Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studio in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio, brought to you by My Global Presence. The award winning Atlanta public relations agency that elevates brands and non-profits through authentic storytelling and national media campaigns. Find them at myglobalpresence.com. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Atlanta Business Radio. And this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, My Global Presence. If you want global visibility and meaningful impact, go to myglobalpresence.com. Today on the show, we have the co-founder with Lucid House Publishing , Echo Montgomery. Garrett, welcome.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Thank you so much, Lee. I’m excited to be here with you.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am excited to learn about Lucid House Publishing. How you serving folks?

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Well, I have written 25 books myself, all nonfiction, and I’ve, uh, been with the big five Down now down to about the big two publishers and, uh, been with hybrid publishers and very successfully self published. In fact, my biggest selling book, My Orange Duffle Bag A Journey to Track, uh, to Change was picked up by random House after we had self-published. And we were the first published self-published book to ever be acquired by random House. So I’ve done it all. And basically I decided during the pandemic to join my son, Connor Judson Garrett, in Lucid House Publishing to treat authors the way we wanted to be treated, and to offer new opportunities to authors who might have had a hard time breaking into the publishing world.

Lee Kantor: Now, since you have kind of worked at all levels of the industry, can you share a little bit about your kind of maybe look in your crystal ball and see how this is evolving? Because it seems like, like you mentioned, there was, you know, a lot. Now there’s a handful of publishers at where it was before. How has the industry changed and shifted with the ability for so many people to self-publish themselves and the variety of platforms out there for them to distribute their work?

Echo Montgomery Garrett: That is a wonderful question, Leigh. We have seen radical change in the book publishing industry. And what’s been happening over the last several years is that, um, much like the, the music industry, the gatekeepers have become the gates have become narrower, more narrow and more narrow, um, over time. And it’s become tremendously difficult even for authors who have had, um, best selling books, um, to really maintain they’re getting dropped now by their publishers as soon as, uh, their book doesn’t sell as well. And so there have been so many shifts in the industry. Let me just give you a thumbnail. So, um, you almost have to have a literary agent if you are hoping to break in at the top. And so, um, on top of the food chain and in other words, the big publishers. And that’s just not really happening that much anymore either. And so it gave rise to self-publishing. But I think the problem with that is that most, a lot of people who don’t understand the industry think it’s really easy to publish a book, and there are a lot of options out there, but there’s a lot of, um, bad actors that will take advantage of inexperienced people. Um, and so one of the things that, and then there’s hybrid publishing publishers, otherwise known as independent publishers. And I think what makes us different is that I have worked as I’ve spent 40 years plus years as a journalist, so I bring a storyteller’s eye to to whoever my work with.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: And I’m, I’m looking at it from a, the creator of an intellectual properties point of view. And I want to, um, take care of my authors so that, um, they know that number one, anybody that I work with knows that I am going to do my best to serve, to give their story the best chance for success by surrounding them with a really excellent team of, of people, because it takes a lot to get a great book to market. And so, um, and the other thing that’s been happening in the industry is with the rise of AI, I. There are a lot of people who think it’s okay just to use AI to write books, and I’m happy to say that there’s been, um, a big backlash against that in the, among the, in the publishing industry and random House, um, just put out a statement about it that, um, they are not giving permission for any AI to train on their authors voices and that they will pursue legal action. And we are following suit on that as well. Um, because, um, it’s just simply not right to have your work, um, effectively stolen and used, um, without your permission.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. So AI is its own, uh, we can talk an hour just on the AI aspect of this, but I really like to dive into what it’s like to work with lucid and, and how, um, how that helps an author maybe kind of differentiate themselves because like you mentioned it with the ability to, um, self-publish. Anybody can literally, and if you want to tack on AI in two minutes, they can have a book and then they can go through the process and then have it out there as available on some platform. And, um, it’s hard for an author that has a real story to share to be able to get it published in a way that, um, is really true to their messaging comes across professionally and really helps their brand. As you mentioned, you’re working on fiction that really helps move the needle in their business, which is probably the reason why a lot of them are doing it. And to have a Sherpa like you and your team behind them, that’s going to help them, I would imagine, get the outcome they desire, not just the credential of having written a book, because, you know, anybody could get that credential now through self-publishing. As I’m an author, look, I’m on Amazon, but that doesn’t mean you have, you know, kind of a story worth sharing and telling.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Right. And that’s, that’s exactly the issue. Um, last year alone, there were 6 million new books published in the United States. Those are really long odds. And the idea that you can just slap something up on Amazon and have it really do what you hope it would do is fantasy. So, um, by I’ve used basically the, the, um, the different people that I work with, the authors that I’ve selected. I have 15 authors now and we have 17 titles. And among those, every single one has won at least one award. In total, over the last couple of years, we’ve won 44 awards and counting. And the way we accomplished that is we have very high standards. We I put a book coach on the people who need book coaching. Um, if they’re, because some of some of our folks are not necessarily experienced at writing books and, or maybe they’re an entrepreneur, a successful entrepreneur, but they don’t know and they’re a great storyteller. They have got a great story, but they don’t know how to share their story. Um, I love those, those kind of folks. And so what we, what we do is, um, is we put them with a book coach. We put them with a, um, a what I call it’s a, a, a content editor, um, who will really go at their manuscript with a critical eye. And not only just, they’re not just um, looking for um, grammar and that sort of thing, but they’re looking for these um other other things, um, that you want to be right in your book.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Um, we have an incredible designer. She’s worked with world brands, world international brands, she’s worked with, um, several agencies and she designs, um, the interiors of our book, some of our, our um, at editing, I mean some of our um, covers as well. And she’s just phenomenal. And so, um, with all those things together, um, that, uh, that, um, makes a big difference, um, for our authors and, um, we, then we also work with Ingram for distribution. And so that gets us our books in front of, um, librarians and, um, uh, independent bookstores. And we’re big on really, um, partnering with independent bookstores because that is, in my opinion, that’s one of the great ways to connect with your community. And, um, so we do not just simply throw our books up on Amazon and PRI. Um, we, we look for many ways to get our story out there. We have, um, a fantastic publicist. We have a whole team of people who work on our books. So those are some of the things that we do. We also look at several different ways to get our stories out. And we can we can talk about a little bit about that if you want to.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. Well, I’d like to because this is what I don’t. I think that a lot of people I mean, I’m sure you’ve run into more way more than I have, but I talk to a lot of people. And there, there’s a lot of people that say, I want to write a book.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Right.

Lee Kantor: Um, and they don’t know what they don’t know. Like, they like the idea of being a published author, but they don’t know that it’s, it’s not just because you have a laptop and all the letters are there in front of you. That doesn’t make a, you know, the potential for a book is there. All the letters and punctuation is there. But to get it out of your head and onto the page and then not only put it on to the page, but actually capture the stories and articulate the message that you’re trying to get and have it come across professionally, and then also then to get it distributed properly and, and in the hands of the right people. That’s a much bigger undertaking than I think a lot of people think it is. And that’s why there’s so many people that are aspiring authors and aren’t authors. And I think to have somebody on your side that has kind of been there and done that and knows where all the landmines are and how to get the most out of the the work that requires is critical if you want to really make an impact with your work and not just say you’re an author.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Right. And, and that that’s a really important point. Um, because you have to look at this like any other business. It is a business. You not only have to be a great writer, preferably a good writer, a strong writer. Um, you have to have a good idea. You need to be willing to be edited and listened to test your concept with beta readers. Um, there’s so much work that goes into, into a book and I hear that over and over from my, the different entrepreneurs that I’ve helped tell their stories. And a lot of times people don’t understand that they, they are more in love with the idea of having a book than they are about under really delving in and looking at the ins and outs and all the many steps you need to take to make it work. Um, and understanding that it is if to do it right, it’s, you’re going to. The smart people are willing to pay experts to help them and actively listen to what they have to say. Um, sometimes I’ve encountered people who just don’t necessarily want to be edited. They don’t, they think that every word they’ve written is precious. And, uh, there’s a saying in our industry, you have to be willing to kill your little darlings. Sometimes you can think something you’ve written is really clever and it, it just simply doesn’t work.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Um, so so those that’s why I’m very careful about who I take on, because I only want to work with people who are willing to work hard at promoting their own book and are willing. So it dedicated to the mesh message of their book that they’re willing to talk to talk to, um, journalist, be on podcast, um, really get out there and talk to people. Um, I think again, one of the best ways you can do that is really to start in your own community. We’re fortunate here to be based in the metro Atlanta area. And so there are tons of bookstores. There are tons of folks to talk to, um, about our book. Um, but also I think being willing to, if you’re willing to invest the time and energy in creating a work that you feel needs to be published, you also need to be prepared to, um, put it in different formats so you can reach as many people as possible with, with your message. And that’s where I think I shine because I think creatively and I think about ways to get our books into other, other formats, whether it’s film or documentaries or, um, and I’m actively pursuing that for the book because a lot of our books are cinematic. The both the nonfiction and the fiction books.

Lee Kantor: So there. So you’re looking at them through that lens as well. So. And does that help you curate who is the best fit for lucid House when it comes to choosing the authors you want to work with? So if they have a compelling, visually oriented story that might make them more of a fit for you.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Um, absolutely. Because I think nowadays, um, especially the, we’ve seen with the younger generation, it’s well documented that, uh, people are wanting things to be more and more brief. And we’ve been, the younger generations have been raised on great visuals and so their expectations are high. Um, and they’re, but they’re also looking for fresh stories, fresh takes on things. And so that’s something else I keep in mind. And I think that’s another strong suit is, um, I look for stories that are really unusual, diverse voices, stories that I believe even in our fiction books, there are positive messages, things that I believe, although we deal with some heavy topics, ultimately, the books that I publish are about overcomers. They’re about people, ordinary people who do heroic things, um, and who inspire others with their actions.

Lee Kantor: So now let’s walk through the process. So how does it work for someone to even get on your radar? Is it something that you only take referrals or can people submit? Like how do, how would somebody even get, you know, into your, um, kind of periphery.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Um, you know, we, I have to be really selective because I am a small publisher. Um, however it is possible I, I for people to submit, um, the best way to do so is um, we have, we look at, um, you know, you could send it to echo at lucidhousepublishing.com and um.

Lee Kantor: And when you say send it, what could it be a story idea? Is it like what, what is it.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: What, what I would need would be a, um, brief introduction, um, about who the person is, what their book is, if they have a, um, a small, a, like a one page proposal. And maybe if I ask for it. Only if I ask for it. What? I want to see a couple of sample chapters. But that would be it. And I have to say I’m extremely busy. So, um, it might take a while, quite a while for me to get back to the person and um, but yeah.

Lee Kantor: And that person wouldn’t necessarily be the author would be the agent of the author or representative of the author. It could be.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: It could be a representative of, of the author and it might not be, uh, you know, sometimes, like I said, I’ve, I’ve written several books for people. I’ve primarily helped people write their memoirs. And, uh, if I wasn’t the right, if it was someone wanting me to do that for them, um, uh, if I didn’t feel that I was the right person. I do have some other people on our team who might be the right people. I’m, I’m very proud of because I’ve. Of the folks that I work with, because they all are industry, long time industry professionals. Um, one is a journalist that I’ve known for 40 years. Um, and, uh, she’s actually my executive editor and a lot of times she screens things too.

Lee Kantor: So now if you were giving advice for that, um, aspiring author out there that maybe hasn’t put pen to paper yet, what would be some of the things that you would recommend they do before they write the whole book? Is there some things that they can be doing to just test the waters to see if that really that that book in their head is really a book?

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Well, nowadays, um, they’d have to have something really original because like I said, it takes a lot to stand out. Nowadays people are when, when we wrote, when we worked on our best selling book with, uh, which is the, um, I mentioned before my orange duffel bag, um, a journey to radical change, which were looking to republish next year. Um, with update a lot of updates. Uh, we were, we were cross genre and so in cross genre was not a big thing 15 years ago or ten years, even ten years ago now. It’s very accepted. And what I mean by that is the big publishers and, uh, even a lot of the, the hybrid publishers wanted to be able to fit you into one box. Now, it’s very common to have a book that may be, um, uh, cross over onto several genres and, um, it gives more options there. Um, my advice would be to look at some of the books that I think are really fantastic about writing. Um, and, um, so like Stephen King wrote a book called On writing and it gives you his process and how he, um, did it, um, a book that was transformational for both me and my husband, who’s also an author. Um, was Brenda Yulin’s. It’s UELAND if you want to write.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: And um, is written in 1928 and it is a fabulous book for anybody who’s in the creative field. It mainly talks about killing the critic, the within, and that’s one of the many topics that she touches on. And I think a lot of writers, um, wrestle with that and just being able to find your own unique voice and have confidence in it at the same time. A. As. As with a writer who’s really starting out, they. They might want to consider finding a writer’s group. But again, if you. Um. It can be damaging though, if you join the wrong writer’s group. And what I mean by that, you want to find people who are willing to really listen and listen deeply and ask questions. Um, but if you find that a lot of folks are there just to some, some people just love being critics and, uh, I, I prefer to, uh, look for people who are willing to give constructive criticism. And, um, so those are some of the things. And then, um, look at now with some of the, you can find, um, examples of book proposals you online. You can find um um, you can find it where there’s some really good magazines to, for writers. There’s a, a Jane Friedman is well known in the industry for giving great advice to, um, all kinds of writers and just about how about publishing the ins and outs of publishing.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: And, um, I think she’s really good if you find her online and, um, uh, and then find, find readers the way I start any project, I find three, at least three books that are somewhat in, in the, the realm of what I’m looking to do. And I’ll, I’ll keep those in mind as examples. Um, the way I look at their structure, I’ll look at what I think works, what I, what I think didn’t work so well. And I’ll use those somewhat as a guidepost and um, and, and so that’s, that’s my process. And um, every, what I think is fascinating is everybody has a different process of how they like to write and talk to people. If you get an opportunity to go to a book signing to see if you can speak with the author for start going to book signings of people, other people you admire their work, um, check in with your independent bookstore and support other authors. Um, become, make, find a, like I said, find a writer’s group, find, um, some, some people who you trust and feel like you can book, you can be part of that community.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned, um, a nonprofit a little bit earlier is if you’re a leader of a nonprofit is kind of writing a book, um, kind of connected to that nonprofit. Is that a good strategy for a nonprofit, maybe to separate themselves and to really understand, for people to understand the mission, purpose and make it come, come to life through a book.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Absolutely. Um, in fact, one of my favorite books that I worked on was why don’t They Just Get a Job? One couple’s mission to end poverty in their community. And I did that with Leanne Phillips, and she and her husband had started Cincinnati works, um, in um, which helped people coming out of generational poverty find and more importantly, retain jobs. And, um, they, when, when they hired me to be their writer, um, I spent quite a lot of time up in Cincinnati, Ohio, where they were based and went through their coaching program. And, um, and the reason they had, they wanted to write the book was so they could spread their model and they did. And then a lot of what I learned from them, I co-founded Orange Duffel Bag Initiative, the nonprofit that I have, um, uh, to do life plan coaching with homeless, homeless youth, youth, high poverty youth and young people aging out of foster care. And, um, we are now our coaching to college completion has gone national and our, uh, our programs, we have several programs here in Georgia for high school students and, uh, DJ J now DJ J and, um, we just love what we do.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, we mentioned a little bit about, um, obviously print is one of the avenues, but ebooks and audiobooks. Are there any other kind of ways to repurpose the book into different forms? You mentioned film even earlier. When you’re an author now, should you be thinking this broadly when you start so that the end result will get you the outcome you desire?

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Um, absolutely. Because again, there, there are so many now, it’s well recognized. There’s so many different learning styles. And the more you’re able to appeal to the different ways people consume stories, some people are auditory, some people are visual learners. Um, putting, putting things out on YouTube a lot. Some of my authors, um, have YouTubes where they’ll, they’ll regularly post content. Um, some of them have a Substack and uh, right. Have Encouraging things on there. Um, there are so many different ways some people do will start their own podcast. Um, and, uh, I think that’s a great, great medium. Um, it’s just, there’s so many different ways to reach audiences. And I think if you really believe in your book and you believe in your message that you have an important, you have some important things to say, you really need to think more broadly. And, and like I said, you might want to do a video. I mean, we’ve, we’ve done, we’ve done we, because like I said, I think cinematically, uh, we’ve done some really beautiful book trailers for some of our books and even have a Grammy nominated, uh, Grammy winning, um, songwriter who did, um, who did the music for one of one of ours. And, um, we already have screenplays written on one one of our books, and I’m in the process of working with an Emmy nominated screenwriter on a screenplay for My Orange Duffel Bag.

Lee Kantor: It sounds like, um, there’s kind of a blurring of the lines for content creators because there’s so many, uh, avenues available if you have the right story. Um, are you seeing that as well?

Echo Montgomery Garrett: 100%. I’m on one hand, it can be, like I said, overwhelming because so many people are out there. But if you can find a way to break through in one of those avenues, it can launch your book in a really surprising and powerful way. You know, people are finding that all of a sudden, if they put they happen to have something go viral, it can bring your your book may have sat out there for a while, but if it’s a great book, I have faith that people are going to find you.

Lee Kantor: So what’s next for lucid House? Um.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Well, um, we’ve got some really exciting forthcoming books that I am thrilled about. And, um, and again, I’m looking, I’m always looking for what’s, what’s next a new ways. I mean, some of the books that we have coming up are really visual. Um, and they’re by thought leaders and we’ve got some big surprises coming that I’m, I can’t really talk about yet, but, uh, I would encourage people to keep an eye on us because, um, I’m, I, I’m looking to do big things and great things in the world and I want to inspire positive change. That’s my whole goal. Stories are what connect us. They’re the, the beautiful that with every culture. Storytelling has played an enormous role in that culture. And. And I believe firmly that sharing our stories help us connect to humanity, our own humanity, and that of others. And it can provide bridges where there are seemingly none.

Lee Kantor: So so if somebody wants to learn more and connect, what is the website? What’s the best way to connect with you and your team?

Echo Montgomery Garrett: It’s lucidhousepublishing.com.

Lee Kantor: Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Echo Montgomery Garrett: Oh thank you. Thank you so much, Lee.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.