Forty years ago I had an idea for a book: The Insiders Guide to Alaska Outdoors.
I wrote inquiry letters to 34 publishers and received 34 rejections. I was disappointed, discouraged, and disheartened.
I thought I’d have 34 publishers scrambling to be the first to send me a book-publishing contract. I had no idea how tough it was to get a publisher to publish a book.
I was so discouraged I gave up and forgot my The Insiders Guide to Alaska Outdoors dream.
Nearly a year after the last rejection arrived I received a call from an editor for a small book publisher.
They were looking for someone to write The Hiking Guide to Alaska. I explained to them that I did a great deal of hiking, but my hiking was to go fishing or hunting—not just hiking.
The editor told me they were also considering an Angler’s Guide to Alaska and asked if I was interested.
Not realizing how much work researching and writing a book was I told the editor I would do both the fishing and the hiking guide.
I signed the contract and proceeded with writing the books. My late wife, Margaret, a great researcher, did the research and I did the writing.
At the time, I was publishing Alaska Outdoor magazine and producing an issue every month.
It was then I found out just how much more difficult writing a book is than publishing a magazine.
It took almost a year of hard, concentrated effort to write both books.
I remember the ecstasy I experienced when I received my first copy of Hiking Guide to Alaska and Angler’s Guide to Alaska.
I celebrated my success as a writer. It was wonderful. I was a book author!
But then it happened. After the books were published I discovered I was at the bottom of the publishing food chain and my publisher cared little about me.
I found that in the contract I had signed away all my rights to the book.
I didn’t even own the copyright.
My books were not mine—they belonged to the publisher.
It was discouraging to realize that in my innocence I had relinquished all rights, in all markets—forever.
I even had to get an attorney to get them to honor the terms of their contract. For example, they changed the title name of Angler’s Guide to Alaska to Fishing Alaska and cut my royalty by one-third.
But, then it got worse.
The small publisher sold to a larger publisher and as bad as the small publisher treated me, the new publisher was so bad they made the first publisher look good.
My contract provided for royalty based on what the book sold for. Consequently, if the book sold for the retail price I got paid pretty good and made a respectable amount of money.
That all changed with the new publisher. They sold all my books to their in house distributor for a discouraging discount, which decreased my royalty even more.
I couldn’t even buy my own books at that discount. It was horrible.
But that’s not the end of it. I began receiving, meager information, royalty reports only twice a year, and royalty payment once a year.
If they did that to every author, it amounted to financing their business, in part, with author’s royalties.
Being a published author was no longer fun—every time I saw or heard about my books it was an unpleasant experience.
I didn’t own the copyright, my royalty had been slashed, regular reporting was diminished, and keeping what was left was reduced to attorney enforcement.
But, out of the ashes of my awful experience, I started my own book publishing company.
Today, Publication Consultants, a debt free, financially stable company, publishes books the way authors want to be published. We believe in the power of authors.
Author Campaign Method (ACM) for Authorpreneurs
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. Author Campaign Method (ACM) of sales and marketing is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authorpreneurs who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for them.
Release Party
Web Presence
Book Signings
Amazon Author Page
Facebook Profile and Facebook Page
Active Social Media Participation
Ebook Cards
The Great Alaska Book Fair: October 8, 2016
Costco Book Signings
eBook Cards
Benjamin Franklin Award
Jim Misko Book Signing at Barnes and Noble
Cortex is for serious authors and will probably not be of interest to hobbyists. We recorded our Cortex training and information meeting. If you’re a serious author, and did not attend the meeting, and would like to review the training information, kindly let us know. Authors are required to have a Facebook author page to use Cortex.
Correction:
We take the quote by Marcella Smith, Small Press Business Manager, Barnes & Noble seriously: “The author is essential to the success of the book, giving energy behind the book to make it something that a customer will come in and ask for. That is what makes the difference in a book that sells, that develops legs, and has a life of its own. Otherwise the book goes on the shelf and stays there for three months. Then it gets returned.”
This is Publication Consultants’ motivation for constantly striving to assist authors sell and market their books. ACM is Publication Consultants’ plan to accomplish this so that our authors’ books have a reasonable opportunity for success. We know the difference between motion and direction. ACM is direction! ACM is the process for authors who are serious about bringing their books to market. ACM is a boon for serious authors, but a burden for hobbyist. We don’t recommend ACM for hobbyists.
We’re the only publisher we know of that provides authors with book signing opportunities. Book signing are appropriate for hobbyist and essential for serious authors. To schedule a book signing kindly go to our website, <
An Author Page on Amazon Author Central is a serious author ACM requirement and desirable for the hobbyist. Author Central is a free resource designed to help authors become more active participants in the promotion of their books. In Author Central you can manage an Author Page, update information about your books, and view Customer Reviews and sales information for your bibliography. If you don’t already have an Author Page on 
We hear authors complain about all the personal stuff on Facebook. Most of these complaints are because the author doesn’t understand the difference difference between a Facebook profile and a Facebook page. Simply put, a profile is for personal things for friends and family; a page is for business. If your book is just a hobby, then it’s fine to have only a Facebook profile and make your posts for friends and family; however, if you’re serious about your writing, and it’s a business with you, or you want it to be business, then you need a Facebook page as an author. It’s simple to tell if it’s a page or a profile. A profile shows how many friends and a page shows how many likes. Here’s a link <> to a straight forward description on how to set up your author Facebook page.
Active Social Media Participation
Mosquito Books has a new location in the Anchorage international airport and is available for signings with 21 days notice. Jim Misko had a signing there yesterday. His signing report included these words, “Had the best day ever at the airport . . ..”
The Lyin Kings: The Wannabe World Leaders
Time and Tide
ReadAlaska 2014
Readerlink and Book Signings
2014 Independent Publisher Book Awards Results
Bonnye Matthews Radio Interview
Rick Mystrom Radio Interview
When he published those overseas blogs as the book The Innocents Abroad, it would become a hit. But you couldn’t find it in bookstores.
More NetGalley
Mary Ann Poll
Bumppo
Computer Spell Checkers
Seven Things I Learned From a Foreign Email
2014 Spirit of Youth Awards
Book Signings
Blog Talk Radio
Publication Consultants Blog
Book Signings
Don and Lanna Langdok
Ron Walden
Book Signings Are Fun
Release Party Video
Erin’s book, 
Heather’s book, 
New Books