Second Light Bulb Moment

What I came to find out very quickly was that, like everything else in life, if you have a dream, YOU have to be willing to take responsibility for the outcome, accept NO excuses and see that it gets done on time, on budget and with the highest level of integrity. To my book publisher, I quickly realized that I was just one more new author and no one was in a hurry to do anything with my book.

Silly me, I actually thought my publisher would be in a bigger hurry than even I was to get the book published since they weren't making ANY money on the project until it started selling. Ironically, what I started to slowly, painfully realize was that since I was a NEW book author, most publishers will not pay much - if any - advance. SO, while the publisher wasn't making any money on this unpublished book, they were also not spending any money on it AND the odd advantage for the publishing house was that when I signed the deal, it took my book off the market for any of their competitors, which provided them with the opportunity to sit on their hands until they got around to doing the job they agreed to do or until I pulled the plug on the deal, which, NO new author would ever do, right?

After four years of waiting for my big New York publisher to finish the book and get it published, I finally mustered up the courage to confront the head of my publishing house and demand answers. It was only then that I was told that the contract I had signed gave THEM complete creative control over MY book (standard practice in the industry) and that I had NO say in what happened to it. The only choice I had was to go along with the plan, or pull the book out from under them and take it to another publisher. Oddly enough, he told me that information with an almost threatening tone, as if by telling me that I would fall in line and play ball with them, because NO new author was going to walk away from a publishing deal. SURPRISE! I explained to him that if this book was ever going to be published, I was going to have to pull the plug on this publishing deal and move on. He was astonished and said that no other author had ever done that before - bigger surprise!

I took the same book to a publisher in Colorado, received a new contract and hoped that the troubles I encountered with the first publisher were just an anomaly and that all would be great with the new publisher. SURPRISE! Turns out the second publisher started missing deadlines almost immediately and when I questioned her about it, she sent me a letter saying there was turmoil in her office and once she sorted it out, she would get back down to business??? I asked her if MY percentage was going to increase, after all, I met all the deadlines and her staff was not. She laughed because she thought I was kidding, after all, 99.999% of all new authors are just so thrilled to GET a publishing deal that they would walk through fire and put up with anything to keep it. SURPRISE!

Silver Lining

The best thing that happened to me with the second publisher was that, after she consistently missed deadline after deadline, she sent me a 10-page-long marketing packet that she wanted ME to fill out as part of the publishing deal. I suspect she sent it so early in the process in the hopes it would keep me REALLY busy while she sorted out the problems in her office. I was happy to do ANYTHING that got my book published. That is, until I read the entire packet and realized that she was asking me to layout the entire marketing plan for the book and to do all the research to get all the contact information for hundreds of magazines and reviewers around the country.

The Life Changing Moment

That was the day that I finally asked myself the big question that all seasoned authors eventually ask themselves... If I devoted the years required to learn the information that created the content of the book - If I wrote the book - If I was doing the editing on the book - And finally, if I was now going to be expected to layout the entire marketing plan for the book..... what exactly was my publisher going to be contributing to the process that was going to earn them 90 - 95% of the take from every book sold for the life of the book? The answer was simple, they were going to do the cover design, layout the interior of the book, arrange to have it printed, send out press releases to the extensive list I PROVIDED to them and they would hook me up with national distribution for the book in book stores and libraries around the country when the book finally launched.

It was then that I decided to do the research required to find out what was involved in layout, printing, distribution and order fulfillment. It took me over a year to learn everything I needed to learn and to find professionals who could do the jobs that I couldn't do, but when I was done, K&B was created and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since those early days in the early 90's, we expanded our outreach to include the new imprint, Whitehall Publishing and have worked with hundreds of happy authors since. Whitehall is designed to help new authors who want to take control of their financial and creative future.

My professional passion in life includes two things:

1. Whitehall Publishing which was created by taking all those hard earned lessons I have been through as a writer and applying all that "EARNED" wisdom to help new authors reach their goals of publishing their own books without having to go through the nightmares that I went through. Whitehall Publishing allows our clients to fast track through the publishing process and jump start their career as a successful author and I'm thrilled to be a part of that process! We are all about saving you time, energy and money so you can get on with the point of the exercise.... sharing what you know with the rest of us without having to waste years of time jumping through unnecessary hoops in the publishing industry or signing your copyright and creative control away by signing a traditional book publishing deal.

2. Working with Non profits around the country that run therapeutic riding programs and dog/cat related shelters. My love of animals fuels this passion. My goal is to help them learn how to run their businesses more successfully so they can raise more money to expand the great work they already do. We have filed for a 501(c)3 for our new website, funding101.org so we can create a non profit entity that focuses on expanding the business education of non profits nationally so they can multiply their financial success and, as a result, multiply the good work they do everyday.

If you haven't already figured it out, I am ALL about empowering people to take control of their lives, their work and their success! My goal is to provide them with the bridge they need to cross over from author to informed, educated author, publisher, businessman! If that is what you long to do, click on the Services button, select the services you want to start with and let's begin your journey together!