Welcome Breathless Press Owner Justyn Perry

First, I'd like to thank Amber Skyze for allowing Breathless Press to guest on her blog. So let me introduce myself and tell you a little bit about Breathless Press.

For me, publishing was a natural fit.

I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and possess countless years of experience in the publishing industry. I love books to no end and am thrilled that I can be part of something as great as producing them. I’m self taught in graphic design and enjoy my role not only as publisher at Breathless Press but as one of the cover artists. I can learn just about any program in a week, so trying new things is a pleasure along with utilizing old techniques.

Breathless Press was started for a few reasons. I saw a decline in the number of quality eBooks being produced and wanted to make a difference. With the onset of Self-Publishing, it felt like no one cared very much about quality. Granted, there are those publishers out there who are concerned with quality, but they are far and few between. I wanted to provide authors with a place where they felt welcome and like it was their second home. Not a place they dreaded and would end up regretting that they’d signed with us as a publisher. So, Breathless Press was formed.

With countless genres to choose from, Romance was my top pick when deciding what Breathless Press (then a nameless publisher) would release. The Romance genre is a giant market. It sells billions of dollars worth of books a year. Romance not only serves a monetary purpose, but it also provides satisfaction, happiness, and pleasure to those who read it. In our current economic period, I felt it was the right time to offer more books that made people forget about their problems and allow them to take a quick vacation. The Romance genre provides so much to readers, and I wanted to be part of that.

Breathless Press is not about quantity. We spend a lot of time on each book, crafting it, editing it, and building it up. I view eBooks as a house. You have to establish a sturdy foundation (the publisher). From there, you build up slowly, so that once it’s finished, it won’t collapse. The time you put into the book will pay off, which is why Breathless Press strives for quality.

Covers are like windows allowing readers to peer inside the house. I love art. Art is an amazing medium and allows so much expression. I will admit now, I do not have the time to read every story that we publish (shocker, I know). I will read close to every title, though, but I just don’t have enough time to read them all. The cover is such an important part in the production of the eBook, because it allows readers to sample what is to come.

Over the past year, we have seen unprecedented growth. We saw a 400% increase since last year. This means Breathless Press gets more chances at doing new things. This fall, we are releasing our very first print book. It will be available through our website and from bookstores that sell romance books.

We have decided to start publishing anthologies. Anthologies allow readers to taste a variety of authors and see which ones they enjoy. Currently, there are 3 anthologies out with another one in November and December. Next year, we have at least 7 planned; so for all those writers out there we are looking for under 10k stories! Another big move for us to gradually moving to 3 releases a week. Over the next 6 months we are increasing our releases to match what the large houses are producing.

Authors are everything; without them, publishers wouldn’t have anything to publish. Breathless Press wants to make every author feel special. We are like a fine bed and breakfast, catering to most needs of authors and trying to give them the best care we can. If our authors are happy, we are happy, and our readers will want to read their books. Each author becomes part of our family and is a friend and treated like one. I believe this allows us to create a better relationship, and happy authors produce great books.

Thanks again Amber Skyze for this great opportunity!