ELF~Counsel Press owner Diana Douglas is a walking advertisement for the hooks her North Vancouver com- pany publishes. From building her successful publishing house to bringing up her family, the West Vancouver resident has demonstrated how anyone can tackle with confidence the legal, bureaucratic and emo- tional hurdles that can often discourage people from striving for a goal — whether it be selling their home, completing their own divorce, or starting their own business. Douglas's books are now a well-known sight on spinner racks in book and drug stores, and are obviously satisfying a demand: al- though regional publishing is a notoriously tough business, the popularity of her titles has kept the business happily afloat for nearly 20 years. Self-Counsel Press now produces about 20 new titles per year, an amazingly prodigious output for any small publisher. Self-Counsel was born in 1970 when Douglas sold her small bookstore in New Westminster, and, in partnership with lawyer Jack James, published the Divorce Guide for British Columbia, the company’s first book and the title for which it is still best known. In 1984, she bought out James. At the same time, she was masterminding Self-Counsel’s suc- cessful expansion into the U.S. market. “That's where we see our larg- est potential for very fast growth,” she says from her of- fice-warehouse facility on Charlotte Street in North Van- couver. ‘‘We've doubled our sales in the U.S. in the past six months.” Along with publishing more ti- tles specific to the U.S. market, Douglas's main goal this year is to improve her company’s customer service, and she is in the process of equipping all her sales repre- sentatives with hand-held com- puters that can, from a client's bookstore, immediately check fac- tors such as stock levels and availability. , “We felt that our concentra- 40 - Sunday, January 21, 1990 - North Shore News AFFLUENCE a |NFLUENCE Business by the book tion should not be developing in a specific (book subject) area, but te devote most of this year and resources in customer service, because we feel very strongly that in order to survive this next de- cade any business is going to really have to improve their customer service,’ she says. Although Self-Counsel has become a trusted name with its many readers by presenting need- ed information in easy-to-unders- tand language at a low price, run- ning the business hasn‘t always been a breeze for Douglas. Especially challenging was taking over the business six years ago when, as a single parent, she also had small children to look after. "The scary part was knowing that you had all this pressure to do well when you travelled, to make the contacts, to make the deals, but in the back of your mind you had this truly added burden that I don’t think most men have,” she says. “(Worrying about my family) was the part that added the most stress, and because of that | drew back on expansion plans and Self-Courssel Press has lost in some way some momentum, specificial- ly in the U.S., because if it had re- ally pushed five or six years ago it would have had a better opportu- nity than it does right now. More players have entered the field in this niche market. But you can't have it al!.”’ In retrospect, Douglas is confi- dent that she made the right deci- sion, and believes she'll have many years to forge ahead with the company with her family now more self-sufficient. She has also cut down on some of her travelling commitments by bringing on Pat Touchie as a business partner in the U.S.’s Self-Counsel operation. How does she unwind after a day at the office? ‘I really like to read, but $ must admit that | escape into my thrillers,’’ she con- fesses. From their West Vancouver home, she and singer/songwriter Marty Gillan also enjoy taking her children camping in the family’s new RV or touring the waterslide parks in the region. Our years of experience handling injury and accident claims will help you obtain the award your case deserves. 5 ¢ Free Consultation * Percentage Fees Available Derek Cave Dennis Quinlan Martha Konig 687-3216 FERGUSON GIFFORD - Barristers & Sol icitors Suite 500 - Park Place, 666 Burrard Street Vancouver, Canada V6C 3H3 Diane: Dougias, Self-Ccounsel a cal Sef ‘et r oe photo Mike Wakefield With further expansion plans in the U.S. under way, and about 20 new books due out this this year, Diana Douglas, owner of Self-Counsel Press in North Vancouver, spends many hours at the deskwork. And although she knows that it would probably be advantageous to the company to move to On- tario, the publishing province of Canada, she has no plans to leave the North Shore. “1 don’t leave the North Shore (even to go out to dinner,)’’ she laughs. ‘What is the point?... As far as I'm concerned, the North Shore is my home.” — Peggy Trendel!-Whittaker NEW. Free Registration Save 516.50. 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