We were lucky to catch up with Lisa Kastner recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lisa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I’ve been a writer for over 25 years. I started off in journalism and corporate communications. Eventually I decided I truly wanted to explore fiction. Not for any specific reason. I just felt like I had all of these stories inside of me and I wanted to play. After several years of submitting to various publications, while attending conferences and workshops and seminars, I joined the board of various writers organizations. In my explorations, I became amazed at the number of fantastic authors I encountered who simply couldn’t seem to get published. It shocked me. Literally on the first date with my now husband, I was telling him about these experiences and in the midst of my diatribe, he stopped me and asked, “Why don’t you start your own publishing house?”
I had never considered this before. I mean, was it that simple? Could someone simply start a publishing house? When I asked him this, he said, “Why not? It works that way in music, why not in storytelling?” (My husband is a musician and a music producer.)
“Great question,” I said to him.
I spent the next few years researching this to better understand what it takes to publish stories and how large publishing houses decide upon which stories they’ll acquire. I would pull agents and editors aside at writers conferences, bribe them with a glass of something-somethin’, and ask, “How do you decide what you want to buy?”
That’s when I discovered that most said they made the decision based on what types of stories did well previously, not necessarily on the quality of the writing. Most had admitted that they had encountered stories they loved and had to pass on because they couldn’t build a business case to purchase it.
And that’s when we decided to start our own publishing house, Running Wild, LLC.
Lisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Sure, I’m Lisa Diane Kastner, Founder and Executive Editor for Running Wild, LLC, a content creation, distribution, and licensing company with the publishing houses Running Wild Press where we publish great cross genre stories, and RIZE Press where we publish great genre stories written by people of color and those of other underrepresented groups. Running Wild and RIZE publish ebooks, paperback, hardbacks, and audiobooks as well as license stories to others.
We’ve been featured in FORBES and several other publications. I’ve been named to multiple “Best of”s. I started Running Wild with the belief that we can change the world through story.
Lisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Running Wild, LLC, a content creation, distribution, and licensing company with the publishing houses Running Wild Press where they publish great cross genre stories, and RIZE Press where they publish great genre stories written by people of color and those of other underrepresented groups. Running Wild and RIZE publish ebooks, paperback, hardbacks, and audiobooks as well as licenses stories to others.
Featured in FORBES and several other publications, she’s been named to multiple “Best of”s. Lisa began Running Wild with the belief that we can change the world through story.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Growing up, I had this bad habit of deciding that I wasn’t good enough or talented enough to accomplish something so before I would even take the chance to try something out, I would simply not try. Admittedly, I did this out of fear of rejection or failure. I didn’t want to let others down so it was less painful to simply not try. But what that also meant was that I didn’t even put myself in the running so the truth was that I had no idea what I could have accomplished. Until one day, I had a boss with whom I truly admired. He was brilliant. I mean, literally brilliant. We were talking about dreams and desires and when I said I had never submitted any stories I had written to a publication, he said, “Why not?”
“Well, what if they turn it down?” I stumbled.
He shrugged. “So what? If they turn it down then you just send it some place else.”
I stared at him for a minute, processing the truth of this and said, “Yeah … why not?”
The next day I submitted a story I had written to a publication I admired. Admittedly, I never heard back from them and miraculously, there was no physical pain with that passive rejection. And with that realization, I decided that if I wanted to do something or accomplish something and I was afraid then all I had to do was ask my self, “Why not? What do you need to do to make it happen?” And then just go for it.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
We are very active on social media – Twitter (X), Facebook, LinkedIn, as well as across conferences, festivals, workshops, and the like. We have weekly livestreams in which we engage with our fans. Those are the primary ways we stay engaged with our people.
In terms of fostering brand loyalty – it’s all about the quality of the work and being real. We are sure to publish great stories that truly engage potential fans and we are “real”. We don’t behave in ways that are disingenuous. We want our fans and followers to feel like they are part of our family … because they are.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.runningwildpublishing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningwildpressllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningwildpress
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/runningwildpress
- Twitter: runwildbooks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDZsgnRW_PakI0LSvMXN5og