Coming up for air

Is it really January? No, its not just January, it is the end of January. Where did November and December go? They were some kind of a blur. I vaguely remember book launches, multiple visits to the post office, family dinners, celebrations, etc etc. 

My sister came to visit me from the Himalayan region. I hadn't seen her in a few years. The visit was unexpected and it landed just about the time I was doing the book launch! Can we say, "Master Juggler of Time"?   

The book launch was amazing!  May I give a shout out to Mia Baerg - this is a young lady who is going to shake the world. There are some people you meet and you just know they are going to make a slighter bigger mark on this world than someone else. Mia is just that type of person. She agreed to help with the sales at the book launch and she helped to keep things running smoothly when we were converged upon by the masses.  

My husband stepped in to help with the sales as well. I thought everything was very organized. We had a line for people paying with checks, cash and credit/debit cards. How much more organized can you get than that? Well, no matter how prepared you are and how organized you are, there will always be the person who wants to stand in the wrong line. We were busy learning as we went.


Faith and Victory Church did a magnificent job putting the whole launch together. Balloons bobbed around, black table clothes gave an elegant look to the evening. Crystal Krachunis, the author of Run Your Race, made a wonderful speech prior to the books being sold. All in all, it was a fabulous evening. 

In our bright eyed and bushy tailed mindset, we saw every single book flying off the sales table. We saw ourselves driving home with empty boxes and immediately putting in a new order for books to be printed. The reality of the evening was many books were sold. We still had to bring home boxes which contained many more books. At the end of the day, the evening was a success. 

The books have continued to be sold online at the www.seawardpublishinghouse.com website. The original surge of books sales has slowed down to a dribble. I finally broke down and registered the book on Amazon- (do you remember my battle cry indicating we weren't going to go down that route?) Ah, yes, even the mighty have fallen. Well, apparently it is not as easy as just saying, "Hey I want to sell my book on Amazon"-- they made me fill out forms and send in my driver's license and business license. And then I expected a "Okay you are all set"-- no, I got a message that informed me I would probably hear back from them by the 27th-- that is today- so I'm keeping my eyes open. 

I know Amazon will not be the lifesaver for keeping sales up. This is where marketing comes in. I'm picking other people's brains. I'm writing to other publishers, business owners and start ups asking them how they do it. What tools do they use. My personal banker- you remember her, right?Anita Trujillo.  She suggested a great idea- she said I should approach some college students to see if they might want to hop on board as interns to do social media marketing. This would benefit me as the publisher and benefit them as they beef up their resumes for the future. 

 I would like to see another book published this year- 2018- but unless I can get this one completely off the ground and into orbit, I will have to wait a bit longer for the next project to be launched. If you have any suggestions which might help me get that dribble back up to the roaring river of sales we previously were enjoying, please feel free to send them my way!  Any and all comments are welcome.

The Nuts and Bolts

So you wake up one morning and say, "Let's start a publishing company"....nope...not that easy. As with any business, you have to come up with a business plan....a budget....a goal. Of course you can have some fun choosing a name and figuring out your logo....and for like a second you can pretend that this is as difficult as anything will get. Give yourself a day or so to enjoy the sound of your company's new name. Enjoy the process of looking for a logo. After a brief period of enjoyment, jump back into the nuts and bolts of moving forward with your business....the real legal stuff....

Almost Legal

This is the tricky part. You will have to decide what type of company you want to start. Are you wanting to start a sole proprietorship? or an LLC? Or some other alphabetic combination? Once you have decided on that...you have to register the company and make sure the name you have chosen hasn't been used before...and then you walk into a bank and you say, "Hi, I'm here to open an account."

Best personal Banker: Anita Trujillo

When you walk into the bank- you hope that you will be met with someone who is sympathetic to the fact you are new to all this. Thankfully, I met Anita Trujillo, who practically held my hand throughout the entire process. She was cheerful and gracious;  while remaining efficient and professional. 

I think Wells Fargo needs to give Anita a resounding cheer for being the best personal banker ever! Believe me, in all my years of dealing with banks and personal bankers, she really went above and beyond the call of duty.

Once the bank accounts were set up-- then you start business. At the beginning it will look like the only direction the money is flowing is out.  You are paying the editor, the website designer, the printer....but I'm getting ahead of myself....that is for future posts.

There are others far more proficient than myself in the dos and don'ts of starting a publishing company. You should check out some of their advice and tips.

See what Erica Liodice has to say on her blog post "How to Start Your Own Publishing Company"  Her post is good because she covers all the angles- from self publishing companies to starting a publishing company to publish other people's books.  Shelley Hitz gives some excellent tips from lessons she and her husband learned on the journey of starting a publishing company.  Another post which has a wealth of information- especially in regards to the legalities of setting up the business and the tax side of things is done by Dave Chesson.
Ultimate Guide on How to start a publishing Company

I wish I could say I read all these articles before I started....I didn't. I did a lot of research over the past year. I asked a lot of questions. When I stumbled on these articles (and many others) I appreciated every word of advice given. I took each tip to heart, and studied to see if it was something that would work for my publishing company.

Well, I have to go and look over the proof copy which was just sent to me by the printers. I will definitely be blogging about them in upcoming posts, because they have made this publishing process that much easier. They have sent me the proof earlier than I expected. The company did an excellent job. I look forward to returning the Design proof form and getting things rolling for this first book to fly off the presses!