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Author's efforts let book take wing
By SHARON L. BOND © St. Petersburg Times, published April 22, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Author Michael Sterns decided he didn't want to be at the mercy of what he described as "fickle publishers" when he finished his book, Kokopelli and the Butterfly. "The rejection one normally has to go through to lose your property, and then have it completely edited at the publishing house," dissuaded him, Stern, 32, said in a recent interview. He went to middle and high school in Pinellas County and graduated from the University of Florida. He now lives in Tampa but has an office in St. Petersburg. Kokopelli and the Butterfly is an inspirational story of an American Indian mystic who preaches love of people, animals and the environment, peaceful conflict resolution and turning weapons to tools to grow food. Through his goodly ways he finds the love of his life. Sterns said he was inspired to write the book after a visit out West in the summer of 1995. He was overwhelmed by the natural beauty and intrigued by the tribal icon, a dancing flute player, that he saw again and again. To be a self publisher, Sterns became a researcher, fund raiser, art director, promoter, bookseller and marketer. So far he has sold all of the 2,500 books in the first printing at $19.95 each, and at least 200 of the second printing of 5,000. Kokopelli and the Butterfly is available at major bookstores in the Tampa Bay area. Sterns keeps the stock stored in his father's garage in Palm Harbor. Initially, the book was supposed to be a kind of valentine to love and peace that Sterns planned to give to family members. He hoped to find some student artists to illustrate his story and then figured he'd have it bound at Kinko's and be done with it. However, Sterns met a Disney cartoonist, Joseph V. Cioffi, who over the next five years did 33 drawings for the book, charging Sterns $1,500 and 15 percent royalties. The drawings were black and white, and Sterns wanted color so he got his friend, Gayle Deal, to color the drawings on the computer for $500 and 5 percent of the royalties. During this time Sterns was working in advertising at the Weekly Planet weekly newspaper in Tampa. The editor there introduced him to Jim Walter of Kichita Productions in Tampa. "He helps authors with the technical aspects of getting a book out," Sterns said. "He helped with the copyright, the ISBN, Library of Congress and bar codes." Sterns said he was Walter's first client and ended up teaching Walter as much about marketing books as Walter knew about the technical aspects. He did not pay Walter for his help and now acts as an agent for Kichita, Walter's small publishing house. Sterns said he received a lot of encouragement from family and friends, which led him to pre-sell the book. He asked supporters for $20 with a promise that they would get the book when it was finished. He raised $6,000 that way. "A distant cousin bought 50 books," Sterns said. "The rest came from an angel in a loan with no interest." He would not say how much the loan was but says the venture is about the same as the cost of a new, small size car. He also said he now has about $16,000 in outstanding debt. "I had a manuscript and many line drawings. I always showed people progress," Sterns said of his pre-sale campaign. Sterns spent a lot of time in bookstores after he decided to publish the book himself. He said he couldn't afford to buy a lot of how-to books so he settled into chairs at bookstores, bought cups of coffee and stayed for hours. He got to know a lot of bookstore employees because he was such a regular. These acquaintances would come in handy when he was looking for a distributor, Sterns said. "You can't sell individually to bookstores. You have to have a distributor." A bookstore manager referred him to a distributor who on the basis of a recommendation from the manager sent him a contract, Sterns said. "I got in the back door, so to speak," Sterns said. "People need to be less afraid of asking people for help. People's propensity is to help other people, especially in something where there is art." Getting the book published and in bookstores was not the end of Sterns' marketing job. He maintains a full schedule of story telling, book signings and visits to schools and religious settings all over Tampa Bay. He also attends special events. Earlier this month, he spent the day at Sunken Gardens, telling the tale of Kokopelli and the Butterfly in eight different settings at the refurbished gardens. "A decent day for me is to have fun, to talk to the kids," Sterns said. He advertises the book as one for parents and children to enjoy together because of its positive message.
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
