Bookmasters, Inc. - Industry Leaders Series 1

Welcome to the 1st installment of my Industry Leaders Interview Series. The brunt of this series is to promote awareness of how the industry runs through the eyes of those leaders in the field.

My first interview was with Mr. Ray Sevin, President of Bookmasters, Inc. (BMI), and Ms. Carol Bowersock, a BMI sales representative.

Before we begin, I want to open up the floor to any of my followers. If you have any suggestions of willing editors, agents, or other industry workers you associate with who might be up for an interview, please suggest away. I'm always looking for more volunteers.

Thanks!

JWP - Yours Truly

RS - Ray Sevin

CB - Carol Bowersock

I thank Mr. Sevin and Ms. Bowersock for taking time out of their day to provide the following responses. You can find more information about BMI by visiting their website.

Let's begin!

* * *

JWP: Where is Bookmasters, Inc. located and how did it come into business as a grounded self-publishing company?

RS: We are located at 30 Amberwood Parkway, Ashland, Ohio 44805. We began over 35 years ago and have always provided services for the small and independent publisher. However, we also print, store and distribute for all sizes of publishers.

JWP: As the president, what exactly do you oversee in the BMI operations?

RS: I am primarily responsible for manufacturing and sales.

JWP: What services does BMI provide that makes them stand out from other established self-publishing providers, such as Lulu?

RS: We provide prepublishing services, composition/editorial services, cover design, offset printing, digital printing, binding, fulfillment and warehousing, online bookstore, marketing services, ePublishing, and CD and DVD duplication.

JWP: How many authors to-date has BMI assisted in "realizing the dream?"

RS: We produce 30-50 titles per month that would fit the category of "self-published".

JWP: If I wanted to begin an account with BMI today, what steps would I need to take? Who would I need to contact and is there a start-up cost for becoming a client?

RS: Depending on the services needed I would start with a request to speak to a sales representative to determine which services you need.

* * *

The following responses come from sales representative, Carol Bowersock.

JWP: As a sales representative, what is your primary objective when a writer becomes interested in BMI's services?

CB: To determine their needs and/or anticipations of their title in order to guide them correctly from start to finish with the service(s) that best suit those needs.  I also try to make certain they are aware of all of our services in an effort to allow them to keep their project under one roof at the same facility within the same company.

JWP: How exclusively do you work with clients?

CB: One on one

JWP: After a client sets up with BMI, do you stay to work with them if they have future projects in mind, or are they directed elsewhere?

CB: Absolutely stay with them.

JWP: What is the best part of BMI, from your representative standpoint, that makes the company stand out from other self-publishing providers, such as Lulu?

CB: The vast array of services we offer, location, knowledge and involvement in the industry, connections with wholesalers/retailers and by far our quality and customer service.

JWP: From your experience, what are some of the challenges presented to you with clients and how do you best respond to those challenges?

CB: Lack of awareness of how to create files that are press ready wherein I simply advise publishers to invest in a good publishing software for their next endeavor and to be certain their PDF (print ready) file is exactly as they want their final book to appear.



I would like to give a huge thanks out to Mr. Sevin and Mrs. Bowersock for offering their input. 

Question to the Cohorts: Many new writers see self-publishing as the way to go. The reality of the publishing business is at a fact point that most writers will not see their work published. The margin is slim. Do not let it get you down. That said, do services, such as those that Bookmasters offers, change the way you look at self-publishing?

I look forward to your comments.

Peace and Writing Love!

JWP 

The Challenge of Self-Publishing

We have one more week until the end of the month, so 1 more post in the "Challenge" series, and I'll end with a giveaway. Hopefully this will draw more followers and comments.

So, yes, self-publishing has made its massive debut across the world a few years back and now it is an equal route for writers to have their novel in print. You have your free websites that provide self-publishing, such as LuLu and Wordclay, and then there is the god of all self-publishing providers who even in-house publishers trust, Lightning Source. I have good things about all three from a myriad of SP authors.

A recent writer/author who I had the pleasure of becoming friends with, David Douglas, used Lightning Source to its capacity and did his own typesetting, copyediting, proofing (via his wonderful mother who edited for free), and then finally to marketing. Dave and I met at the Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror (OWW for short), and there I read most of his manuscript before he even began sending it to Lightning Source. From here, Dave recruited me to do his cover art for his self-published novel and since this time, almost 1 year ago, Dave has secured an agent (in Germany, his home country) who is trying to re-release his book onto the market from having it already been self-published.

You might ask yourself how Dave was so fortunate to have an agent care about a self-published work to fight to bring it into mass paperback circulation. The key is amazing storytelling.

Dave's novel, Demon's Bane, is a powerful breakthrough novel of high fantasy. His magic system -- unique, and his characters -- unforgettable and can be compared to the memorable creations of David Eddings. Yes, big words for a big story.

So, self-publishing is out there. Of course it is, you know this. Some writers and future-author-hopefuls have a bias against the SP route, and I truthfully can say that I am one of them. There is a certain golden feeling about being published in the traditional way, but for the some million writers in the world just looking to be heard, know that the SP market is VERY strong and greater opportunities can arise from this route if you are dedicated enough to your craft, writing and yourself. Dave is the true life story.

One final thing before we sign off is another SP company that I failed to mention. I had the pleasure of being in contact with a SP rep, Carol Bowersock, who works for a company called Bookmasters, Inc. This is another company, grounded and not online, who does everything any other SP site does. However, with Bookmasters who also have the advanced opportunities of distribution, marketing, design, storage and web assistance. Sounds like a pitch, doesn't it?

That's all for now. Stick around for next week's post where I'll be setting up a giveway. I need at least five commenters/followers to help me along to get the giveaway off the ground. Help a new blogger out!

Bye for now!

JWP