Books, Films, and Music for the New Paradigm
“Art and storytelling serve primal, spiritual functions in my daily life. Whether I’m telling a bedtime story to my kids or trying to mount a movie or write a short story or a novel, I take it very seriously.” These words come from Guillermo del Toro, Mexican filmmaker who directed the Academy Award-winning fantasy films Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, winning the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for the latter.
Here at Arise, compelling storytelling is the driving force behind our work. We bring that same reverence of story to all of the media publications we manage. These include children’s books: Be Well Bee, Brave Spirit; youth fiction novels: Wyld; documentary films: Voices of the Grandmothers, Wild Family; music albums: Colors Flying… These titles are all available on Amazon, and other online retailers.
Media Publishing Services:
Books, Ebooks + Audiobooks / Music Albums / Films
Books, Ebooks + Audiobooks
A youth fiction novel series about a school of outdoor education in wild Wyoming
Arise media production manager Cabe Lindsay is a prolific author and illustrator. He makes books in multiple genres. Big Idea Patterns is his debut creative nonfiction title, promoted as a “creativity toolkit.” Be Well Bee is his first children's book, published in 2013. Since then he added Brave Spirit, Colors Flying, I Walk In Beauty, and the compilation Wild Wyoming. His youth fiction novels include Wyld and Wyld 2, with two future books in the works for this series.
A children's book about a journey in nature, where two souls meet
Book Publishing Trends
Independent media publishing is increasingly popular in modern times. In fact, 40% of all e-books released in 2020 were self-published (Source: Bowker). Based on our first-hand experience, we recommend publishing through two distribution channels: Amazon and Ingram. This ensures readers around the world can find and buy books practically anywhere they are sold online.
In the book publishing industry, the ebook market share is projected to grow from 20% in 2020 to 25% by 2023, and the audiobook market also shows substantial growth (Sources: Statista, Allied Market Research). Currently, softcover books represent the majority of book sales. Meanwhile, hardcover books are still popular as gifts, and they are valued for their durability and collectability.
Why Hire Professionals?
One advantage of hiring a professional media publishing service is that we know how to handle the technical aspects of publishing, such as formatting and distribution, freeing up the author to focus on writing. In addition to managing the technical requirements, we offer services for illustration and design, proofreading, and editing. These services enable authors to present their work in the best possible light.
Here at Arise, we make ebooks and printed books with sophisticated layouts and captivating illustrations. In the ongoing Wyld book series, for example, we handle the editing, layout, illustration, design, and marketing. In fact, Arise oversees every step of the publishing process outlined here, and we offer these professional media publishing services as one of our strongest areas our specialty.
Why Print On Demand?
Nowadays, indie authors can distribute their books through print-on-demand (POD) publishing. The most notable advantage in this publishing method is that there are no upfront costs for printing, storage, or shipping. Also, authors can make revisions at any time, giving them more control and flexibility with their books. Plus, POD is considered to be environmentally friendly, as it eliminates the need for large print runs, reducing waste.
Book Promotion
Publishing is the final phase of any media production, but there’s another step in the distribution process: promotion. This is where videos and photos can help boost a book’s online presence. While it’s true that online bookstores such as Amazon make it easy for authors to reach a wide audience, the audience needs to know what to look for first. Writers can easily share an Amazon link with a potential book buyer, making it buyable within two clicks.
A children's book about a bee's journey to fertilize a faraway flower
Be Well Bee is a children's book written and illustrated by Cabe Lindsay. This launch party happened in Austin, Texas, during the Spring of 2013, featuring special guest bee expert Kim Lehman, and activities all about bees, book building, and the bzzzarre things. This video is filmed and edited by Wenjing Zhang.
A guide book about inner transformation
Mindful Metamorphosis is a nonfiction self-help book by Michele Schalin. A packed audience attended the book launch party at Vintage Wine and Books in Austin, Texas. This author's success story is a joyful journey of self-discovery. Her book shares techniques for cultivating self-love, healing from trauma, controlling your thoughts, regulating emotions, and changing subconscious beliefs.
A book for the inner child about a quest for a forgotten dream
The Scent of Dreams is a children's book written by Sarah Lessire and illustrated by Jen Carnes. This is a book for any reader's inner child, blending surreal logic and symbolic fantasy. It is a story designed to share, to read, to give and to receive, and most importantly, a story to live.
Music Albums
We recommend eco-friendly wallet CD packaging, along with digital distribution
Colors Flying is an album by Austin rock band Cosmic Butterflies. This band chose to publish their music through digital distribution, with limited-edition CDs for live music events. The eco-friendly wallet CD packaging is a plastic-free alternative to the common jewel case, keeping the music secure while making it attractive to eco-conscious consumers.
The Colors Flying album is available almost anywhere music is sold and streamed online: Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube... Naturally, we support our media creations with professional videos and photos. In fact, we created eight separate music videos to promote each of the songs on the album. Here are a few examples.
This music album is a good example of our work as music publishers. For this project, we created original art to reinforce the storylines we see in the songs. In our interpretation, this spirited music expresses the thin veil between life and the afterlife, and so we illustrated simple glimpses of heaven on earth, with gold tones and blue tones to dramatize the two worlds.
Enjoying a journey where two souls meet
Visualizing the mystery existing in the place between places
Juxtaposing the “heavy” and the “heavenly” parts of parenting
Films
We published the Wild Family film in the DVD format in 2015
Wild Family is our first feature-length documentary. We had the pleasure of presenting this film on the big screen when we hosted the world premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse. This film is currently featured on Films for Action, on online library of trailblazing documentaries, in addition to Amazon and other major movie sellers.
A Wild Family TV episode examining nature’s role in parenting
The Wild Family film success led to an offshoot docuseries called Wild Family TV, with 20 episodes in total. People describe our family-focused films as “Real, raw, and raucous!” They support families in the art of parenting, on the levels of entertainment and inspiration. Here’s Wild Family TV Episode #4: “We Are All Gardeners.”
Indigenous elders share their perspectives, giving gifts of wisdom
Voices of the Grandmothers is a documentary film, featuring in-depth interviews with esteemed indigenous elders. Grandmother Flordemayo leads a list of world-renowned speakers rallying their voices in an effort to light up the world. Like Wild Family, this film is currently featured on Films for Action, in addition to Amazon and other online streaming services.