From Manuscript to Marketplace: Three Authors Thriving with Hybrid Publishing
- May 1
- 9 min read
How Stacy Windahl, Joshua Veith, and Andrew Bridgeman turned ideas into award-winning, bestselling, and deeply personal books with Mission Point Press.
Every author’s journey is different—but the decision of how to publish can shape everything that follows. From finding your voice to reaching readers and building momentum, the right publishing partner can make all the difference.
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In these three case studies, we highlight authors who took distinct paths into writing and found success through hybrid publishing with Mission Point Press. Their stories reveal the realities of writing, publishing, and promoting books in today’s landscape—along with the persistence, creativity, and passion it takes to succeed.
Stacy Windahl: From Life Experience to Fiction That Resonates
Stacy Windahl: From Life Experience to Fiction That Resonates
Shifting Focus from Professional Career to Fiction Writing
Stacy Windahl remembers her freshman economics professor introducing the students to The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White—unknown to some this is not a book about fashion, rather it’s about the correct usage of American English. She earned a degree in economics and, later, business administration and moved on to a successful career and a full life.
Upon reflection of becoming a fiction writer, and beyond learning how to write in college, Windahl credits her father for instilling a strong sense of storytelling, in particular, how to build up to a punchline … and let it sit. She wonders if that somehow contributes to her own secret quirk of writing the last line of a chapter, first. At that point she knows where the story is headed and “if I like where it landed, I can write up to it.” It also helps her see where she’s enticing the reader to turn the page.
Finding Her Voice Through Storytelling
Windahl’s first foray into fiction was bubbling for many years and she realizes now that it needed to simmer for her to personally mature and experience her own various life stages. Her book, When the Season Ends, A Mackinac Island Novel (MPP, 2025) is about a woman discovering how her life has to transition after her child has left the home and she’s faced with that quintessential question … who am I?
From Manuscript to Momentum
For Windahl, writing is all about observation and curiosity. Checking in with her husband, she realized not everyone is observing other people in public or in restaurants and creating stories in their head about them. But she does this and acknowledges that women are wired to notice multiple things around them, perhaps out of curiosity, but science has proven it was a survival modality that contributed to this ability. She further notes that “I think we as women are often defined by the people around us, the people we're caring for and, in every stage, we have to figure out who am I now? And I think that's in the book.”
After years of working for both nonprofit and for-profit clients, writing everything from blog posts about pension plans to summer camp feature stories to grants—Windahl found herself in a casual conversation with a friend about her dabbling in fictional characters. He frankly said to her, "You have to finish. They deserve a chance to live outside your head."
Fast forward to a finished manuscript, Windahl wondered, is this a craft project? Will I just sell copies out of the trunk of my car? Luckily, that didn’t happen as she discovered Mission Point Press. She considered a variety of factors before choosing a hybrid press, one of them being the credibility of a Michigan-based publisher. She had approached the local bookstore on the island where this story takes place, and everything rolled out from there. Meaning, the 30-year manager loved the book, and offered to endorse it, sponsor book signings at the store, and sell it. Windahl decided then and there that she wasn’t interested in wasting time seeking out agents and big publishers, and instead it just made sense to work with MPP who understands the market, especially for a Great Lakes-focused book like hers. She expedited the process after discovering that “the [MPP] team was fantastic. They were agile and gracious.” She was so grateful for the support and how the staff believed in her book.
Needless to say, When the Season Ends, is a bestseller at The Island Bookstore. Windahl has done a fair share of her own marketing, including speaking at women’s groups and book clubs whenever invited. More sales will be racked up this summer, and she’s close to breaking even with the costs incurred with publishing. Windahl has added social media posts, readings, and is doing an audio book soon through the Amazon platform. She also is working to get more reviews through Goodreads giveaways and Amazon ads.
All this work means her book sales are climbing, but meanwhile, Windahl is deep into the novel’s sequel. Her transition to fiction is a solid reality now and she respects her writing method: “There are some writers who know their plot, some who go by the seat of their pants, ‘plotters or pantsers,’ and still others are really successful if they know their characters …. If they listen to them and know them well enough, they'll tell the story. I'm in that mode.” Carry on, Stacy Windahl, Mission Point Press will continue to support your good work and look forward to where your characters go next.
Joshua Veith: Turning Pandemic Isolation into a Breakout Trilogy
COVID Coping Strategy Evolves into the Chilling “Sudden Quiet” Trilogy
Joshua Veith is an author who embodies his written work. He lives it—as an educator, adventurer, outdoor enthusiast, and traveler to more than 30 countries—Veith personifies his core values of living in harmony with nature and being an Indigenous ally.
During the COVID pandemic, Veith put his energy into writing and considered it a subconscious coping strategy for the uncertainty and anxiety of the world at the time. He cites Ernest Hemingway and JRR Tolkien as his main literary influences, noting that he currently teaches a Tolkien appreciation class and has studied Hemingway's life extensively. Veith described the writing of the trilogy as a period of intense focus, where his alarm was set for 3:30 a.m. for over three years, never missing a day, which took a lot of commitment but was very fulfilling.
Blending Nature, Culture, and Storytelling
The Sudden Quiet trilogy titles include Island and Main, I; Dark Straits, II; and The Scouring, III, and are all set in northern Michigan. He observed that his writing subjects have allowed him to blend "nature mysticism" from older cultures, with modern science, which validates mystical experiences with hard data.
From Personal Project to Public Success
Veith acknowledges his strong connection to nature, stating he is a "lifelong fisherman, hunter, tree hugger," and that his parents raised him to be conscious of the earth. He explained that the content of his books is therapeutic, translating world anxieties through the lens of Indigenous culture, nature, and fantasy elements. Veith realized he was looking for "a more old-school way to live" and explored pre-colonial cultures as alternative ways for humans to organize as a community and thrive after an apocalyptic disaster.
The genres of science fiction, fantasy, dystopia, and horror all coalesce in Josh Veith’s Sudden Quiet trilogy published with Mission Point Press. The storyline and inspiration developed organically, rather than as a pre-outlined project, and the genre consideration only came "way afterwards" when libraries, bookstores, and contests asked for labels.
The initial bar for success as a published author was low; Veith only hoped for his work to be on a few library shelves and checked out occasionally, having achieved Library of Congress inclusion. However, the Sudden Quiet trilogy has taken off, with a lot of effort and a lot of results.
Publishing the book is "just the beginning," says Veith, as the big challenge is book sales. He recognized that being a good author and a good salesman are often mutually exclusive, but his public-school teaching career made him comfortable with pitching to an audience. Veith and his wife, who is also a teacher, employ a tag team effort at book events, using positivity and enthusiasm to win people over and get them to stop and pick up the book. Even when in "sales mode," he must remain the "author guy" to satisfy customers who respond to both a personable interaction and to someone who can talk about the book with authenticity.
Veith also finds opportunities to promote his books through networking and Facebook groups. He has learned through trial and error that successful venues are typically outdoor art fairs during warmer months, which attract vacation crowds, or popular indoor events during the winter season, such as holiday festivals.
He was impressed to find that Mission Point Press believed in his project and produces a high-quality product, which was worth the expense to him to ensure his book did not look cheap or amateur. He sees the hybrid model as an investment where book sales will offset the cost and a challenge he could accept.
While aiming for "literary immortality," in essence, Veith hopes his work will outlast him. His first book, Island and Main, won the IAN Fiction Finalist award. The second book of the series, Dark Straits, won the 2025 IAN Fiction Action Award, and it was the BRAG Medallion Honoree for thriller books.
Joshua Veith is headed beyond being shelved in local library stacks, he has now become a popular fiction writer who walks his talk! His advice, “As an author, you'd better enjoy the journey—imagining, crafting, editing, pitching, selling—because there's no guarantee that a final ‘destination’ will ever be reached.” Who knows where Josh Veith’s next literary adventure will take him, but his many readers are expecting to be brought along as well.
Andrew Bridgeman: The Renaissance Man
Fortunate Son, A Noble Sin—Bridgeman’s Emma Noble Series Are Heart Pounding Thrillers
Andrew Bridgeman’s first book, Fortunate Son, was voted the Best Political Thriller Book in 2024. The reviewer stated, “I cannot get over the fact that this is Andrew Bridgeman’s debut novel … [There are] well-developed characters, antagonists you can empathize with, and a plot that will give you more than one ‘holy smoke, did that just happen’ moment. This is an edge of your seat dark and psychological thriller full of deception and a race against time.”
With a mind that goes nonstop, Bridgeman is an explorer, via words—a discovery writer. And he certainly has plenty of life experiences to match his imagination. He heads through life with a “what’s next” attitude which led him down multiple paths including that of a rugby player, jazz singer, salesman, and an entrepreneur. But writing? Bridgeman claims he was a late bloomer as an author. His interest in writing books was hinted at early on but not encouraged. Decades later his wife, Kathy, who recognized his ability to succeed as a writer, did encourage him and the rest is history!
A Train of Thought Barrels Down the Tracks
He began writing each day in earnest, mostly working on historical adventure ideas, following in the footsteps of some of his favorite writers like Michener, Follet, and Clavell. And he did this for a couple of years; the result being two starter novels that ended up socked away in a desk drawer.
Bridgeman recalled, “One day when I was working in my room and my mind was wandering … I remembered how it was when I was an 11-year-old boy sitting in my room alone, and at that time I was wishing a car would drive up and they would tell me I was in the wrong family. And I remember dreaming of how my life would change. Suddenly, I started seeing that concept from a writer’s point of view. And I couldn’t stop writing. The story just got bigger and bigger!”
From First Novel to Growing Platform
Bridgeman works hard but he never looks back. He was onto the next book, A Noble Sin, before the first one was published. And now he’s deep into number three of the Emma Noble series. Mission Point Press expects to publish it in 2026.
Choosing to publish with a hybrid company launched him into the world of marketing and self-promotion. It was a completely unknown world, but Bridgeman tackled it as he has done with everything else in his life—full on. He mused, “It takes a lot of work to make it happen. I made mistakes, by trial and error, for instance, with Facebook ads, and so on. It was really hard!” But he feels like he’s in a better position now, having gone through the publishing process with Mission Point Press, rather than having a lukewarm deal with one of the Big 5 publishers. He’d rather be in control of what happens to his books, determine the choice of his book covers, and enjoy the overall personal touch that Mission Point provides. He now has over 30,000 people who receive his newsletter, The Briefing, found on his website: AndrewBridgeman.com. And Facebook, well, he has 12,000+ followers to date.
Bridgeman revealed, “Somewhere near the crossroads of experience and imagination, if you search hard enough—and catch it in the right light, you may find a story worth telling,” He has lived this and thinks others can too. He believes ideas are like fish, and there’s a lot of them out there (including some you’ll have to throw back!).
Being a published author has completely changed his life and how he views himself. For one thing, he’s found new connections in his community. Not only online and virtually, but in local bookstores and on the street. He is surprised and humbled to realize he wrote a “real book” and that people are able to immerse themselves into it and escape and be entertained as well. Bridgeman notes, “I feel like for the first time, I’m building something that will outlast me; it’s very satisfying.”
Certainly, his work will outlast him, but for now, Andrew Bridgeman is a rising star, and we couldn’t be prouder of him.