Books, books, and more books

The term “my books” now includes not only those I’ve written, but those I’ve published for other authors.

The number of “my books” that other authors have written surpassed the total of “my books” that I have written early last month. And we’re anticipating several more titles available in the near future.

The first book I published after purchasing PathBinder Publishing – A Perfect Childhood by Gary D’Amato – was the third I’d published overall, topping the two I’ve written myself. PathBinder has since also released A Rat for Thanksgiving?, a children’s book by Angela Childs.

In the meantime, I went back to my 18% Gray Publishing company I founded a few months before buying PathBinder and put out another book by Rob McCuen, Tales from the Crypt of an American Working Class Hero. That makes three offerings from 18% Gray.

The other two were another book by Rob and my dad’s memoirs, The Tales of Hoffman(n).

Meanwhile, PathBinder is getting ready for a publishing eruption. We’ve got four books in various stages of production and hope to have them all released sometime in the next few months.

Here’s a bit about what’s coming up at PathBinder:

One is about the 1995 Northwestern (Ill.) University football team whose miraculous season stunned the sports world 25 years ago. The Wildcats shook off a skid of 23 straight losing seasons to rise to a No. 3 national ranking, a Big Ten championship, and a fourth-quarter lead in the Rose Bowl. Tim Chapman, who writes about Northwestern athletics, did an impressive job researching the squad, interviewing players and coaches, and detailing all the reasons why this was seen as such a stunning accomplishment.

Another book, by Michael Simon, details much of what he learned in 43 years as a clinical psychologist. He shares techniques for dealing with children, parents, families, and adults that he found effective during his career. He discusses such topics as ADHD, toileting issues, managing teasing, social skills, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, hording, and more in a comfortable, non-clinical style that lay people as well as those starting in the business will find easy to understand and implement.

The other two are children’s books by my wife, Kimberly S. Hoffman. One is the story of kindness, compassion and gratitude set in 1930s middle America and is based on actual events of which her mother played a part. The other one is a special surprise focusing on a current topic of interest, featuring letters from real children whose names have been changed for the book.

I’m also in negotiations with some other authors and am eager to dot the I’s and cross the T’s so we can get working on those projects.

Big deal

I couldn’t let this post end without mentioning the fantastic reception that Gary’s A Perfect Childhood, has gotten. He’s been on the radio on Milwaukee’s most prestigious AM station (WTMJ AM 620) and had his book reviewed in the state’s largest newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. That exposure has helped him sell a bunch of books and climb on some of Amazon’s bestseller lists.

Way to go, Gary!