We are truly grateful to all of you who have wished us well.Your support and enthusiasm for our venture was humbling, and we hope you will not see our company’s disbanding as an indication that any of us doubt the viability of digital publishing. Far to the contrary — if nothing else, we have learned that the future of digital publishing, while overwhelmingly complex, will be bright indeed, and we will each be working toward that bright future via our individual efforts.

Since we’re launching with our Quench Romance! imprint, we wanted to make sure our submission guidelines reflected what we’re looking for right now. As with the original guidelines, we want romance, and lots of it! We love variety and we love great stories. That part hasn’t changed.

So what’s new?

As you’ll see when you check out the revised guidelines, while Quench is all about romance, we’ve created two sub-imprints. The first focuses on the unusual: steampunk, space cowboys, cyberpunk, science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, and new twists on classic paranormal themes. and new twists on classic paranormal themes. We’re looking for sexy, sweet, adventurous, and unusual, thought not necessarily at the same time.

Our second sub-imprint is Quench Classics. Inspired by a discussion among readers who wanted to buy digital versions of comfort reads and classic romances, Quench Classics is focused on those books readers want to read over and over…and thanks to modern technology, readers can carry a library of favorites with them everywhere they go!

Check out the updated guidelines. Note the gentle comments about sending us a complete query package (ah, the synopsis, such torture to write, such a thing of beauty when it comes to making important decisions about your manuscript!). If you’re looking for specific tips about how to wow us with your cover letter, I quote from Angie’s comments on the Risky Regencies site (hint: lots of good advice and comments throughout the interview and comment thread):

One thing that has always worked to catch my attention in a query letter is just a short line that personalizes it to me, maybe the author reads my blog, has read an interview with me, follows me on twitter. Saying something like, I read in an interview with you on Risky Regencies that you’re especially interested in fantasy romances, so I’m submitting my… Shows that you’ve done your homework and you’re interested in working with me/my press, not just blindly sending out 25 query letters. Other queries have caught my attention in various ways, but it’s almost always something that shows they’re interested in me as an editor/my press specifically.

• Quartet Press Submission Guidelines

Distribution Because we want to make our books available in as many places as possible (so you can price shop and deal with the e-booksellers of your choice), Kat Meyer has been working with over a dozen online booksellers to arrange to have our titles available at their sites. While it sounds relatively simple, each site has different requirements about formatting, minimum numbers of titles, metadata feeds, uploading and reporting, discounts, payment terms and a host of other items.

One of the more interesting things we’ve come across is that certain resellers insist that the books have their preferred DRM to be eligible for sale in their store. We find that odd, since it’s our intellectual property and we’re looking for solutions with those (large) resellers. Some may give; others may not. What we can assure you is that the copies you buy from our own website will be DRM-free and that we’ll push to have as many of our resellers as possible do the same. It’s a philosophical thing for us.

Author Toolbox Along with distribution, Kat’s been working on what we’re calling an Author Toolbox of helpful tips, tools, contacts and marketing wisdom so that our authors won’t have to reinvent the wheel each time a book is released and so that less experienced author/marketers will be able to hit the ground running. While Quartet/Quench will be taking the lead in marketing and publicity, we think it’s critical for authors to promote as well and we want to make it easy for them

Formatting One of the biggest challenges facing ebooks today is the multitude of formats required for the multitude of reading devices currently in or soon-to-be on the market. Kirk, with the help of Liza Daly at Threepress, Joshua Tallent at eBook Architects and others (including “our man in Ireland”) have been addressing format issues to be certain that finished manuscripts turn into attractive books that work on as many devices as possible. We hate that many ebooks don’t flow properly or render poorly and we’re committed to doing better.

The Quench Romance Website Ah, if the walls could talk. Website design is both art and functionality and finding the balance with four hardheads like us, has been quite an adventure. We think we’ve got the content and basic functionality in close to final form and have selected a very versatile and user-friendly e-commerce platform (because we hope you’ll buy from us), but the overall ‘look and feel’ are still very much up for discussion. We want it to make you say WOW, and we’re not yet in agreement on that. Stay tuned.

Title Acquisition, List Planning, Editorial Quality Control Kassia has been furiously reviewing submissions and gradually adding to our initial list and to our schedule of titles to follow the launch. It’s a lot of work (because we’re seeing a lot of good stuff). Now that Angela’s joined us, we expect the pace to pick up dramatically. We can’t tell you when we’ll be announcing the first list because we don’t yet know for sure, but you’ll know as soon as we do, and we hope you’ll agree that whether or not everything on it is exactly to your personal taste, it reflects a unique editorial voice. Another area where Angie’s expertise is being put to use already is building quality control checks throughout the workflow…from author to editor to copyeditor to final page proofs.

Accounting, Finance, Legal Since we last updated, we’ve finalized our Author Agreement (modifying it to remove the ‘option clause’ based on feedback from authors and agents). I’m spending a good chunk of my time building back-end accounting systems with a particular eye toward ensuring that reported sales from our own site as well as those from resellers find their way quickly into our royalty payment stream. Along the way, I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about the concept of ‘Nexus’ (not the Henry Miller novel…a nasty little tax concept) and am making sure that bills are paid, procedures are followed, insurance is in place and so on ad nauseam. I’ve also been active making sure the company is adequately funded for both good times and bad (it is).

We could go on (and probably will at a later date) to cover topics including The Great ISBN E-Book Controversy (one per format…really?), metadata management, rights reversion, our great partnership with Firebrand Technologies, the many conferences and panels we’ll be participating in and much more.

Let us know if you want to learn more about any of these topics and we can flesh them out a bit; or if there are things we haven’t talked about yet that you’re interested in, let us know about those, too.

At Quartet, James will be responsible for acquisition and development of titles, as well as management and training of editorial staff.

“Like the rest of the Quartet team, I am so pleased that Angela is joining us,” said Quartet co-founder, Kassia Krozser. “I’ve known her for some time, and have great admiration and respect for her knowledge and talent. I admire her commitment to quality stories and authors. Her vision of digital publishing meshes perfectly with the Quartet Press philosophy, and her focus on the best possible reading experience means she’s always exploring new ways to connect books and readers. She is a leader in the digital publishing industry, both within the world of romance and the wider publishing community.”

A native of North Dakota, James’ career in publishing has included ownership of an independent editorial services business, and a position as a copy editor for the electronic book and small press publisher, Ellora’s Cave.

James was most recently executive editor for Samhain Publishing, where she managed the publisher’s editorial services division, and edited more than 50 authors including national bestselling authors Lucy Monroe, Ilona Andrews and Deidre Knight.

James is a well-known advocate for digital publishing, and frequently travels to regional, national and international writing conferences to meet with authors and present workshops on digital publishing for both authors and readers of all genres of fiction.

About Quartet Press
Quartet Press was founded on shared principles to create a high-quality, community-centric, and reader- and author-friendly digital publishing house. First titles will be available in late Fall 2009 through its Quench Romance imprint, with plans to expand into additional categories and service offerings in the near future.

For additional information on Quartet Press, please visit our website: http://www.quartetpress.com

Media Inquiries: Kat Meyer, VP Marketing. m: 520.576.0482; email: kat {at} quartetpress(.)com

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1. What were you doing before you became 1/4 of Quartet Press?

KM: I’ve been involved in publishing of one sort or another since graduating from college (University of Arizona – go cats). My first “real” job was as an editorial production coordinator in the Journals Division of Harcourt (at the time, Harcourt, Brace + Jovanovich – though the names started falling off shortly after my arrival there. Hope it wasn’t something I said) in San Diego.

Since those many moons ago, I’ve worked for a number of publishers in Arizona and California, and done a lot of freelance work for a wide assortment of publishers and authors. I have communication in my blood. My dad was a CBS news correspondent turned PR man, my mom was a teacher, and all of my four sisters work in careers that involve sharing information. Some might even accuse us of oversharing, but can we help it if we like to talk?

Most recently I have been consulting with authors, publishers, and the occasional non-bookish client on social media strategies and online marketing. I like Twitter.

2. How do you feel about the over-crowded nature of the romance market? How do you plan to maneuver?

KM: We are approaching publishing as an ecosystem driven by readers, rather than by publisher. We are developing relationships with the reading community, and doing whatever we can to facilitate conversations with them. We want to know what they want to read before we acquire and publish. We want to hear what they’re looking for, what they’re tired of and what they think could be done better. In addition, we are fully invested in providing quality content. We’re devoting a lot of resources to developmental and copy editing, as well as to the formatting and hassle-free distribution of our ebooks and our POD books. We believe readers will come to know Quartet Press as a brand that can be relied upon to deliver a fantastic reading experience.

3. Where did you find these people you are working with? Sure they’re a good-looking group, but why them?

KM: Ah, the wonderful world of Twitter. I was already a big fan of Kassia’s blog, BookSquare.com, and approached her about co-hosting the TOC TweetUp in February. She foolishly agreed, and somewhere along the way, she, Kirk and I ended up on a TOC panel together. I also started noticing Don Linn’s tweets were not to be missed, and we ended up exchanging many direct messages about how we’d do digital publishing if we ruled the world and called the shots. (Be careful what you wish for).

Shortly after SXSW, I found out that Kassia, Kirk and Don were planning to put their money where their mouths were and they invited me to join them. So, basically I was double dog dared into becoming a partner at Quartet.

4. What’s your role at QP?

KM: I am focused on reader relations, sales, marketing, distributor relations, publicity/media relations, and corporate communications. And by focused, I mean overwhelmed but keeping my head above water. It’s a balls-in-the-air proposition for each of us right now, but it seems to be working (knock wood).

5. What’s your favorite thing about starting a brand spanking new company?

KM: If I had to pick one thing it would be getting to work with the fantastic people I am working with (and the readers we are working for). Among the partners at Quartet, we all share a similar outlook on work – it needs to be challenging and, at the end of the day, it needs to be fun. Along those lines, at our founder’s meeting, the four of us agreed upon two basic rules:
1. No Stupid Meetings.
2. No Assholes. (pardon my French).

Let’s see, it’s officially month four, and so far we’ve managed to follow the rules. Sure, I’ve never worked so hard in my life, but I have never enjoyed my work so much.

The other favorite thing? Getting to put our beliefs and ideas about books and the publishing business into practice. We are going into this venture in a beautifully logical way – our goal is to make readers happy. We are building our entire company around that goal, rather than building the business and then trying to get customers to buy into it after the fact. Simple, but hugely exciting.

6. As you’re on the brink of launching a cutting-edge business, are there any wise words from a grandmother, mother or aunt (or whoever) that come to mind to help guide you?

KM: This may not seem like it’s applicable, but my mom has this retort to any complaints about food being too hot or too cold, for instance if you were to take a sip of coffee and burn your tongue, she’d say, “you want it should be cold?”

Every time I start to feel overwhelmed (daily) by the magnitude of what we’re putting together here at Quartet, I think that, “you want it should be cold?” — “you want you should have no exciting company to be building?”

Very wise stuff, that.

(FYI: we are 3/4 of the way through the series. Regular programming will soon return to the Quartet Press blog.)

1. What were you doing before you became 1/4 of Quartet Press?

DL: I’ve had a long and varied career—hardly the carefully-planned career path that high school guidance counselors laid out for me in 1971 as I headed off to Vanderbilt University. I majored in Economics but spent an inordinate amount of time hanging around the English department, one of the greenhouses of so-called “Southern literature.” While I wound up continuing my business education with an MBA from Harvard, reading has continued to be the great joy in my life (along with my family and certain fried foods).

Upon receiving the MBA, I entered the world of finance as an investment banker, working for twelve years at two major Wall Street firms. I learned (a) how to get things done and (b) what it’s like when your compensation is based entirely on your performance. It instills a certain discipline.

The birth of my two children and the grueling travel schedule of investment banking led me to rethink my priorities and my (then) wife and I made the decision to slow the pace. We moved to a small town in Mississippi where I took on the role of managing partner for her family’s businesses, which included large cotton, catfish, soybean, rice, corn and wheat farms, a catfish processing and marketing plant, a cotton gin, a feed mill, a small bank, a chain of assisted living facilities and some other odds and ends. Yes, that was a change, and you can read more than you probably care to know about it in chapter 19 of Po Bronson’s 2002 book What Should I Do with My Life?. Suffice it to say, my business skills and my ability to adapt to different situations were honed during those fourteen years.

In mid-2001, I faced another “What Should I Do?” moment due to some changes in my personal life. As if by magic, the above-mentioned Po Bronson reappeared, calling to say he was on the board of a book distribution company (Consortium) in St. Paul, Minnesota, that was for sale, and he thought I should buy it. I went to look and thought it was an opportunity to work with some really cool and important independent publishers (City Lights, Akashic, Copper Canyon and New Society, to name only a few), turn it around and make some money. So I bought it, had some success and ended up selling it to Perseus Book Group in 2006.

After knocking around for a few months, I accepted an offer to become senior vice president and publisher at The Taunton Press, a top-quality publisher of hands-on and how-to books, magazines and Web sites. It was a great experience to work with an incredibly talented and generous group of people at Taunton, and we were fortunate enough to produce New York Times bestsellers, James Beard and IACP award winners and category leaders in our target markets.

But I’m an entrepreneur at heart, and I’ve been fascinated with this transitional phase of reading, writing and publishing for some time. So when Kassia, Kat, Kirk and I finally came up with the idea to put Quartet together, it seemed the time was right to make the move.

2. What’s up with romance? Is getting into what seems to be a pretty crowded market really a good idea? Why? Where’d the idea come from? Where is it going?

DL: I’m reminded of Willie Sutton’s famous response when asked why he robbed banks: “Because that’s where the money is.”

I mean that more in the broad sense than strictly the romance genre’s recent sales growth, which itself has been astounding—even in the face of a bad economy. I also consider romance readers and publishers as being on the leading edge of the (non-academic and professional) adoption curve of reading digital books. Since we’re in this as a primary business proposition (rather than as a vanity publisher or an experiment in digital publishing), we chose to start with a genre that has a large and growing audience. While a case might be made that the market is crowded, we expect the quality of our titles, the Quartet discovery-shopping-purchase experience and the fact that we’re offering our books DRM free will make us stand out from the pack.

As for where it’s going, we think the romance genre offers plenty of room to operate in existing and emerging sub-genres, but we also think there are opportunities in other categories, such as mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, and even literary fiction. Anywhere there’s a dedicated, hard-core community of readers is fair game as far as I’m concerned. We also think, because we’re building such a robust back-end system, there are opportunities for us to provide certain services for other independent publishers who’d rather not reinvent the wheel themselves.

3. Where did you find these people you are working with? Sure they’re a good-looking group, but why them?

DL: I first met Kassia (virtually) in 2003 or 2004 because I was a fan of Booksquare.com and commented occasionally on her blog. I thought she was smart and funny, and when she mentioned in one post that she was planning to go to an O’Reilly “Tools of Change” conference in San Jose, I asked her if we could meet for a drink and conversation. She, her husband Kirk and I had a long wandering conversation filled with laughs. My assessment that they were both very smart proved true. We maintained our friendship and sort of danced around the possibility of working on something together. We reconnected at South by Southwest in February and really began to flesh out what that something might be.

As we were kicking around the idea (and realizing we needed a marketing maven as part of the team), we (independently) kept seeing Kat Meyer popping up just about everywhere and determined she would be the perfect fit for what we had in mind. The four of us, after some awkward phone calls, finally met in person at BEA and hammered out the basics of our company and its future.

Why them? They’re all smart and funny. They take the business (but not themselves) seriously. They want to be successful—and not just in some vague publishing sense. Also, they agreed with me that Quartet’s bylaws must include a “no stupid meetings” clause.

4. What’s your role at QP?

DL: As we’re running as fast as we can toward launch, all of us are doing a bit of everything. We like that because it keeps us evenly spread as well as makes sure more than one of us is looking at the various pieces of the puzzle so we don’t overlook anything critical.

That said, if I were to characterize my role, it would be focused on finance, administration and general management, which are the skill sets from my background. But I’m curious (some say nosy) enough that I expect to have a hand in most everything as we ramp up and grow.

5. What’s your favorite thing about starting a brand spanking new company?

DL: There are a lot of things to love about a start-up … the excitement, the camaraderie, the sense of building (rather than just managing) something, but my favorite thing about this particular venture is that we’re not bound by any of the old publishing infrastructure, systems or (not least!) thinking.

We literally were able to begin with a clean sheet of paper and write down what we wanted in systems, in marketing, in content and workflow management and most importantly in the reader and author experience. We really believe we’re at the tipping point for digital publishing, and we have the ability to create and push limits for readers, authors and communities.

6. What is the weirdest reason you’ve purchased a book?

DL: I don’t know how weird it is, but it’s unusual. I have a great love of independent bookstores and their proprietors. When I lived in Mississippi, our closest indie was McCormick’s, in Greenville, MS.

I trusted Hugh McCormick’s taste so much that I had a standing order for him to send me whatever came in that he was excited about for two years. He had about a 95% ‘hit rate” on his choices for me. And this was before I ever thought I’d be in the book business.

1. What were you doing before you became one-quarter of Quartet Press?

K2 (Kassia Krozser): I was born and raised in beautiful Lompoc, California. Ah, the coastal life: surf, sand, fog, wind, military police, rocket launches. My mother was my elementary school librarian. On the plus side, I was the first reader of many books. On the minus side, my mom was way more popular than I was. She’s also smarter and funnier, but I would never admit that in public.

While I’m sure my elementary through high school education included more than reading and writing, that’s all I remember. I wrote my first book when I was in the second grade. It was long and surely terrible, but, hey, I was seven. Ever the over-achiever, I turned a 2-page story into a 25-page opus. I later dabbled in really bad poetry. I learned journalism and editing. I stayed up late reading every word J.D. Salinger ever wrote because I was sure it would help me wrap my thoughts around Catcher in the Rye. I was right. And tired the next day.

After a long and happy life on Venus (Avenue—it was the kind of neighborhood where the kids who lived on Uranus had it rough!), I moved to Fresno for college. And back to Lompoc. And back to Fresno. That move coincided, to the day, with my then-boyfriend-now-husband’s decision to move to Los Angeles. I was left in charge of his cat and his record collection. Eventually, both, plus me, were moved to Los Angeles. The hard part was the vinyl.

Fast forward a lot (we’ll skip the awkward teenage years, my time as a young Danish girl, the long process of finding myself, the fact that I am really good at counting cash), and I ended up working for a major motion picture studio doing something called participation reporting. I wrangled my way into the job of managing third-party audits, which was just about the coolest thing a person like me could do, short of being a kept woman.

I learned everything there was to learn about the movie business. I became an expert in production and distribution and contracts and accounting. Loved it, really loved it, but burn-out happened after a decade.

Even while I worked long hours, I continued to study literature and writing. I studied American female novelists, fiction focused on the State of California. Short stories. Novels. Romance. How to read them. How to write them. How to analyze them. You know, the stuff that makes life fun.

Oh, and I started Booksquare.com. I’m still loving the work I do there after all these years.

2. What is up with romance? Is getting into what seems to be a pretty crowded market really a good idea? Why? Where’d the idea come from? Where is it going?

K2: I have always read romance novels, in their various age-appropriate (ha!) permutations. Two themes in novels have fascinated me from early childhood: the formation of family beyond purely biological bonds and the path followed by two people as they discover each other, fall in love, and try to maintain their sense of self while becoming a couple. No two couples follow the same route to love and happiness, and romance novels explore the infinite variations of this aspect of the human condition.

(I would also note that novels published by Harlequin taught me more about feminism than anything else I’ve read. As another note, I have been amazingly privileged throughout my life to be mentored by a string of incredible, strong, smart women. These two elements have been equally important in my life.)

Romance readers read a lot. They buy a lot of books. They buy beyond the romance genre. The authors and readers are early adopters of technology. They’re not afraid to try something new, and if it they love it, they’ll talk about it. That being said, I don’t believe we’ve seen anywhere near market saturation when it comes to reaching readers. Every day, we see new ebook readers joining our ranks, and they’re looking for books that make them feel good, take them away from everyday life, and offer great story closure while making them want to buy and read another book.

I’ve been watching the ebook market closely since 1998. I don’t believe ebooks are going to be the next big thing as much as they’re going to be part of the whole reading thing. Which is why, despite the fact we’re publishing digital first, we want to make sure our readers get the book in the format they prefer. It’s all about the story. We forget that sometimes.

3. Where did you find these people you are working with? Sure they are a good looking group, but why them?

K2: (This is the part where I usually embarrass Kirk by recounting the “how we met” story, complete with guy crush sidebar, but I’ll spare him just this once.) I’ve known Kirk since college. He’s always been on the cutting edge of whatever he’s doing, and he has an amazing ability to see into the future. I think the only trend he’s predicted that didn’t come to fruition is the rise of Astroturf.

Mister X (Don Linn) introduced himself via Booksquare. We (X, Kirk, and I) discovered we were all attending the first “Tools of Change” conference in San Jose and agreed to meet for a drink. We talked, we wanted to work together, life got in the way, we kept talking, and—I swear this happened on Twitter—all of a sudden we were all, “You know, it’s time.” So when the three of us met in Austin for South by Southwest, it really was a matter of “So, are we gonna do it or not?”

The answer was yes.

Now, Kat was also at that first ToC, but (ahem!) neglected to introduce herself. So we officially met on Twitter, liked each other, said, “Hey let’s get together for a drink during ToC 2009.” I am not joking: the drink plan went from a glass of wine in the bar to “hey, we should invite so-and-so” to “Cool, we have a venue and a sponsor. It’s a party!” And it was. I wish I could take credit for any part of it, but the truth is that Kat is amazing.

It’s no wonder her name was at the top of our “so, who else can we rope into this crazy venture” list. She said yes almost before we finished our carefully prepared speeches.

4. What’s your role at QP?

K2: It says editorial on my business card, but many of our roles overlap. We work in a highly collaborative sort of way, though getting Kirk to read romance novels has been a lifelong challenge for me. Unless you count Pynchon. I do. I love reading submissions, love it when I forget I’m working because I’m reading, love discovering new voices (I am huge, huge, huge about voice).

But I am also the world’s nosiest person, so I can’t keep myself from offering my marketing advice (which Kat very politely says she’s noting), my technical thoughts (which Kirk swears he’s considering) and my thoughts on all the stuff Don does (which he tells me are great suggestions, keep ‘em coming). Starting a new business is a lot of work. I feel lucky to be part of this.

5. What’s your favorite thing about starting a brand spanking new company?

K2: The t-shirts. The brainstorming—at this point, no idea is too crazy. The enthusiasm, even though we’re all working like crazy. Learning new things. The fact that so many people I know and respect are cheering for us—that alone is worth all the work. I want to make them proud!

Honestly, my favorite part of all this is going out and talking to people about what we’re doing—knowing we’re part of a community that really cares about the future of publishing, but doesn’t always agree about how said future will play out. I’m also loving (loving!) that all the parts of my world are coming together in an unexpected way. The romance world is meeting the future of publishing world is meeting the literary world is meeting the geeky world is meeting the people I think are too cool world. And we’re finding so much to talk about. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

6. Is it true that the Quartet Press wine budget exceeds the GNP for some nations? Do you think this is a prudent business decision, and why or why not?

K2: Yes. Yes. Priorities matter. A lot.

7.What was the first book you read on a digital platform?

K2: While I don’t remember the first, I do remember the first where I was convinced the author was something special. The book was a young adult novel called Adventures of the Teen Furies by MaryJanice Alongi, purchased in 1999. She grew up to be MaryJanice Davidson. I’ve heard she’s done very good things with her career since then.

8. How does one correctly pronounce “Kassia?”

K2: You know this comes with a long answer, right:

I am not particularly precious about the pronunciation of my name — it’s interesting how many variations there are. I do, of course, prefer the traditional ka-see-uh (kas-ē-ə), though it’s actually the second preferred pronunciation according the dictionary, like anyone uses those anymore (the first has the two ss’s making the “sh” sound. So wrong!). The confusion, I am convinced, comes from the fact that the Latins or Romans or whomever they were made a mess of the Greek language when they took over the world. I mean, they turned all those lovely words with a “k” into words with a “c”. Which is more manly: Herkules or Hercules? I rest my case. The Romans ruined everything!

Funny story (or sad): when I was 21, my mother looked at me and said, “You know, maybe we should have pronounced it Kasha” (ksh). I gently reminded her that’s the kind of decision you make when the kid is born. For obvious reasons.

Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Kirk Biglione. Around Quartet, Kirk is known as the “Tech Guy.” We rely on him to find the best and coolest,  most cutting edgiest of book digitizing technologies so that we may bring them to you, our readers. But, there’s more to Kirk than bits and bugs. You’ll see…

1. What were you doing before you became one-quarter of Quartet Press?

KB: Early on, I had a variety of media-related jobs including disc jockey, music director, editorial assistant at a music industry trade publication and even artist management (the closest I’ve ever come to babysitting). Mostly I was biding my time, waiting for Tim Berners-Lee to invent the Web. Once he finally got around to that, things fell into place for me.

During the past decade, I’ve focused on my consulting practice, providing clients with a range of technology services related to Web development and Web publishing systems. Meanwhile, I’ve used my experience with Web publishing systems to develop a number of online publications, most notably Booksquare.com in its many incarnations (a free Quartet t-shirt to the first person who can identify the first iteration of Booksquare.com by name). Booksquare.com eventually led to Medialoper.com, a place where I can more fully explore my obsession with the many issues surrounding digital media, particularly DRM and the consumer experience.

2. What is up with romance? Is getting into what seems to be a pretty crowded market really a good idea? Why? Where’d the idea come from? Where is it going?

KB: Kassia and I have worked together on a couple of romance-related projects prior to Quartet. The first iteration of Booksquare.com was essentially an early romance review site. More recently we built the Romance Wiki (I am, by the way, the father of the Romance Wiki. I am technically also the mother, but I generally don’t mention that fact as it sounds a little, er, weird). In some ways, Quartet is a natural extension of those early efforts.

It’s true, there are already quite a few romance epublishers, but I don’t believe the market is anywhere near saturated. There are many, many romance readers. It is by far the largest genre of fiction. Add to that the fact that ebooks are just starting to enter the mainstream consciousness, and I think there’s plenty of room for Quartet.

3. Where did you find these people you are working with? Sure they are a good looking group, but why them?

KB: I’ve known Kassia more than half my life. Exactly how we met is still the subject of intense debate, so we prefer not to discuss the details in public. We’ve had a good long while together to hash out the details of what the perfect publishing company should look like—and yes, that is exactly the sort of thing we spend hours talking about. There’s a reason why we’ve been together this long.

Don was a reader of, and occasional commenter on, Medialoper.com and Booksquare.com. We finally met at the first ToC conference in San Jose. It became obvious pretty quickly that we were on the same wavelength. We kept in touch after Don moved to Taunton, and at SXSW 2009 we began seriously discussing the possibilities of creating a digital publishing house. In some strange way, I think that Quartet Press was inspired by the #sxswbp incident.

And, of course, I met Kat Meyer on Twitter (just like everyone else in the universe). After the ToC Tweetup, it was obvious that Kat was a force to be reckoned with. It was clear to both Kassia and me that we had to work with her in some capacity. Also, I admire the courage Kat has demonstrated in her tireless efforts to rescue faux pugs.

4. What’s your role at QP?

KB: Anything to do with bits. I’ve been busy coordinating all of the technology required to build a great digital publishing company. That involves working out support for various digital formats, developing our digital workflow, developing a commerce platform and Web publishing systems and coordinating our royalty and title management systems.

As an ebook reader, I know the process of finding and buying ebooks can be unnecessarily complicated. I’m placing a high priority on creating the best possible discovery, shopping, and reading experience for our customers.

5. What’s your favorite thing about starting a brand spanking new company?

KB: This is an opportunity to put some core beliefs into practice. Including a firm belief that the future of all media is digital, providing a superior consumer experience is one of the keys to running a successful digital media company, and the most important ingredient in any business is a quality product.

6. Why do you like the Oakland A’s? They can’t even come up with a whole word to call their team by—they’ve only got one letter, for goodness sake.

KB: Growing up in the early 70s in the Central Valley (go Reedley!), I pretty much had my choice of any California baseball team. Yes, the Giants had Willie Mays, the Dodgers had Steve Garvey, the Angels had Nolan Ryan, the Padres had, well, to be honest, the Padres had no one.  But the A’s had: Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Bert Campaneris, Ken Hotlzman, Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace, Blue Moon Odom and a crazy owner named Charley Finley. Need I say more? I’ve been a fan ever since.

7. What is the weirdest reason you’ve purchased a book?

I suppose buying a book to avoid being accused of shoplifting qualifies as weird. When I first moved to L.A. I spent many Saturday afternoons scrounging through used bookstores looking for obscure 1960′s counter-culture paperbacks. One afternoon I found myself in a tiny Glendale shop run by a somewhat eccentric older woman (that’s the politically correct term for “crazy old lady”). It was one of those impossibly small stores with used books stacked to the ceiling and no ventilation.  As I searched the stacks that were arranged in no particular order I could hear the woman shouting into the phone. She was accusing Sears of breaking into her house and leaving a new refrigerator. She was demanding that they come take it away and return her old refrigerator. Meanwhile, she was stopping to randomly accuse customers of stealing books.  At some point this became worrisome to me. She was threatening to call the police and I hadn’t planned to spend the night in the Glendale jail.  Suddenly the answer came to me. Buy something!

And that’s how I acquired my vintage paperback edition of None Dare Call it Conspiracy.

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