It is probably a fairly safe bet to state that when it comes to the Hallmark Network and Company, I tend to wholeheartedly support and promote practically everything associated with Hallmark. When it was announced this past summer that Hallmark was going to begin publishing books, I thought that was a fantastic idea, and I knew I wanted to do all I could to assist them in this new endeavor. Since Stacey Donovan is the director of Hallmark Publishing, I was honored to be able to speak with her earlier this year. She was kind enough to detail many elements regarding this new facet of Hallmark, and I am quite pleased to finally be able to share this chat with all of my readers.

RH: Stacey, it’s so nice to connect with you.

SD: Ruth, it’s great to talk with you in person and not just on Twitter. I love your website! It’s so impressive what you’ve built there and what you do. It’s so cool. In fact, I was just reading your interview with Nelson Wong. It was so great.

Thank you, Stacey. I love seeing everything that’s happening with Hallmark Publishing too.

Oh, it’s fun. It is still just getting started. I’m excited to see everything that’s coming.

When I saw the idea for Hallmark Publishing, I thought, “That’s a really good idea! Why didn’t somebody think of that before?” I’m sure it was in the works for a while.

Well, I’ve worked with Hallmark for a long time. And then on my own, I always worked in writing and editorials. Also on my own, I published romance under a pen name. That’s how I started thinking how publishing books would be a good thing for Hallmark to get into. I pitched the idea to Bill Abbott. Now I didn’t know him. I found out when he was going to be in Kansas City since there is where I live and work. As soon as I found out when he was going to be in town, I emailed him and asked if I could have a half hour to pitch him this business idea. He agreed, and I pitched it. Well, as it turned out, they had already been thinking about it. So that’s how the whole new idea came about.

How long ago did you pitch the idea?

It was more than a year ago. It took some time to talk about everything and get it all set up. It takes a while to get a whole new corporation set up. There’s a lot of legal stuff.

I can imagine. That’s the stuff I don’t know anything about. 

Absolutely. And, of course, I’d never done it before either. It’s complicated to get it started up, but it’s really exciting.

If I remember right, you guys announced it this past summer. 

Yes, it was announced July of 2017. We were official by then.

That’s what I thought. And since Hallmark Publishing has begun, I’ve recommended it to some of my author friends. People come to me for advice now and then because they figure I know everything about everything (which I don’t). So when they ask me about getting published, I always recommend Hallmark. 

I really appreciate that, Ruth. And I appreciate all the support you’re giving us. Thank you for being a part of our review program.

My pleasure, Stacey. So far, I’ve read Journey Back to Christmas, Love You Like Christmas, Moonlight in Vermont, Love Locks, and Perfect Catch. And I think I’ve interviewed almost every author so far and will be publishing the last two reviews with accompanying interviews very soon.

Thank you, Ruth, for reading those. And you know, Journey Back to Christmas is probably my favorite Hallmark movie. Now, I don’t know if you know this, but one of the Hallmark Christmas movies this year was based on a treatment I wrote: Christmas In Evergreen. I’m not a scriptwriter, but I wrote a detailed plot outline that included the characters, and they based the script off of that. So that was really exciting.

That is really amazing, Stacey, I wasn’t aware of that. {pause} I love getting to read and review these books and interview the authors. In fact, I’m really flexible because I’ll do it via email or phone or even Skype. Some writers prefer email interviews, which is fine with me. 

It’s great that you’re so flexible. It depends on the writer. Some writers are outgoing, and some are very introverted.

Exactly. And sometimes it’s just a scheduling thing. 

I just love Hallmark programming too. I am a huge fan of When Calls the Heart, and so I love the Hearties. And then there’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered. I just love all of those. I hope there will be lots more Postables films to come.

Well, I know at least one more has filmed, and so we’ll see what happens. Our family loves that series too.

I was glad to see the movie back in February, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next one.

So once you got Hallmark Publishing started, whose idea was it to base the books on movies?

Well, not all of our books are going to be based on movies. Those were our first releases, and the whole process was pretty fast. We announced it in July, and we wanted to get something on the market when we officially opened in October. It was a real hustle, and we wanted to get out at least something for Christmas. Novelizations are faster than original novels. It’s also kind of fun to work on them because you get into the point of view of the characters, especially the heroes, I think. You get more of their perspective, which I really like. And then we add those new epilogues, which is like the next chapter of the story. We had heard that a lot of people wanted to know what happens after the kiss. So we try to give that to the readers with the books. So we are doing the companion novels. But then what we’re also doing original fiction, and we already have a few novels that I’m really excited about.

I seem to remember that earlier this year, you did a pitch day for Hallmark Publishing. 

Yes, we did. And just so everyone knows, we are open to suggestions. Not everyone knows about that yet. And also, the kind of thing we’re looking for are really specific. But we did the Twitter pitch just to kind of make more people aware of us, which I think it really did. We’re really only looking for manuscripts of wholesome romance and cozy mysteries. So we’re open to listen, and we do have a few of the works already. That’s super exciting to me. And some of those books will become movies. Not all of them, but some of them will. And I think that will be fun.

I have been trying to follow what you guys do. And I think it’s great that you are open to diverse stories and characters.

You know what, Ruth? That was really important to me. I had conversations with people about it before we started because I wanted to make sure that before we started, diversity was part of it. So we’re definitely open to diversity. And it seems like everybody else at the network wants diversity too. I’m so glad that we all seem to want to move in that direction.

I have begun to see that across the board with Hallmark. I think some people want the move to happen faster, but I’m glad to see it moving that direction. I like how Hallmark is doing it. Other networks are making a big deal about diversity and pushing it, but Hallmark has this slow, steady way of doing it without sacrificing the storyline. They bring it about in a much more natural way. 

I think that is true. And I definitely want diverse stories, and that balances perfectly with the kinds of stories we bring. You know, alongside the feel-good stories, it just seems natural to include variety.

I know people are very happy that these Hallmark books are available now not only in e-book form, but in print form as well.

Yes, we made sure that we rolled that out the right way. We made sure that we knew how we were going to do distribution while maintaining quality. In fact, we even beat our own deadline, in a way. I was hopeful we would start selling print copies this summer, and as of March, we have print copies! We wanted to make sure that the full-color stuff in the ebooks translated well to the print copies, and it did. I know a lot of people wanted these print books, and I’m so glad we were able to make that happen. I’m a huge reader, and I do it all. I read ebooks, print books, and listen to audiobooks. But not everybody does the ebooks. We wanted to make people happy and give them the books in the format that they want.

I also love that you added recipes to these books. 

That was so much fun. Each one is developed just for that story. It’s unique to us, and I think it’s a nice, little addition. I feel like our novels are comfort food anyway, so adding these recipes seems pretty natural.

The first Hallmark book I read was Love You Like Christmas. Now, I love Brennan Elliott; he is one of my favorite human beings. And when I read this book, I had the chance to relive the movie, but in a deeper sense. Then what was cool is that after I read the book, I was watching the movie again, and I found that I had a richer experience because of the book.

That’s nice to hear. Thanks for telling me that.

Do you have a schedule for releasing books?

Yes, it’s more or less a book a month for now, but it’s going to be more than that soon. So the companion novels are definitely a book a month. But as we start to roll out the original fiction, that will change somewhat. Right now, our first original novel is supposed to be released in August.

I noticed that if you go to the Hallmark website, you can find everything you need for Hallmark Publishing. Everything is explained very well. I found it easy to navigate. I noticed that the whole pitch thing is set up so you can easily submit your book right there. 

It is exciting, and we are getting a lot of submissions. We also get proposals from writers through their agents as well. It’s a lot to keep up with. We are very exacting. We are a lot different from many publishing companies and lots of things that people are currently writing. It really has to be that kind of story that’s not too heavy and that gives you that warm, squishy feeling inside. A lot of people will submit manuscripts that are not in keeping with our guidelines. I say in our submission guidelines “no heavy or disturbing content.” But they will still send me things that have somewhat disturbing elements in them. We are not in the market for serious, dire things, even if they’re good books. We’re trying to do something that’s a little bit more uplifting and not something that’s gonna stress people out more. I think people are already stressed out enough as it is, and I don’t think we need to have those kinds of elements in our Hallmark books.

I think that if someone wants to submit a manuscript for consideration, they should probably spend some time watching Hallmark movies.

Oh my gosh, Ruth, that is exactly what I think! There is no better way to tell what we’re looking for.

That’s exactly what I’ve told people. I know some think Hallmark movies are cheesy, but there’s a pretty distinct formula. 

Yes, I like to say we have a strong house style.

I’m looking forward to when you guys start publishing mysteries. My mom and I love the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel! 

Me too. And we are still looking for the right mysteries for Hallmark Publishing. And we do want to do series.

One more thing for authors who are submitting…something that people have misunderstood. Some people think that if Hallmark publishes their book, they’re going to grab the movie rights. And that’s not how it works. If the book is made into a movie, it’s a very nice extra payday for the author. It’s hard to hit just the right story, but it’s possible to go from being an unpublished author to an author with a Hallmark movie. That was never possible before. I think that’s a pretty exciting opportunity.

This has probably been taking over your life for a good year or so.

Yes, it is definitely all-consuming.

Do you have to balance family with all of this?

Well, I have a husband and three dogs. Luckily, they are pretty understanding when I’m working crazy, long hours. The first month, I would work late nights. I would work at four in the morning. I’d pull all-nighters. It’s still intense, but luckily, my husband’s very supportive. And my dogs are there to cuddle me when I need it.

So when you do have downtime, what do you like to do?

I like to read and write. Those are my favorite things to do. I also love to be outside and go on hikes. I live in Kansas City, but I might eventually wind up moving to Studio City. But for the foreseeable future, I’m in Kansas City, and I am quite pleased by the outdoor hikes this city offers. It’s great to get outside and get away from the daily stresses for awhile.

Stacey, thank you so much for taking some time to chat with me today. 

Ruth, it was my pleasure. And I seriously hope that people will continue to submit ideas and manuscripts as Hallmark Publishing grows. The possibilities are endless and exciting.

If there’s one thing I can categorically state after my conversation with Stacey, it is the fact that writing is a genuine passion of hers. And although she was thrust into this new branch of Hallmark over a year ago, there is no doubt in my mind that Stacey has found her “true calling” in this world. Although it requires limitless energy and unswerving commitment to enable a venture like this to not only commence but to grow, Stacey absolutely adores her work in spite of the sometimes grueling nature of it. I never once heard her complain (I’m sure there were and are moments of struggle.); Stacey is grateful and blessed, and she is an incessantly positive individual. Even the fact that in her off times she still enjoys reading and writing is a clue as to why Hallmark Publishing is thriving. Stacey is the heart of Hallmark Publishing, and I can hardly wait to see what is in the near and distant future for this amazing company.

In the meantime, I would invite you to visit Stacey’s and Hallmark Publishing’s links below and consider following where applicable. Perhaps you would consider reading one of the Hallmark books that are already published and posting your review on an online book site. In every segment of the Hallmark company, community is emphasized, and they rely on people like you and me to spread the word. It enthralls me to see Hallmark Publishing’s current success, and I predict even more exceptional things for them as the days, weeks, months and years progress. After all, with the phenomenally talented and incredibly benevolent Stacey at the helm, how on earth could this venture not be successful?

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