Anniversary Contest Finalist #3 - Why I Started A Publishing Company

This post, from Shaun Kilgore, originally appeared on his site on 3/5/10 and is reprinted here in its entirety with his permission. This is Shaun's entry in our anniversary contest, in which the winners are selected based on total unique page views. So if you like it, and would like to see Shaun become a regular Publetariat Contributor, spread the word and the link!

Why did I start this publishing company? Here's the short answer: Because my wife was interested enough in starting a business herself that she volunteered to help me create Founders House Publishing.

You see, just before this happened, I was preparing to work with a friend on a small publishing venture, the first real push in that direction that had any legitimate chances of getting off the ground. (I still hope to work with him in the future.) It was in the process of helping my father find a place to publish his book, Echoes From The Past: A Memoir Of Family Heritage, that my wife and I decided to do it ourselves. Sure, there were other options, but this made sense in a variety of ways. Why do it, you might ask. Let me see if I can answer that.

Looking Back

For the longest time, I've loved books and loved reading. In fact, I've been on the path to publishing my own books since 2006 when I published a collection of short stories using the author services provider Lulu. It was an awesome step forward for me to put the book together inside and out. When I received that first copy in the mail I was ecstatic. (I saw myself as a publisher even then.) As a writer, I certainly had some satisfaction, but this was definitely a war between my interests as a book designer/artist and the one who wrote all the content. It is satisfying in a whole different way to take the labors of other writers and help package it in nice designs and colorful covers.

I recall putting together some stapled booklets for a small magazine about Christian religious topics about eight years ago. Even then, I was intrigued with the design and look of the magazine and looking for ways to create something special. This was just something I was printing out on my home printer! The feeling has been the same every step of the way. When we received the first copy of Echoes From The Past, that same excitement was there. Even more so since I could see the logo for my own publishing company on the spine.

What I Have Now

So here I am, the co-owner of a brand new book publishing company, busy with the promotion of the first title. You might be asking what makes me think I can be a publisher? Or you may wonder how I did it in the first place. Those are fair questions. Again, the short answer is this: I'm a publisher because I believe I can be one. That's certainly not enough of a response for most people who will be asking that question in the first place. (I'm talking to writers and agents mostly.) My wife and I have divided up the tasks of this business largely according to our relative strengths. We are going to be building upon these strengths by gathering more knowledge of the industry as well the opportunities that are emerging for self-publishers and independent publishers alike.

We started this like many small presses have began. We formed a business and did all the normal work involved in setting up this company legally. Like many start-up publishers, we are using the largest print-on-demand (P.O.D.) Lightning Source International (LSI) to print our books. That's basically it. It's not that complicated a process these days. The accessibility of the technology is a great thing. It's really leveling the playing field and opening up so many opportunities for new publishers to make their mark in the industry. I know that Founders House is ready to take this step.

In Closing...

This is what I have been waiting for. It's the chance to stretch both my creative and my entrepreneurial muscles. It's the time to see whether we have what it takes to success and thrive as publishers. Most importantly, now is the time I get to share my hopes and my vision with other creative people. This post is for the writers, artists, and would-be publishers out there. I wish you luck and I hope I get the chance to work with you in the future. Send me your comments. I welcome your input.

 

BelleBooks, Inc.: Ringing Them Bells

This profile of BelleBooks, by Joyce Dixon, originally appeared on the Southern Scribe site in 1999.  Now that BelleBooks is an established and successful independent press, this backward glance provides valuable insight into the beginnings of a winning start-up.

Sharing stories of their southern roots was the dream of six veteran authors, and last year that dream became reality with the partnership of BelleBooks, Inc.

The authors, each successful in her own right, include: Debra Dixon, Sandra Chastain, Deborah Smith, Virginia Ellis, Donna Ball and Nancy Knight.

One of the nice surprises since forming BelleBooks, says Virginia Ellis, “… has been the response of people to six women sticking their necks out and forming a small press. Everyone is so excited for us and that has translated into sales. I got the feeling that we were out doing something that many people dream about--starting our own company and writing what we love.”

The idea of publishing was born in Donna Ball's Tennessee cabin, which has become a writers retreat for the group. Debra Dixon explains, "As we began discussing exactly what type of project our first title would be, we found ourselves trailing off into stories of growing up Southern. We had tears in our eyes from laughing and lumps in our throat from emotion. After that particular brainstorming session, there wasn't much question as to what kind of project the launch would be."

"In the process," adds Virginia Ellis, "we discovered our ability to work together. This ability naturally found a creative outlet in planning a book in which we could all participate--separately but together."

The decision to form a small press over submitting their anthology to established publishing houses could be summed up in one word -- control. "Both artistic and marketing control." Debra Dixon continues, "We each have agents and New York publishers and editors, not to mention the marketing departments of the big houses. Book publishing at that level is about sales, about very commercial work.

"Big publishers are leery to let an author 'out' of her niche. They often fear disappointing readers by not publishing more of the same. The prevailing philosophy is, 'Readers want what they want and don't give them anything else.' Creative people find that very limiting. Forming a publishing house gives us control over work that doesn't mesh with the New York publishers' views of our niche. Control of the work allows us to experiment with cover design, marketing and voice. The entire concept is very appealing. Producing the launch title only whet our appetite for the opportunities and possibilities that exist."

There is also the element of independent southern women and a dash of pioneer spirit within these authors. Virginia Ellis speaks to this nature. "Forming our own small press seemed to be the answer to our quest to write from our hearts, not by 'house rules.' Also, we, the six of us, write for different mainstream publishers and have different agents. The chances of selling an anthology or any other collaborative work with so many hands on the project are pretty slim."
 

Each partner in BelleBooks brings their own talents and business experience to the group. Yet forming a small press can be daunting for anyone. "It's a fulltime job!" states Deborah Smith. "Even with six of us sharing the duties, there's a tremendous amount of work involved in doing it well. The paperwork, the cover art, the book design, editing, marketing, warehousing the printed books—all these things take a lot of time and effort."

"We've had to step out of our comfortable offices and rush out into the world with our 'baby book' in our hands," adds Virginia Ellis. "Working the production side, I have to deal with the actual building of our 'widget,' an entirely different process from writing."

Former business consultant Debra Dixon keeps the group grounded. "As President of this rowdy bunch of creative souls, my task has been the difficult one of dragging feet back down to earth. There is a real tendency when reality exceeds your expectations to take on too much, too soon. It's human nature. So, we're learning how to reach for the stars while taking the tiny baby steps that build a secure foundation for the company."
 

Their debut anthology, Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes, followed the normal editorial rules known so well by these authors. Debra Dixon describes the experience, "We had discussed the kinds of stories we wanted and the areas of growing up Southern that we felt should be included in the book. Authors who felt they had a story that fit volunteered. However, since BelleBooks--even for the company founders--has an editorial protocol to be followed, stories were submitted to the editor and each author worked the process much the same way one works with the big publishers. The editor had ultimate responsibility for guiding the collection once the concept and general story ideas where hashed out. Editorial and production worked on placement of stories, etc. to create a "read" of which we are very proud."

Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes was published in May 2000, and in that short time these authors have discovered sweet memories. Deborah Smith is touched by "the depth of appreciation for nostalgic fiction. People appreciate the stories because they recreate childhood memories."
 

Debra Dixon is naturally impressed by the business success. "In just a few short months we've climbed more than 2/3's of the way to our 12 month sales goal. Reviews have been staggeringly positive. Being selected for review in Today's Librarian and having the collection mentioned in Publishers Weekly "Fiction Notes" were definite high points. We've met our distribution goals in the number of accounts opened.

"We're delighted to be an open stocking vendor for Baker & Taylor, and to be selling well through bookstore special orders with Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and B&N.com. Independents have been very supportive. Virtually Southern books sold over 130 copies of the book at our launch booksigning and I believe their sales now top 200 copies. The most amazing thing is that even with all of this 'good' news, we've barely scratched the surface of distribution and book placement."

"The readers of Sweet Tea and Jesus Shoes consistently said one thing, 'We want more!'" beams Virginia Ellis. "So, we have come up with a town they can visit anytime when they want a vacation from work or just a smile to get them through the day."

The next BelleBooks offering will be a series of books set in Mossy Creek, Georgia. Deborah Smith describes the project, "We're very excited about Mossy Creek. Fans of Mayberry, Lake Wobegone, and Jan Karon's Mitford series should really love this warm-hearted series. The books are set in fictitious Mossy Creek, Georgia, a mountain town whose pioneer founders proudly proclaimed, 'We ain't going no where, and don't want to.' The first book will introduce wonderful characters such as the gun-cleaning mayor, Bob the back-luck chihuhua, the sexy town police chief and his overzealous female officer."

[Publetariat editor's note: there are now six books available in the Mossy Creek series.]

"There is something immensely satisfying when you're not only the creator of a product but also the publisher," explains Debra Dixon. "There is no agonizing wait to find out if an idea will be picked up for a series or if those secondary characters begging for more page space will ever be given it. As a publisher, you are in a position to evaluate the project immediately and give the writers the assurance that they can build all the richness into the stories that they would like without fear. There will be more Mossy Creek books.

"At our recent board meeting in Atlanta, the most important item on the agenda was setting the 'drop dead dates' for final editorial revisions, production and galleys. We are delighted to report that Mossy Creek will launch Spring 2001. The reason this date is so amazing is that we're bringing out our second title less than a year after the launch of Sweet Tea & Jesus Shoes."

There are plans for BelleBooks to publish individual works from within the group of owners. Debra Dixon points to other contract obligations, "we have to find a way to shoehorn in the writing time for a full-novel. But we hope to see an individual title in the near future."

BelleBooks is not to be confused with self-publishing. The small press plans to accept queries from writers in 2001. The editorial guidelines can be found under "for writers" on the website,  www.BelleBooks.com. Debra Dixon advises, "While I hate to repeat that oft heard phrase from NY publishing, the best way to know the kinds of voices we are looking for is to read the short story collection. And to take a good look at Mossy Creek this spring. The editorial process on Mossy Creek was quite demanding, and is probably best representative of the kind of longer fiction we'd like to see. We are contemplating a 'best new voices of the South' collection, but that is in the very infant stages of concept development."

Visit BelleBooks to learn more about BelleBooks and buy BelleBooks titles.  Visit  Southern Scribe for more information about Southern Scribe and resources geared toward working writers in the southern region of the U.S.

Building and Curating Your Community, Part I

With all of the negative news of late about the collapse of the publishing industry and the "death of print", combined with the report that Captain America, Chesley Sullenberger, "scored a $3.2 million two-book deal with HarperCollins' William Morrow imprint" for a memoir and a book of inspirational poetry, one might understandably think that jumping into the publishing game right now would be like investing in Ruth Alpern's new hedge fund based on the advice of Jim Cramer, no?

Actually, no; not at all.

While the major publishing houses continue their suicidal death spiral, and being a mid-list author or aspiring newbie at one of them is less appealing than it's ever been, this is arguably the proverbial moment of opportunity in a time of crisis for indie authors and publishers.

As I've noted previously, self-publishing is becoming an increasingly viable option for non-fiction writers and poets, as well as for ambitious genre fiction writers who understand that, no matter who their publisher is, they're going to have to bust their ass to market their book and hand-sell it to as many people as possible, one copy at a time, in person and online. These savvy authors know that they have to build a platform for themselves over time — something almost every major publisher requires these days — and know how to use it, attracting a loyal tribe and continually nurturing it.

This exact same opportunity exists for indie publishers who can identify an under-served genre or topic of interest, carve themselves a niche and build a platform around it, and produce quality content that attracts a following that they can then nurture into a passionate community, or tribe.

Back in the late-90s, I founded a poetry reading series here in New York City called "a little bit louder" (now known as louderARTS) that you can read about in Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz' definitive history Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, published by Soft Skull Press last year, themselves about as interesting a case study in indie publishing as you could ask for. In the four years I ran the series — as curator, host, accountant, and occasionally even poet — I learned a lot about community organizing, and most of that experience is directly transferable to indie publishers looking to build their own community.

Here are four fundamental tips for curating a thriving community, or tribe, that every indie publisher (and author) needs to keep in mind:

1) It's not about YOU, it's about the tribe. Probably the most simple and straightforward point, and yet one that is completely missed more often than not. The strongest tribes share something in common, and it's rarely the glorification of a specific individual, brand or distribution model. Barack Obama made his Presidential campaign about our hopes for America, while Hillary Clinton's was all about her until it was too late. Avoid the vanity of a ReganBooks and choose a name that means something to the community you're looking to become an integral part of.

2) Professionalism is important, but the tribe must have an equal voice. Social media and user-generated content are all the rage right now, and getting the balance right is tricky, but crucial.  It's what the major publishers have failed miserably at, positioning themselves as unfallible arbiters of taste and opening the doors to the indie revolution. Don't stumble lazily through those doors; take the best of what they do (editing and design), jettison the worst (high advances, minimal marketing support, no interaction), embrace new distribution models, and add real value to the process by plugging in directly to the community you're looking to serve and becoming a valued member.

3) "Location, location, location"...isn't nearly as important as it used to be. Thanks to the internet and digital technology, New York City is no longer the home of the publishing industry, major industry events like BookExpo America are less important than ever, major retailers have less control over distribution, and elite reviewers have less authority than ever before. The only "location" that counts these days is your position within the tribe, and there is no middleman standing in the way of your positioning yourself properly and, more importantly, authentically.

4) Be authentic. Any community worth being a part of is one that is bound by a common interest, cause or goal. In the age of the internet, there are no hiding places and fakers will eventually be exposed. Seriously. A friend of mine, a young woman in her early 20s, recently tweeted the following instructive bit of advice: "to all you marketers on twitter trying to follow us 18-24 yr olds to see what is hip. F*** you.You're all blocked"

While building and curating a community is incredibly important, the single most critical step comes at the beginning of the process: understanding the reason you're doing it and managing your expectations on how it will play out.

"Community leads to sales, not necessarily vice versa."

In part 2 of this series, I'll look at the community=revenue mindset that's driving a lot of new initiatives in the publishing world these days, and explore the right way to go about turning a loyal community into paying customers.

 

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Spindle Magazine. He's won some poetry slams, founded a reading series, co-authored a book of poetry, and still writes when the mood hits him and he has the time. Follow him on Twitter: @glecharles

From Little Ventures Small Wonders Emerge

This piece was originally posted on The Age on 1/24/09.

If you want to publish stylish and unique books, you don't have to be a big concern, writes Simon Caterson.

IF SMALL is beautiful, as the economist E. F. Schumacher asserted, then Melbourne may boast of having a micro-publishing scene that is very attractive. Dozens of tiny publishers are producing everything from handmade recipe books, fiction and poetry to popular non-fiction and even book-like objects that defy classification.

According to the publishers, the diversity and eclecticism are just the points. Micro-publishing, they say, is all about the freedom to publish anything you want, whenever you want, in any form you like. There are as many different approaches to micro-publishing as there are publishers themselves, though the freedom gained via low overheads and small print runs does not exclude the possibility of producing books that appeal to a wide range of readers.

At the more entrepreneurial end of the micro-publishing spectrum is Arcade Publications, which has identified a gap in the market for short, inexpensive, carefully designed books covering aspects of Melbourne's hitherto unexplored history.

Arcade made its publishing debut in 2007 with Lisa Lang's pocket-sized biography of eccentric millionaire and philanthropist E. W. Cole and its next book, due in March, is about the equally colourful figure of Madame Brussels, the notorious brothel-keeper who accommodated the rich and powerful during the era of Marvellous Melbourne.

Arcade's Rose Michael says that "the whole enterprise is a very close-knit 'familial' affair", which means that publishing decisions can be made quickly and that each person involved has a say in all aspects of the publishing process.

"Having worked in larger companies, you have so many decisions made by committee, and things are owned by so many different areas. In micro-publishing, you are able to just kind of do stuff around an island bench."

For Michael and her business partners, Dale Campisi and Michael Brady, publishing is just one aspect of the firm's expanding operations. Arcade also produces walking tours with Hidden Secrets Tours, including the popular Melbourne by the Book walking tour of literary Melbourne.

Campisi regards literary events and communication as complementing one another. "We all love a good event, and the purpose of our public activities is mostly about creating community around our publishing output. Storytelling is not a solitary activity."

 

Read the second half of the article here.

How Independents Will Save Literature From The Recession

This article, by Hirsh Sawhney, originally appeared on The Guardian UK Books Blog on 3/11/09.

While the majors are in terrified thrall to the bottom line, the shoestring passions of the small presses will carry on regardless

It's not a good time for New York's books world, or so they tell me. I've just returned to this legendary literary capital to earn a living as a hack, and the tales of publishing pessimism are already suffocating me.

Book sales are flagging, to put it mildly; some predict 2009 will be the worst year the industry has seen in decades. As a result, senior editors are being axed, and others have been told to stop acquiring new books and having Martini lunches on the company tab.

More serious still, the books sections of several major newspapers have shut down; reduced coverage of books will likely translate into even fewer sales. Publishers, they say, will have no choice but to sink their resources into safer investments – we should probably look forward to a rash of ghost-written celebrity novels. According to some, the only thing left to read in a few years will be raunchy, simplistic e-books.

Could literary culture really be breathing its last? Should readers and writers be running for cover? Of course not. But what, then, will save literature from economic disaster? Simple: independent publishing. Yes, independents – the ones who struggle to sell enough books to make payroll – will ensure that engaging, challenging books continue to be produced and consumed. It's they who'll safeguard literature through the dark economic days ahead.

I'm biased, of course. My own book – yes, here comes some shameless self-promotion – is being published by one of New York's most exciting small publishers, Akashic. After working closely with this boutique house for more than two years – and hearing rumblings from friends and colleagues who work with bigger houses – I'm convinced that the services small and mid-sized independent publishers provide are truly unique.

First of all, there's the personal care that a writer receives from an indie house. I send an email with an idea or a doubt; two minutes later, my very busy publisher writes me back. I have an issue with some changes to my manuscript or concerns about a foreign licensing deal; we discuss it over orange juice on a Sunday morning.

But this touchy-feeliness is just the icing on the cake. The real virtue of working with an independent publisher is the artistic experimentation they not only allow, but encourage. Akashic's proclivity for edginess and iconoclasm was apparent every step of the way while I was editing Delhi Noir, an anthology of urban Indian fiction for them, and this tendency is apparent in most of the titles they put out.

Read the rest of the article on The Guardian UK Books Blog.

Marketing Expectations And The Small Press

This post, from Jason Sizemore, originally appeared on the Apex Books Blog on 6/10/09.

Even in the best of times, making a small press successful is a tough maneuver that few have accomplished. The current economy exacerbates the difficulty level, as well. All the small presses are hungry for your dwindling spare change. That’s why I find the common notion of many authors to believe that once they sell a book to you, their obligation to the publisher is done, to be confusing and irrational.

From my perspective, this almost feels like the author is saying “Okay, buddy, you’re lucky none of the big publishers grabbed my collection/novel/novella/anthology and paid me the five-figure advance I deserve, so you are granted the right and privilege of publishing my work. Have at it.”

I’m not sure why authors feel this way. Why wouldn’t you want to promote your work? Everybody knows that most small presses pay little to no advance. Apex pays an advance, but it’s about 1/4th professional rates. Any noticeable amount of money you’ll earn will come through royalties. To earn royalties, the book has to sell.

Many small presses have little to no budget for advertising. We advertise in Cemetery Dance, Weird Tales, Albedo1, Fangoria, Rue Morgue, Space and Time, Electric Velocipede, Shimmer, on the ProjectWonderful banner system, on SFScope.com, and on any surface that we can slap our beloved Apex alien head on. Many publishers never get out and run the convention circuit to promote their authors. Not so for us on both accounts. We actively travel to promote our books. We have dealer booths in the halls of at least a half-dozen conventions a year, almost always done at a loss because you (the publisher) have to sell a lot of books to compensate for the costs of the tables, food, gas, lodging, etc.

Read the rest of the post on the Apex Books Blog.

Publishing And The Black Swan

This post, from Glenn Yeffeth, originally appeared on the BenBella Books blog on 4/20/09. In it, he applies Nassim Taleb's Black Swan theory to publishing. The Black Swan theory posits that rare and unpredictable events can have a huge impact in whatever aspects of life and commerce they occur. Publishers, Yeffeth says, can apply some specific strategies to proactively minimize their exposure to "negative black swans" while maximizing opportunities to take advantage of those even rarer, "positive black swans" .

The Black Swan, by Nassim Taleb, is the best book on statistics I ever read. OK, that may sound like faint praise. But the book is one of the best books I’ve read in years. Brilliant, eccentric, and prescient, this book speaks to me in particular because of my stint in the PhD program in finance at the University of Chicago. I dropped out for exactly the reasons Taleb discusses in the book – the more I learned about mathematical finance, the more I realized how disconnected it was from reality (full disclosure: I also sort of sucked at higher math). If you haven’t read it, you want to, especially if you are in publishing.

The essence of Taleb’s theory is straightforward. Rare and unpredictable events, he theorizes, have an enormous impact on business, finance, on life in general. This might seem to be unexceptional, except that all of statistics, economics and finance (to name a few areas) are based on the assumption that this isn’t true. Everything you’ve heard about the normal curve or law of large numbers, or even the concept of an “average” is based on the idea that once you have enough data – say over a hundred data points – you basically know what’s going on in terms of risky events, that your average is going to be stable etc. The whole idea of finding an average from data, for example, goes out the window if one observation (once you already have lots of observations) can radically change your average. Yet in real life this happens all the time (half the growth in the stock market since WWII, for example, happened in 10 days).

Some businesses are negative black swan businesses. They seem to be making more than they really do make, because they are exposed to rare, but huge, downside risks (think banks and reinsurers). Publishers are exposed to some negative black swan risk (i.e. bankruptcy of major distributor or retailer) but, in general, publishing is a positive black swan business. The rare events can make publishers a lot of money. In fact, without the rare events (i.e. Harry Potter, Da Vinci Code) they barely make any money at all.

The essence of black swans is that they are unpredictable; if they were predictable they wouldn’t be black swans. No one knows they are coming, although everyone can see their inevitability in retrospect. Consider the numerous retroactive explanations for the success of Harry Potter, when, in advance, the original novel was rejected by every publisher that saw it but one, and that one (Bloomsbury) paid 2500 pounds and printed 500 copies. No one saw it coming.

So the solution is to design your publishing house so as to maximize your exposure to positive black swans and minimize your exposure to negative ones. Easy, right?

Not so much. It’s tricky to figure out exactly what to do about Black Swan theory, but here are a few ideas to start with:

1. Have a healthy respect for what you don’t know. Your management processes will pressure you to predict how each book will do, and allocate resources accordingly. Don’t confuse this with the idea that you know what will happen. Allocate a bit more resources to your small books, and a bit less to your big ones, because you are less sure of what is small and what is big than you think.

Read the rest of the post, which includes 9 additional Black Swan ideas, on the BenBella Books blog.

Starting Your Own Indie Publishing Company

This piece, the first in a three-part series by Amy Rogers, originally appeared on the Publishing Renaissance site---an excellent resource for indie authors and small imprints---on 4/21/09.

or How I Learned to Stop Grousing and Make Something Happen in My Own Backyard – Part 1 of 3

If you’re a writer, you probably spend a fair amount of time complaining how hard it is to get published. (It’s in our job description, right?)

So over the years, conversations in my lunch-bunch of writer friends eventually progressed from whining to full-on fantasizing. “Someone should start a really cool indie publishing house,” somebody said.

“Yeah, we’d publish all the good stuff that New York ignores because we live in the South and we’re not hip or famous,” someone else added.

“Yeah!” everyone agreed.

“But we’re writers. We don’t have any, you know, money.”

This conversation repeated itself many times, starting back in 1999, when I was part of a small-but-feisty band of writers who set out to empower and raise the profile of our literary community in Charlotte, N.C., despite our lack of resources, benefactors or any expertise whatsoever.

Three of us researched small presses around the country, networked like crazy (difficult for us introverted writers, so we told ourselves it was investigative journalism), and scribbled on yellow legal pads in an attempt to come up with something that might one day resemble a business plan. It was hard to get our minds around such a large, complex and changing industry. But we worked at it for a year while doing our freelance jobs.

One day everything fell into place when we realized that most traditional trade publishing entities (non-self-publishing) can fit into one of just a few categories.

1. Mainstream Commercial Publishing: Think Random House, HarperCollins, all the giant power players with global influence and products. Through acquisitions and mergers, many of the former household names have been consolidated in recent years. Big ambitions, big sellers, big dollars at stake.

2. University Presses: These books are often ambitious and expensive but must be viable commercially; they also fulfill the institution’s educational mission. Example: the University of Chicago publishes books about art and architecture.

3. Specialty Presses: Targeted products for specific audiences (can be religious, how-to, business-related, journals, etc.).

4. Indie Presses: Visionaries or devoted lovers of literature who often put their own money into the company and rarely garner fame or fortune. Widely seen as doing “God’s work” since they publish the books large companies won’t touch: poetry, untested writers, regional and non-mainstream works.

Suddenly, publishing started to make sense. Almost everything from international bestsellers to local, grassroots books could be pegged somewhere in this model. We could really see the proverbial forest – and the trees. It was exhilarating. And it allowed us to focus.

We knew right away we could never attempt to become a large, mainstream publisher. We weren’t academics, so that was out. And we couldn’t open a specialty press because we didn’t have a specialty.

Cha-ching! We were indies! Yes! We’d be like Lawrence Ferlinghetti and his beat-poet friends who founded City Lights Publishers and their legendary bookstore in San Francisco, back in the ’50s.

We’d discover and nurture new literary talent in our own region, we’d launch emerging writers, and we’d put our city on the national literary map.

But there was still one problem, and it was a big one. We had absolutely no resources and we had no idea how to find them – if they even existed.

Read the part two, and follow the link to part three, on the Publishing Renaissance site, where you can find many more articles and resources of interest to indie authors and small imprints.

Amy Rogers is the author of Hungry for Home: Stories of Food from Across the Carolinas. She is a founder and the Publisher of the award-winning Novello Festival Press. NFP is the nation’s only library-sponsored literary publisher, part of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, N.C.

Why I Decided To Form An Indie Press

I self-published my first novel, RealmShift, at the start of 2006 through Lulu.com. It was an interesting exercise. I learned a great deal about producing a quality book and I learned a lot about the nature of Recommended Retail Price, bookstore discounts, international postage and shipping costs and the stigma that stops people taking self-published work seriously. But the book sold modestly, got a lot of great reviews and generated a bit of buzz. I even had people randomly emailing me with praise and asking for more, which was very flattering. As it happened I was already working on the sequel. Once that was ready to publish I decided to take the whole process more seriously and, rather than use an author service POD company again, I wanted to go directly to source.

I investigated cutting out the middleman and dealing directly with Lightning Source International (LSI), the POD printer used by many author service companies. I discovered that LSI don’t deal directly with authors – they deal only with publishers. Now, the semantics of indie author/publisher aside, this actually gave me an idea. Why not become a boutique version of something like Lulu or iUniverse? Why not become a publisher? I saw an opportunity here to take the indie publishing process a step further. So I slowly put together a plan.

I would create a POD publishing company that would be essentially exactly the same as the big POD author service companies mentioned above but with the following caveats:

Genre Specific – my work is dark fantasy, sometimes classified as horror or urban fantasy. I decided to form a publisher that would specialise only in science fiction, fantasy and horror, with a preference for the darker, more adult works in those genres.

Quality Control – I wouldn’t just let anyone publish anything. While the work would need to be done largely by the author, especially all the marketing and promotion post release, I would firstly only take well written, well edited, quality stories and I would do the typesetting, formatting, layout and cover design myself (in deep consultation with the author) to ensure that the books we produced were both good writing and professionally put together. Small

Catalogue – the publisher would only have a small number of authors on board, keeping to the specifications above.

Cost Neutral – the publisher itself would not be designed to make a profit. The publisher will recover costs from the authors from their sales and subsequent sales profits then all go back to the authors – it’s up to them to market the work, so they should get the proceeds. I’ll have to make my profits from the sale of my own books.

Anthologies – some money can come back to the press by way of anthologies. I would pay for the stories included, buying first print and online rights for one year, and hopefully cover costs with anthology sales and maybe put a bit of money back into the publishing company this way. Any profits made here could be used to market the press as a whole and generate interest in all the work published. This is also an opportunity to give emerging writers another market for their work.

There are two fundamental points to this approach: As this publisher is not out to turn a profit, I could offer my books and those of anyone else I take on at a retail price very close to the cost price from the POD printer; With quality control and a limited catalogue, we could work towards shattering the indie publishing stigma – a stigma that is slowly dissolving, but that can certainly do with an injection of quality work!

Any books put out through this publisher would also have a stable of other work to stand up with. All the books would carry the logo and all would be featured on the publisher’s website. The catalogue of work as a whole could be marketed and any sales from one author would expose the other authors to those readers. This idea is basically taking the technology that we have available today, that is used so successfully and profitably by the author service POD companies, and distilling it back down to something smaller and more targeted.

Being genre specific and having a degree of quality control means that the publisher can be grown as a brand within the indie publishing world and within the greater publishing world as a whole. And so Blade Red Press was born. I started pulling in favours and getting things organised. My “day job” is as a martial arts instructor. One of my students at the time was a graphic designer. He put me onto a friend of his that designed the Blade Red Press logo for me at mate’s rates.

With the help of another friend and his IT skills I put together the Blade Red Press website. I registered the company name and set up a publisher account with LSI and I was ready to go. I started with my own books, re-issuing RealmShift along with the new book, MageSign. With everything I’d learned about cover design, promotion and so on I was able put together two excellent quality books. I had some reviews done in advance and was able to include the review comments on the cover and inside the books. I got another author friend of mine to give me a blurb. The work was all uploaded to LSI and Blade Red Press had its first two titles.

The original cover of RealmShift (left) and the new Blade Red Press edition, along with the sequel (centre and right)

Everything is new and still growing at the moment. We’ve put out one more title, an alternate history of ancient Baghdad, called Maggots Of Heresy, by Michael Fridman. The website still needs some development. But it’s all up and running. I’ll be opening a submission window soon for short stories for our first anthology and also for novel submissions for our next title release. I intend to use the press to release one or two anthologies and one or two novels per year. It will stay small and offer a quality product at a decent price.

POD is always going to face its hardest challenge with pricing. But when I first released RealmShift through Lulu it was US$23.95 at amazon.com. Now, through Blade Red Press, it’s US$15.95, as is the sequel, MageSign. Both books are close to 400 pages. So we’re heading in the right direction.

However, a word of warning. If you choose to do something like this, it will take up a lot of your time! Using the author service companies takes a lot of time and effort as well, producing a quality book and then marketing it. But adding in the extra work of managing your own small company online is something that needs to be seriously considered before you dive in. I’m enjoying the challenge but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s easy. There’s nothing easy about the world of indie publishing, but it certainly is worth it if you’re prepared to take on that challenge.

Alan is an indie author and publisher with two dark fantasy novels in print - RealmShift and MageSign. You can learn all about him at his website.