Sourcebooks started publishing fiction in 2000, a program that has evolved: while the company earlier published several types of fiction and had done well over the past five years, it is now focusing on women's and historical fiction--most often with a female voice. As Peter Lynch said, "Just as an author often takes a while to find a voice, so it takes a publisher a little while to find a voice."
Measured by register sales, fiction sales have grown 66% this year and make up more than 30% of Sourcebooks's retail sales. Many of the company's titles in this area are bestselling British novelists (for example, Jill Mansell, Elizabeth Chadwick, Barbara Erskine) and classics that had gone out of print in the U.S., including, for example, work by Daphne du Maurier. Other key authors include Georgette Heyer, Wendy Holden and Susan Higginbotham. Raccah noted with a bit of amusement that Sourcebooks is also "the largest publisher of Jane Austen sequels in the world."
Many of the titles Sourcebooks has published in this area have been recommended by its own authors and enthusiastic readers, part of a strong online community. Women's voices may also resonate at Sourcebooks because it is the largest woman-owned trade book publisher in the country.
