Orange Hat’s Next Chapter: Now What?
When deciding what was next in my career and discussing my purchase of Orange Hat with our founder Shannon Ishizaki, I kept returning to the phrase “service continuity” as my foremost goal. Yes, ownership was changing, and there was soon to be someone else at the helm. But I wanted our authors to feel that they were just as cared for and that their projects would be handled in the same attentive way.
In some ways, this was simple to accomplish. Open communication goes a long way toward building trust, and this was a core part of our transition plan. Shannon’s support through the transition and after was invaluable. Our senior editor Lauren Blue also stayed on, so our loss of institutional knowledge was limited. The books kept on coming out!
But service continuity is only step one. Beyond the transition, I asked myself what my goals and plans were for Orange Hat. How did I imagine the company growing? What were my priorities for the business and our service to authors? And how quickly was I going to implement them? These are questions I asked myself and heard from authors too. And here are some answers.
- Marketing!
Enough said. This is tops of my 2025 to do list. I want to relaunch our quarterly book catalogue, revamp our social media posting strategy, expand our network of indie bookstores (and figure out how we can support them), and restart a monthly public newsletter (in addition to continuing my biweekly email to authors). We talk a lot about partnering with authors when it comes to marketing, and all these steps help make Orange Hat a better partner.
- Launch a new website that includes more flexible design.
Hey! If you’re reading this post, you are on that new website right now! Our new site is build on WordPress, an open source content management system. It offers greater flexibility for design and comes at a lower cost. Our new store uses the platform Woo Commerce, which offers more flexibility thanks to a robust community of developers making new plugins for the store. The new site also offers a visual refresh and a chance to bring both Orange Hat and Ten16 under one roof to help folks understand that we are one company with two imprints. (This also opens up the possibilities of expanding to more imprints without needing to create new websites.)
- Our royalty rates for hybrid contract authors are now more flexible and pay out at higher rates.
Our previous royalty calculation system established a set amount paid per each copy of a book sold. This system was adequate and kept royalties coming on time for over 400 authors. I want to simplify the system further and also ensure we are living up to the criteria for hybrid publishing established by the Independent Book Publishers Association. (Read those guidelines here: https://www.ibpa-online.org/general/custom.asp?page=hybridpublisher). Our new system divides publisher’s compensation received for each book sold (which differs based on where the book was sold; e.g., through Ingram vs. through our website) into a flat amount for Orange Hat and the remainder to the author. Depending on print costs for books, authors earn upwards of 50% of the retail price as their royalty. This is significantly higher than industry average of between 5 and 10%.
- Using more automated and cloud-based tools.
When it comes to new technology, I’m both a skeptic and a willing participant. I want to try new things and also feel no compulsion to keep using them if they don’t meet my needs. When it comes to so-called AI tools, I’ve been pleased with the quality of proofreading from the tools that Apple released this fall. I’m hoping that frees up our editors to think more deeply, rather than worry about every missed comma. Let the computer catch the comma mistakes! As for cloud storage, we’re moving to Google Drive to reduce the chances that different versions of a manuscript get mixed up in email. None of this is a dramatic change, but I hope it keeps us efficient.
- Things that we can’t even imagine right now!
Ideas are cheap, and I’ve got more than enough! Which one will pop out as the next big opportunity? I’m so excited to be on this journey with our authors figuring out how to make and sell awesome books.
Are there any big things you think Orange Hat should focus on? What would make a difference for you as a writer, as a reader? Share your thoughts in the comments!