The Partners: The Greatest Lessons Learned from Business Owners in the Publishing Industry

The Partners Point of View

What has been the greatest lesson you've learned from being a business owner in the publishing industry, and what impact did that have on how you work with your clients to provide them exceptional service?

Danielle Perlin-Good


I’ve learned to trust myself, my intuition, and my values. I’ve learned that my time and energy has just as much value as my clients’ time and energy. It’s so important to stick with your gut instinct and always try to see things from the other person’s perspective. 


I always strive to respond to clients in a timely manner, be honest about my time and energy, and be fair about the engagements we have together. 


Lisa Shrewsberry


I’ve learned that there really are a lot of GREAT writers out there! But the difference between ones who see their books published and ones who don’t are those who believe most in what they’re trying to accomplish, enough to invest in developmental editors, copyeditors, and marketers, like the experts at Rogue. If you don’t believe in your work, how can you expect anyone else to believe in it?


Seeing how many options there were, this impacted me by causing me to further refine my writing and editing capabilities and tailor them to the client. In agreeing to work with clients, it is no longer a matter of “this person who wants to publish a book approached me, so I should help them” but, “Can I help this person?” If I think my skillset can help someone with their project, if we’re a good match, then I wholeheartedly accept the challenge. My focus is to always match abilities to someone’s desired outcome and level of passion for their project. They must be as invested as I am. My services are not just another process they go through or a box they check off on the way to publishing. I must feel like I will bring real value to the table for them in their endeavor, or I won’t take the client.


Susie Schaefer


One of the most impactful lessons that I’ve learned is to allow space for others. Whether that’s giving an author time to write and process emotions, or simply listen to what they’re going through. Writing a book can sometimes be a deeply emotional process, and having a book coach that understands what that means can result in healing for the author. 


Understanding this changed the way I work with authors. I found that by giving them the time they needed to work through the writing and editing phase didn’t match with how I was pricing my services. It allowed me to change my business to reflect the needs of my clients and embody service to others.


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One of the things I mentioned earlier is creating your publishing company, or imprint. Instead of using “self-published,” it’s better to create a publishing company and here’s why: By setting up your own imprint and creating a logo, you can then create the look and feel of a small press, versus looking self-published. Not only does this appear more professional, some book reviewers may not review independently published books. Here's how it works: First come up with your publishing company name, such as Red Rose Press, Blue Sky Publishing, or whatever you want. Then, do an internet search and see if that name’s being used. If not, GREAT! If yes, you might have to make some changes so that your publishing imprint is not an infringement of another company. Next, check with your local Secretary of State, which you can usually do online and make sure that the name isn’t being used. It’s a good idea to talk to your tax accountant to see what is the best type of business to set up, but in most cases, a simple sole proprietorship will work just fine. The reason that you want this set up correctly is that it will legitimize your publishing and also provide you whatever tax incentives are in your state. Again, I’m not a tax professional, so get some guidance on what’s best for you. If you already have an established business, simply create your publishing as a DBA under your company name. Next, search for your domain names. Instead of searching on GoDaddy, it’s best to just do an internet search first, as the more you search on GoDaddy, the domain price goes up. And, when you’ve got your book title finalized, be sure to buy the domain for your book title as well. This allows your webmaster to create a website that is suited to your needs and can use the domains you’ve purchased for your publishing imprint and book title. For your logo, there’s no need to spend a lot of money. If you don’t already have a graphics person available, check and see if you can find someone to create a simple logo for your publishing imprint. Fiverr and Upwork are excellent resources. Keep in mind that your publishing logo will appear on either your copyright page or title page, and on the back cover and spine, so keep it simple. Finally, when opening your accounts and purchasing your ISBNs, do EVERYTHING under your new publishing company name. And don’t forget to keep all receipts, invoices and other items for tax purposes. You’ve now created your own publishing company and can publish all your books under that imprint. Congratulations!
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