Bella Andre
BornRochester, New York, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAmerican
Alma materStanford University
Period2003–present
GenreRomance

Bella Andre (born in New York) is an American author of more than 40 contemporary romance novels.[1][2][3] As of 2019, Andre is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Sullivans™ series and her books have sold over 8 million copies.[4][5][6][7] She also writes as Lucy Kevin for the Four Weddings and a Fiasco series and the Married in Malibu series.[8]

Biography

Bella Andre was born in Rochester, New York. When she was four years old, her family moved to Northern California.[1] Her mother was an avid reader and her father an author of non-fiction books in the field of economics.[8] She studied economics from Stanford University.[9][8][10][11]

After graduating from Stanford, Andre read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.[12] While practicing the "morning pages ritual" described in the book, which encourages authors to begin their day by writing three pages, Andre began "having two characters speak to one another in my head."[12] The dialogue, according to Andre, continued relentlessly until she had to put the rest of it in writing, leading to her first finished novel, Authors in Ecstasy. Over the next year, Andre had several other books published by Ellora's Cave, a publisher based in Akron, Ohio.[13][14][15]

Her fifth novel, Take Me, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2005 and was among the first in the genre to feature a plus-sized heroine.[16][14] Andre went on to publish additional four novels with Simon & Schuster.[17] Later that same year, Andre shifted her focus to writing in a new genre, that of romantic suspense. In the subsequent year she published her first novel in this genre, Wild Heat with Random House.[18]

In 2007, Publishers Weekly described Andre writing as “empowered stories enveloped in heady romance”.[19]

In 2010 Andre published two novels with Hachette Book Group.[13][20]

Though being published with major publishers, Andre was constantly displeased with subjects such as the cover design and overall lack of reader-experience.

According to Andre, dissatisfaction she had with the major publishers, Simon & Schuster, Random House and Hachette pushed her to experiment with independent publishing.[21][22]

Kindle phenomenon

In March 2010, after receiving her rights back from the publisher for her novel Authors in Ecstasy, Andre independently published the book through Amazon's relatively new Kindle program as Take Me.[23] In July 2010 Andre went ahead and published Love Me, the sequel to Take Me, which was first published by Simon & Schuster.[22][24][3][9][25]

When publishing Love Me, Andre faced the Amazon author portal, which was a fairly new platform for authors to use, and she had to teach herself how to format an ebook, which was a novelty at the time and had no online instructions.[26] Additionally, she taught herself Photoshop in order to design the cover of the book.[8]

As part of the publicity for the novel, Andre wrote personal emails to every single reader who had ever contacted her during the previous five years, amounting to hundreds of personal emails.[27][28]

The two books sold relatively well on Amazon and, being encouraged by the public response, Andre went on to publish the sequel to another book previously published by Simon & Schuster, naming the sequel Game for Love.[22]

Game for Love

Game for Love, published in December 2010, was simultaneously distributed in Amazon's Kindle, as well as the relatively new Barnes & Noble Nook, which was launched a month prior.[29][23] Within five weeks, Game for Love appeared on the top 25 on the Barnes & Noble digital charts.[8]

Subsequently, Andre was featured in the Washington Post.[8] The article legitimized independently published authors, naming Andre a digital pioneer and "one of the hottest digital writers in America."[8] Within the literary community, however, Andre's success was perceived as little more than vanity press.[30]

Following the unexpected response to Game For Love, Andre proceeded to publish books that major publishers had previously rejected. Since these books were aimed at a different readership, Andre published them under the nom de plume Lucy Kevin.[31][32]

The Sullivans™ series

The relative success of the subsequent four novels published as Lucy Kevin led Andre to contemplate venturing into a genre which she knew, from her experience, traditional publishers would have found too risky—publishing an eight-book series focusing entirely on one family. Previously her editor at a traditional publishing house told her such a romance series would never sell.[33]

Having the freedom of not having to adhere to the rules of the publishing industry, Andre decided to write a series she wanted to read with characters who are "not fictional characters. They're real people."[34] She also wanted the couples to be from big families. She drew her inspiration from author Julia Quinn's Bridgertons series, which focused on a family set in Regency England.[35]

The first book in the Sullivans™ series was called The Look of Love.[36] Andre went on to complete the entire eight-book series that she initially intended to write, and then branched off to the larger, extended Sullivan family.[37] Today, her Sullivans™ series comprises more than 20 books.[34]

In 2013 Andre had five books from The Sullivans™ series appear simultaneously on The New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.[4][38]

The Harlequin print contract

In July 2013, following the appearance of five of Andre's titles on The New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists simultaneously, Andre was approached by multiple traditional New-York based publishers offering to acquire the rights for The Sullivans™ series.[38] Due to her previous experience with traditional publishers, Andre was adamant on retaining the rights for the digital distribution of her novels, as well as the rights for foreign translations. She was willing to negotiate terms on print publication in English alone, which subsequently led to negotiations with several publishers.[39]

In September 2013 Andre went on to sign an agreement with Harlequin MIRA, granting the rights for print of her first eight novels in the Sullivans™ series.[40][24][41][42][43][44] The deal, which allegedly was of seven figures, was covered in Time magazine.[45] The 2013 deal was the first of its kind; granting a publisher print-rights to release paperback in the US, Canada, and Australia, while the author retained digital rights and foreign publication rights.[4][41][44] Coincidentally, ten years earlier, Andre was rejected by Harlequin.[8]

Additional publishing

Andre's books have been translated into multiple languages including French, German, Thai, Japanese and Ukrainian.[38][10][46]

In 2014, Andre signed an agreement with Kobo, giving them exclusive rights to the French translations to the five-volume series, Four Weddings and a Funeral series written as Lucy Kevin for a three-month period.[47][48]

Also in 2014, Amazon launched four new series in its Kindle Worlds program including Andre's Game for Love series and Kevin's Four Weddings and a Fiasco series.[49][50][51]

Personal life

Bella Andre and her family split their time between Northern California, the Adirondacks, and London.[29][13][1]

Bibliography

As Bella Andre

The Sullivans™

  • The San Francisco Sullivans™
    1. The Look Of Love [2013, ISBN 9780778315568]
    2. From This Moment On [2012, ISBN 9780778315575]
    3. Can't Help Falling In Love [2011, ISBN 0983720290]
    4. I Only Have Eyes For You [2013, ISBN 0778315592]
    5. If You Were Mine [2013, ISBN 0778315606]
    6. Let Me Be The One [2013, ISBN 0778316009]
    7. Come A Little Bit Closer [2014, ISBN 0778316084]
    8. Always On My Mind [2014, ISBN 0778316173]
    9. Kissing Under The Mistletoe [2014, ISBN 0778317013]
  • The Seattle Sullivans™
    1. One Perfect Night [2014, ASIN: B00AXTM8G2]
    2. The Way You Look Tonight [2014, ISBN 9780778317302]
    3. It Must Be Your Love [2015, ISBN 0778317315]
    4. Just To Be With You [2015, ISBN 1938127552]
    5. I Love How You Love Me [2015, ISBN 1938127560]
    6. All I Ever Need Is You [2015, ISBN 1938127951]
  • The New York Sullivans™
    1. Every Beat Of My Heart [2016, ISBN 1945253177]
    2. Now That I've Found You [2016, ISBN 1945253002]
    3. Since I Fell For You [2016, ISBN 1945253118]
    4. Sweeter Than Ever [2017, ISBN 1945253231]
    5. The Best Is Yet To Come [2017, ISBN 1945253290]
    6. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You [2017, ISBN 1945253304]
    7. You Do Something To Me [2017, ISBN 1945253355]
    8. Every Time We Fall In Love [2018, ISBN 1945253746]
  • The Maine Sullivans™
    1. Falling In Love All Over Again [2018, ISBN 1945253738]
    2. Your Love is Mine [2019, ISBN 1945253886]
    3. There Goes My Heart [2019, ISBN 1945253983]
    4. When You Kiss Me [2020, ISBN 1950351289]
    5. Hold On To My Heart [2021, ISBN 1950351726]

The London Sullivans™

  1. As Long As I Have You [2019, ISBN 1950351726]

As Lucy Kevin

Four Weddings & A Fiasco

  1. The Wedding Gift [2012, ASIN: B007BVNF4O]
  2. The Wedding Dance [2012, ASIN: B00822WKBA]
  3. The Wedding Song [2012, ASIN: B008O4LHA6]
  4. The Wedding Dress [2012, ASIN: B009RRNRXO]
  5. The Wedding Kiss [2012, ASIN: B00AQOY5RO]

Married in Malibu

  1. The Beach Wedding [2016, ASIN: B01AZYK56E]
  2. The Summer Wedding [2017, ASIN: B01MSJLC0H]
  3. The Barefoot Wedding [2018, ASIN: B07FCTJP24]
  4. The Moonlight Wedding [2019, ASIN: B07JL8PCBC]

The Walker Island Series

  1. Be My Love [2015, ISBN 1938127579]
  2. No Other Love [2015, ISBN 1938127587]
  3. When It's Love [2015, ISBN 1938127617]
  4. All For Love [2015, ISBN 1938127625]
  5. Forever In Love [2015, ISBN 1938127676]

Lucy Kevin stand-alones

  • Falling Fast [2018, ASIN: B07L7ZJNCP]
  • Sparks Fly [2018, ASIN: B07L7ZQPPC]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cowles, Gregory (2017-10-27). "The Romance Writer Who Almost Lost Her Home to California's Wildfires". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-09.
  2. ↑ "All Book Series by Bella Andre". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  3. 1 2 Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (2011-10-31). "Secret of Self-Publishing: Success". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  4. 1 2 3 Scheller, Rachel (2014-06-26). "Online Exclusive: Both Sides of the Coin with Bella Andre". Writer's Digest. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  5. ↑ "Wall Street Journal-Best Sellers". The Seattle Times. 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  6. ↑ Maher, John (March 20, 2019). "Apple Books Bestsellers: The 'Crawdads' Are Back". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  7. ↑ "The List Where Indies Count". IndieReader. 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tucker, Neely (May 7, 2011). "Novel rejected? There's an e-book gold rush!". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2011-12-09.
  9. 1 2 "These romance writers ditched their publishers for ebooks — and made millions". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  10. 1 2 Andre, Bella. "Self-published author Bella Andre to give Book Expo America keynote on selling 700,000 ebooks". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  11. ↑ Tucker, Neely (2012-06-11). "700,000 books later, she finally has a 'bestseller'". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  12. 1 2 Dashwood, Monica L. (2017-04-21). "How This Author Went From Being Dropped by Her Publisher to Selling Over 6 Million Books Worldwide". HipLatina. Archived from the original on 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  13. 1 2 3 Wildermuth, Renate (2011-08-14). "Love in the Adirondacks". Times Union. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  14. 1 2 "Not Your Mother's Beach Book". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  15. ↑ "Ellora". Scribd. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  16. ↑ Take Me. 2005-11-15. ISBN 9781416509578.
  17. ↑ "Bella Andre". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  18. ↑ "Bella Andre". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25.
  19. ↑ "Tempt Me, Taste Me, Touch Me". www.publishersweekly.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  20. ↑ "Bella Riley". Hachette UK. 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  21. ↑ Greenfield, Jeremy (December 3, 2012). "When Self-Published Ebooks Become Best-Sellers". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2012-12-04.
  22. 1 2 3 Giuliano Long, Terri (November 8, 2012). "Romance Writer Bella Andre: The Story of a Rock Star". www.hercircleezine.com. Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  23. 1 2 "Romance Writer Finds Love on Amazon". www.amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-12. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  24. 1 2 "A Billion-Dollar Affair". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  25. ↑ Fleischer, Denise (2018-11-14). "Finding Her Voice: DP Author Enjoys The Challenge of Writing Romance | Journal & Topics Media Group". Journal Online. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  26. ↑ "Companies book profits from self-publishing". USA Today. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  27. ↑ "Interview with Bella Andre, Self Publishing Success". Dear Author. 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  28. ↑ Friedman, Jane (2014-09-26). "5 Lessons in Publishing Success From Bella Andre". Jane Friedman. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  29. 1 2 "Novel approach; For writers struggling to get their works published, cyberspace offers a new frontier". The Buffalo News. 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  30. ↑ Charles, Ron (2015-11-26). "Romance finally breaks The Post's 'No Self-Published Books' rule". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  31. ↑ "Lucy Kevin". www.fantasticfiction.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  32. ↑ "Harlequin | Lucy Kevin". www.harlequin.com. Archived from the original on 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  33. ↑ Kobo (2017-01-12). "Kobo brings self-publishing into the mainstream". Medium. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  34. 1 2 "Bella Andre Indie Pioneering Superstar | Sarah Williams Author". 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  35. ↑ "Interview with Bella Andre". Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  36. ↑ "The Look of Love - An Interview with Bella Andre". HuffPost UK. 2011-09-17. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  37. ↑ "Why a Regular Release Schedule is So Important in Self-Publishing". BookBub Partners Blog. 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  38. 1 2 3 "Self-Publishing Insights: Q&A With Bella Andre". DIY MFA. 2013-10-03. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  39. ↑ "SPF-010: From Indie Publishing to 7 Figure Book Deal, with Bella Andre". Mark Dawson's Self Publishing Formula. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  40. ↑ "Harlequin acquires self-publishing sensation Bella Andre's Sullivan series". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  41. 1 2 "Goodbye vanity: Self-publishing goes mainstream". Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  42. ↑ "Interview: Bella Andre, 'Always on My Mind'". amp.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  43. ↑ "Harlequin acquires self-publishing sensation Bella Andre's Sullivan series". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  44. 1 2 Howell, Daedalus. "Rags to Romance". North Bay Bohemian. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
  45. ↑ Rice, Andrew (2012-12-10). "The 99¢ Best Seller". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  46. ↑ "Fast-Growing Independent Publishers, 2014". www.publishersweekly.com. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  47. ↑ "Kobo Teams With Andre On Translations". www.publishersweekly.com. February 14, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  48. ↑ "KOBO BRINGS AUTHOR LUCY KEVIN'S FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FIASCO SERIES…". Kobo News. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  49. ↑ "Kindle Worlds Introduces Four New Worlds from Best-Selling Romance Novelists Barbara Freethy, Bella Andre, H.M. Ward, and Lucy Kevin". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  50. ↑ "Kindle Worlds Introduces Four New Worlds from Best-Selling Romance Novelists Barbara Freethy, Bella Andre, H.M. Ward, and Lucy Kevin". Amazon.com, Inc. - Press Room. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  51. ↑ "Kindle Worlds Introduces Four New Worlds from Best-Selling Romance Novelists Barbara Freethy, Bella Andre, H.M. Ward, and Lucy Kevin". www.businesswire.com. 2014-06-26. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
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