The Whitefeather Press Story
Why did you start White Feather Press?
I guess the first reason is that over the decades, I’ve seen way too many good authors out there who can't get published by the huge mega publishers. Thirty years ago there were dozens of small, independent publishing houses that published the little guy. Now, they don't. Most of them have either gone out of business or been bought up by the larger presses. Since large publishers have no desire or will to publish struggling new artists (not enough money in it) new authors are forced to endure hundreds of rejections and most of them never get published. They either give up in despair or just keep getting rejected. This is sad and I hate to see it. Therefore, White Feather Press will be looking for new, unknown authors who are willing to work hard to market themselves and help us sell their books.
Second, it took me 25 years and hundreds of rejections to get myself published. A few years ago, I went with two of the larger Print on Demand (POD) houses. This was okay, except that the retail price was set so high and they charged me so much for my own books that I was unable to make much money. After two years, I understood that in order to make any money for myself, I would need to cut out the middle man. Enter – White Feather Press, LLC.
Initially, I was just going to use the company to publish my own books, but then I got to thinking, “Why can’t I avail this to other writers who could use the boost up?” So I floated the idea to a few of my writer friends and they liked it.
How did you come up with the name, White Feather Press?
About two years ago, my brother-in-law from Oregon gave me a book called "The Dream Giver" written by Bruce Wilkinson. I highly recommend it. At the time, I was struggling with the prospect of quitting my stable, well-paying, nine-to-five office job in order to take up writing full time. Many people thought I was nuts, but they didn't understand the power of my dream. "The dream Giver" put my feelings into words and helped me take that big leap of faith.
In the book, the main character is named Ordinary, and one day Ordinary finds a white feather lying on the ground. (Throughout the book, white feathers are symbolic for each man and woman’s personal dream. In Wilkinson's story, God creates every person for a special purpose, and he gives them each a feather. It is the choice of the dreamer either to take up their feather and make the dream come true, or to leave it lie until the window of opportunity is gone.) Ordinary picks up the feather and decides to make his dream come true, but, before he can do that, he must first leave his home town called Familiar. (Does any of this sound “Familiar”?)
At first, Ordinary is afraid, but more and more, with each passing day, Ordinary becomes unhappy with his dull, monotonous life and he decides to leave Familiar. Besides, the white feather of his dreams, given to him by God, is burning in his heart. But the most unexpected thing happened to Ordinary on the way to making his dream come true. Many of the other people in Familiar resisted his departure; when Ordinary followed his dream, it made the other people of Familiar feel uncomfortable.
In the end, there were many obstacles that Ordinary had to overcome before making his dream come true. In the end it happened, but not until life had knocked him down a few times and beat the stuffings out of him. But Ordinary kept getting up and moving on, taking the white feather of his dreams with him. Finally, God asked Ordinary to dedicate the dream to him, and he did so and was used by God in a great way.
But despite the happy ending for Ordinary, there’s just no getting around it: making your dream come true is not an easy thing, and it makes some people feel very uncomfortable.
My hope is that White Feather Press can help other struggling authors to make their dream come true.
What kind of publishing company are you, and how do you compare to others?
White Feather Press is a traditional publisher. This means we will never charge any type of fee to our authors.
In a traditional publishing contract, the publisher pays the full cost of publishing and offers a royalty. Most publishers pay a 10 to 20% royalty. White Feather Press pays 50% royalty on the net profit. This is fully outlined in our contract. Very few manuscripts are offered a traditional contract. White Feather Press offers 5 to 10 traditional contracts each year, but we are very selective.
Do you accept every manuscript submitted? What exactly are you looking for in the perfect author – the perfect book?
No, I don’t accept everything. Quite to the contrary, that would be impossible, and I just don’t have the time or resources for that. I only select the best of what is submitted to me. I’m looking for more than just the next great American novel, and there’s no such thing as the perfect book. You’ll notice that the slogan of White Feather Press is “Making the world a better place – one reader at a time.” I’m not looking for New York Times best sellers. I wouldn’t know one if it landed on my doorstep. Philosophically, I’m looking for books that promote traditional family values like God, Family, and Country. Financially, I’m looking for books that will break even and make moderate returns. With my low overhead, that could be as few as 250 books sold. After that, it’s mostly profit.
As far as the perfect author, well, I’m the only one. (Laughing out loud) Actually, there are no perfect authors, but what I’m looking for is older authors who have been around the block a few times and can appreciate what I’m offering. I’m looking for that person who’s been rejected 200 times because I know he’s a hard worker and he or she has the staying power to gut it out. I’m looking for character in an author, because that high, moral fiber usually translates into the written word.
But I’m also looking for younger authors as well, someone who wants to curry a professional relationship to build a career on, provided they have the maturity and character to make a well-rounded author and they get along well with people.
What should people do if they want to submit to White Feather Press?
Just call me or send an email. We’ll talk about your work and see where it leads. I’m very informal and I can spend more time with you than most big, New York City publishers. If we decide White Feather isn’t for you, that’s okay and better luck next time. But at the very least, you’ll get no form rejection letter from me. I understand that your writing is a part of you, and that it’s very intimate and personal. I’ll do my best to further your dream.
Email: skip@hotmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 269-838-5586