Finding new ways to stay in the publishing game

Of the two, publishing is much more involved than writing. With writing, you get to plop down a manuscript with typos, grammatical inconsistencies and worse, so-so craftsmanship and if the editor is solid, still end up with a finished product that reviewers will wax eloquent about. The publisher on the other hand assumes the entire risk and the cost of producing your book and in the small press world, there is rarely a significant return on your investment of time and energy.

It always amazes me how little writers actually understand what goes into publishing their book. Maybe this is why so many writers have unrealistic sales expectations and so little appreciation for the effort that goes into bringing their title to market. Worse, they rarely know who their audience might be and how many actual copies of the book will be sold.

When I published When Towns Had Teams in 2005, I also knew very little about the publishing side of things. No matter how much research you do (and I was diligent in finding out as much information up front as I could), you still know only a fraction compared to what you learn as you proceed with the various step-by-step activities of printing and then, distributing a book.

The distribution piece may be the most misunderstood part of publishing, particularly if you are a small press publisher. Because your sales volume is smaller and if your book has a regional audience, in most cases won’t be able to use national distributors like Baker & Taylor, or Ingram. As a result, in order to get your book in front of readers, a small press distributor must parcel together a distribution network the old-fashioned way—one bookstore and gift shop at a time. If you are lucky, you’ll find a regional distributor to handle some of your stores. I was fortunate to find Magazines Inc., in Bangor. They handle the Mr. Paperback chain, as well as a few other smaller stores in rural Maine.

Recently, I’ve begun to take the knowledge that I’ve acquired, much of it learned the hard way, by making mistakes and have begun offering consultation to other writers who are crazy enough to want to go the independent route, like I did. I’m even starting to believe that this is a valuable service and that there might be a small market for this service. The current writer that I’m working with is going to save himself a lot of headaches and sleepless nights, because I’ve already been there and figured out what works and what doesn’t.

If you are a writer who is interested in independently publishing your own book, you should contact us at RiverVision Press. We offer a free initial consultation with you about your book idea. In addition, we also offer the following services.

• Manuscript critiques
• copyediting services
• Creative services and cover designs
• Manuscript layout and preparation for printingRiverVision can take your idea and bring it to fruition and save you pain, agony and money you don’t have to spend.

With an award-winning book under our belts and a solid track record as a small press publisher, RiverVision Press can help you realize that dream of seeing your book in print.

At the tradeshow

On Tuesday, RiverVision Press packed up its operations and headed over to Central Maine Community College, for the Afox Small Business Fair. This was our first trade show/business fair we’ve done since our inception, back in June, 2005.

I was part of the Afox planning committee, helping to put together this three county conference, one of Governor Baldacci’s Conferences on Small Business and Entrpreneurship. As part of my responsibilities, I was tasked to set up the Resource Fair, where a number of state and federally-sponsored organizations like, SCORE, AVCOG, SBDC and other services, designed to help promote and support the small business community, had tables providing information and assistance to any small business people and prospective entrepreneurs.

My wife and I designed a DIY, low-cost trade show display, promoting RiverVision Press as a resource for prospective writers/authors and advertising some of our consulting services—manuscript critiques, copyediting, as well as other writing-related support that comes from our own experiences with independent publishing.

It was another opportunity to get When Towns Had Teams out into the public, once again and also, an opportunity to talk about our newest book, T.W. Moore’s, I Love Today—Musings from New England. We have developed what will probably be our cover artwork, so it was good to get that design out into the public eye, as well as a print version of Write In Maine, which describes the RiverVision mission and some other information about our company.

The keynote speaker, Michelle Neujahr (New-yar), was great. She was an energetic and motivational speaker and really energized the audience and got them excited, I think, about the possibilities of seeing their own ideas transition from mere thoughts, into serious plans, leading to future success.

I also enjoyed being able to talk to others about what publishing entails and meet a handful of other writers, who inquired about what it takes to publish a book.

While I only sold a handful of books, it was a great opportunity to expose others to RiverVision Press and hold court with fair participants and answer their questions.

A step-by-step approach to success

I became a publisher, more by default, than any overarching desire to own and operate a small press. With a story that I thought was important and a year’s worth of research in the can, I had come to a place where it was publish it myself, or be just another writer with a manuscript squirreled away in my desk drawer.

RiverVision Press, while born of necessity, has moved beyond being a one-trick pony and has been ramping up production for its follow-up offering to the award-winning, When Towns Had Teams. While our operation is more-or-less a one person show, we have a highly-skilled and diverse support team providing necessary services that are beyond my range of skills. Because of this special ancillary team, I’m very optimistic about the possibilities as we approach our second year in business.

One of the things that I was determined to provide as a publisher was support for new writers, who, like me, had a worthwhile manuscript, but few options for getting it to market. At first, that vision seemed a bit presumptuous, but as I become more comfortable in my role as a publisher, I am certain that in another year, or two, we’ll have a catalog that is diverse and fills an important niche in the Pine Tree State.

I’m really excited about our second offering, a wonderful book, called I Love Today—Musings From New England. Buxton-based writer, Tom Moore, sent me the manuscript a year ago. At first, it just sat there, along with a handful of others. The others were not worth the effort it takes to get a book to market. Once I took the time to read through Tom's however, I knew I had my second title.

Comprised of a series of daily vignettes, I Love Today captures Maine’s special character. Whether focusing on events like the magic of parenthood, or the experience of a Maine Fourth of July celebration, Moore’s talent, humor and eye for detail shine through his work.

While Tom doesn’t necessarily break new ground by writing about what most of us already know, he has a penchant for skillfully and humorously getting inside many of the day-to-day and even mundane experiences of life. In doing so, he gives his readers a positive, uplifting and affirming look at life in one of our nation’s truly special regions.

RiverVision has set a June release date for the book and we are eager to have the chance to get Tom and his book out and about in Maine and maybe beyond. We’ll be making an announcement in the spring about our special launch that we’ve planned for the book. Additionally, we’ve just started having conversations with another talented Maine writer about another intriguing manuscript that is still without a home. While we’re in the formative stages of talks, it looks hopeful that RiverVision will have yet another title to add this fall, to its ever burgeoning list of quality books about Maine.

Keep an eye on the RiverVision Press website for upcoming details and announcements about Maine’s unique small press.

The independent life

Being an independent, small press publisher can be challenging. It becomes even more challenging when you must get a day job to support your publishing, then it ramps up exponentially.

For much of 2006, my small press venture, RiverVision Press, has been on autopilot, shipping books, dabbling in some idea creation, but just maintaining the fort, after a whirlwind year that saw us cope with the marketing and other details that accompany the release of one’s first book and try to figure out exactly where we are headed as a publisher. The road had a few bumps, like the ill-fated anthology that I had hoped to get out in 2006, only to be saddled with a shortage of solid writing. As a result, I had to shelve that for another time.

Independent Publisher, the voice of the independent publishing industry and the awarder of the IPPY’s, of which yours truly was awarded one, for When Towns Had Teams, has many interesting articles on its website about the world of independent publishing, including this one.

While there are certainly independently (or self-published) efforts that are poorly done, filled with typos and lacking any type of consistency of design, you’ll find more and more mainstream, large press offerings that are thrown together for the sake of getting a product to market and often, there is little or no planning regarding the marketing of these books.

Speaking of marketing, I’ve been extremely busy with my holiday advertising push. While having to go back to the 9 to 5 world has been taxing on my time, it has provided RiverVision with some much needed capitalization and I’m using some of this to push When Towns Had Teams hard during the year’s busy book buying season. I’ve been designing a series of ads that are set to run in publications covering a good chunk of the state. I may even be running a few radio spots.

While it has forced me to burn the candle at both ends more often than not, it has also unleashed a well of pent up creativity that I’m channeling back into my publishing. I’m happy to report that 2007 looks like a year when RiverVision will be releasing not one, but two titles! I’ve acquired a great manuscript from a first time author that I think will make a great follow-up book to When Towns Had Teams. I’m currently reading the manuscript and will be sitting down over the next few weeks with this writer to begin discussing terms and hopefully, we’ll have a signed contract soon. On top of that release, set for the spring, I’ve begun research on my second book. While this book will once again highlight the people and places of Maine, I think readers will be pleasantly surprised at how different it will be from my first book. This should be out just in time for next year’s holiday book buying bonanza.

I’m excited again about publishing and this excitement should translate into a very productive year for RiverVision Press, Maine’s unique small press. And don’t forget to pick up copies of When Towns Had Teams for that baseball fan of yours!