What does Consafo Mean?

Consafo, usually spelled Con Safos) is a Chicano phrase, very popular on the West Coast and used around the border of Texas and Mexico. The phrase literally means slippery. Insults slip off of anything marked Con Safo. Graffiti marked with c/s is said to be untouchable. Even if it was sandblasted away by the owner of the building, the art existed. It was real for a time and there is no touching that. Buried in the attitude of Con Safo is a defiance to power.

About Consafo Publications

Consafo is a publishing experiment organized by Gordon Atkinson, aka Real Live Preacher. In 2002 I published my first book with Eerdmans, a traditional publisher. They treated me fairly, but I believe that my network of readers provided about 90% of all sales. I made $1 a copy for the original 3500 copies that sold while the book was in Eerdmans control. After the book was remaindered (read about that here and here) and I got the rights to it, I sold a further 800 copies from my own website, making $14 a copy.

I did the math. And I thought perhaps a new kind of publishing was needed. Thus Consafo was born. In this new publishing model, the community of RLP readers are financing and publishing my second book.

Those who purchase an advance copy of the book become part of the publication team:

1. They help choose the title of the book.
2. They vote on the content of the book.
3. Those with editorial experience edit the content.
4. One person on the team designs the cover. Another does the layout.
5. Everyone on the team may submit blurbs for the back cover.

Advance copies are cheaper than the full retail price of the book. And all of those on the publication team are mentioned in the book for their efforts.

I end up with 1000 to 1500 copies of my book after paying for the printing and mailing the advance copies to the team. Those books will be sold on my blog website in the future. I retain the rights to the book and make 100% of future sales. (In traditional publishing the author receives 12% of book sales AFTER his or her advance is covered and AFTER the publisher covers all its expenses.)

It’s faster. It’s easier. It’s more fun. And I end up making more money selling 1000 copies of my book than I would have selling 15,000 copies with a traditional publisher.

Note: This process only works for writers who have an established network of readers. Many blogging writers have such a network. Currently, we believe the traditional publishing world does not give us enough credit for the powerful networking ability of social media.

So, until further notice, I’m publishing my stuff with a little help from my friends!

—-Gordon Atkinson (rlp)

Lillian and I making good use of my books after RealLivePreacher.com was remaindered.