Lou Aronica

I have been associated with the book publishing world since August 1979, when I started as an assistant in the Managing Editor’s Department at Bantam Books. Prior to founding The Fiction Studio, I served as Deputy Publisher of Bantam and Publisher of Berkley Books and Avon Books. During this time, I launched the premier science fiction and mystery imprints in the business, and also presided over the largest growth period to date in the history of the #1 single-title romance program.

My earliest publishing experiences were in the field of science fiction and fantasy. I started my first publishing imprint, Bantam Spectra, at the age of 27 and published my first New York Times bestseller with that imprint a year later. My first editorial acquisition, David Brin’s Startide Rising, won the field’s two highest awards, the Hugo and the Nebula. I subsequently published New York Times bestsellers with Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, David Brin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Raymond Feist, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman, and others, while also acquiring five consecutive winners of the Nebula Award. In addition, I created the “Full Spectrum” anthology series, which won me a World Fantasy Award in 1994.

My biggest commercial accomplishment in the field of science fiction and fantasy was my acquisition and design of the Star Wars book publishing program. Started at a time when licensing interest in the movies was very low, the book publications consistently hit the New York Times list (as high as #1) while also jump-starting the entire Star Wars franchise.

In the nineties, I moved beyond science fiction. As Mass Market Publisher for Bantam, I launched the Bantam Crime Line mystery imprint and was closely involved in the development of several bestselling authors, including Elizabeth George, Robert Crais, and Diane Mott Davidson. I launched the Bantam Fanfare romance imprint, which led to the development of bestselling authors such as Amanda Quick, Tami Hoag, and Iris Johansen.

In 1994, I left Bantam to become SVP and Publisher of the Berkley Publishing Group. The two imprints I started there, Boulevard (a media imprint) and Signature (a literary imprint) had New York Times bestsellers within their first year. I also acquired and edited the bestselling futuristic mysteries by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).

In 1995, I moved to Avon Books to spearhead a turnaround of that company as SVP and Publisher. I supervised significant changes to the company’s industry-leading romance program, which led to the largest growth period in the program’s history to that point. Committing the company to a profitable path of publishing for dedicated readers, I launched a series of imprints focused on science fiction, literary fiction, mystery, pop culture, health, history, and teen literature. Most of these imprints had bestsellers very quickly.

In 1999, I left Avon after the acquisition of the company by The News Corporation. The creative investment I made in that house continues to pay significant dividends, however, as writers whose publishing programs I developed became breakout bestsellers, including Dennis Lehane, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, J.A. Jance, Stephanie Laurens, Lisa Kleypas, Bruce Feiler and Peter Robinson.

In addition to my current role with The Fiction Studio, I am a novelist and nonfiction writer. My novels, The Forever Year and Flash and Dazzle appeared under the name Ronald Anthony. My nonfiction books include the New York Times bestseller The Element (written with Sir Ken Robinson), the national bestseller The Culture Code (written with Dr. Clotaire Rapaille), Conscientious Equity (written with Neal Asbury), Miraculous Health (written with Dr. Rick Levy) and A Million Thanks (written with Shauna Fleming).

Finding myself missing the publishing side of the business, in 2008, literary manager Peter Miller and I started a small book imprint called The Story Plant. Right now, it’s a tiny opera