A New Direction

Last week I wrote about the difficulties of self publishing. With those difficulties in mind, my wife and I have launched our own business. Here is an excerpt from our Press Release (headline: Author partners with his wife to launch their own publishing and marketing venture).

"Aug. 13, 2014 - PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Mr. Ronald Riddle, who writes under the name R. Frederick Riddle, announces the formation of a new partnership with his wife Teresa, who will soon debut her new novel under the name Tress Riddle. This new business is called T&R Independent Books.

Mr. Riddle has for years chafed due to restrictions placed upon the publishing and marketing of his books. These restrictions may or may not have been directly aimed at him, but the effects were real. Like most self-published authors he was frustrated by the cost, the editing, and the time required to publish - all controlled by the self-publisher."

This is a direct reference to the difficulties I listed in my last blog. Here's another excerpt:

"T&R Independent Books ... is a family owned, Christ centered business that will enable both authors to not only write their novels, but to turn the publishing and marketing aspects of the business in a favorable direction for themselves. They will have complete control of the editing, printing, and actual publishing of their books. And of course, the cost.

An additional factor is that they will be able to publish their books in both print and e-Book formats. In the case of print, their control extends to the size, paper, binding, and appearance of their books. These are normal for publishers, but altogether new for authors."

This is a truly exciting endeavor. We will have control over writing, editing, publishing, and marketing. In other words, everything.

We will be able to adjust retail and sale prices on the fly. Moreover, we will have control over our royalties. All without having to spend an extra penny to the publisher.

This next excerpt may be the most important:

"The company will place its own imprint on the books it publishes and has the ability to purchase ISBNs for each book. This in itself opens up the world of marketing usually reserved to publishers. As new books are published they will automatically be placed in the marketplace."

The most critical factor that is extremely important to my wife and I is that the business will be family owned and Christ-centered!

Our new logo: