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Every day: Publisher helps fulfill dreams
By ROB PAYNE
For Williamson A.M.
Peter's lifelong dream was to fulfill the lifelong dreams of others. That's just what he does as chief operating officer of Cold Tree Press. If you know anything about printing, you know printing in full color is expensive. It's so expensive that you have to print a zillion copies of whatever you are printing to make the unit cost reasonable. Even the best authors have trouble selling a zillion copies of a book. Cold Tree Press is a print on demand publisher. Print on demand is a method of printing in which fewer books can be printed in full color at a reasonable unit cost. So Peter is able to help those people who have always wanted to write and publish a book. He told me it is very fulfilling to help people bring their ''baby'' into the world. I have wanted to write a book for a long time. In fact, one of my first ''get rich quick'' schemes was to become a best-selling author. When I was in my early 20s, I wrote enough of a novel to present it to publishers to see how the concept flew. It flew like a cow. I quickly learned that you have to be really good and pretty lucky to get published. And even then, you don't get rich quickly only a handful of authors make enough money to support themselves. That's why print on demand publishing is popular. I have been writing this column weekly since June of last year. When a couple of people asked us how they could read all the columns, it occurred to me that we could collect the columns from last year and put them together in a book. We started the column as a way to help others help people in need. We thought a book might be a way for more people to see the ways people have been helping us, giving them ideas on how they can help people they know are in need. I found the Cold Tree Press Web site through a link from a friend's site and I liked what I saw. I have always liked the concept of print on demand, but I liked the graphics and content of Cold Tree Press. I e-mailed Peter a link to Marcy's site and a couple of these columns and asked about the idea of publishing a collection of columns in a book. Peter read much of Marcy's site, God touched his heart, and then we talked. He not only thought the book a good idea, he went one better. After seeing Darcy's art on Marcy's site, he wanted Darcy to do the illustrations for the book. Ever since Darcy could talk, she has said she wants to become an artist and work with Daddy. Peter is helping her fulfill that dream as well. And it is better to do it now, before Darcy becomes a teen-ager and Daddy becomes an idiot. So a book about how people have blessed us has become a blessing itself. Cold Tree Press is discounting or omitting their normal setup costs and helping with other cost cutting measures for book. Peter has done a great job of providing graphic continuity, tying together 30 different stories and 30 different illustrations. If you would like to see sample pages and/or reserve a copy of one of Peter's fulfilled dreams, go to www.everydayisprecious.com/book. Whatever you do for a living, consider using that skill set to breathe life into a needy person or difficult family situation. You could provide God's instrument for the realization of a dream.
Every Day Is Precious is a column to remind us to treat everyone we see today as if it could be the last time we see them. It is written by Rob Payne, whose wife, Marcy, was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in August of 2000. Now 40 years old, she has gone from winning 5 and 10K races to being quadriplegic and on a ventilator at home. For more ways to help others, to find more about Marcy, or to receive e-mail updates on her condition, visit www.EveryDayIsPrecious.com. Readers may contribute to her care by sending donations to Every Day Is Precious, 2051 Harvington Drive, Franklin, TN 37069.
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