Today we’d like to introduce you to Donald Newman.
Hi Donald, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am originally from Tallahassee, Florida, born in 1963. My wife, Tracee Newman, and I met in 1983 in a church youth group.. We were married in 1984. For the first few years of our marriage, I was a High School football coach, that worked all night at a hotel while going to college in the morning. Coaching football was my dream back then, so I was able to handle the hours it took, but we soon had two wonderful daughters, Brittnee and Ashlee, so it was time to get a different career. I became a Florida State Trooper in 1987, which took us from Tallahassee to Orlando, Florida. The career fit me as my parents were both in law enforcement as well as my greatx7 grandfather who was the first Sheriff of Hillsborough County in 1840. I have so many stories from my time as a State Trooper, several of them are in the first book I wrote called “Respond Up”.
I served as a State Trooper for just over 14 years, leaving law enforcement to enter the ministry in 2001. The first church I served in was called the Gathering Place Worship Center in Lake Mary, Florida. When I entered into my first ministry role as an Associate Pastor, I discovered one of the things I was born to do, pastor and care for people. I loved my time at the church, but in only a few years, my former Youth Pastor asked us to move to Texas to help him plant a new church in Dallas. I have been a Floridian my whole life, moving to Texas was definitely out of my comfort zone, but we knew God was calling us to go.
We stayed in Texas for almost two years before we returned to Winter Springs in 2005 to plant a church called Crown Pointe. While the church no longer exist, being absorbed back into two churches we were working with, the influence of that work continues long after it was closed and absorbed by other churches in 2013. Crown Pointe met in the Winter Springs High School and we really served the school during that time. I even became a voluntary football coach for the freshman football team. Those were amazing years with a lot of changed lives.
The main reason I left Crown Pointe is because of a passion I had discovered while working for extra income. Planting a church is difficult and it usually takes some extra financial support for the first few years. While we had people who were giving to the church, I still needed extra income. As I sought an extra job, to help add some support, I found an opening where my wife worked, Xulon Press. Xulon Press is a Christian publishing company that works to help Christian authors to write and publish their books. I have always loved books and now have over 1600 books in my personal library. Xulon became the place that I discovered that I not only was good in sales and management, but I was also gifted in writing and coaching others to write.
I began at Xulon in a part time position, only working four hours a day. In less than a year later they asked me if I would like to go full time in sales. I needed the money so I said yes. That year I ended the year in the top three sellers for Xulon. Shortly after that they asked if I would like to be the Sales Manager. From that first role in management, I was promoted two more times eventually becoming the Executive Director Publishing. The 16 years I worked there were some of the best days of my life. I not only helped thousands of authors to write and publish their book, I also write and published three books myself. Somewhere along the way I discovered one of the key gifts that God had given me and that was for coaching and leading Christian authors through the path to getting their book published. My third book, “Don’t Just Speak It, Write It!” actually came out of hundreds of hours of coaching pastors and other Christians and ministry leaders on their books. It was an amazing time!
This past Summer I left Xulon and Salem Media Group to launch Porchlight Publishing Company. Even though its only a few months old, I am finding myself working once again with the people I love to serve, Christian authors and those who want to become one. My wife Tracee is the Director of the company and together we are working to develop a Christian publishing company that is dedicated to working one on one with each author. One of the many sayings I love to say is “A book can change ten thousand lives, or it can changed just one life that changes ten thousand lives”.
I am passionate about books and the influence they can bring. On my book shelf at home, in the midst of 1600 other books, I have two older Christian books that were written by ancestors of mine. While I never met either one of them, they would have never guessed that a distant descendent of theirs would be both in ministry and publishing. They also would have never guessed that their books would be showcased at so many different pastor’s conferences through the years. Books can go where we can’t go and they can reach into future generations.
One reason I love books is that I can see how they can go on to be a “Legacy in Print”. Legacy is a big word for me because its so important. I actually have seven journals that I write in for each of my seven grandchildren. I write my thoughts, my prayers and the things I want to say to them. I plan to give them their journals when they get married.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A lot of financial struggles for sure, but God always provided what we needed. Law Enforcement had a lot of struggles and thus those stories are part of my first book, “Respond Up”.
We’ve been impressed with Porchlight Publishing, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
This information below was taken from our website. We like to say that we are more than just a publishing company, that we are a home for Christian authors and their books. I am the publisher, but I am not focused on running systems and doing reports. I am focused on building a relationship with each author and coaching them from idea or concept to publication.
Our aim is to be very personal with each author, working with them to really create the best book possible. For that reason I work with the authors all the way through the process, only bringing in one or two other teammates during the process. While this means a very personal process, it also means that I can only work with so many authors each month.
While we do want to publish around 50 to 75 books a year, our main goals is definitely quality over quantity as well as strategic and specialized over cookie cutter. I plan to coach, encourage, direct, pray with serve each author that decides to publish with Porchlight. We are what you would call a boutique or specialized company. While we work within the “Self-publishing” side of publishing, we really lean more to being a “Hybrid publisher”.
Here is some verbiage from our website
Porchlight Publishing was created to guide Christian authors through the often-overwhelming journey of writing, publishing, and promoting the book God has placed on their hearts.
It’s been said that a book can change ten thousand lives or touch one life that goes on to change ten thousand more. At Porchlight, we believe every book is a carrier of God’s message, with the power to impact readers today and for generations to come.
Founded by publishing leader Don Newman, Porchlight exists to serve Christian authors with a story, message, or teaching they feel called to share. We walk alongside them to ensure their work is not only published but also reaches the audience God intended.
As a hybrid publishing company, we blend some of the best parts of traditional publishing with the freedom of self-publishing. Our commitment goes beyond producing a book, we also help authors identify, connect with, and grow their readership.
At Porchlight, our goal is that every author who partners with us discovers more than just a publisher. We want them to find a place of encouragement, guidance, and belonging and a home for themselves and the books God has entrusted them to write.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I love hearing their stories, their testimonies and or messages. I am currently writing my fourth book “The Crown, The Keys and The Sword” and writing it with three of my granddaughters. Its all about four cousins who meet up at their annual summer church camp and discover much more than they would have ever expected. There are many authors in my family. My wife has written one book as she was the first to do so, our daughter has written two books and I have written three. I have two great-great uncles who were pastors who both wrote at least one book. My greatx8 grandfather wrote hymns prior to the American Revolution.
Pricing:
- I only do custom quotes. The first consultation is FREE!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.publishwithporchlight.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581509976701
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-newman-b03a9713/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CoachDonNewman
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/coachdonnewman
Image Credits
No one to credit, but the one picture of all of the books are 8 books that were written by my imediate family 6 and 2 others written by greatxgreat uncles
