Turning Her Passion for Writing into Royalty Publishing House: My interview with Porscha Sterling
By: Sherifat Mohammed
Have you ever wondered about the mastermind behind the great stories we read in books while we are on vacation, stuck at the airport or just at home relaxing? Who is she or he? I got the opportunity to interview one of the masterminds— Porscha Sterling. She is the best-selling author behind the series “Bad Boys Do It Better.” The series sold 5,000 copies in the first 24 hours of its release. She was recently awarded the Literacy Excellence Award by Sheen Magazine. What is even more amazing about Porscha is that she used her master degree in Business Management coupled with her passion for writing to start her own publishing company Royalty Publishing House, which is a full service publishing company. Her publishing company is the second largest urban publishing house in the nation. Royalty Publishing House publishes many top-selling novels in the urban contemporary romance, interracial romance and women’s fiction genres. In my interview with Porscha, we discuss her passion for writing, her inspiration for starting her own publishing company and so much more. Do yourself a favor and check out my interview with Porscha Sterling.
SM: When did you realize that writing was your passion and how long have you been writing? So, that’s like a two-part question.
PS: Ok. I actually started writing when I was very very young. I always used writing as my outlet. If I was frustrated or going through something—I would turn to writing as a means of relaxing and kind of exploring my creative side. So, I started writing really young. I’ve always had a love for reading books. So, that kinda segued into me [thinking]hey, I think I can do this. I have stories I think I would like to tell. So, I’ve been in creative writing contests all the way back from elementary school. I’ve always used that as my creative outlet. So, when life happened—I went to college, graduated with a degree in business. Got my masters and all that—I hit a rough patch in my life where I was working in a career where I thought I enjoyed and loved and quickly found out that hey, this is not for me. Then I returned to writing. I wrote my first book that I ended up publishing—it was called “Three Queens” at the time and I never wrote it with the intent on putting this out so, other people could read it. I was really writing it just to deal with a lot of the frustration that I was personally going through. I created these stories about these characters and after letting a couple of my friends read it— they were like you should really see about getting this published, and that’s how I started writing professionally.
SM: You own your own publishing company—Royalty Publishing House—What inspired you to create your own publishing company?
PS: My personal experience with publishing my first series is what inspired me to begin my own publishing company. I realized through that experience that a lot of authors needed a little bit more direction. They were looking for a company that they could sign to and it wouldn’t just be them putting their material out and without them actually going through a development phase while they’re being signed. I had a goal of not only starting my publishing company but specifically working with first time authors and helping them through the journey of developing their career. With Royalty Publishing House—I started it with specific goal and I always keep that goal in mind. It’s not just owning a publishing company and publishing books—I take part in mentoring my authors—throughout their writing journeys and throughout their career and making sure that they develop into the best author that they can be. So, my experience is what drove me to start my own publishing company and that’s what I continue to do today.
SM: What makes your publishing company different from other publishing companies? What makes Royalty Publishing House stand out?
PS: What makes Royalty stand out is— it goes back to why I started it. I started Royalty with a goal in mind. Not just be a publisher but a mentor. There’s a lot different of things that I do differently from a lot of publishing companies. I hold personal webinars with my authors and give them advice on their writing to enrich their writing. I give them advice on branding and how to create an effective brand. How to reach out to more readers. It’s well beyond just simply having an author send in a book and we put it out and releasing it to the masses. It’s more about that development piece and helping them to grow throughout their career.
SM: What do you think makes your publishing company successful?
PS: I think it’s because I have a group of authors who sincerely want to be the best that they can be. They want to put out the best book. They’re talented already and they strive for more and that’s definitely what makes Royalty successful. We have a very rigorous process that we go through before a book is even released—even though we are a fairly small independent publishing company. I say fairly small, but I have over 80 authors. Even though it’s a small company, in relation to a major publishing company, the authors still go through a very rigorous process. We have a lot of things in place in regards to editing and development of the characters and the storylines in the books before they’re published. I think for that reason we deliver the best product that we can by the time it’s available for the readers to access it. That’s definitely a part of what makes Royalty so successful.
SM: Is Royalty Publishing House accepting authors? If so, what genres do you work in or with?
PS: Yes, definitely. I’m always accepting new authors. I specifically specialize in romance. With Royalty— the majority of our novels are urban romance novels, but I put out contemporary romance, Christian romance and we have paranormal romance. So, basically if it’s romance we are going to specialize in that. I for one am I strong reader of romance it’s the genre that I prefer to read. It’s the genre that I prefer to write in. But across the board we are very open to different areas to writing as long as its romance— we put it out.
SM: For up and coming authors or others who would like to start their own publishing company— what advice would you give them?
PS: Any author or anyone looking to be a publisher—I will definitely tell them, first and foremost you have to remember that you never stop learning. So, it doesn’t matter at what level you come into the game when it comes writing or publishing. You always have to continue to study your craft. Study your audience and strive to be the best author you can be. I’m constantly reading articles. I’m constantly reading other books. I’m constantly reading any kind of new research related to writing or the publishing business as a whole. I would definitely say that you’re always a learner. And then I will say stay focused at every level. It’s really easy when you work for yourself and have your own business, to slack off sometimes. But you always have to remember to stay focused and remember the reason why you started and that will help you to maintain your drive.
SM: Finally, what should we expect or be on the lookout for from you in the near future?
PS: Well actually it was just announced that I will have a partnership that I’ve been working on for quite a long time with a major publishing house—Kensington Publishing. So, I was able to partner with a major publishing company. So, that our books can be available worldwide, on ebooks and audio books or paperback—depending on what the reader prefers. So, that’s something I’m really excited about. I have other things in the works. I have the Lit app, it’s a reading app that was created by myself and my husband, where we release books as well. We have a lot coming. I’m also working on my next series. So, I’m really excited about that. I’m always thinking about new opportunities. So, there’s a lot to come, and I’m excited about all of it.
