How to tell YOUR story

We've all got one inside us.

Nearly every week, someone asks me how I got to be a bestselling author, or how I started an animation studio, or how we develop games.

Chances are, you have a story inside you too.

You might be wondering how to tell it.

Here’s How Publishing Works

It’s kind of like Shark Tank for stories. Someone with a story (in this case a fully written manuscript, that’s the best it can be) comes to Future House with their idea. Our team reads the manuscripts, and rates them on a scale of 1-10. We receive hundreds of submissions a month.

We always have a second reader look over the manuscript too, since some people hate Percy Jackson but love Chronicles of Narnia. We know when a story is good, because more than one reader will independently rate it with a score of 8 or more.

Then we offer a contract to the author. If the author agrees to the terms, they grant the legal permission (the rights) to Future House to publish their story.

Then Future House puts the money into editorial, printing, art, formatting, and marketing the book. They pay the author royalties based on sales.

Future House works together with the author to promote the book.

I think we’ve made some good-looking books, written by some very creative minds.

A few of our greatest hits, and all covers that I love. Some of these authors’ stories have made the top 100 Bestseller list on Amazon.

We sell our books across retail channels: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Indie bookstores, ebook, and audio.

Our books are distributed by Hachette, one of the Big 5 Publishers. That sets us apart from other indie publishers.

The fact that we know how to make TV, Virtual Reality, and Video Games does too. We know how to think outside the book.

But most of all, it comes down to the stories that our authors write.

It’s Not Easy

It’s hard to write a good book. And sometimes even good books fail. “But James Patterson and Brandon Sanderson got rich from writing!” you might say.

I call it the 1% rule.

For every Pokémon Go, there are 99 (or more) failures. The stats show it.

It applies for mobile games. It applies to movies. It applies to writing.

People gravitate to the top 1% of content. Then it spreads via word of mouth. And that’s why the 1% sells.

It’s Like Shark Tank for Stories

I know how hard it is to write a book. I’ve written 6 myself. Each author that submits to us has spent months or even years of their life crafting a world that is close to their heart and personality.

But we can’t publish all of them.

Is that really me… in the tank?

It is a little like Shark Tank. Each book costs thousands of dollars (or more!) to publish. We have to choose wisely. The Big 5 publishing houses are the same way. They have to be selective. So when an author presents their story, and we think it’s incredible, we look at how successful we can make it. Can we sell it?

We look at past results. We analyze. We ask all of you. We ask ourselves if it fits our mission. Then we follow our gut.

Did we love the world building? Did it make us laugh? Or was it a page-turner?

We Tell Stories That Make Us Magnificent

We all have the seeds of greatness in us. We’re looking for stories that make us want to be heroes. To overcome the circumstances we face.

I love what Jeff Wheeler, mega-bestselling author of the Muirwood books said about this in his Manifesto on Virtue.

At Future House, we tell stories that make the people who read them want to be magnificent.

We tell stories that unite us.

Tell Me What You’re Working On

So I’d love to hear your story. Future House Publishing is open for submissions.

Tell me in a word or a sentence what you’re working on in the comments.

If you’re worried about giving too much away, you can be as vague as you want. I just want to know about you.

I want to hear about your story!

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See you in the future.

Adam Sidwell

Creative Director

Future House Publishing & Future House Studios

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And Another Thing…

Try reading Marrow by Preston Norton. It was one of our first bestsellers. With all the Super Hero books/movies out there, this is one with a funny and very brisk take. Especially if you like YA.

Sword of the Week: Gram from the Volsung Saga. One of my favorites because of this:

[Odin] thrusts the sword into the Barnstokkr tree that grew in the middle of the hall and said, “The man to pull out this sword from the trunk shall receive it from me as a gift and he will find out for himself that he never bore in hand a better sword than this.” Soon after he departed every man made his attempt to pull the sword out of the wood. All fail except Sigmund, who easily extracts it.

About my recent shark dive in the Pacific. Do you think that photo above is Real or Fake?