About Sheaf House
“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” 
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 


Welcome to Sheaf House, an exciting new concept in publishing! Sheaf House is not a vanity press, self publisher, or POD publisher. Sheaf House Publishers is an independent, royalty-paying small press that publishes inspirational fiction. Sheaf House is a proud member of IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association and participates in many of the opportunities IBPA offers to promote its members' books. Sheaf House is also pleased to be a member of  Christian Small Publishers Association [CSPA], which is affiliated with the Christian Booksellers Association [CBA].

Sheaf House books are distributed by APG Sales and Distribution in Nashville, Tennessee. APG employs a national sales team, which includes in-house sales staff. They also have well established relationships with national book trade retailers and wholesalers, such as Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, and Baker & Taylor; and almost all the independent bookstores and regional chains that are members of the American Book Sellers Association, including Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart and Meijers. APG also has a multi-channel internet sales program that reaches millions of customers daily who shop from home through online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Consequently, Sheaf House books are promoted to a wide market.

From Conception to Realization
 
You may be wondering how Sheaf House began and what makes this small press different from other publishers? Let me explain.

I’m an author of inspirational historical fiction who had a frustrating experience with traditional publishing. You see, I got into this business with a dream. I thought once I produced a well-written, exciting story, I’d quickly find a publisher who would be thrilled to add me to their team, and I would be on my way to a full-time writing career. When I finally did get a contract after years of effort, I discovered that was not the case. What I encountered was a series of frustrations and roadblocks to getting my books into the marketplace that left me discouraged and disillusioned.

Sadly, that’s the case for most authors. Few earn enough money at writing to make a full-time career of it, especially those who write fiction. I discovered that many of my writer buddies also were finding it difficult--if not impossible--to land a publishing contract for projects they deeply believed in, projects that were excellently written and had a positive message for readers. Why? Because publishers didn’t consider these projects to be bestseller material.

For years, while stuck in this cycle, I heard a small, nagging voice at the back of my mind whispering, “Why don’t you found your own publishing house?” Each time, I laughed and went on about my business. After all, it seemed incredibly unlikely that a mild-mannered author/editor living a very common, everyday life could manage to pull something that complex out of her hat. So why did I finally say yes to that insidious voice prompting me to take a giant step off the precipice of reason into this particular course of folly? What finally drove me over the edge, so to speak?

The message began to filter through in the spring of 2006 when I watched a program on PBS that featured Andy Andrews talking about seven decisions for personal success. I was impressed enough that I even took notes. But it wasn’t until I listened to the audio CD of Andrews’ book The Traveler’s Gift that summer that the message finally hit me over the head. Andrews tells the fictional story of a man who loses his job, his status, and his self-esteem and comes very close to losing his family and his life as well. During the course of the story, this man is given the same seven principles Andrews discussed in the PBS program, principles that turn his life around in an amazing way.

The conclusion I came to: If God has a purpose for you, if he is bringing something into your consciousness repeatedly, then you had better take hold of it and move it forward because if you don’t, someone else will be given the dream and will accomplish what you could have. They will receive the blessing that was meant for you. They will bless the people you were called to bless.

I concluded it was time for me to listen to the quiet prompting of the Lord to stop allowing others to block what He had called me to do, and to step forward in faith. So, with fear and trembling, I decided to take over control of my career myself, with God’s guidance and empowerment. The best part, I realized, was that by creating my own small press, not only could I publish some of my own works, but I could also publish the work of authors I believe in. That was truly an energizing thought!

You’ll notice that it was Andrews’s story that was life changing for me, not his factual discussion of the principles, affecting as that was. (Is there a message here somewhere?!) The story led directly to my decision to follow this dream of moving the hearts of readers through excellently written stories.

Finding a Logo

When I made the decision to found a small press, the first thing I began to consider was a name and a logo for this venture. One option immediately came to the fore and felt so right I ran with it. My husband’s surname is Shoup (rhymes with shout). This is the anglicized form of the German word Schaub, which means sheaf—as in a sheaf of wheat. Doesn’t that just bring to mind a wonderful biblical image of bringing in the sheaves and rejoicing at the harvest, just like the verse at the head of the Sheaf House home page describes? And naturally, the logo then had to be some form of a sheaf of wheat. Fortunately I was blessed with access to an excellent designer, Florence Davis, who took my poor sketch and created something even better.

What Makes Sheaf House Different?

Right away I decided this venture would have to be established on a somewhat different model from that of traditional mainstream publishing houses or I would end up perpetuating the same problems I wanted to overcome. The greatest drawback to traditional publishing is that it offers authors very little control over what, when, and how they publish and what markets their work reaches. Quite often, communication with the author is minimal. Sales and marketing considerations dominate because mainstream publishers have to, first off, consider their bottom line. Authors whose dream is to simply write the vision God has laid on their hearts, instead of what’s currently hot in the market, often receive very little encouragement or interest. Traditional publishers can’t afford to--and generally don’t know how to--go after the niche markets these projects would appeal to.

Sheaf House is different. Authors are genuinely valued, and they and their projects receive personal attention and open communication about issues that concern them. And as a small, independent press with no leased offices and no in-house employees, Sheaf House can escape the trap of high overhead that drains money off right off the top of the business, necessitating high-volume sales. Sheaf House uses contract workers and the expertise of its authors, wherever possible, for editorial, production and marketing functions in order to keep costs as low as possible. And we actively search out niche markets for the books we publish.  This enables Sheaf House to make a profit with lower sales, while at the same time providing higher royalties for our authors.

Another difference is that at Sheaf House fiction is the main—and only—focus. Sheaf House publishes excellent, unconventional fiction that entertains, inspires, and challenges today’s readers--stories written by authors who have fresh, authentic voices. Faithfulness to the author’s vision and the story’s eternal value are the ruling considerations. With this overriding focus, the stories published by Sheaf House cannot fail to achieve what the Lord plans for them and to bless many souls along the way. And that’s the best consequence any of us could ever hope for.

Each day I’m reminded that running a publishing house is far beyond my meager abilities, but I constantly remind myself that I am only a tool in the hands of the One for whom nothing is impossible. Consequently my commitment, both to my own writing projects and to every author I publish through Sheaf House, is that everything I undertake to do for the Lord will be as excellent as I can make it through God’s power.

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J. M. Shoup, Publisher, Editorial Director, Sheaf House Publishers, LLC