Desireé Duffy is the Founder of Black Château, a marketing and public relations agency; Books That Make You, a Webby Award-winning a multi-media brand that promotes books and authors through its website, podcast, and radio show; and The BookFest® Adventure, a biannual online event that brings together booklovers from around the world.
Duffy is an advocate for spreading stories. Her expansive marketing, event production, broadcast, and public relations background, mixed with her passion for storytelling, led her to found the multi-award-winning, full-service marketing and public relations firm Black Château in 2016, Books That Make You in 2018, and The BookFest® in 2020.
Desireé Duffy hosts and is the executive producer for the Books That Make You Show and is a speaker on topics such as branding; marketing; digital and traditional media; livestreaming technology; diversity, equity and inclusion; and public relations.
She has delivered keynotes and presentations as well as participated in round table discussions and delivered workshops and talks for the 805 Writers Conference, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the San Diego Writers and Publishers (SDWP), Bay Area Independent Publishers Association, the St. Louis Publishers Association, WriterCon, the Writers and Publishers Network (WPN). She also produces events including The BookFest®, the annual Beach-Bound Book Bash, Jingle Books, and was the license-holder and lead organizer for TEDxResedaBlvd in 2019.
She has programed panels and placed speakers for a wide array of writers’ conferences, Digital Hollywood, the Alliance for Women in Media, Women in Business, the 805 Writers Conference and others.
Desireé has also contributed to ThriveGlobal.com and Equities.com about marketing, technology, writing, entrepreneurship, and digital media.
Black Château has received many awards under Desireé Duffy’s leadership, plus she has achieved several professional recognitions.
In 2022 the Books That Make You newsletter won a prestigious Webby Award in the Websites and Mobile Sites category under Independent Publishers. Desireé and Dave Duffy attended the celebrity-packed awards ceremony in New York. Check out the award-winning entry.
In 2021 Black Château received a Webby Award nomination in the Online Events Category for The BookFest. With only five nominees per category and over 13,500 submissions, this marked a huge accomplishment for the company.
In 2020, the awards include: Gold Award from the Muse Creative Awards in the Event Category under Festival/Carnival for The BookFest® Spring 2020; Silver Award from Muse Creative Awards in the Publication Category under Books for the cover design of Double Blind: The Icelandic Manuscript Murders; Silver Award in the Website Design Category from the 15th Annual w3 Awards for The BookFest® Spring 2020; First-Place Canopus Award for Website Design and Aesthetics from the Vega Digital Awards.
In 2019, the company was honored with the Ascent Award in the Website and Brand Design Category from the Global Trend Awards. In 2018, the Gold Award in the General Website Magazine Category from the 13th Annual w3 Awards was bestowed for the Books That Make You website.
Prior years’ honors include Desireé Duffy receiving the Publicist of the Year Award from The Southern California Book Publicists in 2017; Duffy was named the awardee for the Genii Award for Excellence in New Media in 2017; Duffy also received a nomination for the 2016 Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women in Business Awards, and won the Marketer of the Year Award during the Future of Digital Media Conference in 2015.
Desireé Duffy is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), on the board of directors for the Independent Writers of Southern California, and past-president and advisory board member of the Alliance for Women in Media in Southern California. She is also a member of the Los Angeles chapters of the Women’s National Book Association and the Book Publicists of Southern California.
Black Château holds corporate memberships with the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).
Desireé graduate of Marian University and Santa Clarita’s College of the Canyons. She also attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She holds Bachelor of Science degrees in English and communication, and an associate degree in art and in marketing, and certificates in ecommerce business and entrepreneurship.
Desireé Duffy spends her time between Southern California, Oklahoma, and everywhere bookish events and booklovers can be found around the world.
Black Château is a marketing and PR agency that specializes in promoting authors and their books. The company developed the proprietary Author Network, an affordable marketing and PR strategy for authors that includes the most-desired services, such as book reviews, author interviews, articles, and author events.
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