2013's been a busy year for Savant Books and Publications (SBAP), Savant Bookstore Honolulu (SBH) and Savant Distribution (SD). The year saw SBAP and it's subsidiaries once again well in the black despite the bleak economic environment. For example, while Barnes and Noble closed it's Kahala Mall bookstore, SBH at Hawaii Kai and SBH at Kokua Market (University District) this year effectively doubled our online sales income, as well as 2013 author royalties. We fully expect to fill a good portion of the huge "hole" left by the closure of B&N's Kahala Mall bookstore, hopefully by making our pop-up bookstores both more numerous and effective.

But that's not all that 2014 has in store for us. In late 2013, Setsuko Tsuchiya took over Savant Distribution and has increased sales by more than 300%. We're looking to new innovations, like more flexible "lot" ordering of author books by Savant authors with multiple Savant publications, as well as expanded Savant book-related merchandise and select non-Savant clients, like numerous acclaimed writer Ellie Crowe's works, and a number of world famous Leon & Malia Productions. More books, CD's, DVDs, book-related merchandise, all available through Savant Distribution.

We've also been working to add to our editors and book proofreaders.

Recently we welcomed David Shinsato, a proofreader with authoring experience currently residing in Mililani, Hawaii to our staff as a professional bookproofer. David holds a Bachelor's Degree in Second Language Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and enjoys both fiction (romantic-comedy, fantasy, and science fiction) and non-fiction (theology, philosophy, and history). He looks to positively transform reader's worldviews and thereby their lives a little more with every work in which he is involved. And he will soon complete training to become a Savant Editor. Welcome David!

At the same time, we've been training three more Savant editors. Wendy Dunn has just completed training, and is excited to be working with the Savant team. Wendy has been a freelance writer and editor for eight years. She holds a Bachelor's degree in English from SUNY Geneseo and a Master's degree in English from the University of Rochester. She writes fantasy for young adults and specializes in editing children's literature (especially YA) and all categories of fiction. She lives in western New York with her husband and teenage twins. Welcome aboard, Wendy! Our other two editors-in-training are Dr. Suzanne Langford and Ellie Crowe.

We're searching internationally for an Editor-in-Chief to replace our former one (in the interim I'm acting as Editor-in-Chief), and eventually a Director of Marketing and Publicity. Know of someone knowledgeable? Have them send me a resume!

This year, 2014, Savant Books and Publications, Savant Bookstore Honolulu and Savant Distribution are all positioned to continue constant growth, not just in numbers, but in quality.

Sincerely,
Daniel S. Janik
Owner
Savant Books and Publications
Savant Bookstore Honolulu
Savant Distribution