BY GREGORY HEDGEPETH
When I first started Vital Narrative Press, my bank account had $24 in it, I had been unemployed for two months and I was living on my grandmother's couch, trying to figure out how I was going to put my life back together.
As a lifelong writer, I had dreamed about starting my own publishing company for years and I knew there was a need for stories by people of color. But with no funds and no prospects, it was obvious the odds weren't in my favor. As the days marched by and my bank account continued to dwindle down to nothingness, I knew I had to take action. I asked myself what I had to lose, bought a domain, filed all the paperwork, created a website, and within a few weeks, Vital Narrative was born.
I had no idea what I was doing at first, but I knew if I took small steps each day and invested everything I could into the business, it would be a success. I took odd jobs and worked at temp services to finance the company while I spent the next several years researching the process, finding mentors, securing authors and learning the business. During our first year, we barely made any revenue, but we continued to make progress month-by-month and our growth steadily increased.
I managed to finance everything out of my own pocket and invested thousands of dollars to be the change I wanted to see within the industry. Some days it seemed like a lost cause and there have been plenty of times where I considered quitting to focus my attention on other things that wouldn't require nearly as much time, effort and money.
But the truth is, I fucking love this company. There are days where I spend eight hours at a desk job, just to come home and spend another eight hours or more working on various tasks that I know will benefit the future of the company. But it's worth it because every time I interact with my authors or our readers, I always come away feeling better - like I'm finally doing what I was put here to do. I know it's a cliche, but it usually doesn't feel like work and every day presents a new and exciting challenge.
I don't know if Vital Narrative Press will ever be a million-dollar company. And I won't feel like a failure if it doesn't. I didn't start this company just to make money - I wanted to invest in people who work hard, so I could help them build a platform and get their stories out to the world. And so far, I've done that... but there's still plenty of work left to do.
So on the days where I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, I force myself to see things from that perspective. These authors took a chance on me, hoping I would enrich their writing careers and I'm still very much dedicated to making sure that happens.
It's humbling when I think about the progression we've made in such a short time. We literally started from the bottom, but three years later, we're still here.
I wanted to make sure that I gave thanks to every author on the roster, our readership and all of our supporters who helped make this dream come true. I hope you take time today to thank all those who helped support your dreams as well.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Gregory Hedgepeth is the editor-in-chief of Vital Narrative Press. You can follow him on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Feel free to follow on all three. Or maybe just two. Yeah, two’s probably good — he’s not that interesting. Gregory Hedgepeth is also the author of MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SUNRISES, THE YEAR THAT ANSWERED and A COLLECTION OF ECHOES. BUY THAT SHIT.