Free Corporations For First-Time Entrepreneurs. Thank you eMinutes.
James W. Lewis is a novelist and freelance writer who has been published in several books including: Zane’s Caramel Flava, Chicken Soup for the Soul (2 series), Gumbo for the Soul, Truth Be Told: Tales of Life, Love and Drama and Don’t Forget your Pepper Spray. Magazine credits include 3AM Magazine, Eyeshot, Dare Magazine, Naptural Roots Magazine, Lucrezia Magazine, Circle Magazine, Rundu Bedtime Stories and American Fitness Magazine. His 2 novels are Sellout and A Hard Man is Good to Find. He is also a managing partner of publishing company The Pantheon Collective.
After spending 20 years in the Navy, James retired from active duty and is now completing his studies in kinesiology. In addition to writing, he loves to DJ and has a collection of more than 300 vinyl records. He does extensive volunteer work at a local veterans assistance center and the Boys & Girls Club.
What are you working on right now?
As a novelist, I’m working on my third novel Tangled Web, scheduled to drop in the summer of 2012. As managing partner of my publishing company, I’m expanding our business with an author services division, where we’ll assist authors with services like typesetting, ebook formatting and marketing plans. Also, we hope to publish other authors and launch our non-fiction book about indie publishing.Where did the idea for The Pantheon Collective come from?
In the summer of 2007, Stephanie Casher, Omar Luqmaan-Harris and I made a pact: if a traditional publisher doesn’t sign us to a book deal by 2009, we’ll create our own publishing company (we’d been soliciting our manuscripts to agents/publishers for at least 4 years). Coincidentally, I retired from active duty service in 2009, which gave me room to go full-speed ahead into a new career and by then, we still didn’t have a book deal. I was somewhat reluctant to go into business with friends; I always believed mixing business with friendships was a bad idea, but I decided to dive head-first into this new venture. I’m happy I did! We decided on the name, The Pantheon Collective (TPC3), because we feel we are 3 powerful individuals with unique skills and talents, but as a team, or “collective,” our ability to brainstorm and make things happen has no boundaries. Plus, we have 3 times the promotional power. I call ourselves the “Literary Voltron” and our tagline says it all: Three Minds. One Mission. No Limits.What does your typical day look like?
After retiring from active duty, I became a full-time student at a 4 year university and now spend much of my time getting heavy doses of higher education during the day. At night, I devote time to promoting our books via social media, book reviewers and bloggers. Throughout the day and into the wee hours of the night, I try to concentrate on my third novel, Tangled Web. Got a deadline to meet!How do you bring ideas to life?
I try to keep my ears open to random conversations and pay attention to my surroundings. Often, an idea sparks just by being around people and socializing. So if an idea pops up, I make sure to write it down. If not, it’s lost forever.Three trends that excite you.
- Established authors seeing the value of indie publishing by publishing print books with a traditional publisher and using indie publishers for ebooks.
- Increase in major ebook distribution channels beyond Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple.
- Demand for ereaders and society’s acceptance of them.
