Novelist Colleen Tews Owns a Publishing House

Writing a novel isn’t easy, which I know first-hand from working on my own, but compared to — attracting a powerful agent, getting one’s novel published, and reaching a sizable audience of readers who want to buy it — it sure is!

There’s traditional publishing, and there’s self-publishing. As if either of those isn’t asking for enough trouble — then there’s becoming the publisher of not merely one’s own books. Here blogger/novelist/publisher Colleen Tews of Akron, Ohio, shares what it’s like to open a publishing house of her own…

Running an Indie Publishing House in 2020 by Colleen Tews

Let me start by saying that I cannot speak for the big companies or even the decent-sized companies. Delphian Hope Publishing, or DHP, is what you might call a Mom and Pop Publishing company for the 21st century. We don’t put a catalog together and ship it off to brick and mortar bookstores. Not that we have much of one. There are only my books — for now. Everything we do is done either electronically or print on demand. We’re eco-friendly.

Our biggest sellers are from my Shadow Faith Series. The style in which these books are written could be described as if Stephen King, Taika Waititi, and Laurell K. Hamilton combined their forces for a big vampire fantasy. It’s that horror thrill ride meets sexy espionage meets strong female heroine meets “Wait, what did she just say?” laugh out loud movie in your mind.

I love reading and writing paranormal because anything is possible. The boundaries are our imagination. We get to ask ourselves: How far can I push reality and still make it believable? It’s grounding the awesome wonders of our universe into an understandable scope. One that the characters can relate to, the readers can resonate with, and one that can maybe open someone’s eyes a little. Making the impossible plausible is… fun.

So, when it comes time to publish, we are all over paranormal, horror, mystery, science fiction, urban fantasy, and thrillers. We are looking for books with something to say. Not gore for the sake of gore. You can stream that on Shudder. We want a reason behind every decision. Smart dark fiction. Something that shows light in the darkest of times.

Right now, we are preparing to publish, “Between the Shadows,” which is set to come out June 11, 2020. It’s a collection of five short stories that take place between Shadow Faith series book one, “Birth Of A Vixen,” and book two, “Virus Within.” The events in these stories will shape the future of many books to come. It’s going to be huge.

Plus, I’m working on book three in the Shadow Faith series, “Vindication.” It’s going to be epic. Veronica will be leaving Kent, Ohio, for sunny Miami, Florida. True, she won’t be able to enjoy the toasty beaches, but she will get to revel in the romantic moonlit ones.

Like Tigger, I bounce everywhere. I rely a lot on my husband, Ken, and youngest daughter, Danelle. They keep me down-to-earth by listening to my ideas and ramblings. I work from a home office. Chores are evenly split. Just because I work from home doesn’t mean I sit around all day streaming Amazon Prime on my laptop.

DHP has two new editors to help me. They are a godsend. Everyone gets a piece of the pie, so no one goes stir crazy. We recently purchased recording equipment. All of our books will be available on Audible just as fast as I can read them without slurring my words.

Self-publishing and wanting to help other authors publish is not easy, but it’s worth it. It is made ten times harder when readers fear taking a chance on unknown authors when money is tight.

Which is why we are offering the first ebook in the Shadow Faith series for just 99 cents through Kindle. I guarantee you’ll love it as much as we do. As an added bonus, because authors live and die by word of mouth, by leaving a review, you’ll be entered into a contest to win a signed paperback of “Virus Within.” When the book reaches 100 reviews, a lottery will be drawn, and three lucky winners will get book two sent to them by me personally.

What’s your dream publishing company look like?