Cornerstone to launch data-driven romance imprint Evermore, headed up by Claire Simmonds

Cornerstone is launching a new imprint, Evermore, in February to target young romance readers, to be “driven by data, retailer opportunities, and the insatiable appetite of romance readers” as well as "blending community, commerce and entertainment".

According to the publisher. Evermore will be overseen by Century publishing director, Claire Simmonds, featuring debuts, established and self-published authors across "best in romance: addictive stories to make you fall head over heels in love with your new favourite character."

Cornerstone added: “Launching on Valentine’s Day 2025, the new imprint will satisfy the demands of the younger voracious romance reader with innovation and agility, responding to emerging trends with unmatched energy and speed.” 

The first books will be published shortly after the launch on 20th February and will be the first three books in the Sparrow Falls series, a small-town romantic suspense series by Catherine Cowles. The imprint currently has 12 books scheduled to be published in 2025, and continues to "actively acquire a list".

The publisher said of the reasons behind the launch: “UK audiences spend some of the longest time per session on TikTok and BookTok and, specifically, the romance community is the biggest and most engaged on the platform, as demonstrated by volume sales of romance in the UK tracking 15% up year-to-date, following three consecutive years of staggering growth."

Sales of Romance & Sagas have recently soared, fuelled by BookTok in particular, hitting £62.4m last year through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market – the category’s second best-ever figure. 

Cornerstone added: "Evermore will lean into the new type of book-shopping culture, blending community, commerce and entertainment to make it easier for readers to discover and buy our new and trending titles.”

Simmonds said: “This imprint will be reader-driven and the romance community will be at the heart of everything we do. We have a phenomenal existing roster of authors to launch the list with, including Paisley Hope, Kirsty Greenwood and Jenna Levine, and I am impatient to expand the list still further.”

Staffing wise, the imprint will consist of a core team of six across editorial, marketing and publicity. 

Rebecca Ikin, director of marketing and brand, said: “The imprint team will build vibrant connections with our most engaged readers on and offline, as well as sharing employer-generated content from behind the scenes. The team includes a marketing analyst and creative media lead, ensuring nuanced data insights will help us connect even more readers to our authors.”

Additionally, Simmonds has announced the promotion of Jess Muscio from assistant editor to commissioning editor.

Simmonds said: “Jess has impeccable taste in the genre and is brilliantly attuned to the market. This promotion is hugely deserved, and I can’t wait to see Jess grow her own list of authors.”

Muscio added: “I love acquiring for our romance list and am on the lookout for stand-out love stories with an edge; whether that be spicy sports romance, mafia romance or witchy rom-coms, I’m here for it all.” 

Last December Mills & Boon announced a new romance imprint dedicated to the TikTok fanbase followed by romance imprints from Legend Press, also focused on TikTok audiences, and Tor, dedicated to romantasy.