Welcome to the home of Motion Publishing. The company’s first book is The New Small by Motion President and Founder Phil Simon.

2010 might seem like a crazy time to start a publishing company. The publishing industry has been in disarray for a number of years and many feel that it will go the way of the Tower Records and Blockbuster video. And it just might. Adding fuel to the fire, rock star author Seth Godin announced plans to bypass traditional publishers altogether.

So why start a new publishing venture now?

A Different Model

In short, even though the game has changed, I’m convinced that there’s still opportunity out there in the publishing world. Having published two books with traditional publishers, I’ve been through the process before and know how the game is played. Typically, a publisher will throw a little bit of money at an author with an ostensibly good idea for a book. Repeat process ten times. Ultimately, one book “hits” and effectively pays for the other ten.

Traditional publishing is fundamentally broken.

To me, this is tantamount to an athlete paying the same for health insurance as a crystal meth addict. Why should the premiums be remotely the same? So, why not work with one or two authors per year who really connect with their audience?

Fast, Cheap, and Good

In the software world, there’s a time-tested bromide: Fast, cheap, and good–pick any two of the three. The same holds true in publishing. Producing a high-quality text in a reasonably short period of time is hardly inexpensive. Production costs include:

• cover and interior design
• indexing
• proofreading
• different types of editing (copyright, developmental, etc.)
• registration

If you think that you can get all of this done for around $2,000, you’re wrong. Big time.

In starting this company, I am keeping an open mind and preserving small business values. I know that Motion Publishing can produce high quality books and make money in the process. If you’re interested in possibly publishing under the Motion banner, then I’d like to hear from you.

Thank you,

Phil Simon

Owner and Founder, Motion Publishing