I’m in business!
One of the recommendations for self-published authors is to create a business front to do all their publishing through. So I did just that.
Well, alright. I didn’t do *just* that.
Stoneword Press is an offshoot of a larger business: Tree City Media. Take the word larger with a grain of salt, since we’re a two-girl operation with big plans for the future. Christy, my business partner, is a marketing genius who has experience driving home sales. Me? I’m the tech support.
Now I know pretty much nothing about business, and I’ve discovered my natural mindset isn’t conducive toward making money. I use hard work to produce quality results. Christy is one of those people who knows how to work smarter, not harder. I may never catch on, but that’s why she’s the one bringing in the clients.
That’s right. Clients.
Christy is ambitious. Within the past year, she has gone from non-writing book reviewer to published author in local magazines, as well as becoming a board member of the local writer’s guild, and this year’s NaNo ML. Through her many connections, she’s discovered that several people have a need for services such as marketing, editing, formatting (that’s where I come in), and publishing.
She’s got a big plan–bigger than I had ever intended for myself. But I’m confident that where Christy is involved, things will succeed. It’s her specialty.
I need help deciding on a logo for Stoneword Press. I hadn’t really been thinking logo when I settled on the name, and have found the actual creation of one has been difficult. So give me your input! Which one do you like? And if you don’t like any, do you have suggestions as to what would make it great?
Wow… feel a little inadequate now. Is that really a recommendation? All I did was get 10 ISBNs to publish under a name I made up on the spot. Only got them because they were free.
I quite like the bottom logo. Although, I think the third one might look better with a slightly thicker ‘S’ to define it a little more.
Most of my information is based off of articles I’ve read on The Book Designer.
8 Answers That Help Self-Publishers Get Up and Running
How to Create, Register and List Your New Publishing Company
It might work differently in New Zealand…not sure.
Ten free ISBNs? That’s lucky. Those little buggers are expensive (at least here they are). Christy and I are splitting the cost of 100.
Don’t see why it’d be different for me when I’m basically publishing via the web with the same channels on amazon. I’ve got me a swanky EIN and that apparently works for IRS purposes, so my taxes will be NZ taxes… which have always been automatically done, so I’ve no clue what to do there once I start selling.
I suppose free ISBNs is one good thing about being in NZ. I can get as many as I want, so long as I give two copies of each book to the national library.
I joked with my family when I was filling about the form on getting 100, just to see if they would accept it, but then I thought that might be a little ambitious of me seeing I’m struggling to find ten titles and, if I gave them away, I might confuse people seeing they’d have to keep the whole “Thardrandian Publications” name (and logo?) on top of the two copies thing.
My first reaction was #4, but I also like the black pen in #2.
Have you considered more of a tone tablet look for the stone? Maybe with the name written on it / chiseled into it.
And how big are these going to be? They might look totally different shrunk down. That’s something to take into consideration.
Anyhow, good luck. Sounds like you’ve got all your ducks in a row. 🙂
I thought about the name, though the tablet never crossed my mind. The problem is with the size. If I put it on the spine of a book, the name Stoneword is going to be pretty squashed.
I wanted it to be on the book spine as well as on the website (Stoneword Press).
It seems like #4 is the most popular so far. One of my morning writing buddies suggested bringing the tail end of the S up in another crack, behind the pen. I might try that out.
I like that idea, moving the ‘S’. 🙂
I like #4, too, but I also really like Melissa’s suggestion to fit the name in on the stone. As if it’s been carved there, maybe?
Congrats on starting this business! Christy sounds amazing, and I wish I had a Christy in my life 😉
Thanks! I’ll try adding the name to see what it looks like.
Congrats are indeed in order. Can you clone Christy and give a copy to all of us less business-minded people? Good luck. My vote goes for #4 as well.
Thanks!
Wow, Loni. I feel so honored to be your friend and business partner. Thank you for the praise! You and I are the perfect match. You are exceptionally talented and I am truly thankful for you and I appreciate all of the skills that you bring to the table.