Graham Taylor, the best-selling
author of Shadowmancer, Wormwood,
and his new novel, Tersias, is a
director of Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd.
Graham agreed to become a director after Kim Cross
and Jason Kosbab (see below) approached him and asked
if he would consider becoming involved in our self-publishing
company. Graham says that the main reason for becoming
a director in Grosvenor House Publishing
his own experience of self-publishing his first novel,
Shadowmancer.
Like a lot of new authors, Graham had heard of the
great difficulty a first-time writer faces in trying
to get either a literary agent or publishing company
to read the manuscript of a complete unknown. Rather
than put himself through the trauma of months and
months of waiting, followed by the inevitable rejection
slips, Graham decided to publish his book by himself
straight away.
After selling his beloved Harley Davidson motorbike
to fund the project, he found a printer, had his manuscript
proofread and corrected and printed 2,000 copies.
The rest (as far as Graham’s tremendous success
is concerned) is history, but that process proved
to Graham that self-publishing is a truly viable method
of not only getting one’s work into print, but
also of becoming a successful author.
After experiencing the services Grosvenor
House Publishing offers prospective authors
and our pricing (£795 for full publication),
Graham was enthusiastic about becoming involved, and
added his name and experience to the company.
Kim Cross, our co-founder
and managing director has worked full-time for his own
companies since 1976. Initially owning a real estate
company in Vancouver, Canada (to which he had emigrated
in 1971), he grew the company to be one of the largest
firms on the North Shore. Kim then expanded within the
industry and bought another real estate company in Calgary,
Alberta, in 1980.
During his time in Calgary, Kim saw what appeared to
him a real opportunity within the oil and gas industry,
and he started a gas brokerage company. That business
grew so fast that he sold the real estate companies
and concentrated fully on the gas brokerage firm –
ultimately selling it to Enron in 1990, when they had
some money!
Upon his return to the UK in 1991, Kim started an advertising
company with an associate, selling space on the reverse
of supermarket receipts (an idea he had seen in the
US), and had contracts with Sainsbury’s, Safeway,
Morrisons and Somerfield. Kim sold his interest in that
company in 2002, and has since been involved in small
property developments. He has also written a thriller
called The Suicide Bomber. Enduring
the frustration of trying to get any publishers or literary
agents to read it was the impetus for starting Grosvenor
House Publishing.
Jason Kosbab, co-founder
and operations director, started his career in television,
making teas and coffees. Successfully climbing the ranks,
he became a videotape editor and began editing some
prestigious programmes for mainstream television. In
1990, he started his own video post-production company
in London. Employing 25 people and successfully post-producing
some high profile work on television, he still maintains
an active role in his company – when books don’t
get in his way! ?
A couple of years ago, he had written a couple of children’s
books and had hoped that he could get them published
– alas, this was not to be the case! After sending
numerous manuscripts to agents, he eventually gave up.
But during a chance meeting with Kim Cross, they found
that they had something in common – they’d
both written a book and had tried to get it published,
but to no avail. And as they say, the rest is history!
Welcome to Grosvenor House Publishing!
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