Interview with Jay Rankin, Author and Publisher

Jay Rankin is the author and publisher of Under the Neon Sky, a non-fiction account of his years as a doorman at the MGM Grand, in the heart of the Las Vegas strip.

I reviewed his book here on HubPages a few months ago, and my verdict was: “a good read” (no, scrap that: “an excellent read,”) an opinion evidently shared by those with far more clout than I; Under the Neon Sky garnering accolades and awards. Rankin’s efforts received, Finalist in the Best Books Awards, Finalist in the International Book Awards and Finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards.

However, as all writers know, being a good writer and producing an “excellent read” is not enough these days. One must be able to market and promote one’s work – and not all writers make good marketers. In Jay’s case, he went one step further: he became his own publisher, not just a self-published work under the auspices of CreateSpace, Lulu or Xlibris, but produced his own imprint, Jay Rankin Publishing.

My book review led to correspondence between us, and I became very interested in Jay’s approach to the publishing/marketing puzzle. I asked him if he’d be interested in sharing his hard-earned knowledge with the rest of us, and he said he’d be pleased to do so.

Here is an interview with Jay Rankin, author and publisher.

Why did you decide to self-publish?

My decision to self-publish took about two years to make. I was sure I had a very unique book with a wide audience, and – OMG! -- it was so well written. Based on my overly confident thinking, I learned the rules of engagement; querying agents and publishers. Because the life of a publisher is so overloaded, they sometimes took several months to reject me. I also knew that many times my manuscript would make it through several levels within the publisher’s office, sometimes right up to the moment a decision needed to be made one way or the other. It took such a long time, I was getting older; I was getting grey hairs. I sometimes wished they had just thrown my story into the ‘slush pile’ from the beginning.

But a big shift was taking place in the book publishing arena. The tsunami of eBooks and self-publishing businesses was changing the landscape plus, publishing houses were either going under or being bought by huge corporations. A new era of possibilities was opening for authors. I now believe the days of cloth bound books is about finished with electronic books (a lot less expensive) the new norm in your local library and brick and mortar stores.

The decision to self-publish was scary and exciting… I took the leap and learned how to crawl over and go around each rock on the road to realizing my goal.

In my review, I criticized your cover, which you defended in our subsequent correspondence. How did this cover come to be?

Keeping in mind I had a ‘finished’ manuscript, it was time to make sure all the legal stuff was in place including choosing a name for my publishing title. I found a wonderful man who was well known for his book covers. Between the two of us, we created a particular look which would evolve into a ‘brand’. The look had to be consistent with my name and title, and most importantly something that people would be drawn too. It was my first real decision as a publisher but not without some help and opinions from people whom I trusted.

My book is about Las Vegas with the word ‘neon’ in my title. I wanted a particular look on the cover print that reflected Las Vegas in the way my title words, background, my name, etc. were created. I even made business cards to reflect my book cover.

In the end, I believe I succeeded in doing one of the most important jobs as a publisher: producing a very professional looking book.

Would you share your publishing process with the rest of us?

The process to self-publish a book is like starting college. If you decide to major in business and look at every course you must take in order to receive a four-year degree, you could go into shock.

To publish a professionally put-together book, requires a very long list of things to accomplish by doing it yourself or hiring someone before your goal is physically in your hands.

The process is like a check list:

• find a really good editor

• get rid of typos

• look at the copyright page of other books

• check again for typos

• get ISBN numbers and bar-codes,

• find cover artist

• find interior design professional to work on dimensions of the book, select paper color, fonts, and decide, where are the page numbers located.

• research the prices of perfect, clothbound books

• research prices for eBook

• look for typos again

• research and find printer

• find someone to transfer the manuscript to all eBook formats

• and on and on...

So as a self-publisher there are three different personalities, three different hats, three different jobs you must be good at. After all, you are the publisher and if you recall back in the dark ages, publishers produced, marketed and fulfilled the big book houses for writers. They took care of the big reviews. They wined and dined all sorts of players in New York to get their clients here and there. Now, it’s just you, the person who actually wrote the damn thing who must now put it together and market it …what the hell?

What do you see as the benefits of self-publishing?

The benefit of writing and publishing your own book is like earning a degree or any other achievement that can never be taken away from you. It becomes a part of your definition, your mark, your list of accomplishments.

You may also receive a larger share of sales by self-publishing. So the risk is to know how difficult the book business is in terms of making money and to make the call.

Just don’t quit your day job.

There will be people who won’t have anything to do with you such as some reviewers, book reps, and large brick and mortar book stores because you’re not represented by a ‘real publisher’. It’s really ridiculous.

What’s really helping us peasant writers is the Nook and Kindle and all the other e-formats that are actually helping put many publishers out of business. We are part of a revolution of dreamers who have had enough and aren’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer anymore.

Tell us about the marketing of your book.

I was so compulsive and immersed in producing a book based on what I had gone through, I jumped in with both feet believing the rest of the world would love to read about a doorman who worked in the middle of the night on the Las Vegas Strip.

After the book was produced, I hired a ‘conventional’ PR firm who took my story, created a press release from it and ultimately booked me on about 90 radio talk shows and several TV shows throughout the country.

I hired a well-respected Social Media marketing guru. I also had a website linked to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I have written hundreds of tweets.

I asked people to give me reviews on Amazon (they are wonderful).

I went through tours, gave books away, entered book contests and won three awards.

I have been on radio panels with some of the old time Vegas mobsters. My articles include hookers, fight nights in Las Vegas, alcohol, gambling and drug issues as it relates to 5 star customer service.

I tried to do everything I could possibly think of to find the right set of eyes to purchase my book.

But, alas, after all my efforts, I would love to say I broke even, but I didn’t.

I now believe there are no answers that pertain to all writers who have a story to tell. Some do well, while others don’t.

Will you take other authors under your publishing imprint?

Because I went into this for myself, I have no real desire to take on other writers.

What do you see for the future of books and publishing?

I have no idea what the future will bring because somewhere out there is a brilliant nerd who is working on a new invention for books.

Maybe we will all have an isotope placed into our skulls and simply download a book or maybe several thousand books. Then by placing a headset on... poof, there’s the book in front of our eyes.

I believe there will be a much larger population of readers than today because it is the nature of humans to entertain themselves. The usual stuff such as going to the movies or shopping or eating out constantly is becoming too expensive for most. I do believe many publishers will fall while others will re-invent themselves and go with the flow of this evolving business.

What advice do you have for other writers?

After all I’ve been through I still have no real gift I can pass along to other writers other than to follow your heart and sometimes you need to wear a badge of courage and trust yourself. The bottom line is to know you are unique, and to give yourself a shot at living the dream.

- Jay Rankin, Author and Publisher of Under the Neon Sky….A Las Vegas Doorman’s Story

Thanks, Jay, for sharing your experience with us. I understand you are currently working on a sequel to Under the Neon Sky. I wish you the best of luck with your endeavors. May you see a well-earned success.

- -- Lynda M. Martin, February 2, 2012