These are exciting times for me. Slightly scary, yes, but ultimately those are the best kind of exciting. The kind that keep you on your toes; that have you sitting bolt upright in the middle of the night with a flood of ideas and new possibilities. And all of this has been bubbling away underneath the surface for over a year now since Julian Stodd approached me with an idea in a quaint little coffee shop in Bournemouth.

At the time I was there discussing the design of the second edition of The Social Leadership Handbook when he quite calmly said to me “How would you like to start a publishing division with me?” After recovering from the resultant coughing fit from nearly choking on my coffee, I jumped at the opportunity without really thinking about what I was getting myself into, but hey – remember what I said about slightly scary…

It has taken some time for that idea to percolate, mature, and grow up into a full-fledged ‘thing’, but here we are; on the cusp of launching Sea Salt Publishing – a hybrid publishing agency for the social age, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

My passion for publishing came about completely by accident. I’ve always loved books and the written word, ever since I was little listening to my mum read Enid Blighton, Brothers Grimm, and other bedtime stories. That progressed into an obsession with fantasy fiction in my late teens/early twenties where I would happily plough through a David Eddings novel in the span of a weekend. But it wasn’t until recently (the past 4 years or so), that my love of books found it’s way into my professional life.

I formally trained as a graphic designer in Toronto, where I concentrated mainly on corporate literature and promotional design for the automotive industry (my other passion in life). The thought didn’t even cross my mind to transfer my skills to typesetting books until a former printer client asked me if I could help one of their customers by typesetting a book they wanted to get printed. That was the proverbial light bulb moment for me; now I concentrate solely on designing and typesetting books, and helping independent authors to get those books published to the world. And in this, I have found my calling… helping authors get published!

I feel that the explosion of accessible publishing in the past decade is one of the most important leaps forward in freedom of speech to come in a very long time. It allows authors the opportunity for their voice to be heard on a platform once reserved for the precious few who could get past the gatekeepers of traditional publishing houses; usually after much persistence, bartering, selling of souls, and outright bribery.

But there is one vital ingredient that self-publishing is missing, and that is support. Even the best authors need support from professionals in order to make their books’ truly shine; and this is why so many great books that are self-published ultimately fail. Sea Salt Publishing aims to bridge that gap. Supporting great social age authors in getting their voice heard by the world is the core of what we do; from professional services and advice, down to a sit-down coffee and a chat when the whole book writing thing gets a bit too much; we are here to help make your dream of being a ‘published author’ a reality.

So what are you waiting for? No matter where you are on your writing journey – from finished manuscript right down to the seed of an idea – come and talk to us, and see how we can help you.

Sam