A Day in the Life of a Small Publisher

 People have asked what a small publisher does all day. Of course, like a microbrewer of beer, that’s going to vary a lot from shop to shop. But I can fill in some of the blanks for myself.
First, as I said before I am a writer first. This week I found a plot flaw in my work in progress that required me to delete a couple chapters (Owww!!) to rewrite. So, I’m still only at 53,737 words.
But I break from my own writing because I need to post on the Intrigue Publishing Facebook page. I don’t like to go a day without posting about an upcoming event for one of our authors, or a new review for one of our books.
I also try to post on the Creatures, Crimes and Creativity Facebook page daily. I talk about the reasons to attend, our about one of the attending authors. And I have my author newsletter to write and put together.
Denise Camacho is the first reader of submissions but if she thinks a book might be for us then I have to read the manuscript to evaluate it’s potential. How strong is the story? How solid are the characters? How good is the prose? This could be my most important duty to Intrigue Publishing.
If we have a book close enough to release that the Advance Reader Copies are ready, then my duties include researching bookstores within driving distance of the author’s home. I compile a list for a staff member to call and request a book signing event. Most of the time the response is a request for more information. I then prepare an email to the store manager more specifically pitching the event (with a sell sheet, the ISBN, cover, author bio and more.)
To strengthen our brand, I’m also developing an Intrigue Publishing newsletter, to keep our super fans informed and offer them a chance to win cool prizes every month. I write a review for the International Thriller Writers, Inc. every month. And I post Intrigue news on a variety of Facebook groups.
I also monitor sales, update the company book keeping, check for new reviews on Amazon that I can share on social media, and post on my own Facebook author page.
I post 10 or so tweets every day, about our books, and our authors’ events. If there are hand sales or returns from the distributor I update our inventory of books.
And, oh yes. I take some time once a week to write this blog! I hope it’s informative for you. But really, what else would you like to know? Ask away, because I’m happy to answer any questions about what small publishers do to help their authors.