Authors with new projects need avenues to transform manuscripts into public works, and local publishing companies like SlapDash Publishing and Dram Tree Books provide just that.
Daniel Ray Norris, owner of SlapDash Publishing, has run the company since 2006, and he primarily focuses on books related to local history, culture and art. He offered insight into his publishing process and spoke about what sets SlapDash apart.
“If anybody hires me to help them get their book idea into the book form, you have me working on it 100%,” he said. “In other words, from start to finish, the only person you’re going to deal with is me.”
He added that the process is very personal and hands-on. After organizing an author’s work and taking it through the editing and printing process, the work goes through a few more steps, according to Norris.
“We go through the approval process and the proofing, and then whenever we’re finished, and you think everything looks good, I deliver books to your door or wherever you want them delivered, and I also help you get into bookstores and have book signings and things like that,” he said.
And while Norris mainly focuses on local history, culture and art, he added that he’ll put together different types of genres for those who need it. He shared that he’s also done academic books and family reunion books.
In addition, he expounded upon the publishing process, explaining that it usually starts with an email or phone call from the individual with a book idea. He said that he’ll then tell the person to get all of their materials together, and he’ll organize a meeting and review any text or images they’ve got for about a week.
If the book isn’t something that’s the right fit for him, he shared, he’ll call the individual back to inform them. If it’s a good fit, however, he said he’ll “jump right in with both feet” and get the book done in “two months, three months, four months (or) six months.”
He added that, as a last step in the process, he’ll make sure his client gets a book off of the press. This ensures that the author can make any final changes before the shipper delivers all of the books, according to Norris.
Norris said that sometimes his book shipments come from Taiwan and China, but because of tariffs, he’s been relying heavily on Atlanta. He also offered further insight into his role in book promotion.
“When the client gets the books, I help them plan book signings, and I talk to the local retailers like Barnes & Noble or Pomegranate Books,” he said.
But as for the remainder of the year, Norris said he’s got two books he wants to get started. For the rest of his publishing career, he said his goal is to hit 100 titles. He shared that he’s currently hit 50 or 60 titles.
Dram Tree Books also contributes to the local publishing scene.
Jack Fryar, founder of Dram Tree Books, does a lot of work on North Carolina and coastal North Carolina history books. He wrote in an email that he particularly publishes books related to Cape Fear history and added that the company has four centuries of stories, including everything from Native American tales to colonial and Revolutionary War stories.
Fryar offered thoughts on how Dram Tree Books got its start and shared details on its evolution over the years.
“Dram Tree Books was originally conceived as a vehicle to publish my own history books, and that is still largely the case,” he wrote. “But as my books became more widely known, other authors began submitting manuscripts to me.”
He added that while many of the manuscripts he received weren’t good, some were. This led to Fryar’s decision to publish books other than his own.
“Some of them were quite well done, both as literature and works of history,” he wrote. “Those manuscripts deserved to have an audience, and I could provide that, so I did.”
While many of the books that came across his desk were great, he added, their focus and subject matter were too regionally specific to appeal to the broad audiences a large publisher needs. Because he could excel in publishing books related to North Carolina and the Cape Fear, he expanded beyond his own work.
“I could fill that role and produce good work that entertained, taught and furthered the historical record,” he wrote. “So Dram Tree Books began doing titles with names other than Jack Fryar on the cover too.”
As for the company itself, Fryar says that what sets it apart is its ability to publish books quickly.
“For larger publishers who have to fit a new title into their printing schedule – something that involves not just the printing, but the editing, marketing, promotion, sales and distribution, etc. – it can take two years or more to see your book make its way to a bookshelf,” he wrote.
He added that he can get books done in a matter of weeks since his market is a niche one and the books he publishes are geographically specific. Plus, he shared that three kinds of people read Dram Tree Books titles: native North Carolinians, transplants to the area and tourists.
“When I read a manuscript, if at least two of those audiences are likely to buy that book, then I’ll probably go ahead and publish it,” he wrote. Fryar also shared that he uses Lightning Source as his printer.
He additionally offered insight into his goals for the years ahead.
“I have a personal goal of doing a hundred books before I cash in my chips,” he wrote. “I’m up to 32 now, that I have written or edited. I am deep in the research stage of my next big book about the years between 1865 and 1900 in the lower Cape Fear.”
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