Seattle Firm Gives Writers Voice In Publishing Process Company Offers Services Beyond Those Of Vanity Press

Sheryn Hara turned her marketing savvy into a thriving business and in the process found her purpose in life.

It’s helping would-be authors publish books that will do some good in the world.

She guides writers through the publishing maze. The idea is “do it right the first time - to save time, energy and money,” says the owner of Hara & Company of Seattle.

She’s forged a place in the publishing world that’s somewhere between the big houses and the vanity presses. People pay her to publish their books, but she doesn’t stop there.

Her company’s services run the gamut, from idea development to distribution of the final product.

The final result, she says, is a quality product that holds its own against any published by the big guys.

And her clients have a say in every step along the way, which isn’t going to happen with a major publisher, says Hara.

“My clients are independently minded people,” she says. “They want to retain control. They want to have a say in the editing, what the cover looks like, the marketing, distribution, promotion.”

The authors put up their own money - typically $10,000 for a print run of 2,500 to 3,000. They usually break even at the end of the first print run, Hara said while in Spokane for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association meeting in March.

The authors’ fees pay for everything from the editing and design to printing and distribution.

One of the books in the Hara catalog, “What to Fix for Dinner” by Heidi Rabel, won the Writer’s Digest self-published cookbook of the year award.

“When (Rabel) came to us, she knew exactly what she wanted her book to look like,” said Hara. “There is no major publisher in the world who would have put up with her.”

Rabel’s specifications sent the costs skyrocketing over the typical $10,000 figure. But its initial print run of 2,500 sold out in only 3 weeks. So far, close to 7,500 copies have been sold.

Hara has this advice for would-be authors: Keep your market in mind. Ask yourself who’s going to buy your book.

It’s not enough to say, “This book is so good the universe needs to get it.” Hara has an answer for that: “We don’t market to the universe.”

Secondly, be willing to make book-signing appearances and do media interviews to publicize your book.

Finally, don’t dismiss self-publishing as a viable alternative. You may actually make more off a self-published book than one published by a major house, said Hara.

One of her clients, an author from Portland, published three or four books on her own. Then she signed a deal with a major book publisher and received a $10,000 advance.

The author went from dizzying excitement upon signing the contract to the depths of discouragement a few months later when she realized she’d have to pay for her own publicity.

“There are 5,000 copies of her book sitting in a warehouse in New Jersey right now,” said Hara.

Six years ago, Hara “knew less than nothing about the publishing business.” She was running a speakers bureau in Seattle and was helping clients market and promote their videotapes and other materials.

Then her speakers began writing books and wanted her to publish them.

Hara says she parlayed her “God-given marketing ability” into her new venture.

When she started looking into the book publishing business, she found there weren’t a lot of options for writers unable to attract a major publisher. And the typical self-published effort looked pretty unprofessional, she said.

“There was no process in place for an author wanting to do their own book, pay the fees to fund it and come out with a quality product,” she said.

So Hara developed a process herself. But she won’t take on just any project.

Says Hara: “I need to publish books with some socially redeeming value. I can’t do a book that somewhere won’t make a change in somebody’s life.”

, DataTimes