The starting of any business is a risk in difficult economic times but hard work and dedication have paid off for Maryann Hayatian and her husband who started Flower Press Publishing, a Dollard des Ormeaux-based independent publishing company in November 2011.
In a little bit more than a year, Hayatian a writer herself, editor and creative writing teacher and her husband have build this company from the ground up and are proud to call it a success with six authors published and 10 in contact with them.
The workload of editing, publishing books, their eBooks, organizing distribution, book readings and book signings, has come in slowly at the beginning but business is booming as more and more authors get to know Flower Press.
The first two authors to come to Flower Press were Laval natives Pierre Fiset and Damiano Ferraro who wrote a children Christmas book called ‘The Gopher’s Christmas Adventure’ in March of last year.
Their book sold over 500 copies. Since then, the authors had the opportunity to be interview by CTV’s Mutsumi Takahashi, had a book signing at Babar book store in the Pointe Claire Village, a book reading at Pointe Claire’s Chapter’s, a book reading at the Montreal Children's Hospital, a book radio show done at CJMQ radio station (Eastern Townships) and a book reading at Terry Fox elementary school in Laval where they attended as children.
While the small size of the business gives Hayatian and her husband an extra workload, working long hours is not something that rebuffs her.
“We don’t find it difficult though it is lots of work. There are days we finish as late as 2 a.m. If there are things that need to be solved such as book layouts or eBook layout, we work with it until it's solved,” she said.
The personalized approach they are able to provide because of the business’ small size is appreciated by the authors. Thirty-one-year-old Anthony Genova from Montreal was looking for a publisher to get his first book out there: a science-fiction novel called The God Machine. He knocked on many doors and wasn’t satisfied by the offers he was proposed until he found Flower Press.
“It just always seemed like the companies that were around would not be interested in publishing a book, they were just interested in making as much money as possible. I sometimes felt like I was talking to a telemarketer. I didn’t get the feeling that I was talking to somebody who was interested in books. That didn’t give me the feeling that the book would get a fair shake,” he said.
“I finally found Flower Press and spoke with Maryann directly and it was unbelievable. She seemed really hands on with the whole thing and very interested in getting my book out. They seemed like a young company but the thing that I liked about that personally is that they’re learning with you. Maryann knows more about the business that I could ever dream of,” he said.
