A MANA Moment Editorial: Making Publishing Dreams Come True

By Dr. Fairy Hayes-Scott
Owner, MarketingNewAuthors.com


“The pen is mightier than the sword.” This is a well-known quote from the play Cardinal Richelieu by British novelist, playwright, poet, and politician Edward Bulwer-Lyton in 1839. However, I do not want to refer to its political significance. Still, I believe in the strength of the pen, the written word. As a writer and publisher, I appreciate the existential strength of the written word.

The written word lasts as long as there is an individual who can read or hear it. The written word gives the writer a true sense of purpose. And this is my joy as a publisher. I have the opportunity to give every writer the fulfillment of sharing academic guidance in a text, mysteries for children, teens, and adults, no-nonsense advice by a senior, a science fiction thriller, poetry, or 
memoir by seniors and so much more.

However, there is a special pleasure in publishing works by seniors. There are some who feel and believe once one reaches a certain age s/he should sit in a rocking chair or go out to pasture. If that is what a baby boomer member of the silent generation wants to do, I have no criticism if that is one's choice. However, I know that everyone in those generations has stories to tell, fictional or non-fictional. And they should have the right to do so. 

And that is when I, as the publisher, began to do “my thang.” In 1991, Robbie Dean Press was born. My first work was a text for my Deaf college students. Then, a deaf/blind teaching colleague asked if I would publish her text to guide parents and professionals about these dual physical challenges, Deaf/Blindness. Then, my students and colleagues encouraged me to write and publish my own English handbook, Bare Essentials, An English Handbook for Beginner Writers. Another colleague inquired if my textbook company would consider publishing his first text, Process and Voice in the Writing Workshop. The review board recommended that text and two other texts, Linguistics for College Freshmen and Sophomores and Propaganda American Style: A Textbook for Critical Thinkers.

Then, in 2002 I began MarketingNewAuthors.com, a self-publishing company. This is when I extended my role as a self-publisher. I was able to make the dreams of writers, especially those with a love for prose and poetry, come true by giving them the opportunity to become published at a reasonable cost. 

For senior citizens, they garnered the chance to share work about war, Dancer and Other Tattered Threads of PTSD Lives; a work for youngsters, 2 Pleasantly Scary Stories for Children; a mystery, Through the Storms, a college professor’s science fiction work, Nick Christopher: Time Traveler, and a currently published memoir, Precious Struggles: The Making of a 21^st Century Woman. 

As a textbook publisher and self-publisher, I have been able to allow writers of all ages to have their works published, including those who have chosen not to rock in a chair but sit at a desk and type a work to share.

Yes, I have been blessed to be a part of the existential value of writing and publishing. The pen is quite mighty; it ensures that whoever uses the pen will establish his purpose and will live forever through his words.