Five Quick Questions with Clint Greenleaf, founder and CEO of Greenleaf Book Group. GBG, an Inc. 500 Company, is a leading publisher and distributor with several New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers.

Q: Greenleaf uses a different model of publishing than many other houses. Can you give us a quick course on how it works?

A: Our model is a hybrid in which the author invests in production services in exchange for full ownership of rights and inventory, plus a far bigger share of royalties than a traditional model would provide (we pay our authors 35 percent of the retail price versus the typical seven to 10 percent a New York house would pay). It’s a great model for confident authors with strong direct sales channels since they don’t have to “buy back” books from us. They own them from the outset.

We’re also a very collaborative publisher, and while our authors know we’re experts and heavily trust our guidance, they have the ultimate say in creative decisions.

Finally, we’re innovators and are constantly finding new ways to help our authors succeed, such as our platform development program – an industry first.

Q: Authors using Greenleaf to bring their books to market retain all rights to their work. I would assume that’s something that’s more important than ever in today’s digital environment?

A: Definitely. Most of the traditional publishers have become very grabby with rights, and it’s frustrating for authors who realize there’s no barrier to entry in digital publishing. They can do it themselves and keep a lot more money than a traditional publisher would pay. That’s one aspect of it. The other significant concern is around rights not reverting back to the author. It used to be that after a set term, the publishing rights would revert back to the author. If a book had run its course, it was too costly for a publisher to continue to print and warehouse it. But now that books can be kept “in print” forever through print-on-demand and digital publishing, there’s no real expense incurred to keep it in print. With digital publishing growing so quickly, it’s critical that authors retain their digital rights so they’ll be able to take advantage of new ways to reach readers.

Q: Greenleaf publishes only a small fraction of the number of books that are submitted. Tell me a little bit about the selection process.

A: All submissions go through a committee review process. We read every manuscript and assess quality of content, marketability and sales potential, author platform and willingness to promote, and the author’s goals. We keep a pretty small list – between 80-120 books per year – that way we can spend more time with each title. The flipside is that because the list is smaller, we expect a higher level of performance from each new title.

Q: What do you use as a barometer or a book’s success? A certain sales figure? A certain number of media hits? Does every book have a different picture of success?

A: It’s different for each book and depends on genre, price point, and several other things. It’s easy enough for us to gauge a book’s success relative to other titles’ sales, but it’s equally important for us to work towards the author’s barometer of success.

Q: You started your company virtually in a garage with a self-published title and built it to an Inc. 500 company that recently sold. What’s the secret to your success?

A: I’ve always believed in hiring people smarter than me and staying out of their way. I try to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset in our staff, and at the same time encourage a productive work environment that’s also a lot of fun. I’m a big believer in doing business with integrity and respect, and that philosophy has served us well in terms of the support we’ve enjoyed from our authors and vendors.

Q: What should we expect to see from the company in the coming years?

A: Expect to see continued growth and innovation. Our platform development program is taking off, and we’ll be serving authors from our own list as well as from other publishers. That program is all about helping authors connect with, and grow, their audience. As the reach of brick-and-mortar bookstores shrinks, we have to find new ways to help our authors interact with the people interested in their ideas. We’re working with new content formats, too – presentations, webinars, audiobooks, workbooks, etc. We’re already knee-deep in the author’s ideas… why stop at a book?