"Today's high costs become tomorrow's affordability, fueled by relentless innovation."
Dr. Roger Leslie is a scholar in the fields of success and education. Through major literary houses, medium and small presses, and his own publishing house, Leslie has published fiction and nonfiction books in multiple genres: historical fiction, inspirational self-help, spirituality, writing and publishing, movie reference, teaching and librarianship, biography, history, and memoir.
Leslie has won numerous national awards including ForeWord Book of the Year, The Ben Franklin Award, and Writer’s Digest’s #1 Inspirational Book of the Year. At its inaugural event, Leslie received the Houston Literary Award for his body of work.
Leslie is in demand as a teacher, coach, and keynote speaker. He leads FLY (First Last Year) courses based on his blockbuster memoir, My First Last Year.
He draws from decades as an author, editor, and publisher to coach writers in groups and individually. He is also a sought-after speaker for his lively, entertaining keynotes relating award-winning movies to any topic or group.
In every book and presentation, Leslie entertains, inspires, and empowers people to live the life they dream and soar toward their own ideal of success. For more, visit RogerLeslie.com.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Roger Leslie: Since the inspiration first sparked at age 13, I have followed my passion to be a prolific author. Like all exciting journeys, it led me along various intriguing paths.
Throughout my early years pursuing my dream to be a published writer, I was a literature teacher and professor, as well as a high school librarian.
All those professions evolved around books and stoked my dream of writing success. Even better, some inspired book ideas and connected me with publishers interested in my books.
As my body of published works increased, my years in public education wound down. So, my teacher’s heart found new fulfillment as a freelance book editor and writing coach.
I then combined all those skills to start Paradise Publishing, a hybrid publishing house that accepts manuscripts from seasoned as well as unpublished authors.
Our mission is to create books that inspire people to live the life they dream or empower readers to follow their own unique spiritual path.
If you were in an elevator with Warren Buffett, how would you describe your company, your services or products? What makes your company different from others? What is your company’s biggest strength?
Roger Leslie: Paradise Publishing is a full-service publishing house that takes writers through the entire process of making their manuscript the best it can be and then marketing it to the readers who would love it most.
To prepare for book publication, we offer personal coaching as well as the entire spectrum of editing options, including developmental and line edits.
In the publication process, we create the best aesthetic design for the cover and interior and develop a solid marketing plan customized for the authors and their intended readers.
Unlike most hybrid publishing companies, which usually take a combined royalty approach, Paradise offers writers full power over their profits. Our authors invest entirely in the creation of their book and then earn 100% of all royalties up to $100,000.
Our biggest strength is the positive, encouraging environment we perpetuate. Our joy in living our dreams and helping others live theirs is contagious.
It brings out the best in our staff and invites writers into a network of professionals committed not only to creating bestsellers, but also to encouraging them to boldly pursue their creative passion to write.
What advice do you wish you had received when you started your business journey and what do you intend on improving in the next quarter?
Roger Leslie: The publishing world is currently enjoying one of the most exciting transformations in history. In the past, authors either found a traditional publisher or printed their books through a stigmatized vanity press.
Burgeoning opportunities for small, respected publishing houses to produce high-quality books has never been better. Because of this tremendous growth, the industry keeps undergoing massive changes every few years.
When I first started my publishing house, I wish someone had advised me that some of the very costly investments for book production and book distribution would soon change. As technology and artistry find new ways to merge, so do more cost-effective approaches to getting jobs done.
In the next quarter, we are expanding our networking to find colleagues who embrace less conventional and more experimental technology for book design, creation, and marketing.
Here is a two-fold question: What is the book that influenced you the most and how? Please share some life lessons you learned. Now what book have you gifted the most and why?
Roger Leslie: The most successful book I’ve written, and was the first from Paradise Publishing, is My First Last Year. Although I’m the author, it is the most influential book I’ve ever experienced.
The inspiration for the book came from a dream. I was told to live the next year as if I would never experience those calendar dates again.
Pack everything into life—for myself, my loved ones, and my legacy—into those 365 days so that, when I get to the end of my life, I know I have lived it fully.
By living it, I learned how to be more present. By writing about it, I learned to process my experiences to get even more from them.
By teaching the lessons I learned during that year in my First Last Year (FLY) courses, I pass my insights onto others and fulfill my mission to inspire people to live the life they dream.
Naturally, that is the book I have gifted the most. I would love to put this book in the hands of everyone who dreams but still doubts, who knows they have the courage but would be empowered knowing someone else believes in them, too.
Christopher Hitchens, an American journalist, is quoted as saying that “everyone has a book in them” Have you written a book? If so, please share with us details about it. If you haven’t, what book would you like to write and how would you like it to benefit the readers?
Roger Leslie: It’s as though you’ve custom made this interview just for me! As I answer this question, the publication of my 20th book is approaching. Meantime, I am at different stages of writing ten more books.
Four of those are fiction, three are inspirational self-help books, one is a memoir, another is a new movie refence volume, and the other is a literary tome. I agree with Hitchens—“Everyone has a book in them.”
In my book From Inspiration to Publication, I share with aspiring writers how to get started and follow through until your book is published.
In your experience, what tends to be the most underestimated part of running a company? Can you share an example?
Roger Leslie: As I state it to remind myself regularly: Organization is the key to any successful organization. To me, staying organized is the most underestimated part of running a company because so many different responsibilities demand a CEO’s attention at all times.
The only way to keep up with every commitment—to customers, to employees, to self—is to take time regularly to organize and prioritize and then follow through with consistency.
Ideally, I start my workday writing the book that’s most important for me to complete. What’s most important is not always most exciting. I woke up this morning with my mind in overdrive generating a litany of ideas for a nonfiction book.
I didn’t wake up thinking about the tougher, longer, more complex book I committed to completing this year.
Because I started my day organizing and prioritizing my goals, I determined how to capitalize on the creative surge I was riding for the new book and then move into the deeper space of writing the more important one.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Roger Leslie: I would be a money magnet. As the CEO of a company driven by creative writing, I am easily and clearly attracted to artistic challenges. I notice them all the time, and I’m thrilled to pursue them.
Conversely, I am rarely drawn to any endeavor solely because it’s lucrative. Ironically, I would love to have that financial superpower because it would free me up to follow those artistic pursuits more generously.
Many of the authors in my professional circles, including those whose books I publish, are similarly drawn to the art of writing over the business of publishing.
They’re both exciting and interdependent pursuits. But the magnetic force that people in other industries seem to perpetuate feels like a learned skill to me. I’m still learning.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Roger Leslie for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Roger Leslie or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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