# Hi everybody



## boxofbizarro (May 14, 2014)

Hey,
My name is William. I am new here, actually this is my first forum ever. "A thirty year old writer? Your first forum? Lies," you may be saying to yourself, but I assure you this is true. I am looking to meet other writers because I have never actually been in a writing group of any sort either. I have been published, but not by anything too prominent. I know how hard it is to get started and that is why my fiancee and I have done what we have. We are at the very beginning stages of starting a publishing company. We currently have two blogs (which I am neither going to post links to currently, nor mention the names, so it doesn't just seem like I am here to advertise). The reason for two is so we can accept a wider variety of genres without limiting our readers or submissions. We need all the help we can get. We need you because, without your submissions, we will not exist. You could possibly use our help because every submission counts and before long (dreams are for within a year or so) we will be publishing full, hard-copy books, magazines, newspapers, etc. I would like to know if anyone could help us out in any way possible. We are trying to find out where we can advertise our blogs without seeming like we are harassing people. If anyone is interested in submitting or would like more info on this stuff, let me know. I really need help. We would really like to get this off the ground. And before long we are going to start volunteering at libraries and try to accept children's submissions and get Goodwill and some local literary groups to help supply us with awards for the winners, and all who submit. We will also accept submissions from the mentally challenged. If anyone has any other ideas about volunteer opportunities as well, let us know. Thanks all.


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## Bishop (May 14, 2014)

Oh wow! Great stuff, an actual budding publisher! Best of luck with everything, though I think mostly what you'll find on this website is people who have stories to publish and no idea how to promote them! (I know I fall into this boat, but hey! I'm learning!)

Welcome to the writing forums!
Writing Forums: Where writers grow like grass, and need to be cut often. And some are weeds... then there's bugs, erm... okay, this metaphor has derailed.


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## Pandora (May 14, 2014)

Hi William, this is my first writing forum and I'm 58 so there you go, no lie. We have many writers to meet and converse with. After ten posts you can share your work for critique, welcome to WF!


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## Bard_Daniel (May 14, 2014)

I like publishers. 

But seriously, welcome!


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## TheYellowMustang (May 14, 2014)

Welcome to WF! My mom and I are actually starting up a publishing company too. After you've made ten posts you can link to your website in your signature


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## boxofbizarro (May 14, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. I love to hear from writers, and my fiancee and myself are writers as well. Congrats to The Yellow Mustang. Good luck to you as well. We will be going through this journey together. If you want, we can pass along any information that we get and, if you feel so inclined, you can do the same. If either of us runs into any issues we could consult the other and attempt to solve these issues together. And with all the other members, thank you for your support and we can be your inside source to the publishing side of things. Maybe we could help you guys promote and help with the do's and don'ts of promoting to the larger publishers with bigger names than ourselves. We are all for getting our fellow authors out and making each and every one of your dreams come true. We want to do our part for the writing community.


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## J Anfinson (May 14, 2014)

Hi there! As TheYellowMustang said, you can add a link to your blog in your signature (it may take up to 72 hours for your permissions to update and allow you to do that). I see you've already made ten posts, so you can also now post your work to the creative boards if you wish. Good luck with the company, and I'm glad you're understanding of the rules. If you have questions about whether any of your postings may fall astray of the rules, ask a moderator and they'll help.


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## Blade (May 14, 2014)

:hi:Welcome to the forums. There are certainly lots of members here who signed up far past the age of 30.

Good luck with your publishing ventures. I think both writers and society need as many and various outlets as possible.


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## thepancreas11 (May 19, 2014)

Good morning! Oh, and welcome.

Don't worry about advertising. Plenty of blogsters inhabit this site. You might want to check out LeeC and the Natural World Reflections blog, or read some of Olly Buckle's stuff, which I always find interesting. You've certainly come to the right place to find a talented pool of writers who can both populate your company when you're ready to get started and offer you stout critiques when it comes to any of your own works.

And age ain't no than baybay. We play by the rules of electronica whereby your merits are your value. Kind of a cool place, if you ask me. Oh, and feel free to ask me anything.


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## AllisonWrites (May 24, 2014)

Hey guys! I'm Allison, William/boxofbizarro's fiance. I don't have much to add about our publishing mission, because he covered it really well. Basically, we're trying to start a company from the ground up. Right now, it's just a blog, but we have big dreams, and outlets for publications - we just need the stories!

I'm a freelance graphic designer, and I also write articles and reviews for various websites. I'm kind of stuck in a nonfiction rut; William has been working to get my imagination going again. I used to write a lot of fiction, and also sketches for a comedy class, so I want to get back into both of those. I'm hoping this community will help inspire me!


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## Gumby (May 25, 2014)

Hi William, welcome to the site and best of luck to you and your fiance in your new endeavor.


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## Elvenswordsman (May 25, 2014)

My first writing forum, when I was 13. Still the only general writing forum I am subscribed to, and I'm 22 now. Welcome to WF! Firstly, you'll find only great, honest feedback here. Secondly, I really wish you the best in your venture.

If you want to talk business, I'm a BBA with majors in Marketing and Economics, minors in Entrepreneurship and International Business, and a certificate in Technology Management and Entrepreneurship.

I'll make a quick note - hipsters. That's your current target market, if you REALLY want to go into the publishing business. Because hipsters appreciate independent publishing companies, and seem to consistently be early adopters (in an odd sense, books are now NEW to the current generations) and willing to give anything a chance. Also, you'll have business among laggards (people who refuse to adopt technology in their reading endeavors).

What about the other demographics? - you might ask yourself. Let's call it competition, and stop there. You won't be a fly on the wall, the cost of marketing vs larger publishing companies is incredible, the market is pretty well owned.

What would you see the ideal business model being if I don't want to market to hipsters? - you also might ask.

Truth is, everything is moving online, and in a big way; however, there is very little visibility. Find a way to create a publishing site that people can subscribe to in a way that the subscription provides them with new content on a regular schedule (think ejournal, or something along this thought pattern). You won't be able to make a single site with MANY genres, so choose one, and start there. Starting big is never a good idea, because you'll stretch yourself too thin.

Why subscription services? - firstly, revenue is important. If you're getting $1500 a month from 100 subscribers, if you lose a couple, you're alright. So when you release a poor edition, you're not ruined. Also, the costs of running an ejournal are significantly lower, and I'd argue (excluding compensation), you could run one yourself for ~$15 a month. Publish a book, let's pretend you did it for $1500, and it flops. 3 sales, and you only made $24 in revenue. Right, this won't impact your brand overly, as people probably don't know you. What about if the next book you release flops? And another?

This turned into more than I intended. Welcome to WF William!


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## AllisonWrites (May 28, 2014)

Wow Elven, so much food for thought there! (Especially the "books are now NEW to the current generations" - how scary!)

I agree with limiting genres and not stretching yourself too thin. William has lots of big ideas and I'm excited to implement them in the future, but it's hard to limit ourselves to reality so we don't crash and burn! I suggested we stick with a blog/online presence for awhile and build from there, rather than put in a lot of money, even for a full website, without having any viewers. I DO like the idea of an ejournal subscription... Thank you so much for being so free with your ideas! Interesting spins on this idea we haven't really covered yet.


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## Elvenswordsman (May 28, 2014)

Always available for my thoughts.


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## T.S.Bowman (May 28, 2014)

I know nothing of the publishing business or promotion or anything else at this point.

But...I do know how to say Welcome to WF. 

And I am now 45 years old, and although I have been on forums of one sort or another since the early 90's, this was only the second writing site I joined and the only one I really put a lot of time into now. The other one was one that I joined the day before I found this place.


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