Remember this? When we started the 40 day countdown to Carina Press in the spring of 2010? That was over a year ago!
As unbelievable as it seems to me, today is our one year anniversary of publishing books. I know it’s not just unbelievable to me, but to many others as well. In fact, I received an “anniversary” gift and when my daughter asked what it was for, I told her it was to celebrate one year of publishing books. My husband did a doubletake and said “What? Already? It’s already been a year? It seems like…like just a few months.” Many of us are united in feeling like this year has gone impossibly fast.
But yes, a year ago today, June 7th, Carina Press opened its virtual doors with the first ten of thirty-seven launch titles we acquired, edited, blurbed and packaged within a 6 month time period in time for our launch month.
I definitely cannot say the past year has been easy, despite the fact that it’s seemed to have gone quickly. It’s been a tremendous amount of hard work, long hours and (for me) lots (and lots) of travel. My airmiles have exploded since I took this job! But I can say it’s been absolutely exhilarating, and even in the times that aren’t fun, always interesting and never, ever boring.
I think, because we’re an imprint of Harlequin, yet using a digital-first business model, with a smaller, more intimate team feel (something we purposely tried to achieve) that the bar was set high for us. Expectations from authors and readers were that we’d do everything well. Those were large shoes to fill. I’d like to think we did a pretty darn fine job at it. Did we stumble? Absolutely. We’ve never pretended to be perfect, to get it right the first time, or to be able to make everyone happy. But I think that’s okay, because being perfect is impossible, and pretending we’re perfect would be disingenuous. Yet though perfection is unattainable, we achieved our goals and we can’t ask for more than that. We had a variety of goals, including those of starting out strong, publishing books that were stories readers not only wanted to read, but that we loved and wanted to read, and of creating a team of Harlequin employees and freelancers who were supportive, enthusiastic and believed in this imprint. Check, check and check.
(psss, here comes the announcement) Not only did we achieve our goals, but the last year of publishing books has brought us such amazing feedback, loyal customers, positive reviews and an incredible group of authors that I feel like it’s going to be hard to top. Oh, and not only did we do all that? But we did just a bit more. We’ve always told everyone Carina is digital-first–not just in the release of books in digital format first, but in our thinking. We’re always thinking first of how we can make Carina Press a great digital press. But, as many of you know, we also take other rights in our contracts, including print, audio, and translation. In the past year, we’ve often been asked: when will you utilize XYZ rights? (I think expectations were high because we’re a Harlequin connection) Partly we’ve said: we’ve only been publishing digital books for a few months, give us time! Partly we said: we’re focusing on digital, because Harlequin already does those other things well and now we’re really trying to grow digital.
Yet, despite those answers, from the month after our launch, we’ve been utilizing audio rights via our partner, Audible.com. At least half of our titles go to audio. Then, last fall we announced the first batch of print rights being utilized via our DTC program. Today I’m happy to announce that two more of the titles, Sea of Suspicion by Toni Anderson and The Paris Secret by Angela Henry have been selected for the DTC program, and more titles are under consideration. A few months ago we announced that Shannon Stacey’s trilogy will go to print via the HQN imprint. We may not be going gangbusters on the print versions, but we’re definitely exploring our options as we go along, showing that we’re always thinking about how we might utilize those rights.
But that last one, translation rights, until today I’ve had to say “we’re working on it”. But I’m tickled to tell you that last week we sold our first translation rights, to a publisher in Thailand, for Marie Force’s first two Fatal books, Fatal Affair and Fatal Justice. Happy anniversary to us and congratulations to Marie! Now we really feel like we accomplished a heck of a lot in the last year. And I think I can confidently say, this is just the beginning.
Although I decided that this blog post was too long already, to list all of the things I’ve learned over the past year (and if you’re curious what those are, you can read about them on Nadia’s blog today in our anniversary blog tour!) there’s one thing that was so important, I had to make sure I shared it here: I’ve learned that I love (adore) working for Harlequin. They’re good to me and they’re supportive of Carina Press. In fact, two people kind of key (tongue in cheek) to Harlequin and Harlequin digital leadership sent along a few notes for me to share, and you can see just what I mean by supportive.
First, from the Harlequin digital team’s boss, Brent Lewis, Executive VP of Digital:
Wow, a year! Happy Anniversary Carina Press!
First and foremost I would like to thank all the readers of Carina Press books and authors who have published with Carina Press; it is only a name without you. Thank you for sharing our vision of an exciting new way to share great stories.
There have been so many exciting moments in the last year, from the first moment Carina Press books were available on the Carina Press site and all the great retail partners we work with, the success of the business – both in sales and with authors, deciding how to unveil Carina Press at conferences, having Audible.com create numerous digital audio works, putting a number of titles into print and on and on.
These are all wonderful milestones; however two things stand out for me over the past year. The first is the passion, commitment and purpose of all the people who touch Carina Press. Everyone believes so strongly in Carina Press and this level of enthusiasm has not dropped one iota in the last year, in fact as we plan for the next year and the year after that, it becomes even stronger. The second is the notes of gratitude received from authors. Angela always passes these on, each one is so important, they inspire all the Carina Press team in a way no other means can.
Finally I would like to congratulate and thank Angela James. We are so fortunate to have a passionate, inspiring and really smart person at the helm of Carina Press. I honestly don’t think she slept for the first six months of Carina Press and racks up air mile after air mile in the name of Carina Press. It is always a highlight in my week when I have a weekly status call with Angela and team; it’s a lot of fun!
Happy Anniversary Carina.
And from Donna Hayes, Harlequin CEO:
Carina Press is one year old and we couldn’t be happier with it! Angela James has done ground-breaking work with this new imprint and business model and is helping to lead Harlequin’s vision of the future. Congratulations to Angela, to all of the amazing Carina authors and the whole Carina team.
In honor of our first anniversary celebration, the Carina Press team is doing a whirlwind blog tour on some of our authors’ blogs (twenty blogs, to be exact). On each blog, leave a comment and be entered to win a download of a Carina Press book. You can enter on every blog (a list of all of the blogs we’re on today is listed after the cut). Everyone is eligible to win (well, except Harlequin staff. Sorry!)
Here on the Carina blog, we’re offering a grand prize of a Kobo ereader (the original model) and 12 Carina Press digital titles. All you need to do to be entered to win is comment below. We will ship internationally. Legal rules and details are here, if you want some dry reading. The grand prize is valued at approximately $160. If you’re reading this and not employed by Harlequin or living with someone who is, you’re eligible!
Thank you again, all of you, for making the past year wonderful, exciting, exhilarating, fun and, most of all, successful. I hope you’ll stick around for another year!
~Angela
Visit these blogs for a chance to win a Carina Press download, and to read some thoughts about the past year from these team members:
Susanna Fraser hosts Mallory Braus
Christine D’Abo hosts Alissa Davis
Joely Sue Burkhart hosts Gina Bernal
Maria Zannini hosts Melissa Johnson
Marie Force hosts Denise Nielsen
Angela James (that’s me!) hosts Rhonda Stapleton
Lauren Dane hosts Deb Nemeth
Inez Kelley hosts Malle Vallik
Word Whores hosts Aideen O’Leary-Chung
Shannon Stacey hosts Eleanor Elliott
Jaci Burton hosts Jenny Bullough
Shirley Wells hosts Tara Stevens
Keri Stevens hosts Amy Wilkins
Cindy Spencer Pape hosts Jayne Hoogenberk
Fiona Lowe hosts Stephanie Doig
Bonnie R. Paulson hosts Piya Campana
International Heat hosts Angela Hill
Karen Erickson hosts Lora Jaggassar
Natalie Damschroder hosts Dana Grimaldi
Nadia Lee hosts me!
Happy Anniversary carina, so proud of you guys and all you’ve acomplished, keep up the great work!!
Yay, happy anniversary, Carina Press!
Happy One Year Anniversary and Congratulations, Carina Press. Angela, I loved your post – could feel the energy and emotion in your writing. As a reader, thank you for doing what you do. Wishing you all continued success!
Happy Anniversary!!!!!!
Congratulations and well done! Here’s to another year!
Congrats on the anniversary, I’m always happy to buy your books because of the editing and proofing standards, they’re a joy to read. But I’m still waiting for sequels to Amethyst Bound and Dark and Disorderly, so get cracking the editorial whips please.
Happy Birthday, Carina Press, and many more! You guys ROCK! I’m so happy to be a part of the author team – it’s been an awesome experience.
Happy birthday, Carina, and many, many more! As a brand new author with the publisher, I’ve been thrilled with my experiences so far!
Thanks for celebrating your anniversay with us. It’s been such an amazing year, with so many great author’s and stories. Best wishes for the coming year.
Today is your birthday–nah-nah nah-nah nah-nah!
Can’t wait to see what happens in the coming years. I predict Carina will continue making Publishing Industry history.
Mwah!
Happy Anniversary! Y’all have fast become one of my favorite publishers, in large part to releasing such a variety of great books.
I hope y’all have a great second year as well.
Woo Hoo!!! Happy first year anniversary to Carina Press!!!!!
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary, Carina Press and all the wonderful folks who make it happen!
Happy Anniversary and many more!
Happy Anniversary and congratulations!! Here is to many more successful yrs of publishing!!
Wow, it doesn’t seem possible it’s already been a year. Congrats to Carina.
Congratulations! Here’s to many more years of success!
Congrats on a year! I know I love my digital books!
Happy Anniversary! I remember the countdown and the blog posts about the start. I, too, cannot believe it has been a year.
Happy Anniversary!
I am really enjoying the variety
of Carina Press books I have
purchased. I have discovered so many
new authors. Thank you!
Happy Birthday, Carina. I admit I was a little jaded when I saw it was coming- “oh another epub” and I never thought for one minute I’d be taken on by them–but now I’ve been taken on, looked after (really looked after!) been edited and improved within an inch of my life, given the most beautiful cover ever–I’ve been hugely impressed and I love being part of the family–i’m proud.
Hope you go on to have many many many many more years.
Happy anniversary Carina!
To many more years filled with great Carina reads!
Happy Anniversary Carina Press! Thank you for providing me with an escape from the real world.
It’s been a real pleasure watching Carina Press grow over the past year, getting those behind the scene peeks and, of course, reading the the books. Congratulations!
Congratulations Carina Press!!! It’s been a fabulous year as both an author and a reader thanks to the wonderful people who’ve made Carina Press my number one store.
Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary Carina Press! And thank you for so many enjoyable hours of reading over the past year.
Happy anniversary! Like at least two other people up there, I started reading ebooks because of you guys. Buying books in the middle of the night is a dangerous, dangerous power. Thank you for some of the best sleepless nights I’ve ever had!
Happy Anniversary Carina! Thanks for a great year of reading – it is a treasure!
Happy Anniversary, Carina!
Happy Anniversary! Thank you for the many, many wonderful books and new favorite authors you’ve provided me with. (And of course, the new stories by “old favorite” authors.)
Congrats on the milestone. I predict many more anniversaries for Carina!
Books are my passion. Thanks for providing so many great things to read!
Congrats to Carina Press & all your authors!! All you guys together create & produce GREAT books!!
Thank you, Carina Press, for one year of bringing awesome, unique ebooks to to the table. My eReader thanks you dearly, too! WOOT Here’s to many more years of fab Carina books!
Me included hehe
And, gosh…how time flies. I remember the buzz and excitement with the Carina Press countdown widget; just about every author site I visited had one
Happy Anniversary! Congrats
Congratulations on a wonderful first year, Carina.
Congrats on your 1 yr anniversary. I have to say that I have been very happy with the quality of the books and the variety that have been released from Carina Press. Everything about these books are top of the line.
Thanks for a years worth of wonderful books and I look forward to many more.
congrats!
And many more!
Happy birthday Carina Press! You’ve turned out a pretty awesome website and digital first publishing arm, and here’s to seeing it last for many more birthdays to come!
Happy Anniversary Carina. Wishing you continued success for years to come!
YAY!! Happy Anniversary!!
Here’s to a fabulous past year of great stories and fabulous authors and to another one just like it!!!!!
Happy Anniversary !!!!
Happy first anniversary! Here’s to many more.
Congratulations! Many of the auhthors above I’ve read or recognize but there are still many more to explore. I will keep reading!
Happy Anniversary Carina Press. Until about 2 years ago I didn’t know what an e-book was, so you may be new but so am I. Keep on publishing, I love reading wherever I go.
Wow! Talk about time flying!
Happy Anniversary!
Happy 1st Anniversary Carina Press!!!!
Wow, your first year, how exciting! I can only imagine what such an accomplishment must feel like, but I am very happy for all involved. Here’s to many, many more!
Happy Anniversary! Carina has had some awesome books this past year, glad I got to read a few!
Wow, you guys have gotten a chunk of my money this year, lol. You keep publishing the fabulous books and I have to buy them!
shiderly77@yahoo.com
I knew when Carina was launched, a Harlequin brainchild, helmed by Angela James, that it was going to be a smash. And I’m happy to say I’m right! Congrats on the hard work, and the great success. It’s just the beginning.
Happy anniversary! I look forward to many more with you as well. Xoxox
Happy Anniversary to everyone at Carina!! It’s been a wonderful experience and honor to meet so many of you. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication!
Best,
Kelly
Congratulations! *throws confetti*
Good job, Angela!
Happy Birthday, Carina Press. To many, many more years of great books
Happy Birthday, Carina!
Happy First Anniversary, Carina. Thanks for letting us celebrate with you.
Congrats and Happy Birthday!! I remember the week you opened – I can’t believe it has been a year already.
Keep those great books coming!!!
Happy anniversary, Carina.
Happy anniversary!
Happy anniversary! I’ve loved your books, and am looking forward to reading more.
Congrats! Keep it up!
Happy Anniversary! You should be so proud of what a great 1st year its been.
Happy Birthday! Here’s to many more years to come
Happy First Anniversary, Carina Press! Congratulations on all the accomplishments you achieved during your first year!
Happy first anniversary! May you celebrate many more.
Happy Anniversary to Carina. I am so pleased to be joining you and even happier that it’s at such a special time.
Happy Anniversary Carina press! Congrats on one year!
Lisa B
modokker at yahoo dot com
Congratulations on a wonderful first year of awesome reads and I look forward to what you have coming in the future!
Liz, I don’t know if you’ll see this, but you may be interested to know that Andrew in Contract Admin told me today that yours is the 300th contract he processed for Carina!
You’re getting messages so fast that I’m still here reading the ones you already have.
That is so cool! Thanks for telling me.
Congratulations, Carina Press! What a wonderful first year it has been. From what I hear, authors are thrilled to be a part of your company and from what I’ve read, you’re turning out some excellent books. Keep up the good work. Here’s wishing you many, many successful years to come.
Happy Anniversary, Carina Press. Congratulations on you great success. Thanks to you, I’ve discovered many new authors.
Congratulations to Marie, Toni, and Angela, and to the entire Carina Press team!
Congrats on the big announcements and achievements today! Here’s to your continued success!
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!
HAAAPPYY BIRTHDAYYYY TOOOO YOOOOOO!
HAAAPPYY BIRTHDAYYYY TOOOO YOOOOOO!
HAAAPPYY BIRTHDAYYYY DEAR CARINAAAAAA!
HAAAPPYY BIRTHDAYYYY TOOOO YOOOOOOOOOOO!
Okay, the music might not be heard here, but I bet you get the message? Happy Birthday Angela. What a fabulous job you’ve done in twelve months. Especially so in such a challenging environment to say the least. We (Jo Terrero and I) have followed you since before you joined HQ. So we’re thrilled to bits.
All the best for the next twelve months.
From the Romance Angels Network http://www.facebook.com/pages/Romance-Angels-Network/130151716997557 where we follow and twitter all your escapades!
Christine
Congrats on a fabulous first year, Carina. You guys are the best!
Happy Anniversary! I’ve read and found some amazing books through you guys! Keep up the great work! I’ll be here waiting for more great reads
Happy Anniversary. Heres to many many great books
Happy Anniversary! The team at Carina has accomplished so much in a year. Amazing work.
Congratulations, Angela James and Carina Press! I’ve been watching your progress and am amazed at your growth rate. Hope to see you bigger and better next year at this time.
Happy anniversary!
Happy Birthday Carina Press. I love the variety of books you offer. You introduced me to some great new authors and got me interested in steampunk. I particularly like the sci-fi romance and urban fantasy titles.
Happy birthday Carina! Already top tier in one year. Great stuff.
Yay, congrats Carina! Thanks for all the hard work from the Carina team of editors, authors etc etc…
Happy Anniversary and congratulations on an amazing job. May the next year be even better.
Tina
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary to Carina and all the wonderful authors!
Wow, a year already! Congratulations, Carina!
Happy Anniversary, Carina!
Many more to come.
Happy Anniversary and congratulations on reaching what is probably the hardest year – the first!
Happy anniversary, and how great are you to give US an awesome gift on YOUR anniversary! Thanks
Happy anniversary to all the talented, enthusiastic, and all-around wonderful Carina peeps! It’s such a privilege to write for Carina Press!
Congrats on the year mark and I hope you have many great ones to come!
Can’t believe it’s been a year already. I’ve had a blast being a Carina author! What a great group of people and staff!
Happy Anniversary, Carina Staffs! Can’t wait to read more goodies this coming year!
Happy birthday, Carina! I hate to be late to this party, but I’m off now to check out all these posts.
Congratulations on a year! Can’t believe time has flown by. Here’s to many more!
Congratulations, Carina Press! And thank you for the hours of enjoyment I’ve had in the last year (and the discovery of new favorite authors such as Shannon Stacey!) I look forward to many, many new books and discoveries to come!