The publishing industry is large and diverse, and seems to be changing with each passing day. On one hand, you hear about the “Big Five,” which are the five major trade publishers in the United States: Hachette, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. When you go to your local bookstore, most of the books in the store are published by one of the Big Five or one of their affiliates.
In contrast, self publishing has been on the rise in recent years. With the increasing popularity of e-books and the demand for more and more content, Amazon kicked the door open to the industry, and now anyone can write a book and put it up for sale. Gone are the days of needing to submit manuscripts to agents and fearing rejection letters. If you want to publish a book, no editor or agent will stop you.
These are two very distinct paths, and both have their advantages and drawbacks. Not every author fits neatly into one of those two categories, and it quickly became clear that certain types of authors wanted a publishing option that was somewhere in between.
Maven Publishing takes a hybrid approach to publishing books for San Diego small business owners. We are hands-on throughout the entire production process so that our authors, who are primarily business owners and entrepreneurs, can focus on running their businesses. We don’t want our authors to be distracted or worried about the details of the publishing process; that’s our job.
Once the books are completed, the author retains all the rights and royalties, just as a self-published author would. This gives the author complete control to market and distribute their books in whatever way makes the most sense for their business. We collaborate and provide marketing advice based on publishing industry trends, but we also recognize that our authors are experts in their fields, and we want them to have the final say in how their books are used.
Although we partner with small business owners around the country, we’ve worked with several San Diego small businesses, and we’ve found that the hybrid model is a perfect fit. Those San Diego companies enjoy the benefits of having a published book. We work closely with our authors so that they feel comfortable throughout the process, and we aim to teach them along the way so that the next book they publish with us is even easier.
If you’ve ever thought about publishing a book, but have been overwhelmed by not knowing where to begin, contact Maven today. We can get you on the road to being published, while making sure that your focus stays right where it needs to—on running your business.
