOOCHEE RISING, was highly praised by the
Atlanta
Journal/Constitution. Knight will coordinate talent for future BelleBooks
audio projects.
Front
row, l-r: Nancy Knight, Deborah Smith, Sandra Chastain
Back row, l-r: Virginia Ellis, Donna Ball, Debra Dixon
Back
to top
February 15, 2000
Contact: Deborah
Smith, Marketing, BelleBooks
debbsmith@aol.com
706/864-3306 in Dahlonega, GA
Southern fiction
at its best. Good books about fine people.
An
interview with Debra Dixon, President of BelleBooks
Q:
Why did you and your fellow authors start a small-press publishing company
when all six of you already have careers with major New York publishing
houses?
A: We feel the time is perfect for small
publishers to offer readers the kind of diversity that audiences already
expect from independent films and multi-channel cable television. Just
as independent movies are no longer considered art-house
curiosities, small-press books are being taken seriously by the publishing
industry, the booksellers, and the public. Books with a strong regional
appeal, such a Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes, compliment the broader offerings
of the major mass-market publishers. Not every book needs to be a blockbuster.
While BelleBooks would be thrilled to publish the next Cold Mountain,
we're concentrating on creating successful niche projects.
Q:
The six partners of BelleBooks are all longtime friends and professional
peers. The
company was organized during week-long sessions at a quarterly writers'
retreat, where the atmosphere encourages relaxation and spontaneous creativity.
Wasn't this a little like trying to start a business in the middle of
a pajama party?
A: A creative enterprise thrives on unconventional
approaches. We're having fun, but at the same time we're all completely
committed to the serious business of publishing. We're all working writers,
and we know the pitfalls. Since we do continue to work for other publishers
we manage our time as a resource. We have a substantial investment and
we can't afford to treat it as a joke.
Q:
How did you all meet?
A: Networking in the writing world. We deliberately
put this group together based on reputations and different skills. For
example, our partners include a graphic arts expert, a playwright and
actress, a skilled public relations manager, and a business consultant.
Among us, as writers, we have published more than 200 books and have millions
of copies in print.
Q:
What makes you different from any other small press?
A: Few other small presses are run exclusively
by authors. Also, we're not the traditional small press in terms of focusing
on academic and literary fiction. We are storytellers and entertainers
looking for a mass market fiction audience. As writers we bring a unique
sensibility to the business of publishing.
Q:
Are you accepting inquires and manuscripts at this point?
A: No, because we're fully inventoried for
the next two years. We have several projects on the boards and we're devoting
all our energies to one project at a time, as is the case with any new
company. We're very excited about the response to BelleBooks. Other writers
love the concept of small-press publishing in general and our brand of
regional fiction in particular.
Q:
Exactly what kind of books are you planning to publish?
A: BelleBooks projects celebrate the rich
storytelling traditions of the south. Our first book, Sweet Tea and Jesus
Shoes, is a collection of nostalgic short stories. Our second book, tentatively
scheduled for autumn of 2000, is a yet-untitled trilogy of Christmas-themed
novellas. We feel there's a universal appeal to southern stories. As a
company our editorial policy is to remain diverse and innovative--to think
outside the box, to be more flexible than traditional publishing.
Q:
But what is it about southern stories that have a universal appeal?
A: Southerners know how to live slowly in
the fast lane. We still value family, land, tradition, the past; we have
a strong love for history and a strong history of storytelling. Southerners
are what everybody would like to be. Unashamed and
flamboyant. Lusty. Every southerner has an ingrained sense of self. We
celebrate our quirkiness.
Q:
Who is your audience?
A: Anyone who likes a good story. Sweet Tea
and Jesus Shoes is a poignant, humorous collection of memories and observations,
featuring eccentric relatives, outrageous pets, and unrepentant neighbors.
Q:
All of the BelleBooks partners got their start writing romance novels.
Why did you give up romance?
A: Some of us continue to write romance novels,
while others have branched out into other types of fiction. We are professional
writers first and foremost, regardless of fiction type. Besides, our successful
careers as women's fiction and romance authors made it possible for us
to fund BelleBooks
Q:
Would you like to see BelleBooks become a major publishing house just
like the ones in New York?
A: We'd like to be as successful as anyone
can be, but we hope to emphasize the author/publisher partnership in innovative
ways. The more successful we are, the more unique voices we can bring
to the market. We will never become a traditional publisher. We want to
serve a different purpose. They do a wonderful job of fulfilling their
market; we want to add to what they do.
Q:
How do six partners agree?
A: We often don't, but we are solidly behind
the best interests of BelleBooks. We recognize that the partnership is
the most important aspect of what we've built. The diversity of opinions
and skills in our partnership makes us uniquely strong. We have tremendous
respect for each other.
Q:
BelleBooks sounds like a publishing company solely for women authors.
Do you
discriminate against men?
A: Not at all. We'd love to find great books
written by male authors.
Q:
Do you think the publishing industry discriminates against women?
A: We think it's more difficult for women
authors to be taken seriously, but what we're trying to do is simply add
to the opportunities that already exist for women in the publishing world.
Q:
How do your husbands and children feel about this venture?
A: Our families are active participants--helping
out and offering support whenever needed. I have a school-age son, and
two of the partners are grandmothers.
Q:
Since you all have contracts to write books for the traditional New York
publishers, have you asked what those publishers think of BelleBooks?
A: They've been very supportive. Regional
publishing is a market the major publishers don't address. We're not competing
with our traditional publishers. They routinely purchase the rights to
small press books, so it is a symbiotic relationship.
Q:
What has been the most difficult aspect of getting a small press up and
running?
A: We had too many great projects and ideas
to consider! The hardest part was narrowing it down to a few choices.
Q:
How does it feel to be a publisher? Does it change your opinion of authors?
A: Yes. we have a new respect and understanding
for all the perspectives of the publishing world.
Q:
Do you see a foreign market for these books?
A: Yes. Southern stories sell very well overseas.
But we're concentrating on the domestic market, first. We don't feel a
need to exploit the foreign market at this time.
Q:
How do you think the Internet will affect your sales?
A: We hope to use the Internet to sell direct
via a website. We think that's one of the most exciting reasons to get
into this business at this point. There's potential for small presses
to conduct a significant part of their sales over the Internet. This is
what makes mass market small press publishing possible in a way it might
not have been even five
years ago.
Q:
How has technology affected your choices in other ways?
A: New computer technology enables us to
prepare our own books for the printing process; state of the art publishing
software is now affordable for small companies.
Q:
What makes you different from vanity publishing, since you're publishing
only your own partners' books for now?
A: We are established authors with significant
credentials. We're not doing this because we can't sell books elsewhere.
Q:
Any advice to aspiring writers?
A: Tell a story you believe in.
Q:
How about advice to aspiring publishers?
A: They need a strong source of business
advice and partners who are committed to the same long term goals.
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
DEBORAH SMITH
Director of Marketing
Phone: (706) 864-3306
Fax: (706) 867-6119
E-Mail: debbsmith@aol.com
Back
to top |
