Turtle Cove Press Has New Ownership

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Tallahassee residents Mandi and David Broadfoot have purchased Turtle Cove Press, an independent publishing company, from founder M.R. Street, who spent 18 years building Turtle Cove into a home for distinctive books, talented authors, and award-winning stories for children, teens and families.

The Broadfoots plan to build on the foundation Street created while expanding what it means to bring a Turtle Cove story into the world. In addition to publishing and promoting books, the company will lean heavily into audio production, including the development of selected works as immersive audio experiences, and will explore adapting its middle-grade and young adult fiction for the stage and screen.

A newly redesigned website, TurtleCoveMedia.com, launches October 1 and will serve as the online home for Turtle Cove’s books, authors, news, and expanding creative projects. “M.R. spent 18 years creating something very special,” said Mandi Broadfoot, Turtle Cove’s new editor and publisher. “We feel incredibly fortunate to be entrusted with her legacy.”

Turtle Cove Press launched in 2008 and for nearly two decades Turtle Cove books and authors earned recognition from organizations including the Florida Writers Association, the Florida Authors and Publishers Association, Kirkus Reviews and Mom’s Choice Awards.

Among the press’s award-winning books are Susan Koehler’s Nobody Kills Uncle Buster and Gets Away with It, named Children’s Book of the Year by the Florida Writers Association and a recipient of a Florida Authors and Publishers Association Silver Medal; Koehler’s Dahlia in Bloom, which earned a FAPA Gold Medal and was selected as one of Kirkus Reviews’ Top 100 Indie Books of 2019; and M.R. Street’s Blue Rock Rescue, a first-place winner in the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Literary Awards.

Other honorees include The Adventures of Surf Dude: The Dog of Ochlockonee Bay, Queen of the Clouds: Joan Merriam Smith and Jerrie Mock’s Epic Quest to Become the First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World, and So Many Animals! A Child’s Book of Poetry. One of Turtle Cove’s newest titles, Dale Lisa Flint’s Shakespeare-inspired young adult novel Finding Juliet, received a 2026 Silver Medal for Young Adult Fiction from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association.

“We’re not starting Turtle Cove from scratch,” Broadfoot said. “We’re inheriting 18 years of work, relationships, award-winning books and wonderful stories. Our job now is to honor that history while asking an exciting question: What else can these stories become?”

That question will be central to Turtle Cove’s new direction.

While traditional publishing will remain at the heart of the company, the Broadfoots envision Turtle Cove as a place where stories can move fluidly between formats. Audiobooks will be a particular focus, with selected works developed beyond conventional narration into rich, immersive productions incorporating multiple performers, music, sound design and other dramatic elements.

For Turtle Cove’s middle-grade and young adult fiction, the company also plans to explore opportunities for adaptation into plays and screenplays.

“A novel doesn’t necessarily have to be the final destination for a story,” Broadfoot said. “Some stories are asking to be heard. Some are asking to be performed. Some make you immediately imagine the characters walking onto a stage or a screen. We want Turtle Cove to be a place where we can recognize those possibilities and help develop them.”

That approach reflects Broadfoot’s own background in both publishing and the performing arts. She earned her master’s degree in English Literature from the University of South Florida before working as a journalist, editor, screenwriter and playwright. In 2016, she founded Tallahassee-based performing arts organization Making Light Productions and currently serves as Associate Director of Southern Shakespeare Company’s youth ensemble, The Bards.

David Broadfoot will oversee technology and operations for Turtle Cove while continuing his role as COO of software development company Contextual Code. An Oxford University graduate, he brings extensive experience in technology, business operations and organizational development. Samantha Finch Strickland, CEO of The Pod Agency, leads marketing and public relations for Turtle Cove, helping shape the company’s brand, outreach and communications as it enters this new phase of growth.

The new owners also plan to devote significant attention to Turtle Cove’s existing catalog.

“One of the great things about being an independent publisher is that we don’t have to think of a book as having a six-month shelf life,” Broadfoot said. “A wonderful book published five or ten years ago is still a wonderful book. M.R. spent years finding these stories and helping bring them into the world. We want to help a whole new generation of readers discover them.”

Plans for Turtle Cove include renewed marketing of its backlist, strong relationships with independent bookstores, schools and libraries, participation in literary and community events, development of new titles, expanded support for authors, audiobook production, and adaptation of selected works for theatre and screen.

Throughout that growth, the Broadfoots say maintaining the personal relationships of a small independent press will remain essential.

“We believe stories create connections,” Broadfoot said. “Between writers and readers, between children and the books they never forget, and now, potentially, between a book and an entirely new audience experiencing that story through headphones, on a stage or on a screen. M.R. created 18 years of those connections. We’re honored to carry them forward—and excited to see where the stories go next.”

Readers can explore Turtle Cove’s books and authors and follow news about upcoming releases, events, and projects beginning October 1 at TurtleCoveMedia.com.

About Turtle Cove Press

Founded in 2008, Turtle Cove Press is an independent Tallahassee-based publisher of award-winning books for children, teens and families. Now under the ownership of Mandi and David Broadfoot, Turtle Cove Media, LLC, is building on TCP’s 18-year publishing legacy while expanding the ways stories can reach audiences through print, audio, theatre, screen and other creative formats.

Media Contact:

Samantha Strickland
Marketing
Turtle Cove Press
TurtleCoveMedia.com
press@turtlecovemedia.com