Key partnerships, new experiences mark publisher’s third year
Mount Vernon, VA – aois21 publishing, LLC celebrated its third birthday on May 8th and looked back at the accomplishments of the past year in an event at Walls of Books in Washington, DC on May 13th. The independent publishing company’s third year included these accomplishments:
· Released the third aois21 annual. After foregoing another crowdfunding campaign, we elected to make the annual all digital. The new format allowed video and audio inclusion. The launch event was held at Walls of Books in Washington, DC, and broadcast on Periscope and later on YouTube.
· Signed a new Creative. We announced a moratorium on new Creatives allowing for only those we were currently in negotiations with, including Thomas P. Athridge, author of the forthcoming American Presidents at War.
· Released new titles. We released Michael B. Judkins’ Interlude to Sentimental Me! poetry collection just after our last birthday. It was followed by Bianca Palmisano’s second poetry collection, Will This Be on the Final?, and the second book in the HIVE series, HIVE: Battle at the Dog Star by James D. King.
· Launched three new podcast series and joined new networks. We expanded beyond series promoting our authors with the performing arts podcast, Tales From the Old New Land, and the cultural history podcast, It’s Not Even Past. We just recently launched our first partnership podcast, I Stand, produced with host Michael B. Judkins’ OCT14 Publishing. Additionally our podcasts joined the Tune In network and offered more on YouTube.
· Organized and participated in many events. We hit the road and took part in book fairs in Gaithersburg and Frostburg, MD, and DC Author Fest. We branched out into Comic book conventions by traveling to Richmond Comicon. We also held events such as evenings at Books and Other Found Things in Leesburg, Va, and multiple events through a partnership with Walls of Books in Washington, DC.
· Hired new staff. Our management team welcomed John Mulcahy as Chief of Visual Design and Zach C. Cohen as Chief of Audio Productions. New support staff include audio consultant Michael B. Judkins and podcast production consultants Evan Tucker and Aylin Vega.
· Explored new opportunities. We have continually reassessed and refocused our resources in a variety of ways. We have stepped up limited-run print releases through the Lulu.com print on demand service. We sponsored a team to Walk to end Alzheimer’s on the National Mall in October. We tested out new services, websites, vendors, and partnerships, all to help our authors succeed.
"We are constantly moving forward, constantly experimenting, testing, and changing for the better,” said Keith F. Shovlin, aois21’s publisher. "The past year has had its share of success and setbacks and we have learned from them all. We are not above admitting what doesn’t work, as long as we have other options to try."