“Today we’d like to introduce you to Louis Torres.
Hi Louis, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
“I began my career in publishing with my first yearbook in 8th grade, continuing as the editor throughout high school. After some time at graphic design college, I joined the international management firm, The Adizes Institute, as Director of Publishing, where I worked directly with the founder and world-renowned author, Dr. Ichak Adizes. I was blown away! This author had been voted as one of the world’s top communicators in the 2017 Holmes report along with Angela Merkel, Arianna Huffington, and the Dalai Lama.
During my 5-year directorship, I evolved quickly, working with many different types of people and professions in the publishing industry. Everyone from cover designers to foreign narrators for audiobooks. I ran the numbers in my 4th year, and I was responsible for 207 titles and editions, spanning 33 languages and 52 countries. I loved it so much that when I was offered a promotion in 2018, I actually turned it down to continue my role as Director of Publishing. I truly loved what I was doing. I love books!
In 2020, I decided that I needed to expand the scope of the genres and subjects I worked with. So I left the Institute and founded Polyverse Publications. Now as a consultant and book strategist, I get to work with authors, artists, organizations, non-profits, and other publishing houses in many different capacities. Many authors and I simply sit down and have coffee and talk about the possibilities of their projects.
When we work together, I am bringing many years of industry experience from all around the world. Not only am I a private consultant and publisher, but I am a paid consultant for the Independent Book Publishers Association, which is the largest such organization in the USA, a member of the IBPA editorial committee, and a judge for the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards. I also consult for the Adelheid A. Von Hohenlohe Memorial Library and have been invited to join the Young Entrepreneurs Council.
In 2022 I founded Bookchurch.org, a non-religious, non-profit organization dedicated to reducing book waste. With so many people who want to read, and so many donors and needy organizations, I kept seeing a disconnect. There were missing pieces, such as badly treated books, boxes just dumped behind thrift stores, etc. I decided to begin curating collections specifically tailored for other non-profits, based on what they need. This way, fewer books are wasted, and more people get books that can be of use to them.
An example is with a non-profit cooking school or wilderness camp. The people need a very specific type of book, and we find them, collect them, and donate them specifically to the people.
As both Polyverse Publications and Bookchurch grow, we are looking for more authors and more artists. This is what brought us to Denver, and a tour of the wonderful bookstores and galleries that exist here.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road? Polyverse Publications began operations in 2021 during Covid.
There are many things to consider when it comes to books. The supply chain issue affected us all, and it caused a paper shortage that was limited to a lot of printers. We also had to find a lot of clients with only virtual meetings. It definitely made things more difficult for those in the book industry.
We’ve been impressed with Polyverse Publications, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others? Polyverse Publications is an independent publisher which uses a hybrid model system. We are affiliated with many organizations both domestically and internationally. We follow the philosophy that everyone has a universe of stories in their head. Many universes, many stories, and many words make up our world. We want to encourage the telling of these stories through our company and our brand.
We also founded Bookchurch.org which is a non-religious, non-profit that seeks to reduce book donation waste by collecting and curating specific book donation boxes for individual organizations, organized by demand. We have made great strides in donating specific books to cooking schools, wilderness camps, children’s library story times, books to prisoners, planned parenthood, and soon, to retirement homes.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us? Every client, author, and artist can be very different. But their goal is the same. To create. As long as we remember our ultimate goal is to help create, we are adding positive energy to the world.”
Courtesy of VoyageDenver.com
