Our Front Edge Publishing Story

Since our founding in 2007, our team has produced books with individual authors and major nonprofits nationwide. We’ve worked with the PBS Kids division, United Way, the Michigan State University School of Journalism, the Arab-American ACCESS network—and many other organizations both in the U.S. and around the world. In early , for example, we will publish Healing the World, the biography of prophetic peacemaker and public health pioneer Gustavo Parajón—working with organizations in Central America as well as the US and the UK.

 

Our Founding Promise

David Crumm, Front Edge Publishing co-founder
David Crumm, Co-Founder

Veteran journalist David Crumm and longtime software developer John Hile founded Front Edge Publishing (FEP) in 2007. Our founding promise: Great media builds healthy communities.

The Digital Scare

That ominous year 2007 was a major milestone in modern publishing. It marked the beginning of what now is remembered as the Digital Scare. Following the introduction of the iPhone by Apple and Kindle by Amazon that year, publishers watched the rapidly rising tide of e-readers. They assumed that ink-on-paper books would vanish as earlier formats in music and video had disappeared. Across the nation, many publishing projects were abandoned. Major bookstores closed. The tide did not turn in that rush toward e-books until 2013, when it was clear that Americans were returning in the millions to ink-on-paper books. Now, publishers recognize that any effective releases must be simultaneously produced in paper and also in an array of e-book formats. Most publishing companies were dramatically disrupted and some failed or were gobbled up in acquisitions. However, that transformative period in publishing produced our greatest strength at Front Edge. Committed to publishing books that would make our world a better place, one new title at a time, we developed a unique approach to producing books.

The Core of Our Innovation

John Hile, Front Edge Publishing co-founder
John Hile, Co-Founder

At the core of our innovation is FEP Publisher John Hile’s development of our signature XML-first publishing system, which creates books through a seamless digital production flow. At the end of this process, the total content of each book is held in an easily modified single source file. Initially, this allowed us to smoothly adapt to the rapid rise of multi-format e-books. Now, our XML-first software allows us to easily accommodate the robust resurgence of ink-on-paper publishing. As those publishing systems continue to add a wide range of choices in paper, ink color and binding formats, our production system opens the entire array of options to our authors. In an ongoing way, our books can be revised, updated and reformatted. We can modify covers and add or revise pages for customized special orders. We can change editions completely within a matter of a few weeks rather than the cycles for revision that are measured in years at more traditional publishing houses.

FEP Editor David Crumm’s contribution is on the content side. Drawing on his lifetime in international journalism, Crumm selects our partnering authors and organizations. With a journalist’s eye on the world, he especially seeks out important, compelling and inspiring stories to share with readers around the world. Together, Crumm and Hile organized FEP as a hybrid publisher. That growing segment of the publishing industry holds to traditional high standards for developing and editing new books, while partnering with authors to share in production costs—as well as passing along to authors a higher revenue from the books we produce together.

The Resurgence of Book Production

Dmitri Barvinok, Front Edge Publishing Director of Production
Dmitri Barvinok, Director of Production

Now, Front Edge Publishing is in the vanguard of the resurgence of book production in all forms from digital e-readers to ink-on-paper formats to flexible multi-media books.

Because of the rising tide of our business in recent years, we have added a third partner. Director of Production Dmitri Barvinok contributes skills in both the realms of journalism and digital development of new books. Today, the three partners also are proud to work with Director of Marketing Susan Stitt, Accounting and Finance Manager Patty Thompson, and a growing circle of editors and designers.

Susan Stitt is marketing director of Front Edge Publishing and owner of Morgan Street Media Services, a public relations company. Over the years, she has guided many authors through the challenging process of launching books and developing strategies that lead to growth in readership. Susan is proficient in writing book metadata, press releases and Amazon advertising. She creates promotional materials for media outreach, including video book trailers. Susan oversees the social media accounts for Front Edge Publishing, Read the Spirit books and Morgan Street Media Services.

Patty Thompson has decades of experience in management and finance. She has proficiency in accounting, consulting and administration in various fields such as manufacturing, publishing, software and nonprofits. She has experience as a leader in strategic planning as well as team building, with established skills in budgeting and leadership. She is committed to achieving positive results for customers and shareholders. Specifically, Patty helps provide authors and publishers with data analysis and key quarterly reporting. She also ensures that clients receive their associated earned publication royalty payments in a timely manner. 

We continue to work with individual authors. We also have strong evidence that publishing books adds value in many ways to nonprofits, schools, community groups, health care organizations and corporations, as well. In late 2017, we completed an in-depth white paper for United Way and the U.S. Corporation for National & Community Service (CNCS) analyzing the impact of two years of publishing with six nonprofits under a CNCS grant. The conclusion of that analysis was: Each group that launched a book in those years expanded its reach and authority in the community and opened doors to further scaling.

Five hundred years after the introduction of books in Europe, books are still a powerful media technology. Books are major game changers in a world oversaturated with streaming media.

Our 10 Principles of Publishing

Through this entire journey, our team continues to be guided by 10 Principles of Publishing, which we first posted online in on our first day in business. Many authors and partnering organizations have found that these ideals form a solid foundation for innovative, groundbreaking publishing. In fact, the Louisville-based nonprofit Center for Families Learning, which promotes literacy nationwide, distributed copies of our 10 principles to its regional representatives at the Center’s national conference.

Here are those 10 principles:

  1. It’s about the voice, not the book. The power lies in the message itself, not in any particular form of media.
  2. The truth always comes out. So, it’s best to rigorously pursue the truth.
  3. We must look for the truth in every stage and condition of life—because we often overlook the voices of the most vulnerable among us.
  4. It’s about connection, not competition. Our messages should call people together, not divide them.
  5. The most powerful stories are in the lives of ordinary people, who often assume they have nothing to contribute. We must draw them out.
  6. People need inspiration now. It’s a truth emerging in poll after poll and it’s certainly true in publishing.
  7. We are in an era of profound change in our human relationship to our planet. Great publishing helps us to more clearly see our place in the world.
  8. Inspiration moves through community. It’s been true for thousands of years. Good media builds healthier communities.
  9. Radical transparency is good business, certainly in publishing.
  10. Peace is possible. Choose to contribute to peace, not conflict, and our audience will grow.

Privacy Protection

Front Edge Publishing fully complies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation. In fact, we welcome it and we think writers and authors around the world should join us in encouraging such openness about privacy and personal rights. Following the GDPR’s encouragement, we published this plain and clear explanation of our compliance.

Meet Front Edge Publishing’s partner publishers

We’re very proud of our partner publishers. Meet the people and organizations empowered by Front Edge Publishing.