Independent Publishing, Collegiate Licensing, The Great State of Texas and Playing Cards...

I have learned a great deal over the past year when it comes to publishing, licensing, and sales.  One of my toughest lessons was only doing a children's book for Va Tech. It wasn't really a mistake, per say, because I couldn't do one for the University of Virginia.  The way the licensing company that handles both of these schools is set up, is not conducive to how my project came to pass.  I will not go into how the licensing companies work.  It is an extremely arduous and frustrating path that I have navigated and come out successful on the other side.  Now I can use my experience and knowledge to help others through the maze and to make money for all involved. 

When I call on a store in Virginia, I basically am going to get one order.  They are probably going to take 10 or 20 VaTech books.  I might convince some owners that UNC will sell in their territory (which it does), but less than half take me up on it and if they do, it is to carry four or five. 

In North Carolina when I call on a store, the owners want both UNC and NCSU. They also take either App State or ECU if the store is on one particular side of the state than the other.  If it is in the middle, they usually take all four.  What is a $100 or $150 order in Virginia, the same type store in NC makes a $300 or $400 order.  Same amount of work.  Now with UVA coming out this fall, I already have the account set up that will take the UVA books.  I am still set, but it sure would have been nice to double my numbers from the start. 

This all brings us to the great state of Texas.  With my Aggies book being written and financed by my Aggie Alumni, it leads me to an interesting dilemma for the Texas.  Ideally I need a fan of Baylor, University of Texas and Texas Tech to step up and put their name down in history and write a book for each one of their schools.  My guy and his daughter at Texas A&M have know me for several years and have seen our books.  The trust factor was already in place.  Plus it was fun to go and seal the deal over a bear at Duckworth's in Charlotte.  Not sure how I am going to find a UT, Baylor, T-Tech fan while living in NC.  Would also be nice to find an SMU and TCU alumni to do the same.   Will have to keep my hordes of readers abreast of new developments in this field. 

Lastly, it looks like we have made an interesting connection to a playing card printer.  We can have the decks printed up with our artwork at around $.90 a deck.  We then sell them to the stores for $3.00 and the stores sell them for $5.99.  This all depends on licensing from the schools, but with our ability to distribute and sale, this shouldn't be a huge hurdle.   We will know a lot more in the coming months.... stay tuned!