Guide to the Site
Hi. I’m Sean J. Jordan. I’ve worked as a professional writer, a professional editor, and a public relations and marketing consultant over the last decade in a variety of fields, including comic books. Currently, I’m finishing up my degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing at Southern Illinois Univeristy - Edwardsville, and I’m a member of the American Marketing Association. I’m a creative guy with a lot of big ideas, and I don’t think I’m going to fit in well at the bottom of the corporate world when I get out of school. That’s why I’ve started up a small publishing company called Army Ant Publishing, a company that will produce a special type of children’s books that I think are going to go over in a big way.
Along the way, I’ve done a lot of research to learn more about the world of publishing, because like any good business owner, my ultimate goal is to make money and grow my brand. The purpose of Story of a Small Publisher is to present some of my findings to others who are thinking about starting up a publishing company, as well as to present my own musings on topics such as marketing, self-publishing, the comic book industry, the future of publishing, and so forth. Whenever possible, I have also included links to my research sources so that my readers can draw their own conclusions.
Here are some of the types of articles you’ll find on this site:
Marketing 101
Marketing is more than just sales and advertising; it’s a core business process that’s important to understand if you want to start a company. I’ve written tons of articles on the subject, including essays on why the process of advertising is just like throwing money into a wishing well, with similar results.
Self-Publishing
What’s the difference between a self-publisher and a vanity publisher? Is Print-on-Demand a scam, or is it a viable option for small publishers? How does one go about getting an ISBN? I’ll tell you all of this, and plenty more, in this section.
Comic Book Publishing
Can you make money producing comic books in the digital era? Some people can. But the majority of entrants into this field never get past the first couple of issues, and a lot of them lose much more money than they ever could have made. Here’s your chance to learn more about the industry from someone who’s seen how it works firsthand for the last five years. I may be able to help you avoid some serious mistakes!
Online Marketing
The Internet has been in popular use for over a decade now, but there are still an awful lot of people who don’t know how to use it to promote their products properly. In this section, you’ll learn how to develop a professional small publishing website on a shoestring, how to make use of search engines and social networking sites and how to attract customers you never would have reached through traditional methods simply by doing what you probably love to do anyway — write!
Thinking Forward
Are ebooks a viable format for the future, or will customers always choose paper over pixels? Will devices like Amazon’s Kindle or the Wowio change the way we read books? Is it possible to make money through alternative formats, like serializing a novel in a blog, or by selling books chapter by chapter? Sometimes, the best way to enter into a market is to ride a new trend. I’ll keep you informed on which trends seem most promising… and which are more than likely going to fizzle.
Business Planning
If you’re like a lot of would-be publishers, you don’t think of publishing as a business; you think of it as a calling that you’ll manage on passion and experience alone. Even so, it never hurts to have some solid business fundamentals to build your company upon. Whether you’re building a business plan from scratch or you’re trying to figure out how many books you should print, there are plenty of tools out there to help you. Some are as simple as plugging numbers into a spreadsheet, while others will require you to rethink your entire structure. But all are based on good business principles.
Resource of the Day
My daily posts each present a useful article from a reputable source along with my own commentary. Sometimes I agree with the articles; sometimes I talk about how wrong the authors are. Either way, you’ll find something valuable if you’re interested in publishing!
Sean’s Journal
Every now and then, I post something to let you know how I’m doing. I am, after all, just a normal guy with a wife, two dogs, and a mortgage. If you’re a regular reader, please feel free to think of me as a friend. If you meet me in person somewhere and tell me how this site’s been helpful to you, I promise I’ll do the same.
Sean’s Fiction
I love fiction, and I’m currently working on two novels that I’m hoping to release later this year. But sometimes, I get a flash of inspiration and have to jot down a short story. If I do, I’ll post it here, along with some of my other work. After all, what fun is it to be a publisher if you only get to write articles all the time?