Dog Ear Staff
BIOGRAPHY - Alan Harris
Once upon a time, Alan Harris was shooting for the stars... literally.
A biology major and astronomy minor, his career plan was to search for life on other planets.
Little did he know when he took a job at a mall-based Waldenbooks how it would change his life. Shortly after his debut at Walden, Harris was promoted to the company's home office in Connecticut to be a buyer. That job transitioned in to a position as an acquisitions editor for Pearson Education where he was responsible for researching book topics and finding best-selling authors. Prior to joining Miles Nelson and Ray Robinson at Dog Ear Publishing, Harris had worked as production manager for a composition house that provided production for some of the largest book publishers in the world.
Actually Harris worked alongside Robinson at the production house; together they joined forces with Miles Nelson to create Dog Ear Publishing with the express purpose of providing a user-friendly publishing experience. The technological advances Harris developed at the production house, and which he brought along to Dog Ear, have reduced the cost of self-publishing to a fraction of what it used to cost. Authors now have the ability to publish a book in as little as six weeks, including the option to print as few as a single copy.
"I've spent a long time in the publishing business... from selling books to the reading public, to managing authors as an acquisitions editor, to the actual production process. I love what I do - Dog Ear allows me to create a great book for any author; from those who want total creative control or who are frustrated with traditional agents and publishers, to those who just want to create a book for themselves," he said.
According to Harris, it's more than using the software; it's about utilizing technology to make self-publishing affordable and efficient - providing a product that is the same or better quality as that produced by a large publisher, and to which the author retains all his or her rights.
