The Pantheon Collective

A "leap of faith" is what it took for Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) first semester student, James Lewis to produce his own publishing company and become an author. The 'Pantheon Collective' is an independent publishing company created in December 2009 by Lewis and two friends, Stephanie Casher and Omar Luqmaan-Harris.

As a small time publishing company they have already managed to publish two books. The first book Lewis wrote which released in June of 2010 was "SELLOUT" in which he received a 'Best New Author Award', at a book festival in Houston. "SELLOUT" took Lewis about six months to complete, is about "three individuals and the consequences of dating outside their race. In the quest to find what they think is missing in their lives, they encounter guilt, fear and struggles they never anticipated…including murder," Lewis said.

There is also an eBook version, available on Amazon and has been listed on the top 10 in multiple categories. It has also been recently available at the CSUMB bookstore for students who are interested in picking up a copy.

Their second book published is called "WHEN LOVE ISN'T ENOUGH" which was released in November 2010. This book is about "heartbreaking tale of true love, terrible timing, impossible choices, and how you find the strength to go on when you discover that, sometimes, love just isn't enough," Lewis said.

"We knew our company would be for the long haul, publishing not only our books, but eventually other authors and establishing an author services division," Lewsi said. The three needed to invest an initial $15,000 that would go toward small business and publisher expenses, Limited Liability Corporation formation, website hosting, legal advice for contracts, editing and print runs for paperback books.

Initially Lewis was against the whole idea of going into business with friends. "But once we sat down for a brain-storming session, it was amazing how much our ideas flowed together," Lewis said. Lewis decided to come to CSUMB in order to get his degree in Kinesiology, while at the same time building his networks and enjoying the college life. He transferred over from Cabrillo College after 20 years in the Navy.

Currently their publishing company is working on their own work but they are looking to publish other author's hopefully by next year. Something that Lewis has planned out is visiting the campus of UC Santa Cruz to share their experience with their publishing company with creative writing students there and promoting books as well. This summer the Santa Cruz newspaper will also include a feature from them called "Good Times."

Lewis is hoping to become a fulltime writer increasing their success with more awards, different types of books and a soild fan base as well. "We plan to establish an Author Services division so we can help other authors fulfill their dreams with services like interior book design, editing, marketing and promotion," Lewsi said.