Book Publishing and Marathons?

Good afternoon, it is raining in Oklahoma this morning, but things are beautiful on the publishing front.  Last week I was in Nashville for the Gospel Music Association and the Dove Awards.  It was an amazing time and I had the opportunity to talk with the leaders in both publishing and music as we discussed the future of both industries.  The overall theme seems to be that people are looking for a different way to do business and stay profitable in this new economic environment.  I found myself sitting with many of these music label and publishing company leaders thinking, "Wow, thank you Lord that isn't us!"  Tate Publishing is continuing to experience fantastic growth, we are offering more services, products, and better distribution than anyone else, and our authors are more successful.  While this is a huge blessing, it is also not luck or an accident.  We have decided to offer the best products and services to the marketplace and work harder than anyone else.  Period!

When I returned from Nashville last Saturday I had to wake up early the next morning to run in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in honor of the victims lost in the Oklahoma City bombing.  As any one who has run any long distance knows, when you are running for 26.2 miles you are going to have a lot of time on your hands to think.  As the miles rolled by my thoughts were constantly on why Tate Publishing is so different.  We set out many years ago to be different, to truly create an environment where authors were put first and given the best opportunity, service, products and distribution possible to help them succeed.  Today, all of these elements are realities and the reasons for our publishing house as well as our authors success.  However, you can have all the plans and desire in the world, but if you are missing one key ingredient you will never accomplish anything.  As I was running this point became more and more relevant as the race wore on, you must work hard.  I have often talked with our acquisition department to make sure that every author understood that the one guarantee I can always give on top of our contractual obligations is that we will work harder than anybody else. 

I believe God honors hard work, and if you will poor yourself into something, not be distracted by the negative people or the failures you have experienced and never give up, there is truly nothing that can't be accomplished.  As I ran I continued to realize that this is truly at the heart of who Tate Publishing is, we will work harder than anyone else and never give up.  While we offer more services and products and are on top of every major measurable category in our industry none of that is possible or means anything if you can't put forth the effort to succeed.  At Tate Publishing I get to wake up and lead a group of individuals who desire to work as hard as they possibly can for their authors.  Whether it is cover design, layout, illustrations, video trailers, editing, marketing, or even all the way down the corporate ladder to shipping an receiving, Tate authors are treated different and served by a staff eager to see them succeed and willing to put forth the effort. 

By the end of the race I was elated to simply be done running, but even more I couldn't wait to get the office Monday morning and work!

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions feel free to send them my way!

Ryan Tate