Best Chance Media (Best Chance is an independent “print-on-demand” (POD) publishing imprint dedicated to giving up-and-coming writers a chance to see their book in digital and print formats.

Best Chance is transparent about its legal, marketing, and financial approaches and welcomes your questions.

There is a catch.

I’m a member of several online writing groups. Many writers lament about receiving rejection letters. Some report as many as 60 “no-dice” notifications. Our authors must demonstrate that the manuscript they submitted was rejected by one or no more than three other agents or publishers within the past three years. The fundamental Best Chance mission is to counterbalance mainstream publishers’ control over writers.

Best Chance is author-focused and collaborative. Approximately 3,000 ISBNs are issued every day. This means the competition for brick-and-mortar shelf space is high and favors the big publishing houses that sign celebrities. Even Snoop Dogg has a best-selling children’s book. Where does that leave authors who have no natural outreach platforms?

This means that writers and small publishing companies must combine forces to compete better.

Best Chance partners with IngramSpark to ensure our books are widely accessible on major online platforms and available for purchase in storefronts. Our authors work closely with our management team to produce the highest-quality books.

Best Chance is an imprint of Boulder Community Media (BCM), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 2001. BCM’s philosophy is to create safe spaces through the arts for communities to discuss and resolve critical issues.

BCM wants media in all their forms to be accessible to all. Best Chance is most interested in helping authors get their stories told.

BCM Executive Producer and Director Alan O’Hashi has produced five PBS documentaries. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his work in progress stalled, and he dusted off his typewriter to resurrect his writing. He has now added Editor and Publisher to his credentials.

In early June 2019, he attended the Wyoming Writers, Inc. Conference in Laramie, where he met a publisher and pitched a book. Alan’s idea was accepted on the spot. He wrote 80,000 words and was contracted in October. It turns out that, COVID or no COVID, Alan doesn’t get out much. Since then, he has self-published nine books with another scheduled for traditional publication.

Securing a book deal on his first attempt wasn’t common. Alan didn’t realize how lucky he was. He became disillusioned by the stories he had heard from other authors about the daunting process of traditional publishing.

This led to the creation of Best Chance Media, which was designed around publishing and distributing Alan’s books and is diversifying, particularly encouraging first-time diverse, marginalized authors to submit. As the book industry evolves, Best Chance will continue to adapt and provide first-time authors the best chance of success.