We were lucky to catch up with Alayah Dudley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alayah , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Hudson Dawn Publishing is an online publishing company based in Grand Rapids, MI. To build a world-class company that allows authors maximum independence, we’ve merged the best aspects of vanity and traditional publishing.

Like vanity publishing:

· we give more creative control to our authors

· provide choices of how and where a book is distributed

Like traditional publishers:

· we have a team of professionals that guide an author through the process

· upfront financial cost are non-existent

· we will assist in getting your book out efficiently

Unlike either vanity or traditional, we provide authors tips and tricks in marketing, distribution and even minor details, like packaging. Our goals is to help see our authors succeed!

When I was sixteen, I had researched different companies and realized I hadn’t seen a cost-effective publishing alternative. Either authors may not receive the guidance they’d like with vanity publishing or they lose a measure of control over their beloved project with traditional publishing.

Hudson Dawn Publishing is truly the best of both worlds. We offer a combination of literary products and services. HDP has royalties for authors who would prefer to work on their next novel. However, we also have printing for authors who’d like to distribute and sell independently.

We take pride in guiding our authors individually, according to their personal goals, to help them understand what creative decisions should be made for their book to do well on the market. We provide additional services such as editing/writing manuscripts, formatting, and cover design. These services allow our authors the liberty to make innovative decisions for their own book with our team of professionals available to advise when necessary!

Alayah , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and how you came into this industry?

My father is a children’s book illustrator and at 15 years old, I noticed a problem he often ran into. He would work on a project for days, even months, only to have the book published/printed in a manner that didn’t beautify his work or the story. His illustrations we sized down incorrectly and combined with font that wasn’t appropriate for a children’s book. A book won’t sell if it isn’t appealing.

The pandemic provided the “pause” we needed on life to launch this company. When I was sixteen, I hired an illustrator, located a manuscript and set a target of six months for publication. Surprisingly, the full-color printed book was in my hands within four months.

I wanted my business to ensure every author has a positive publication experience.

Looking back, I’m most proud of the fact that at 16 years old, no one urged me to commission an illustrator or publish the first book. I did it of my own initiative. Taking such decisive action without the aid of family or friends helped me to realize that this is what I wanted to pursue.

I would like authors, potential clients, everyone to know that you can publish your book, and by the end of the process, it will still be YOUR book. Hudson Dawn doesn’t want you to relinquish your control over how your book will turn out. Rather, we want to guide authors to ensure their title is professionally executed in a cost-effective manner. We want others to join our creative workshop, where captivating literature is created to further encourage reading and pursuing goals thought to be unreachable. We take authors’ manuscripts and bring them to the light of day. As our motto implies, “a dawn to your ideas,” we take ideas from concept to completion.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

During the pandemic, I think we all started doing things that we never imagined we’d be doing. Some people got a pandemic pet, others dyed their hair. Well…I launched a publishing company!

It started as a challenge, just to see if I could do it. When I realized it was feasible, it turned into a side hustle. I understood that new authors may be leery about partnering with HDP, primarily because we were brand new and didn’t have notoriety. To help with that, we created a mutually beneficial partnership with a local illustrator who had an extensive client base. They wanted their illustrations to be published with integrity and we needed a few clients to help us enter this industry’s doorway. Clients became attracted to our company because we were the complete package deal! They’d hire our independent illustrator who’d bring their book to life artistically. Once the book was illustrated, HDP would take the reins to bring their book to life physically.

Within the next few months of opening, we published three books. Each author, not only became a recurring client, but also recommended us to other individuals who needed an illustrator or publisher! Over the course of a year, we added two more illustrators to our roster. This provided oncoming authors with three illustrators they could choose from, each with their own distinctive style.

We hit a major milestone in 2020 when one of our illustrators was contacted by Michael Chambers (aka Boogaloo Shrimp) after he saw one of our books, “Guess What I Can Be?”

Chambers is a famous actor and dancer, best known for his work as “Turbo” in the eighties “Breakin’”movie series. These movies also starred famous dancers, Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quiñones and Bruno “Poppin Taco” Falcon. Over the course of his career, Boogaloo Shrimp, has collaborated with Paula Abdul, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson, assisting with choreography in various music videos and world tours.

Our illustrator, Chris, Chambers and our team collaborated to write, illustrate and publish, what we believe, is the first children’s book that combines the iconic 80s “Breakin’” breakdancing with teaching kids a lesson in responsibility. “Lil Boogaloo Shrimp and the Clean Sweep” was released May 2023, nearly exactly a year before breakdancing makes its Olympic debut in Paris 2024.

A vibrant children’s book that incorporates learning and dancing is not often seen! We have had the privilege of partnering with several famous dancers and breakdancing schools across the country. Locally, we’ve partnered with non-profit organizations and launched fundraisers to encourage our own community’s youth as well.

Since officially launching, we have published nearly a dozen books, and we have several more that will be released within 2023 and early 2024! HDP is fortunate to have such amazing authors and a professional team whose aim is to ensure the best quality of every book.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Expanding and building a business, working with various personalities, and even the printing process, all of these aspects of my work take time. Over the course of my career I have learned the importance of not cutting corner and ensuring perfection with every project. The patience and diligence that is needed doesn’t come easy for me, especially since there were a lot of distractions growing up in the age of social media.

A pivotal moment that assisted with changing my mindset, and helped to instill patience, was when we collaborated with a certain author. She wrote a special book for her young son and her backstory was very moving. She wasn’t creating the project for financial gain, rather it was to encourage other children and her son. When I discovered the book’s goal and inspiration, it inspired me to give it my all. I apply this mindset to all of my authors.

I always say that I don’t work FOR my authors, I work WITH them. This is not a project my company will blaze through. We take our time to guarantee that both author and our team love the final product. My motivation to complete a project flows naturally after knowing about the authors’ inspiration for writing their books.

Publishing is definitely a long game, however, the fruits of our labor are so worth it. Every time I hold one of our freshly printed books in my hand, I remember the author, their story, their inspiration, who this book is for, and the impact the book will have on others. That is absolutely priceless.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hudsondawnpublishing.com/
• Other: Baxter Community Center Fundraiser: https://www.hudsondawnpublishing.com/baxter

Image Credits
Photographer: Layla D.