More News from a New Publisher

Well, I’ve just formally taken on a publicist, on a profit-share basis. We never make a loss on our books. The authors get 50-60% the profit pro rata between them. We’re giving the publicist 20% of the profit.

One of the big problems for small independent publishers is marketing. We don’t have the connection that the big guys have. We perhaps don’t have the power. But we do have a quality product and we need other people to see that. We need to tap into the six handshake idea. We all know 250 people who all know 250 people which means we’re just six steps away form anyone else. Question is: can we persuade the 250 people we know to buy our book and recommend to the 250 people they know. Of course, the system does fall down a little anyway because some of the 250 people I know are the same as some of the 250 people you know.

I’ve given the new free-lance publicist a to-do list. There’s a clear month for research as there won’t be a lot to do until the end of this month. Then we’re ready to roll again, hopefully, on the two summer publications.

We’re also planning a Writer’s retreat. A weekend, concentrating on the Short Story – especially for writing for the Bridge House Publishing Anthologies.

And there is one definite advantage about being a small publisher – we don’t have the overheads.

It seems like a good start to 2009 to me.

Getting “Making Changes” out there

This is getting quite exciting and quite scary at the same time. Money is rolling in for the London party / launch and for author copies. I now have to start the heavy marketing. I love writing and editing the books. I cringe at the marketing because it’s really facing rejection all over again. Yet it has to be done.
Just think of this, though.
Everyone knows 250 people. Would it be possible to see all 250 of them a copy of our wonderful little book? And isn’t it so good that those 250 would recommend it to the 250 they know? This is the theory that we are just six handshakes away from everyone in the world. Can we start the ball rolling on this one?
We are beginning to roll. There is a book launch arranged in Bangor and in London. I’m about to set one up in Salford. Some people are contacting their local press and radio stations. I want to find a radio station who will broadcast readings of the stories. I’m sending out review copies.
What more can I do? Will it work?