The Rhemalda Story…

In the spring of a year-long gone, Rhett Hoffmeister attended an author signing in a small, remote town in Central Washington. As he talked to the author who was signing books, he was deterred from rather than persuaded to purchase her book.She began, as all authors do, speaking highly of her book, as her first “baby.” She referred to the painstaking labor of writing it with similar sentiments that a new mother refers to her pregnancy.

She spoke of her years of writing, editing, submitting, getting rejected, re-writing and re-submitting as a “saga.” This is something that all authors can relate to. Then finally she landed an agent and received a coveted contract with a renowned publisher. She was ecstatic for a small amount of time, until her anxiety surfaced.

She received her proof copy, sans cover, and wondered if her “baby” had been swapped at the hospital. This is not my manuscript! Where is my favorite scene, the one that I spent a year perfecting and that I quote to everyone that will stop and listen to me for even a minute? Oh no, that change makes it so that I have to go and change ten scenes in book two and four scenes in book three. Frustrated and heartbroken that her child had been raised by another mother, she swallowed her pride and decided to bask in the knowledge that her child was finally growing up, whether it needed mommy or not.

Then the day of truth arrived as her second proof arrived with the cover. She sobbed as she realized it was nothing like she imagined. In her opinion, it was totally wrong, but when she called her agent and publisher, they could do nothing about it. The art department had all the say and the cover had already been sent to the printer. Not to mention that the designer was proud of his resourcefulness in staging the cover objects and relished the native feel.

Now, months later as the author sat in bookstore after bookstore signing copies of her fully raised child, she spoke of how disappointed she was in how it grew up, in the choices made.

Rhett saw the truth – that the book was not worth purchasing – no matter that he could get a signed copy and add it to his collection of juvenile works that he reads to his two small sons. He was convinced the book was not worth purchasing, so he passed on it.  But he did not pass far, he walked around the corner and “acted like” he was checking out another novel, the whole time listening over and over to the depressing story of this author’s “saga” to become published.

Finally heading home, Rhett jumped onto the Internet determined to find out if this author’s journey to become published was normal or whether it was an exception.

Discouraged by what he found, he considered that authors work hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours creating masterpieces that they should be praising as the most magnificent piece of art since Michelangelo’s David, since Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa, but instead, here they are disappointed and retelling the events as a horrible saga.

Breaking down all of the element’s Rhett determined that in almost all of the situations he read about it boiled down to one simple cause. The author was not a part of the entire publishing process.

That is how Rhemalda Publishing began, with Rhett Hoffmeister’s vision that Rhemalda would be a publisher that involved their authors 100%, that the authors could be proud that their child was raised as they thought it should be. That decisions about storyline, content and cover design do not adversely affect either the author’s vision for the story or, more importantly, the remaining books in the series.

Rhett, with his passion for books and his expertise in project management, and his wife Emmaline, the forever learner, studier and researcher, set forth to develop a publishing model that would accomplish this very task, one that seemed to be unattainable.

Three years later with hundreds of books read, dozens of interviews with large and small publishers completed, tons of literary agents blogs reviewed, author forums stalked, not to mention the frequent talks with lawyers and accountants, Rhemalda Publishing opened its doors for manuscript submissions with an unbending mission in place to obtain the unattainable. Rhett demands from everyone at Rhemalda that every author is consulted, that every suggestion is considered and that every concern is worked through, no matter the painstaking time that it requires. As with any business, there may be times when not everyone agrees 100% and someone must make the final decision, a task that lands upon Rhemalda, but our authors will never be able to say that they were not consulted.

Did we succeed? Well, that is for you to ask our authors.

Rhemalda authors can be proud of their “babies,” speak of it as the cutest, most perfect baby ever born, as all parents should.

Rhemalda authors will be so excited about the arrival of their “bundle of joy” that they will want to announce it to their neighbors, their family, perhaps the entire world. They will get up at night to check and see if someone posted another review, or see if someone tweeted about them. They will sit and gaze admiringly at their Amazon or Barnes and Noble sales rank or make sure that their book is out of the direct sunlight so as not to burn or fade the pages.

Ultimately, we want each and every author to revel in the process of fulfilling their desire, goal and dream of becoming a published author and to be proud to state that they are a part of the Rhemalda Publishing Family.

Sincerely,

The Rhemalda Family