Dominique Raccah, awarding-winning Publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks, presented the 2019 Jim Douglas Lecturer on September 25, 2019 @ SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver, BC. I had the good fortune of attending her talk and interviewing her the following day. This is my recap.

Dominique founded Sourcebooks from her home in 1987. Originally a source of financial information for bankers, Dominique has lead a continuously growing, pioneering general book publishing house that happily produces everything from adult and teen fiction, to top titles in children’s books, to baby names and college guides.

• Sourcebooks' mandate is to publish authors, not books.
• Where most publishers buy 1-2 books then drop and author or the author moves publishers, Sourcebooks rarely buys only 1 book from an author. They want to work with authors who are building a career over time.
• Sourcebooks' strategy is to focus on midlist and to take time to find and build an audience, which is why buying multiple books is better strategy for them.

Sourcebooks has created scores of New York Times bestsellers, hundreds of national bestsellers, and #1 selling titles in perennial categories. Sourcebooks today has over 140 employees, publishes more than 350 new titles each year, and is proud to be one of the top book publishers in America. 

• Sourcebooks makes a strong marketing investment. Marketing is not simply exposing the book to the consumer. Everyone is “in marketing.” Every aspect of bringing the book to market is about the marketing of it; the strategic choices made throughout the process.
• Dominique's background is in statistics so Sourcebooks has a data-centric approach about A/B testing covers, titles, copy, etc. These choices are decisions that are made from the point of view of whether it serves the audience. If a book has a 20-30% probability of success, then all the small data-driven decisions can increase the probability of success.

• The Amy Knapp family organizer is a prime example of how Sourcebooks' publishes. They started with exploratory research to determine how busy moms were using family organizers and calendars. This audience wanted a wall calendar. They needed a version for on the go. They wanted big boxes to write in all the activities. They were prone to adding bible verses and inspirational quotes to lift their spirits. Each of these elements were incorporated into the design. The title signals the functionality with the words “BIG grid”.
•  Dominique says, “data is a creative weapon.” It should not be seen as limiting creativity but rather as a tool to understand the customer, to form questions and hypothesis with. Surveying people is not the approach. Ethnography is. Don't depend on what people say they will do; watch what they actually do. 

• Book publishing is a red ocean. It's highly competitive. 
• A Blue Ocean Strategy is about creating an uncontested market. 
• That's what Sourcebooks did with Chris Ferrie, Quantum Physics for Babies (2017). He now has published 27 books and is the #1 science author for kids in world. Sidenote, he's Canadian, living in Australia.

Dominique has been widely recognized as a leader in innovation in book publishing – Sourcebooks has won every innovation award that the industry gives – as well as in the field itself, being named Publishers Weekly Person of the Year in 2016.
 

• In a world where all publishers are equivalent in the eyes of the consumer, how do you distinguish yourself? Author is the key differentiator. It is not the product. We don't care about the format: ebook, book, app, whatever is next. Apple is more than the product, it's the innovation in all the moments.
• Dominique is always on the lookout for authors and points to innovate. For example, Put me in the Story came about when the author showed Dominique that people were creating scrapbooks and stapling and writing elements into some of her books. It led to an exploration of how that could be captured in an app.
• Sourcebooks was the 2nd book publisher to get an Apple developer license. But Put Me in the Story is not an app; in the end, print ended up being much, much better. And these books continue to sell.
• But at the time Put Me in the Story was discussed at Tools of Change and that led to a connection between Sourcebooks and Sesame Street Workshop who were willing to give rights to Elmo so that a Put Me in the Story / Elmo book was available. The book launched on Elmo's birthday. 
• Another eg. Poetry Speaks. The average poetry book in the US sells about 800 copies. Poetry Speaks was an epic project costing $250,000 to make. It was a book + CD that allowed readers to hear the poets reading their works. Dominique worked hard to get the rights and make the book work. Here's an example where the historical sales data in a category can't predict future sales. Poetry Speaks sold 150K copies. It was a big investment but also a big pay off for readers. Poetry can touch people in meaningful ways and hearing a poety was a game changer. 
• Positioning is really the role of the publisher, expanding the audience. You must create a product the market wants.
• The entertainment products people love today have all transformed. Physical tv, movies, songs are all streaming services now. The book is the holdout. 

Dominique is deeply interested in expanding readership, creating a world of readers, and connecting authors and readers in new ways. She is an inspiring and passionate presenter. Durring the Jim Douglas lecture, she spoke about innovation in publishing, the future of book publishing and entrepreneurship, and women in the publishing industry.

• Dominique works with a personal coach and a business coach. One day discussing a series of woes, her coach said, “you know what Dominique, your problems are not big enough.” She gave the same advice to me, which was an echo of what she said at the end of her talk.
   

Sourcebooks celebrated their 32nd Anniversary this week. As the Sourcebooks' team said, “Congratulations to @Dominique Raccah for leading such a unique, forward-thinking family of innovative thinkers and industry experts! #bookschangelives”

Dominique Raccah is the Founder & CEO of Sourcebooks.
You can find her on Twitter @draccah