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Author Spotlight: Jane Porter Celebrates 10 Years of Tule Publishing!

September 13, 2023 /

Jane Porter headshotWe have a winner! Congratulations, Anne Hardy, you will receive Jane’s amazing prize package! She will be in touch with you. Thanks to everyone for dropping by and sharing in the Tule Publishing anniversary celebration! 

Mes amies, I am honored and excited to welcome my publisher and my friend, Jane Porter, to the Author Spotlight. She is a remarkable woman–publisher, author, teacher, mom, wife, world traveler, entrepreneur–a woman I admire beyond words.

Jane is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 70 romances and fiction titles, She’s been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award six times and won in 2014 for Best Novella with her story, Take Me, Cowboy, from Tule Publishing. Today, Jane has over 13 million copies in print, including her wildly successful, Flirting With Forty, which was made into a Lifetime movie starring Heather Locklear, as well as The Tycoon’s Kiss and A Christmas Miracle for Daisy, two Tule books which have been turned into holiday films for the GAC Family network. A mother of three sons, Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and makes her home in sunny San Clemente, CA with her surfer husband and three dogs.

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Jane has a wonderful giveaway today for one lucky commenter, so be sure to check it out below!

Jane, I’m so happy to welcome you to the Author Spotlight today to celebrate Tule Publishing’s 10th Anniversary!

Thank you so much for celebrating Tule Publishing’s 1oth Anniversary with us!  It truly is a special month because starting a publishing company 10 years ago was relatively easy, but making it successful has been a lot of work.  Fortunately, I like a good challenge and I’ve had Meghan Farrell at my side from October 2013, and I attribute so much of Tule’s success to her steadiness, her creative problem solving, and her incredible spirit.  Meghan took all my crazy ideas and made it work.  I’d have a brainstorm, and she’d be tasked with putting it into play, and she did it.  Every.  Single.  Time.  Working with Meghan has been one of the great joys of the past 10 years.

 

But let’s go back to the spring of 2013.  In March 2013 I wasn’t trying to start a publishing company.  I just wanted to do something creative with friends, thinking it would be fun to have a shared project, writing connected stories .  If you know me, you know if I get an idea, I just go for it.  So I called some of my close writer friends– Megan Crane, CJ Carmichael, and Lilian Darcy–and asked if they were game.  Like the good friends they are, they said yes, and we made plans to meet at CJ’s new cottage in Montana in May, but it required a little bit of travel since Lilian Darcy would be flying in from Australia.  That week together changed my life.  I didn’t just have a good time talking story and helping create Marietta, I felt freedom and excitement…excitement that I got to take everything I knew about writing, the romance industry, and my own readers expectations, and try to do something I had some control over, something I could write, market and publish, something that was…mine.

But Marietta isn’t mine.  It belongs to the founding authors and the readers that have come to embrace it.  As CJ Carmichael wrote in the 2016 foreword for A GIRL’S GUIDE TO MARIETTA:

Creating a fictional town is one of the joys of being an author and the fun is magnified when the creative process involves a team of highly imaginative and talented writers. When Jane Porter, Megan Crane, Lilian Darcy and I sat around the kitchen table at my cottage on Flathead Lake, Montana, in May of 2013 our goal was to invent a locale for the connected rodeo stories we planned to write.

We drew maps, we hammered out details, and we researched real Montana towns and history to make our town feel as authentic as possible. Important town landmarks were fabricated: local bar Grey’s Saloon, Sage Carrigan’s Copper Mountain Chocolates, the historic Graff Hotel and the tragedy-steeped River Bend Park.

Once we had our town of Marietta, Montana, we started writing about the people who live and love there, books that Tule Publishing branded Montana Born. I don’t think any of us could have guessed back then how our readers would grow to love our town, how they would clamor for more stories, how they would wish they could visit or even move to Marietta themselves.

Over time more and more talented authors have written stories set in Marietta. The town has grown, and with each new story family trees are expanded and entwined. This book is a guide, for new readers and old, to enrich their Montana Born reading experience. On behalf of myself and the other founding authors of Marietta—Jane, Megan and Lilian—and the publishing team at Tule, I hope you enjoy your visit here.

 Leap forward a decade, and Tule has come a long way.  Tule started with four authors writing cowboys, ranchers, and small town romance in Montana, but has grown to include romance, women’s fiction, and mystery.  Over two hundred authors either write for Tule, or have written books for us, with over 1,000 titles published.  Our authors have been nominated (and won!) dozens of awards.  Eleven movies have been made from Tule titles, with two dozen others in various stages of production, including three different mystery series optioned for television series.

Tule began with established multi-published authors but quickly began to accept submissions for other writers, and some of her biggest successes have been from debut authors who came to us and have flourished.  I’m glad, and grateful, because Tule was never supposed to be about me.  It started with friends, working—and playing—with friends, and quickly grew into seizing opportunity, and marrying creativity with commercial viability. Perhaps we were idealistic, but we wanted to support others and try to be honest, and transparent, about the challenges in publishing.  But throughout was the mantra, why not?  Why can’t we?

We can.

And we wouldn’t still be here without the exceptional pub team, the writers, and our incredibly generous readers who have opened their hearts to all things Tule.

Thank you everyone, and happy 10th birthday Tule.  I’m proud of you.

GIVEAWAY! Check out this amazing collection that Jane has put together for one lucky commenter! It’s a happy day! Simply comment below with something that makes you happy–a big thing or a little thing–just one thing that always makes you happy. We’ll draw a winner on Friday morning.

Nan here, popping in to say, thanks for being with me today, Jane. You’ve created a terrific world for writers and readers! I’m honored to among the stable of amazing Tule authors!

And, mes amies, please remember to stop by the Tule Bookstore for another couple of days of the half-off sale on all Tule e-books! Just use the code TULE10 when you check out!

42 Comments

  • Dreaa Drake

    September 14, 2023 at 8:04 pm

    My family makes me happy playing with my kids spending time with my husband and kids going out of town for some fun adventures with them. Anything I do with my family makes me happy!

  • Lori Swalley

    September 14, 2023 at 7:18 pm

    The top thing I love the most next to reading is the love of a family. Congratulations to Jane and Tule on 10 great years

  • Deana Dtakulich

    September 13, 2023 at 10:07 pm

    A beautiful blue sky and chores all done. Smell of fresh cut grass and sitting on the swing in the yard just taking it all in. Added bonus if I get to sit and read right there.

  • Debra Pruss

    September 13, 2023 at 9:30 pm

    Something that always makes me happy is having the doors and windows open. I enjoy watching the cats and kitten come to eat and drink. Some come to the door and meow at us. We have to remind them not to pull out the screen. Thank you so much for the opportunity. God bless you.

  • Anne Hardy

    September 13, 2023 at 9:05 pm

    Congratulations on 10 years of publishing.

    My favourite things would be reading, eating chocolate and drinking coffee or mochas (now decaf )

  • Helen Sibbritt

    September 13, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    Woohoo huge congrats to Jane and the awesome Tule team, reading makes me so happy and Tule have added to my happiness over the years as I know they will continue to do so 🙂

    • Jan Van Engen

      September 13, 2023 at 8:07 pm

      Congratulations on 10 years of Tule publishing and Jane for bringing such brilliant books into our lives. Family, books and writing what brings me joy

  • Roseann McGrath Brooks

    September 13, 2023 at 5:39 pm

    Congratulations on 10 years of Tule! I’ve been introduced to many of your writers through Nan’s blog, and you guys have some of the best in the romance world! Reading and eating chocolate — sometimes at the same time — makes me happy!

  • Kimberly Field

    September 13, 2023 at 5:28 pm

    Happy 10 yrs Tule! I love that I have been reading Tule books since the beginning! A good book always makes me happy.

    • Ivka Vuletic

      September 13, 2023 at 9:06 pm

      Happy 10th Anniversary Tule’ and team!
      You have so many wonderful authors that read.
      My daughter and her pets make me happy!

  • Sinclair Sawhney

    September 13, 2023 at 4:01 pm

    Hey Jane,
    No matter how many times I hear Tule’s origin story, I still feel so fired up and excited and proud to have been on part if this journey with you and the Tule Team and other Tuligans. What you and the team and the founding Tule members dreamed up never fails to inspire and astound me. Your courage is humbling, and yet I feel like if I just keep standing close, I will continue to push myself to great things.

    I’ve been working at Tule for over nine years, and it’s STILL my favorite job by a million miles–working with you, the team, the authors and the readers, and I have achieved my own dream of writing and publishing romances–so proud of that and even more fired up that we are still making some newbie authors’ publishing dreams rocking’ and rolling into reality.

    Thank you for being you and spending time with us, and thank you Nan, for hosting Jane so she can share more about her new book Take Me, Please Cowboy and Tule’s 10th year anniversary. Happy birthday month, Tule!

  • Elisa

    September 13, 2023 at 1:46 pm

    Love this team and the world they have built. Would love to tag along on the next brainstorming session. 🙂

    You are all amazing! Thank you! Here’s to 10 more years!

      • Christina Salem

        September 13, 2023 at 2:07 pm

        Being at the cottage with my whole family makes me happy. It is a place where we can put our phones down and just enjoy the great outdoors, a board game, some archery, a bonfire, and really just the peace and quiet and hearing the laughter of my family. Puts a huge smile on my face.

  • Girlfromwva

    September 13, 2023 at 12:05 pm

    Happy 10 years to Tule! so glad I have been blessed to be a reader since the beginning. It has been fun to watch all the new readers join in. Hopefully, we will all be here in the next 10 years to celebrate

  • Sue Farmer

    September 13, 2023 at 11:42 am

    Happy 10th Birthday Tule! I am happy to have been able to read so many wonderful books that you’ve published. Finding Marietta was terrific. My youngest son is coming home for the weekend from Minneapolis. Having him home for a visit makes me happy.

  • Janine

    September 13, 2023 at 10:52 am

    Happy Ten years, Tule! It makes me happy that I have been here since the beginning and have had the opportunity to read so many of these great books and discovered lots of new authors as well. Cuddling with my cats for an afternoon nap also makes me happy.

  • Fiona Marsden

    September 13, 2023 at 10:24 am

    I love that I’ve been reading Tule books from day one and now I have published books with them. Such an amazing Team. (Not entering competition)

    • Elisabeth R

      September 13, 2023 at 9:33 am

      Congratulations on 10 years and another great series. Can’t wait to read all the new books.
      Books make me happy, and reading.
      Relaing with friends and family.

  • Kathleen L Shaputis

    September 13, 2023 at 8:31 am

    Curling up with a good book either out on the front porch, or if the weather is iffy, snuggled in my chair with the dogs hogging most of the space. That is my happy place.

  • Judy Wagner

    September 13, 2023 at 8:16 am

    Spending time with my husband and now adult sons always makes me happy. I miss the little boys they were however I love the men that they have grown up to become!

  • Brandy L

    September 13, 2023 at 8:02 am

    You are amazing Jane, and Tule is such a phenomenal company filled with so many wonderful authors!! Some things that make me happy, in no particular order, are: books, fine tip pens that glide smoothly, empty notebooks, the ocean, fresh picked fruit, and cuddling with my kiddos!

  • Doris H Lankford

    September 13, 2023 at 7:20 am

    My almost 5 year old granddaughter always makes me happy. She can put a smile on my face just by looking at me and when she gives me a hug my heart just fills with love.

  • Kate Sparks

    September 13, 2023 at 6:56 am

    Reading a good story makes me happy. I have always loved that there was an ongoing charity for young people in the fictional Marietta with Harry’s House. Thank you.