Husband and Wife Team Helps Other Writers Publish
Joan Neubauer, founder of the business, has always been a writer. When her kids went off to school she began freelancing and looking for ways to use her writing to supplement the family income. She did some copywriting and editing for the business community then got into freelancing for magazines and newspapers. One day she got a call from a woman in Victoria to help her write her book. Then Neubauer found a policeman who was an undercover cop looking for a resource.
“Tom, the cop said we must be pretty good because we sold his book three times,” said Neubauer. “I said we could publish it ourselves and he said ‘Yeah, let’s do that.'”
Neubauer bought three ISBN numbers, filed the requisite paperwork, and they published the policeman’s book, Down But Not Out. Then people started asking her if she would publish their books.
“And I figured at the time I’ve got nine ISBN books to burn. That took off,” said Neubauer.
Her husband, Steve joined the company three years ago because he realized he was missing a lot of opportunities to help the venture grow.
Wordwright (wordwright.biz) charges from $10,000-$15,000 to publish a book. They’re not considered a vanity press and they edit, polish, and give the book back to the author so the writer can see what they’ve done and get input.
“This way the writer learns about writing and the industry,” said Neubauer. “I think our process takes our writers through how it works, what a query letter is, and all the things you need to know to succeed in this business. One author has already gone on to a bigger publishing house. We teach about promotion, press kits, everything you need to know to succeed. It’s great. It’s better than what I thought it would be because when I have a writer call me and say, Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Thank you. My books have arrived and they’re beautiful’ it means a lot to me.”
Neubauer said she looks at her authors as her children.
“Developing a book and an author is pretty much the same thing because there are a lot of things they don’t understand and we try to explain it to them,” she said. “We work with them. Some people would absolutely hate that but I guess it’s the teacher in me so we work with them and we have a lot of patience with them. I love it when an author comes back and says, Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½You were right. It should be this way.”
Neubauer said Wordwright really doesn’t have any competition because nobody does what they do in the way they do it. Steve does print-on-demand (POD) printing so he and Neubauer paint with the same brush as others have. They have done two books for Barnes & Noble.
“They own interest in iUniverse yet they came to us,” said Neubauer. “We want to keep the publishing end of the house the way we’re doing it.”
One of the things Neubauer is getting into now is coaching writers. The couple wants to make their current area a writer’s retreat where authors can rent a cabin, start or finish their novel, and avail themselves of coaching opportunities. The Neubauers have also started Wordwright University and have an entire curriculum laid out in 200 general courses.
“If you’re a beginning writer you’re going to want to take the courses,” said Neubauer. “Veterans can learn a little, too. Our job is to bring the talent out and get a little attention for it.”
For more information call toll-free at 1-877-380-3321 or email Neubauer at joanneubauer@wordwright.biz.
