After two years of relative inactivity, the company has relocated from Lighthouse Point, Florida to Mobile, Alabama, trimmed its list of authors and titles and has re-arranged its distribution model. The company is also expanding into the realm of the less expensive to produce e-books where retail prices are significantly reduced and the worldwide audience for titles already exists.
“Since our founding in 1999 as an independent publisher, we have faced major financial and recognition hurdles,” the publisher, Ron Richard said. “The fierce competition for shelf space at the retailer level has left us little choice but to expand our boundaries. We have sought out new venues that are both economically feasible and unlimited in potential for sales as well as author recognition.”
Richard believes that improved personal computers, emerging reader hardware such as Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook and offerings by vendors such as Sony, will provide the foundations upon which e-publishing will become the norm rather than a novelty.
“While we are not anticipating the death of traditional physical books any time soon,” Richard said, “we do expect a steady, exponential increase in the presence of electronic formats in publishing. In this new world of publishing, author recognition and a quality product will mean more than corporate names. This will level the playing field for independents as well as the major publishers.”
The first e-book title that The Lighthouse Press has introduced is a, “how to get published,” booklet that the publisher describes as a quick, “down and dirty,” guide to what book publishers and agents expect. The booklet addresses the very basics of content and submissions as well as offering an, “insider,” glimpse into the downsides of the various pathways to publication in today’s competitive market.
The booklet, Getting Published: What You Want, Need & Should Know, is now exclusively available through the website of The Lighthouse Press. For information, readers and booksellers are invited to visit the Publisher’s website at www.TheLighthousePress.com or the booklet’s web page at www.TheLighthousePress.com/gettingpublished.htm.