Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Riley.
Elizabeth, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Omnific Publishing is a small publishing company that started in 2009 with a motto of “Romance without Rules.” It all began with a desire to give talented debut authors who were telling fresh stories in unique ways, a place to have their voices heard.
In 2008, I started a website called Twilighted, which was an all-inclusive archive for high-quality for Twilight Fanfiction. From this experience, I came into contact with amateur authors who were writing stories that were as good or better than the novels I was reading. Since Twilighted was “all-inclusive,” it featured a number of works that were not permitted on other fanfiction archives; stories which deviated from the original source so much that they were truly not even fanfiction any longer. They were simply romances containing characters that shared the same names as those in the original work. I truly believed if, given the opportunity, these authors could find success outside of fanfiction.
Through my work on Twilighted, I had met a number of talented women–editors, marketers, and a lawyer–who had the skills needed to help get Omnific started. Omnific launched on Valentine’s Day 2010 with six books, all from fanfiction authors, some new stories, and some reworked versions of their fanfiction stories. By 2013, we had 4 New York Times bestsellers and had sold 7 of our books to Simon & Schuster and Penguin/Random House in Major deals. In 2014, we partnered with Simon & Schuster in an exclusive distribution and co-publishing agreement.
The face of publishing has changed dramatically in the last ten years, and Omnific is proud to have been a part of changing the game for authors.
Has it been a smooth road?
Every business has its challenges, and Omnific is no different. Initially, there was a lot of opposition within the fanfiction community to these authors reworking their stories for publication as original works. Entire websites were started with the sole purpose of tearing down our authors and their books.
In the end, the quality of the work spoke for itself, and many of our authors found significant success. Through these struggles, I learned that if you believe in the work that you are doing, detractors are of little consequence. Do good work, and the rest will follow.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Omnific Publishing – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Omnific is known for publishing romance without rules–romance that doesn’t fit the traditional mold of the romance novel your mother or grandmother may have read. Our heroes and heroines are a little different.
My favorite example is a book we published in 2011 called Poughkeepsie–the hero isn’t a businessman or a billionaire like in most romances these days… he’s a homeless man. We specialize in smart romance for smart women (and men); romance that doesn’t rely on tropes or stereotypes, and that gives the reader a story about characters who are surprising and interesting.
I am most proud of the fact that we have found success without relying on the traditional romance model.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love LA… I grew up in Long Beach, thriving on the diversity that makes LA so special. After moving to Texas in the 90’s for a job and graduate school.
I returned home to LA in 2013, and couldn’t be happier to be in the place that taught me to love what is different, unique, and diverse about people. LA has been instrumental in defining my worldview.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.omnificpublishing.com
- Phone: 800-975-8519
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OmnificPublishing
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/OmnificPub
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