When actress Melissa Archer’s name appeared among the auditions for an audiobook produced by PennWest mathematics professor Dr. Melissa Sovak’s publishing company, Sovak assumed it must be someone else. 

Then she opened the narrator’s profile. 

“There was the picture of her as Natalie Buchanan,” Sovak said. “This woman I had watched for years on ‘One Life to Live’ had just auditioned to be a narrator for me. It was a surreal moment.” 

Archer was not the right fit for that particular role, but Sovak invited her to narrate a clean romance published through A Novel Idea Publishing, the company Sovak founded with her mother in 2019. Archer completed her first audiobook for the company this summer and is expected to narrate books in two upcoming series. 

A few weeks later, Sovak reached out to Stephanie Beacham, whose television career includes “Dynasty” and “The Colbys.” Sovak had modeled Sable Hawthorne, the matriarch in a prequel to her new “Love and Luxury” series, on the cadence and presence of Beacham’s character Sable Colby. 

Sovak contacted Beacham’s agent to ask whether the actress might be interested in bringing another Sable to life. By the following Monday, the answer had arrived from London: Beacham wanted to do it. 

“When I started this in 2019, in the same office where I am sitting right now, I never expected to be booking a celebrity contract in London,” Sovak said. 

The collaboration reflects how far Sovak’s publishing venture has come from its beginnings as a birthday gift for her mother. 

While awaiting word on her promotion to full professor, Sovak began writing “The Secret of Dunhaven Castle” on a snowy day in January 2019. She had always wanted to write a book and decided a mystery would be the perfect gift for a mother who was otherwise difficult to shop for. 

Sovak completed Wesleyan University’s online Creative Writing Specialization while working on the manuscript. After her mother read the book and encouraged her to pursue publication, the two established A Novel Idea Publishing so they could manage the process themselves. 

The company launched in October 2019, and “The Secret of Dunhaven Castle” was released the following month. Since then, Sovak has developed multiple mystery and romance series, including her self-described “soap opera romance” brand. 

“They get their happy ending, but they’ve been through it by the time they get there,” she said. “There are explosions and amnesia and secret babies and all kinds of things, just like a soap opera.” 

The company now has assistants, a roster of audiobook narrators, and a full production schedule. It also provides real-world learning opportunities for PennWest students. 

A Novel Idea Publishing has hosted dozens of internships involving students in English, business, communications, commercial music technology, mathematics, and other disciplines. Students have analyzed advertising performance, edited commercial fiction, developed website content, created music and promotional videos, and learned about audiobook production. 

Sovak’s background in statistics is central to the company’s operations. She uses data to evaluate advertising, analyze sales, and determine where marketing dollars will be most effective. 

“Students think I use math all the time because I’m a math professor, but I really use it all the time because I’m an author,” she said. 

One student who struggled to see the relevance of mathematics gained a new perspective after learning how Sovak used it to operate a publishing company. He later completed a multiyear internship with the company and told Sovak the experience helped him secure a job. 

“To me, that is so worth it,” Sovak said. “We’re connecting students with real-world experiences and helping them understand how what they are learning connects to what they want to do.” 

Balancing teaching, writing, and managing a growing company requires long days, but Sovak cannot imagine giving up her creative work. 

“There are stories in there that have to come out,” she said. “This is my happy place. This is where I can create things and make a world make sense to me.”