Endnotes: How ‘Is She Really Going Out with Him?’ by Sophie Cousens Got Made

In this week's edition of Endnotes, we take a look at Sophie Cousens's Is She Really Going Out with Him? (Putnam, Nov.) In its review, PW called the book an "appealing enemies-to-lovers romance," adding, "This is a charmer."

Here's how the book came together:

Sophie Cousens, Author

“This is probably my most classic romantic comedy. I’ve leaned into all the tropes with this one: it’s a workplace romance, enemies to lovers, and of course, there’s a scene where there’s only one bed. I hope it has all the ingredients readers of the genre love and will leave people with a smile on their face.”

Clare Wallace, Managing Director of Children’s and Agent, Darley Anderson Agency

“Sophie came up with a fantastic pitch—what if you let your children choose your dates for you?—and from there she developed the story. This is the way Sophie and Putnam work together, starting with a premise or a hook and building the narrative and the characters out from there.”

Kate Dresser, Senior Editor, Putnam

“Sophie and I have been working together for four books, and when she pitched the idea for Is She Really Going Out with Him? it sounded like pure gold to me. She’s the queen of what-if scenarios, and I love watching her put her characters through their paces to earn their happily ever afters. Sophie is a brilliant writer and an even more brilliant reviser. Every time she revises the manuscript, she adds more magic to the pages.”

Ashley McClay, VP, Associate Publisher, and Director of Marketing, Putnam

“Publishing Sophie is always an exercise in, what’s next? With an author who gets better with every book, we’re constantly challenging ourselves to expand to new audiences. Since our heroine here is a divorced mom of two, we’re targeting fans of other authors who highlight more seasoned main characters, like Annabel Monaghan, Linda Holmes, and Elin Hilderbrand.”

Sanny Chiu, Associate Art and Design Director, Putnam

“We went through a few sketches before landing on this cover. The sketches featured the male character with a line of suitors, but it wasn’t conveying the series of dates aspect of the story. Smaller vignettes of the main character on various dates helped solve that problem.”