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Review from Fahizah Alim
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, January 6, 2005
Pamela M. Johnson believed her gritty tale of a young inner city woman trapped in the vicious cycle of drugs, poverty and crime would make a compelling novel.
However, she couldn't find a publisher or even an agent who shared her vision.
Enterprising and determined, the young Bay Area writer self-published her debut novel, "From a Hard Rock to a Gem: A Memoir of a Lost Soul" ($14.95) last January.
"Too many people condemn urban life without making any real attempt to understand its people, their ideas, their philosophies and their opinions," says Johnson, calling from her office in San Francisco.
So using a print-on-demand method, Johnson published 50 to 100 copies of the book at a time, depending on her finances.
She took to the same mean streets that inspired her story and sold the books out of the trunk of her car.
"I sold them at every hair and nail salon within driving distance," she says.
Four months and 1,200 sold copies later, a friend - impressed with Johnson's book as well as her business zeal - invested enough funds to have 20,000 copies of "Rock" printed.
"Now all I had to do was find a distributor," Johnson recalls.
Johnson - who graduated from San Francisco State University in 1994 with degrees in three specialities: public relations, organizational management, and speech and communication - was putting all of her education to work.
Soon, her small Macavelli Press had created a direct relationship with the buyer for African American books at Barnes and Noble, who ordered 1,000 copies.
The next breakthrough was a contract with Baker and Taylor, which got her book into Borders Books and Music. And then, with Ingram Book Group Distributors, an international company.
Three African American-owned distributors, A & B Books, Culture Plus and African World Press, placed her novel in 200 independent black bookstores, and Walden Books recently ordered 2,000 copies, she says.
Just last month, an ecstatic Johnson signed a distribution agreement with American Wholesale Company, which will place her book in Sam's Club and Wal-Mart.
A second novel is due out in March. Plus, Maca-velli Press plans to publish other African American authors and use its distribution channels to sell the books.
"A lot of people can't believe the success I have experienced in less than a year," Johnson says. "But I was tired of rejections."
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