Imprints are a dime a dozen, I know that," Ellen Archer, publisher and senior v-p at Hyperion, admitted. So why start a new one? "I felt there was an opportunity to do a distinct line of books for women in the second half of their life." This is what Voice, Archer's new line with editorial director Pam Dorman, aims to be: a sometimes provocative, sometimes entertaining list of fiction and nonfiction that, as Dorman put it, "is smart but not necessarily literary with a capital 'L.' " Going after the same demo that many imprints target—upmarket female readers who join book clubs—Archer and Dorman are trying to make Voice stand out by making it less a line of books than a branded women's community.

The list runs a wide gamut: the launch book is Leslie Bennett's just published, provocatively titled The Feminine Mistake, which argues against women opting out of the workplace to raise their kids. On the other end of the spectrum is a just-acquired debut novel by Kathleen McCleary, House and Home, about a divorcee who torches her house in lieu of selling it.

Planned as a 12-title, mostly hardcover line, Voice has some unique add-ons, including an advisory council made up of female booksellers (the indies and chains are represented) and a group of influentials from the media, academic and business worlds, including Candace Bushnell; Hearst Magazines editorial director Ellen Levine; and Sarah Lawrence professor Susan Shapiro Barish. Describing the council as "literary godmothers," Dorman said the group acts as a sounding board and support system, offering everything from feedback on potential book titles to networking opportunities. "They're women whose brains we would pick anyway, but who now have a stake in [what we're doing]," said Dorman.

The council, which meets a couple times a year—Archer said she enjoys having some very powerful women on her speed dial—is just one part of a robust effort to make Voice different. To that end, in late March Hyperion launched www.everywomansvoice.com. While the site is still mostly promotional—its initial content is almost entirely dedicated to The Feminine Mistake—Dorman said she ultimately hopes it will have a "more magazine-y feel." That means that, down the line, content won't be exclusively about Voice's books, but will focus on larger issues affecting women, with input from the Voice advisory council.

Mistake, which went to press for an announced 25,000 copies, seems to be reaping some of the benefits of the Voice approach. (Publicist Beth Gebhard said the house has just gone back to press for another 10,500 copies.) After landing on The Today Show last week, Bennett got press hits from a number of other outlets, including iVillage, whose cofounder Nancy Evans is a council member.

Mistake is also about to get some unusual attention from the corporate world. Donna Orender, president of the WNBA, purchased copies of the book to distribute to her staff; and 85 Broads, a group for current and former female Goldman Sachs employees, has adopted the title as its first book club selection. Archer believes the Voice network helped get attention for Mistake from those groups, and with a mailing list of 650 women—each member of the council provided 50 names—who will receive copies of every Voice title, Archer hopes to get plenty of other women interested in Voice books.

Dorman put it more directly: "I know the way women are when they get excited about books. They have to tell their friends about them, and that's the kind of passion the Voice reader will have."