It's been awhile since I've posted here, which is a good thing, because I've been hustling!
As I've mentioned in some other threads, I have self-published several books. I mainly focus on putting out non-fiction books that point back to my main company - a tactic that has worked very well.
My wife and I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago, and John Erickson, the author of the Hank The Cow Dog series, was offering a closed-door, small-group chat about publishing. I almost didn't bother with it, but then I read Erickson's Wikipedia page. I know that many people on this forum may have never heard of this guy or his books, but I've heard of these book my entire life and most people I know have read them (I havent!
It turns out that John Erickson's books were rejected numerous times by every major publisher in the U.S. After a decade of trying, he decided to start his own publishing company and self-publish the books. He has sold 7 million copies since he started his publishing company in 1983. I got to spend a couple of hours with him and we chatted about what I'm doing, then he and his employee went over many of the details of how they run the business. It was fascinating and I jotted down some notes that I will share below. I thought it was pretty good stuff and I thought I would share it for all the other aspiring authors/future indie press business owners out there.
So here goes:
He said too many people write who haven't experienced life. He says go out and do stuff and experience life - then you will have plenty to write about.
He views writing as an art. He's obsessed with the quality of what he puts out.
He turned down a contract from Disney in the 1990's after being flown to California from Texas for several days while they courted him. He turned it down because he 1) didn't need them. He had made lots of $ on his own and 2) they would own the character forever, with no royalty payment for him - just a single lump sum that he didn't think was good enough.
Self-publishing for him was an act of desperation. He had worked as a cowboy for years and spent every dime he had going to writer's conventions and chasing agents, all to no avail. He had a friend who was a banker who was "stupid enough" to lend him money for a start-up publishing company.
He thought his market was rural adults involved in agriculture. So he printed the books and sold them at every county fair, trade show, and convention that he and his wife could go to. He was making enough money to feed his family, but with little or no spare time.
He started getting calls from schools - kids were bringing his books to schools and were excited about them. The schools wanted to purchase them in bulk. This allowed him to focus on supplying that market and he was able to hire employees and spend more time writing.
"Literature is defined by who pays the printing bill."
He was told that his books were too quirky, too odd, and too regional by all the big players in publishing, so he sold 7 million copies of the books on his own.
He said the real benefit of self-publishing is keeping all your publishing rights. He worked out an agreement with CBS to create a children's TV show based on the books, but he didn't like how it turned out, so he refused to renew the series for a second season, even though it was well-received.
So here's how they do the books now:
John Erickson's company is call Maverick Books. He has one or two employees who do all his design work for the book interior using InDesign.
They file for a Library of Congress control number for each book.
They spend $30 and fill out paperwork to get an official copyright on the books. The employee said it is much easier to protect your work, even with the whole "first person to write it" copyright protection that I always rely on (i.e., whoever puts it out there first owns the copyright).
They have the books with distributors (including Ingram...and those of us with "small presses" can use Ingram Spark with ease). They also handle the inventory of tens of thousands of books for schools, state parks, etc. John Erickson hustled and got his books in every little farm store and state park that he could. His company deals with these details.
They have a nice website (http://www.hankthecowdog.com) and they use social media, including Pinterest, extensively. They use Survey Monkey to improve to website to meet the customers' needs.
They have products on CafePress and they make money with it. They said it's easier than having the stuff printed and them dealing with that inventory.
John Erickson still writes 4-5 hours every day, starting around 4:30am. He has an office with no pictures on the walls and no internet access - just a computer with a word processor, a desk, and...
...a human skull he got decades ago in Mexico.
It seemed strange to me that the writer of a children's book series would sit in what he called a "sensory deprivation environment" with nothing but a skull. He said the skull was to remind him that time is short and that all of our bodies will end up as skeletons eventually, so there is not time to waste.
He said write with no distractions so you are more efficient, get a better story, and then you can go do something else the rest of the time - live life, etc.
He produces two books a year, along with accompanying audio books that he voices himself.
So that's it...I hope this wasn't too long. I found it very insightful and his insight into my "small press" was invaluable to me. I hope this helps someone out there who might want to go this route.
PEACE!
As I've mentioned in some other threads, I have self-published several books. I mainly focus on putting out non-fiction books that point back to my main company - a tactic that has worked very well.
My wife and I went to a conference a couple of weeks ago, and John Erickson, the author of the Hank The Cow Dog series, was offering a closed-door, small-group chat about publishing. I almost didn't bother with it, but then I read Erickson's Wikipedia page. I know that many people on this forum may have never heard of this guy or his books, but I've heard of these book my entire life and most people I know have read them (I havent!
It turns out that John Erickson's books were rejected numerous times by every major publisher in the U.S. After a decade of trying, he decided to start his own publishing company and self-publish the books. He has sold 7 million copies since he started his publishing company in 1983. I got to spend a couple of hours with him and we chatted about what I'm doing, then he and his employee went over many of the details of how they run the business. It was fascinating and I jotted down some notes that I will share below. I thought it was pretty good stuff and I thought I would share it for all the other aspiring authors/future indie press business owners out there.
So here goes:
He said too many people write who haven't experienced life. He says go out and do stuff and experience life - then you will have plenty to write about.
He views writing as an art. He's obsessed with the quality of what he puts out.
He turned down a contract from Disney in the 1990's after being flown to California from Texas for several days while they courted him. He turned it down because he 1) didn't need them. He had made lots of $ on his own and 2) they would own the character forever, with no royalty payment for him - just a single lump sum that he didn't think was good enough.
Self-publishing for him was an act of desperation. He had worked as a cowboy for years and spent every dime he had going to writer's conventions and chasing agents, all to no avail. He had a friend who was a banker who was "stupid enough" to lend him money for a start-up publishing company.
He thought his market was rural adults involved in agriculture. So he printed the books and sold them at every county fair, trade show, and convention that he and his wife could go to. He was making enough money to feed his family, but with little or no spare time.
He started getting calls from schools - kids were bringing his books to schools and were excited about them. The schools wanted to purchase them in bulk. This allowed him to focus on supplying that market and he was able to hire employees and spend more time writing.
"Literature is defined by who pays the printing bill."
He was told that his books were too quirky, too odd, and too regional by all the big players in publishing, so he sold 7 million copies of the books on his own.
He said the real benefit of self-publishing is keeping all your publishing rights. He worked out an agreement with CBS to create a children's TV show based on the books, but he didn't like how it turned out, so he refused to renew the series for a second season, even though it was well-received.
So here's how they do the books now:
John Erickson's company is call Maverick Books. He has one or two employees who do all his design work for the book interior using InDesign.
They file for a Library of Congress control number for each book.
They spend $30 and fill out paperwork to get an official copyright on the books. The employee said it is much easier to protect your work, even with the whole "first person to write it" copyright protection that I always rely on (i.e., whoever puts it out there first owns the copyright).
They have the books with distributors (including Ingram...and those of us with "small presses" can use Ingram Spark with ease). They also handle the inventory of tens of thousands of books for schools, state parks, etc. John Erickson hustled and got his books in every little farm store and state park that he could. His company deals with these details.
They have a nice website (http://www.hankthecowdog.com) and they use social media, including Pinterest, extensively. They use Survey Monkey to improve to website to meet the customers' needs.
They have products on CafePress and they make money with it. They said it's easier than having the stuff printed and them dealing with that inventory.
John Erickson still writes 4-5 hours every day, starting around 4:30am. He has an office with no pictures on the walls and no internet access - just a computer with a word processor, a desk, and...
...a human skull he got decades ago in Mexico.
It seemed strange to me that the writer of a children's book series would sit in what he called a "sensory deprivation environment" with nothing but a skull. He said the skull was to remind him that time is short and that all of our bodies will end up as skeletons eventually, so there is not time to waste.
He said write with no distractions so you are more efficient, get a better story, and then you can go do something else the rest of the time - live life, etc.
He produces two books a year, along with accompanying audio books that he voices himself.
So that's it...I hope this wasn't too long. I found it very insightful and his insight into my "small press" was invaluable to me. I hope this helps someone out there who might want to go this route.
PEACE!
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