ABOUT
Writing the Rules in The Digital Book Revolution
In the darkest days of the global economic contraction in 2009, Stay Thirsty Media, Inc., a global news and entertainment company, embarked on a path to create a digital book publishing division. Amidst the collapse of the New York book publishing and distribution business models, Stay Thirsty Media reached out to veteran authors with a new concept. By combining the traditional vetting process in the selection of books, the technological advances in digital book publishing and distribution, and Stay Thirsty Media’s global reach to over 170 countries, the beginnings of a true Digital Book Revolution began to take shape. With one acclaimed, award-winning author, our first imprint, Stay Thirsty Press, was launched in late March of 2009. Over the ensuing months, by carefully selecting other authors, each notable in their own career, and by rewriting the traditional publishing deal, Stay Thirsty Press began to set new publishing standards for the Digital Book Revolution.
The Birth of New Opportunities
As the summer of 2009 drew to a close, it became apparent that another group of writers was ready to join the Digital Book Revolution. In order to properly delineate this new group from the veteran authors, a second imprint, Schiller & Wells, Ltd., was created and charged with finding debut or emerging writers who deserved to be published.
With both Stay Thirsty Press and Schiller & Wells, Ltd. in place, Stay Thirsty Media moved both imprints under one umbrella and renamed its book publishing division to Stay Thirsty Publishing.
Our Difference
But there is one more very important element to the Digital Book Revolution that sets Stay Thirsty Publishing apart from the rest - it is our special relationship with our parent company. Stay Thirsty Media, Inc. is a recognized global news and entertainment company that publishes staythirsty.com, an internet magazine seen in over 170 countries with links from thousands of websites, news organizations, news aggregators, and blogs. Because of this special relationship, Stay Thirsty Publishing is able to work with the staff of Stay Thirsty Media on feature stories, interviews, news stories and news updates, byline columns, and publicity outreach efforts that can shine a spotlight on the books we publish and help our authors become part of the global conversation. In the new digital world, being published is no longer enough because without being noticed, a book will be as visible as a needle in a haystack.
The Dawn of Digital Book Philanthropy
And yet, we also believe that just being in the digital book publishing business is not enough. From discussions with some of our authors, the idea of digital book philanthropy was born. In order to give back, to shoulder our social responsibility, and to focus attention on worthy causes, we have begun to partner in certain circumstances with nonprofit organizations that are important to our authors. In these instances, the authors, the literary agent, and the publisher have combined to donate 50 cents from the sale of every digital copy of the particular book to the relevant nonprofit organization.
To us, working together with authors to support causes that are meaningful in their lives is an honor. Although not appropriate for every author or every book, where relevant it highlights the dawn of a new era of social responsibility and philanthropy that publishers should welcome. Content will always be king, but helping to foster a better world gives us a chance, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, to be touched “by the better angels of our nature.”
For our Stay Thirsty Press imprint click here.
For our Schiller & Wells, Ltd. imprint click here.