The Creation of BrightStar Publishing | BSP Inside Look

A handful of writers and readers at one point in their lives dream of owning and operating a publishing company because of their passion for story. And our advice? Go for it. If you're passionate about something, let that passion guide you.

But owning and operating a publishing business requires more than passion; That's the minimum.

What do you need to start a publishing company?

Determination, drive, passion, thick skin, the want to learn more, and etc., just to name a few. Starting a publishing company is not easy work, but depending on your outlook, can be super rewarding. Also, you can't start a business over night, so prepare to spend a lot of your time and effort doing tasks for your publishing company.

We have been operating since October 2020, and we've barely made an indent in what we really want to do. It takes TIME and that's okay. As cliche as it is, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Do I need money?

Yes and no. Eventually to grow, you will need some money. But to start out, no. You can make social media accounts for free, a basic website for free, some people might want to help you for free. Get the name of your company out there first before you think about putting money into books or marketing. There are a lot of free resources out there, so take advantage of them!

Eventually though, you will need some money. Once your business grows you'll want a more professional looking website, if people work for you you'll want to pay them, when you start taking submissions you'll need money to promote and create those books, and also when you want to register your business.

So far, we have put less than $1,000 into BSP and we feel as though we're on the right track. Money doesn't determine our success. Building a community around our company and getting our mission out there is what we are basing our success on.

What we've done so far:

1. Published our website

2. Revealed the cover of our debut novel

3. Signed another author onto our team

4. Created a community around our company on social media

5. Continue to uplift LGBTQ+ writers

6. Collaborate with other queer writers/readers to enhance BSP

Goals for the future:

• Recreate our website

• Open submissions

• Have more people join the BS team

• Publish our debut novel (and then another novel after that)

• Start a workbook line for writers. Series planning, character profiles, book launch planner, world building organization, weekly writing check ins, massive personality worksheet, etc.

• Book tours

• and MORE

We love books. We love storytelling. We love reading. And we LOVE sharing the stories of queer writers. We want to amplify the voices of the LGBTQ+ community and that is our passion. Luckily for us, this passion is stronger than anything which is why we work tirelessly to get the company off the ground with or without help and money. Nothing will stop us.

BrightStar Publishing is dedicated to telling stories that are harder to hit the spotlight just because they're not a "majority." That's not fair. We have to fight harder to get what others get on a silver platter. We can only do this with your help.

Together, we will change the normal. We will share stories that need and deserve to be told. We will be up there with the big 5. We will make dreams come true. But we can't always do this alone.

The rest of this series will will be giving you an in depth tour on what it's like running a publishing company just in case you would like to start one up as well, or even if you're just interested in seeing what we do! We want to help and shed light on running a start-up.

TAKEAWAY:

Write your stories. Tell your stories. Advocate for your community in any way you possibly can. Keep doing what you're doing no matter how hard it may be. We will support you, and there's always someone out there who believes in you.