At some point while writing the second book, I realized that if I was going to continue to self-publish I needed to create my own publishing company. So, I did.
Now coming up with a name was a challenge. One day my friend, and major asset in marketing my books, and I were tossing about names.
We were both coming up short. Then I looked down at her notebook and on the cover it said, “Wild Ideas.” I said, “That’s it! We will call it Wild Ideas Press. She wasn’t so sure, but I love it to this day. It fits me.
At the time I was managing several businesses. I am a licensed Realtor in the state of Oklahoma and had all of that business to manage. I also inherited Snodgrass Farms, Inc. from my parents. A very small corporation with some income. I manage all of that.
I had also spent the last 12 years as a jewelry designer and metalsmith. I had grown into the wholesale sector by providing cohesive jewelry lines to boutiques. It was a lot of work and honestly a bit overwhelming since I made every piece myself.
Combine that with being a jewelry trainer in the studio where I had multiple classes a week. Saying I had many businesses to juggle is an understatement.
So, when it came time to establish Wild Ideas Press, I left it as a sole proprietorship with plans to later change it to an LLC. It was much easier that way.
I had my graphic designer do a logo and I loved it. It felt so much more legitimate and certainly gave it much more credibility.
Then I had to backpedal and get the first book listed under the new publisher since I had already published that first book. Not hard, just more work to do.
Here is my advise to those thinking of writing. If you want to write more than just one book, create a publishing company. It can be a sole proprietorship just like mine, but it gives the appearance of so much more. Do it first before you even write your first novel. Then you won’t have to backtrack the way I did.
With a sole proprietorship you use your own tax number (SSN). You can pop up a simple one page website just for the publisher and a facebook page as well if you wish. But, you are the author and the most effort and work should go into your own author website and facebook page.
If you choose to submit to an agent in order to be published by a major publishing house, then of course this step would not apply to you. But, in this day of ease of writing and publishing, it is worth it to have total and complete control over your product.
I want to encourage you to leave me any comments below. They are so encouraging and motivating to me.
Nancy
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Now uploading to their site is not for the faint of heart, but it has improved since I uploaded my first novel and their customer service is great! It was worth it.
I knew I wanted to see my novels in hardcover form with a dust jacket, something my graphic artist may never forgive me for. But, she rose to the challenge and tweaked and tweaked until it fit their specs perfectly...