About Us
Wicked Bayou Press was founded by Clarissa Fuselier in 2016. Throughout her writing journey, she saw the author community struggle with the changing world of publishing and discovered so many great authors with fantastic love stories.
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She knew that due to over-saturation of the book market and the publishing industry's general lack of diversity (in content and in authors), many of these great stories would very likely never see the light of day. She started WBP because she believed that there was room for beautiful and different stories from diverse authors.
"Everyone has a story to tell, a voice that speaks to another and through your words you have to power to inspire. Use your voice." -- Clarissa Fuselier, Founder of Wicked Bayou Press
OUR MISSION
Wicked Bayou Press creates new spaces for readers and authors to interact within the romance genre, inspiring new audiences and enriching communities by expanding the definition of what Romance literature is, what it can do, and who it belongs to. We want to help erase the stigma of Romance literature and provide quality, well-written works from authors who share our passion for great love stories.
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OUR VISION
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To be one of the industry's leading independent literary publisher in Romance, and to raise voices of both the authors and the readers to direct the future of the Romance genre. We see a future that will allow the revelation of hidden gems of love stories and the authors who write them. We want to publish stories that reflect and help shape our world.
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OUR VALUES
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Excellence - We believe that we owe readers the best experience possible. Our duty is to publish and distribute quality romance literature from the best rising star authors in the industry.
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Authenticity - We believe that trust and transparency builds stronger, healthy relationships and we want that with our authors. Our contracts and other various communications will always be in plain "English", and we'll never shut you out of the process. We believe in your work, please believe in us.
Inclusivity & Belonging - We believe that differences are normal and in order to grow, it's imperative we smash the status quo. To do that, we need to draw talent from various backgrounds, cultures, races and sexual orientations to publish stories that speak to our wide audience. The world we live in has many facets, so our business should reflect the audience we serve.
Collaboration - We believe that working together, and leveraging networks and other resources will strengthen not only our relationships, but produce stellar work that can help change the world. We work with various vendors, tools and independent bookstores to drive success for our authors. We believe that sharing ideas is just an extension of having an inclusive ecosystem.
Generosity - We believe in giving back to the independent literary community and its readers. We do local outreach as well as participate in sponsorships throughout the calendar year that helps the next generation of authors and readers find their new tribe.
