Reporter-Times.com
Book publisher sets up shop in Martinsville
MARTINSVILLE
From bankruptcy to branding and fulfillment to food, Martinsville-based NorLightsPress publishes books on a diverse array of topics to inform and entertain readers.
The publishing business, started two years ago in Sandpoint, Idaho, moved to Martinsville about three months ago along with company publisher Vorris “Dee” Justesen and marketing director Sammie Justesen. Now, the two run the business’ corporate office out of their home on Ind. 252, while a third partner, Vice President Nadene Carter, is stationed at the company’s warehouse in Tremonton, Utah.
“We are a royalty-paying publishing house,” Dee Justesen said. “We get lots of manuscripts. We get 100 a day from all over the world. We’re very selective about our books.”
NorLightsPress has access to about 90 percent of booksellers in the world, Dee Justesen said, including large bookstore chains and amazon.com. All of its books also are available as e-books.
Becoming published by NorLightsPress starts by sending a manuscript to Sammie Justesen, who spent years as a book editor before starting her own literary agency, Northern Lights Literary Services, and eventually developing NorLightsPress to help publish the authors with which she had been working. If the company chooses to publish a book, a contract is signed with the author and the editing process begins. Eventually, the publishing company works on cover design before the book is sent to be printed in Tennessee and sold.
“The difference (between NorLightsPress and larger publishers) is we can have a book out in two months,” Dee Justesen said. “That’s very helpful for someone with a timely work.”
Although NorLightsPress considers manuscripts of all types, its owners tend to stick to topics they know can be marketed and well-sold, including business, family and home, food and diet, self-help, travel and adventure, eco-friendly and writing how-to. For each book, the company develops a website and works with the author to come up with a marketing plan.
“We really do prefer non-fiction,” Sammie Justesen said. “It’s extremely difficult to sell fiction. It’s hard to come up with a particular marketing plan for a novel unless it has a particular hook.
“We have to be very selective, but the fun thing about this is whatever catches our fancy, we can do.”
Dee Justesen said the company works closely with its authors and offers them a phone line they can call 24/7 to discuss their books.
“It’s an interesting business, and we just love it,” he said. “The thing that we are most proud of is we’ll help on the marketing plan as well or better than the big guys.”
The couple moved their portion of the business to Martinsville from Utah in part because Sammie Justesen grew up in Bedford and has family in the area.
“We love Martinsville because we love small towns, and this is small-town America here,” Dee Justesen said. “We just jumped in here and we jumped in with both feet. We’ve met a lot of people and made new friends here that we’re happy with.”
Although NorLightsPress now is profitable and the owners have a optimistic eye toward the future, the company started as a result of economic downturn. Sammie Justesen had been working as a freelance editor and saw that major book publishers were not able to offer the same compensation after the recession hit.
“They’re all looking for a sure thing,” she said. “They’re not giving good advances anymore. The bottom kind of fell out of that business.”
So, the Justesens and Carter started their own business. This month, Dee Justesen said, the company already has sold three times more books than last month. Eventually, the owners want to hire more help and are looking at adapting to the e-book trend in the industry.
“Right now we’re seeing, as everyone in the industry is, a big change in how people read books,” Dee Justesen said. “We’re seeing quite a dramatic change to e-books.”
The company always is on the lookout for new books, but only will publish ones with a viable marketing plan. That makes the difference in their success, Dee Justesen said, along with the books’ physical quality.
“When (readers) hold it in their hands, they can see the difference,” he said.
For more information about NorLightsPress or to order books, visit norlightspress.com.
Copyright: Reporter-Times.com/MD-Times.com 2010
Great article. You folks are terrific! (Yes, you can quote me!)
ReplyDelete