From Digital Book World:
Micropublisher Goosebottom Books has recently announced that is changing its business model to a become nonprofit organization. The children’s book publisher is known for its titles about real-life women who have performed extraordinary feats.
. . . .
As a non-profit 501C3 Corporation, the organization can now foster cooperative relationships with donors and grant foundations that share their mission. “Goosebottom may be ideally suited for a nonprofit model because we have a very focused vision: we are dedicated to diversity in publishing,” said Founder Shirin Bridges.
Independent publishers have a variety of business models to choose from. For those dedicated to a specific mission, a shifting into the nonprofit space can make practical and financial sense.
. . . .
”Goosebottom has had a great run. We have achieved a certain level of success,” said Bridges. “We have a strong footprint, great awareness, and wonderful reviews.” The financial aspects part of the business, however have been challenging. “Books are expensive to produce,” said Bridges. “We cannot reduce the per-item costs. Still, we are competing with large publishers that can.”
Many Goosebottom Books titles are 32-page, full-color books. When printing such books in small quantities, the publisher has had little room benefit from economies of scale. “A Goosebottom book cost dollars to produce,” said Bridges, “whereas books produced in mass quantities cost can cost cents to produce [per item].”
Link to the rest at Digital Book World
PG will note that non-profit status will allow Goosebottom to avoid paying a variety of different taxes that it previously paid, including corporate income tax. Nonprofit status also means that people who are providing money to keep Goosebottom afloat will receive nice tax deductions.
Not clear in the full article what particular type of federal nonprofit status they have sought… though you would think a 5.01 (c)(3), since their intention is to attract donors (which requires, I think, that they have separately been approved by IRS as a “charitable organization.” (In other words, a two step process–the first one controllable, the latter one long as a string….)
If I’m right, they will be a bit hemmed in until they achieve that IRS status. If I read the article correctly, the founder is leaving for another job, which could be a related phenomenon.
The full article indicates they are taking their time searching for the right board members… odd to me that the initial set is not already decided… as this would usually be done in one fell swoop… especially with an existing operation (that has books published, with ongoing needs to be distributed, marketed).
I don’t discount anyone’s sincerity; am just trying to figure out what is going on.
@ Alica
Lots of ways that “non-profit” C-suiters can live high on the hog. Hefty salaries, nice bonuses, cushy offices, company-provided housing (or allowances), generous expense accounts, luxury company cars, first-class airplane tickets, 4-star hotels, Michelin-rated restaurant “business” meals… and more. Reality is rife with such examples.
The “non-profit” label can be — and often is — a crock.
Follow the money. Is it going to the authors? Or to the chief executive?
Non-profit has some requirements, but paying their executives huge salaries is sometimes justified (or should I say, the attempt to justify is made by the organization) because they claim they couldn’t get good people to work for them otherwise.
Those non-profits don’t get my charitable donations.
I wonder if the change to a non-profit status means all the authors get their rights back on the spot? And can then elect to sign up again (or not).
You said it first, Alicia.
Another question is what kind of “donors” they are going to have? There are very few who won’t actually be running the business – expect a lot of highly ideological books coming out of this press in the future.