Welcome to Publishing 2.0
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We’re not a “self-publishing” company.
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We’re not a “traditional” publishing company.
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We don’t believe those are the only options for authors in the 21st century.
What do you know about True Potential? Why would you not only trust us with something so precious as your book’s success but also know that True Potential is your best choice as a publishing partner?
A wise man said people do business with people they know, like, and trust. So, let me tell you a bit about our origins and the reason we exist.
We’ve got to go back to the Spring of 2004, the day the vision of a new kind of publishing company was born. The May sun was sinking into the west as Elaine and I sat with our feet dangling over the edge of the loading dock. It had been a warm day, a good day, except for the mountains of molded carpet scraps and the industrial dust that had choked us throughout the day. It was my birthday.
We had just cleared and cleaned a new warehouse across the parking lot from our primary manufacturing facility. The company, our company, was expanding.
After we moved to South Carolina, I landed a job in a place just like this. $3.50 an hour. I knew nothing about manufacturing. To be honest, I wasn’t really clear on how things came to be manufactured. As far as I knew, they just appeared on store shelves. But I caught on. From worker to foreman, from foreman to manager, from manager to vice-president, from vice-president to owner. I hadn’t thought about it; we were too busy working. Today, I thought about it.
The company, our company, was expanding.
We had never set out to own a manufacturing company; we had set out to survive. It had been a long time since we had thought about survival.
I told my wife, “If we don’t leave this life, I’m afraid this will be our life.”
Elaine asked me, “What do you want to do?”
I answered. It wasn’t me answering, or maybe it was, from a place so locked away that I didn’t recognize it as my own, “I want to start a Christian publishing company.”
I need to confess something. I have a history. I didn’t like Christians—at least not the professional ones. The civilians were fine, but those in the limelight? No thanks. I’d been there, and the taste of it soured me on Christianity as a profession.
Furthermore, I didn’t like much of what I saw in Christian bookstores. So what would cause me to say, “I’d like to start a Christian publishing company”?
I know now that it was the Holy Spirit. Although I hadn’t paid much attention to him lately, he was still there, patiently watching out for me. Since that day, a lot of rough edges have been smoothed, and I’ve learned that grace, forgiveness, and minding my own business go a long way toward healing and being useful in God’s purpose.
So here we are, twenty years since that day on the loading dock, 200 authors, 300 titles published, several bestsellers, and more than a million books sold.
So, what have I learned along the way? Click here for the rest of the story: I’ll share the success that put us on the map and the meeting in Tulsa that nearly did us in.
What are your publishing options?
Why “Self-Publishing” may not be your best option
Authors should be authors and not self-publishers; trying to wear both hats will prevent you from being your best as an author, and face it, do you really want to spend your time figuring how to warehouse, distribute and deliver your books to readers?
“Self-publishing” companies are just that. You’re still a “self-published” author, meaning you’re responsible for every aspect of your book’s success.
The publisher you choose should be in the business of selling books, not just selling authors. What I mean is, your publisher should make more of its revenue from selling books than selling “self-publishing” services to authors. 80% of True Potential’s revenue comes from selling books.
For a price, “self-publishing” companies will edit, format, print and ship books to you. In some cases, they’ll even put your book in their “catalog.” But if they’re not actively involved in distributing, marketing and selling your book, they’re not really a publisher; they’re a “publishing services company.” After the “service” is complete, you’ll understand why it’s called “self-publishing”.
Why “Traditional” Publishing may not be your best option either
Traditional publishers underwrite their publishing costs by publishing only well-known or celebrity authors, guaranteed to sell tens of thousands of copies of any book they publish.
Traditional publishers often lug around an expensive, top-heavy, usually outdated, infrastructure and rely on equally expensive and outdated distribution systems. By the time all the ‘costs’ are added up, discounts given, and the retailer returns counted there’s not much profit left. The traditional publishing model is simply too risky and too costly to take a chance on any author who doesn’t already have a proven audience in the multiplied thousands.
Why Publishing 2.0 with True Potential may be your best option:
At True Potential, we make 80% of our revenue from book sales. That means, even though we sell more than books, books are our lifeblood. We are in the book business. Unless we (and you) are selling your books, neither of us is happy.
You don’t have to be a TV superstar or mega-church pastor to publish with us. True Potential is geared toward Christian ministry and business professionals. If you already have an audience and are active in public ministry or business, we’re the publisher that can make your book a reality.
Publishing with us is pretty simple. Each publishing package includes “author’s copies.”These are the books you’ll sell to your own audience, usually at full cover price. Did you know that selling 500 books to your own audience can completely cover the cost of publishing? Don’t worry, we’ll show you how to do that.
We’ve spent almost two decades and millions of dollars building our publishing skills, infrastructure, distribution network, and marketing channels; that’s what a publisher is supposed to do.
Publishing, printing, and distributing your book is our responsibility, and that includes our team of professional editors, artists, and designers. We’re also responsible for selling your book to bookstores, major online retailers, through our own websites, and through other specialty markets like television shows, churches, and our referral partners.
We pay a 15% – 50% royalty for books we sell through our own channels.
You can order additional books from us any time, in carton quantities, at a significant discount. Remember, we’re your publisher; we’re responsible for having your books available when you need them. You never have to worry about making another print run when you’re low on books. And you’ll never have to worry about your book becoming “out-of-print” or unavailable.
Your book, your ministry or business, and your audience deserve a publishing model that was built for this century.