Plans Include an Increase in Titles and Staffing as HarperCollins/Amistad Editor Stacey N. Barney Joins Dafina Editorial Team
New York, NY October 28, 2005 Laurie Parkin, Vice President and Publisher of Kensington Publishing, announces the next phase in the company’s strategy for the growth of the Dafina Books imprint and shares news of the addition of Stacey N. Barney, formerly at Harper/Collins’Amistad imprint, as Editor beginning October 24th.
The latest initiatives, says Parkin, “have long been part of the Dafina ‘blueprint.’ Dafina is the industry leader in African American Publishing. Strong editorial leadership, innovation and the willingness to grow and change is what keeps us on top. With Kensington as the largest distributor of African American books, we have an advantage in the marketplace that few can rival.”
Dafina’s areas of growth include spiritual, inspirational and urban titles and books for middle grade and teen readers. The majority of these acquisitions are in addition to, not in lieu of, the range of literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction already being published, and are expected to account for an additional 12-15 titles in 2007. This doesn’t include the previously announced planned increase in mass market original romance titles from one to two per month beginning in June 2006.
Parkin notes that it has long been Kensington’s strategy in any expansion of their publishing program to “test the waters before committing to any long term expansion.” She points to the creation of the Dafina Books imprint for an example, as it was created after successfully publishing authors such as Kimberla Lawson Roby, Lawrence Ross and Roslyn Carrington under the Kensington Books imprint. Today, Dafina Books is celebrating its fifth anniversary, publishing books in all formats, and laying claim to a number of national bestsellers, including Carl Weber’s The Preacher’s Son, which marked the author’s debut on The New York Times Expanded List.
Kensington Publishing Executive Editor, and Dafina Books’ founding editor, Karen Thomas says that several titles on the current list have helped define the imprint’s latest forays. “We have a history with Pat G’Orge Walker and Felicia Mason writing fiction with a spiritual emphasis. Victor McGlothin is leading the way for us in inspirational fiction, and among our inspirational nonfiction is Salome Thomas-El’s I Choose to Stay. And, beginning this December, Wahida Clark breaks new ground for us among readers of urban fiction. We’re already moving forward in all of these areas and have a number of outstanding authors waiting in the wings as we finalize scheduling for 2007.”
Joining Dafina Books at this auspicious time is Stacey N. Barney, who will be a key member of the expanding editorial team, joining Thomas and editorial assistant Nicole Bruce. While other Kensington editors contribute to the Dafina Books list, Thomas, Barney and Bruce are at the center of all acquisition and planning. Barney joins Dafina from HarperCollins’s Amistad imprint where she edited the Los Angeles Times bestseller Passport Diaries by Tamara Gregory and worked with writers such as William Henry Lewis (I Got Somebody in Staunton) and Mohammed Naseehu Ali (The Prophet of Zong Street). At HarperCollins, Barney also focused her attention on books for younger readers, acquiring Drama High, the first young adult series dedicated to, and targeting, African American girls. She previously worked at Farrar Straus and Giroux. “I’m looking forward to Stacey’s arrival next week,” says Thomas. “She’s got great contacts, and I know she’ll acquire some excellent books for Dafina.”
About Kensington Books
Kensington Publishing Corp., located in New York, was established in 1974. The company remains the only independent, full-line publishing house in the United States. Kensington’s national bestsellers include Final Scream and Deep Freeze by Lisa Jackson, The Preacher’s Son and the #1 Essence bestsellers Player Haters and Baby Momma Drama by Carl Weber, Lone Calder Star and Calder Promise by Janet Dailey, Jamie by Lori Foster, On The Up and Up by Brenda Stone Browder, Sex, Lies & Politics by Larry Flynt, Payback and Picture Perfect by Fern Michaels, In Sheep’s Clothing, God Don’t Like Ugly and God Still Don’t Like Ugly by Mary Monroe, Killing Her Softly by Beverly Barton, Souls of My Sisters written and edited by Dawn Daniels and Candace Sandy, and Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This by Mary B. Morrison. Among the company’s award-winning titles are the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award-winning Out of Sight by T. J. MacGregor, the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Award winner Blood of Others by Rick Mofina, and the Lambda Award-winning The World of Normal Boys by K.M. Soehnlein, Winter of Our Discothèque by Andrew W. M. Beierle, and Last Summer by Michael Thomas Ford. Additionally, Joanne Fluke’s Blueberry Muffin Murder was a Book Sense 76 Top Mystery. Kensington Publishing publishes in all formats— hardcover, trade paperback and mass market—and is the last independently owned publisher to do so. Its imprints include Kensington Books, Citadel Press, Dafina Books, Zebra Books, Pinnacle Books, Brava, Lyle Stuart, Twin Streams and Strapless. Through these diverse imprints, Kensington Publishing is well known for its African American titles, gay fiction and nonfiction, alternative and traditional health titles, popular fiction, gambling and Wicca titles as well as for its romance, true crime, western, and mystery publishing programs. It continues to be noted as the foremost American publisher of romance books.
Additionally, Kensington Publishing distributes titles from BET Books, including the Arabesque, Sepia and New Spirit imprints, Mayo Clinic Health Information, Urban Books, New Horizon, Genesis Press, and Intersistemas, S.A.’s, which publishes Spanish- language editions of titles published originally in English by the Mayo Clinic.
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