Genesis

It all started with a text message… though it began earlier than that.

In the summer of 2006, three authors crossed paths at the Black Writer’s Conference in Dallas. At the time, all three were unpublished, and in the process of shopping their first manuscripts to secure the much-coveted book deal. As any aspiring author will tell you, the name of the game is networking, so the authors exchanged information with the promise to keep in touch to share resources, leads, or just plain commiserate. Each one recognized the importance of having “writer friends”, not just for the networking possibilities, but because of the unique support system fellow writers provide.

Fast-forward to June of 2007. The three kindred have reunited in New York City while attending Book Expo America (BEA). Over dinner in Times Square, they caught each other up on the state of their respective manuscripts, rejection tallies, etc. But in the midst of all the commiserating, a tender seed is planted. The three agree that if they haven’t succeeded in securing book deals by 2010, they would join forces to start their own publishing company to publish their books.

Fast-forward to November 2009.  Manuscripts have been edited, revised, submitted, and rejected. Subsequent manuscripts have been penned. Agents have come and gone. The economy has started to implode, and the publishing industry has started to contract, making it even harder to secure a book deal if you are untested and unknown. Simultaneously, the POD technologies have gotten increasingly affordable and user-friendly, and e-Book formats have taken the publishing world by storm. The game has totally changed, and it occurs to them that maybe its time to change their strategy and get out there on the playing field already.

In December 2009, the trio decides to join forces and pool their individual skills and resources to start The Pantheon Collective (TPC). Once they commit to this venture, things take off, and the ideas start coming fast and furious. In addition to finally bringing their respective fiction projects to the masses, they plan to use Pantheon to publish a variety of non-fiction books as well, including From Authors to Entrepreneurs: The Pantheon Project, a step-by-step guide on how to start your own publishing company, based on their experiences in getting Pantheon off the ground. TPC is like its own literary reality show, and you, dear readers, have a front row seat.

Check back tomorrow for more on our grand publishing experiment!