The Raven Books from Online Hangout to Publishing House

NEW YORK - Sept. 1, 2013 - PRLog -- What started out as a virtual hangout for friends and readers of Michelle Pillow and Mandy Roth’s books has turned into fully functioning independent small press responsible for countless titles across many genres that include Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal, Sci-fi/Futuristic Romance, Erotica and Multicultural/Multiracial stories.

Last year, The Raven Books reached a significant milestone when unit sales topped the half million mark. Not a bad effort when you consider that Michelle and Mandy had only started self-publishing their back list catalogue under The Raven Books brand in 2008 and were still releasing their new titles via major publishers Random House, Virgin Books, Ellora’s Cave and more. Prior to that Raven was Social Media for Michelle and Mandy before there was social media. Since 2004 Raven was a free online story in serial format by Michelle and Mandy during what was known as Raven Happy Hour which evolved into a Yahoo group, then an Internet Radio show and then a blog for friends and followers which eventually became their publishing banner.

The Self-Publishing Boom in 2012 in which sales by self-published authors accounted for 20% of the genre market is merely an acknowledgement of the hard work by independents like Raven. It is no secret according to Michelle Pillow how they built a successful boutique publishing house, “Hard work, plain and simple…constant reassessing of our business model, and an insane amount of hours to get the job done. And above all we’re blessed with loyal readers!”

Since Raven’s inception more authors have been invited into the fold by Michelle and Mandy adding to the richness and diversity of their offerings.

2013 looks like another exciting stanza for Raven with audio books by both marquee authors Michelle and Mandy due out any day now. Later this year fans of the best seller series Dragon Lords by Michelle Pillow can expect book 7 The Reluctant Lord. While Mandy Roth fans will have Immortal Ops 5: Tactical Magick to look forward to.

Michelle and Mandy haven’t forgotten where it all started and still interact with readers online just like the good ole days. Please show the love by checking out their latest releases.

Links:

Website
http://ravenhappyhour.com/

Upcoming Releases:

Audio Books:

(September to October)

Lilith Enraptured (Divinity Warriors) by Michelle M. Pillow
http://michellepillow.com/lilithenraptured.html

Loup Garou by Mandy M. Roth
http://ravenhappyhour.com/Loup_Garou.html

Books:

(September to November)

The Reluctant Lord (Dragon Lords Book 7) by Michelle M Pillow
Tactical Magik (Immortal Ops 5) by Mandy M. Roth
The Lover (Blazing Hearts) by Kennedy Kovit
Programed for Pleasure (Cyber Sex 3) by Reagan Hawk