Interview with Beyond the Bookery
Beyond the Bookery is a small press Christian publisher that seeks to share stories of hope and light with the world. I had the extraordinary opportunity to interview the founder of Beyond the Bookery.
The interviewHi, Abigail! Can you introduce yourself for me?
Hi, Courtney! Thank you so much for having me. I am the founder and acquisitions editor of Beyond the Bookey which officially launched in February 2023. As founder, I do a bit of everything and coordinate things for the whole publishing process. I manage the main communications, set up all the important details behind the scenes, and delegate everything. Those are the easy and loose explanations, I could go on, but it would get boring.
Mostly, I just do anything and everything needed for BtB as my publishing team grows.
Why did you start a publishing company?
When I first started enjoying reading myself, I found that I didn’t like many books on the market, really. I mainly stuck to older books, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, and Charlotte’s Web, and a summer flew by filled with G. A. Henty’s works. I read one of Kellyn Roth’s early editions of her The Dressmaker’s Secret, and I realized that it was possible to indie publish as a young writer. I didn’t really want to run a small press yet. I just knew that I wanted to help new and young writers. It took me a while to find my footing in the writing community and find the right writing style for myself. I entered a few contests with some stories, even a silly little poem, but it wasn’t until 2020 that I really started thinking of doing more.
In 2021, I published my first novella. And I started dreaming of more. Fast forward to October 2022 when I joined M. L. Milligan, a friend and fellow author, in curating a series of anthologies.
Curating a series of anthologies gave me the confidence and the real idea of working on starting my small press.
What was involved in starting Beyond the Bookery?
God’s grace. Lol, I mean I did do some planning and worked on so many things, learned as much as possible before I began my plans, but it was really all God. Most ideas were brainstormed with M. L. Milligan, Madisyn Carlin, (yourself, Courtney), and others who have been an amazing help in seeing BtB succeed.
There are lots of publishing companies out there. Why should I choose yours?
BtB puts our authors first. As I never thought I would actually fulfill my dream of having a small business, I spent years learning everything I could in relation to publishing a book independently. I have nearly a decade of experience in publishing, marketing, interior formatting, cover and graphic design, web design, and so on in the behind the scenes of publication.
Beyond the Bookery has a tight knit publishing team that is slowly growing as our number of publications grow, however, each author is assigned to the editorial team that will best fit them and their work/s.
We do not charge any fees for publication. Our service providers, team members, and publishing team do not begin to make a profit until the author does.
What’s your favorite project Beyond the Bookery has been involved with?
You’re asking what my favorite project is? That’s like asking a parent which their favorite child is!
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned from the process of building this company?
While there are ups and downs, it’s still always a learning experience. Long before I even started BtB, I took time to learn all I could about things I thought were relevant to the publishing process. So, even though I started pursuing a career solely as an author nearly a decade ago. That changed into learning about the whole publishing process, and behind the scenes work for publishing… And, one of the most interesting thing to me is how there’s always more to learn about publishing and writing.
As I started pursuing my career as an indie author nearly a decade ago, I had to learn many things about the publishing process all by myself. I learned about graphic and cover design, formatting, marketing, etc.. This has enabled me to understand how the entire publishing process works which has helped me in starting and running BTB and selecting team members etcetera etcetera etcetera. As I help authors publish their books, I love getting to learn more about the publishing process so I can become the best publisher I can be… or whatever drivel you want there.
If I had to pick just one thing that surprised me with how it interests me would be the legal side of publishing. Picking apart every line of legal information and laws I could find to build each and every contract is still quite interesting to me. I never thought it would be something I enjoy, but it turned out to be a fun side to publishing whereas I had dreaded the tasks when I first started.
In addition to running Beyond the Bookery, you’re also an author. How does being an author affect your business decisions at Beyond the Bookery?
Being an author helps me understand how to help authors and know that each author is different. At the same time, all authors mostly need the same things in publishing. You write a story that then needs to be edited, a cover designed, the files formatted, etc. and having worked with others as both an author and a service provider, it’s made it easier to understand author expectations. Having worked with editors and cover designers as an author myself, I understand just how important it is that a book has just the right editor and how happy an author is when the cover they’ve dreamed of is created just so perfectly for their book.
Working on anthologies (like the now-out-of-publication Seize the World series, A Noble Collection, and the upcoming anthology series A Warrior’s Heart, etc.); Multi author series (the Cornerstone Series, The Carols of Christmas, and some other secret in-the-works MAPs); as well as on my own works (Oh, The Fallen, Roads of Love, Oh, The Lamented), I learned that having the right designers and editors is such a blessing and it made me all the more determined to help other authors find the right designer or editor for their works. That is why BtB has multiple team members for each stage of publishing.
From your experience in the publishing world, what’s the biggest piece of advice you have for aspiring or new authors?
Take every bit of advice with a grain of salt. One thing may work for five people you know while it doesn’t work for you. Other advice may work for you and fifty other people, but not for two other writers. Live and learn what works for you and keep trying your best.
Trust God to write your story.
I have a book I’m wanting published. What’s the process if I wanted to go through Beyond the Bookery?
Each book is different, but that would begin with me. When an author emails a submission in or submits through one of BtB’s forms, I or the editorial team would review that work, and if accepted we would begin the process of discussing a contract.
Once those details are ironed out, the marketing team and author would begin marketing. The author would start working with the cover design team on creating just the right cover for the book and author. Once the cover has been approved, it would be time to move onto editing. Depending on the levels of editing needed, the submission would be shared with our editing team and edited before the deadline to return it to the author. At that time, the author will go over the edits and return the submission.
BtB will begin setting up the pre-order or release date and the submission will move into the marketing side of publishing with an already decided on plan. Then comes more marketing, the book is sent to the street team prior to release, and then onto publication!
After the book is published, BtB will continue marketing and working on helping the author share the book with the world. If it is part of a series, that is also when work begins on the next release.
Is there any reason you wouldn’t be willing to publish my book?
Typically, there are only three reasons BTB would refuse your submission. First, you might be a bit inexperienced as a writer and need a bit more time to hone your craft. Second, we might just have already filled our submission allotment for the time. Lastly, we do not accept books that include content that goes against BTB’s terms and conditions, this includes the use of AI in the creation of the work.
I don’t have a book ready to be published, but I’m looking for other opportunities to learn about writing and publishing. What opportunities does Beyond the Bookery provide to people like me?
BtB loves working on our themed anthologies and collections with new writers who are just entering their publishing journey for those who do not have a full manuscript ready to submit. We also have coaching for new writers who are looking into if they will be indie publishing or working with a publisher like BtB.
BtB tries to help all authors, not only those who have published or plan to publish with us so that is where our services come in. Looking for coaching on how to do something? Need someone to design a cover, edit, or format your book files? BtB would love to assist with any part of the publishing process!
I’m not a writer, but I love sharing about books I love. Can I be involved at all?
Yes, of course! BtB is always happy to have more people join our publishing team and we are currently seeking street team members. If you enjoy fairy tale retellings, historical or contemporary romance, and other Christian or clean fiction, we would love to have you join us! You can join The Bibliophiles here.
Where can I find more information about Beyond the Bookery?
You can find us on Instagram and Facebook under @beyondthebookery. And everywhere else through our linktree.
Is there anything else I should know about your company?
BtB always loves hearing about authors’ ideas and we would especially love to hear about your ideas and stories that would be perfect for our submissions, but especially our Bite-Sized Books here.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions!!!!!!!
Is there anything else you’d like to know about BTB? Feel free to leave your questions below, and I’ll see if I can get answers about them for you!related posts
