by Jay Hartman
Unless you’re writing or publishing for the sheer fun or joy of it, it’s a given you’re looking to make money doing it. Every author has that lofty goal to thrive on their income as a published author, give up the day job, and travel around the country to give talks while smoking a pipe and wearing a tweed jacket with patches on the elbows.
Okay, that last part may be just me.
The goals in running a publishing house aren’t that dissimilar from those of authors; I’d do this job full-time and forever if I could. I’ve always said when my time comes, I want to be found at my desk, face-first in a pile of manuscripts. Mind you, with everything being electronic these days it could be a bit uncomfortable.
It’s not a secret that to keep the doors open at a publishing house, you must have money coming in. In my last venture, I took on investors to help fund the growth of the company. I came to regret that decision, particularly in the last year at my old house. So, when I decided to start over with Misti Media (my new house), I vowed I’d find ways to publish but to also do things I wanted to do but couldn’t because I was too focused on keeping the doors open. If this were an episode of Sex and the City, this is the part where I’d say, “I couldn’t help but wonder…could a publisher do something for growth that didn’t make them any money?” And the answer was a surprising “yes.”
I always wanted to do an anthology to benefit a charity. I love the idea of authors and publishers coming together to use their platform for a cause. There have been so many terrific anthologies over the decades that were able to benefit important and critical issues. Those anthologies typically donated a percentage of net sales. I wanted to go bigger. I wanted 100% of the net proceeds to go to the selected charity.
Now, this is not the same as an author makes their title free. Free doesn’t benefit anybody, and according to numerous studies, also won’t grow readership. This is the concept of charging for a book where all the proceeds go to charity, but you gain the visibility as a publisher for having done it.
The Perp Wore Pumpkin is the culmination of this brainstorm. Ten authors came together to write humorous crime shorts based on their favorite Thanksgiving foods, accompanied by recipes. One hundred percent of the net royalties are donated to Second Harvest Food Bank and Feeding America. Since I wasn’t keeping any of the money for the company, I had people who were more than willing to donate their time and expertise for everything from the cover to proofreading to the interior layout of the print edition. The authors were happy to promote. I invested a small amount of money into a press release to go out to 200 media outlets, which led to other people who helped distribute the press release too.
This is a case where everybody wins. The authors will get new stories out to build their fan base, as well as a small stipend to make their story eligible for awards. Second Harvest Food Bank and Feeding America will receive donations to keep feeding their communities. Misti Media will get their name out into the world everywhere. It may not be revenue in the door today, but people who read about what we did or purchased the book will remember and are more likely to come back to see what else we’re doing. It’s the building of brand and name recognition, and an investment in that is priceless.
This holiday season, help do good for others. The Perp Wore Pumpkin is available anywhere and everywhere that ebooks and/or paperbacks are sold. If you purchase directly from Misti Media you’ll pay less, which will create a larger donation to the charity since there are no retailer fees. This also allows funds to be donated on an ongoing basis, rather than waiting for vendors to distribute the royalties quarterly.
Remember, hunger is year-round.
Looking to get The Publisher Perspective? Send your questions to jhartman@mistimedia.com with TPP in your subject line.
Jay A. Hartman, founder of Untreed Reads Publishing, promotes ebooks with an emphasis on independent authors and publishers. He’s written about the ebook industry for fifteen years and previously served as content editor for KnowBetter.com, one of the internet’s oldest sites reporting on ebooks and epublishing.
