Children's Author, Kate Salley Palmer

I asked Jim a few questions about their publishing company, Warbranch Press. According to their website, Warbranch Press is a small, independent publishing company founded in 1998 by author,
illustrator, and former political cartoonist Kate Salley Palmer and her husband,
retired Clemson University agronomy professor Jim Palmer,
to publish and distribute her books
for children and adults.

Email Interview with Jim Palmer:

1. Jim, you and Kate started Warbranch Press to publish Kate's wonderful books. Do you have any plans for publishing other author's works as well?
No, Kate has lots more stories that we could publish if the economy turns around and our books continue selling.

2. Where did you get the name and logo for Warbranch Press? The dog is "Pepper", our black lab that grew up with our kids here in Clemson. She's in Dog Heaven now and lived to be 15 years old. She was with us when we started Warbranch Press. Warbranch is the name of our neighborhood in Clemson.

3. Can you briefly tell me what all is involved in owning your own publishing company?
It's incorporated as a Subchapter S Company, and I always tell anyone interested in starting a business to have a good marketing plan, have a good product or service to sell, and then consult with an Attorney, a CPA and a trustworthy Banker. The Publishing Company idea is not for the weak of heart. It is very competitive. Anyone can write a book, get it printed and bound, but the selling part is the hard part. We are lucky because Kate is a good writer, artist, book designer, editor and she is very cheap.

4. I know at one time you tried having an office in Pendleton for Warbranch Press. Are you working in your home? If so, how is that working out to have both of you working from home? It is OK. The idea of an office out of the home is good for some folks, but I prefer to work in my little attic office. It helps our business overhead a lot. An office is nice in town, but there is rent, utilities, phone, fax line, etc. to worry about. At home, you can work for 30 minutes and then go for a walk and then return to work - all within an hour or so. Also, Kate is always in a different part of the house watching TV, reading a book, doing her artwork, etc., so we never really get in each others way at all. She does all the things I can't or don't want to do, and I do likewise with the business - It has worked out well for 10 years!

5. With a successful wife and son, do you ever think about writing your own book? Yes, I am thinking about a picture book with real photographs about South Carolina Agriculture - something I know something about. Our teachers really need this and have asked for it. I already have a bank of photographs, and maybe will work on it some this Spring and Summer.

Warbranch Press Contact Information:

Contact Information
Address: 329 Warbranch Road
Central, SC 29630
Phone: (864) 654-4503
Fax: (864) 654-0455
Mobile: (864) 650-6180
E-mail: jhpalmer42@aol.com
Website: Warbranch Press Website

Kate, your illustrations are wonderful. I love that most people can probably identify with them. I know when I read "Gracious Plenty", I plainly saw an aunt of mine. Do you ever do any art other than cartoons or are you completely fulfilled to do those?

Nancy, it seems that everything I do comes out looking like a cartoon! That has been a stumbling block with many of my illustrated books. Sure, "The Pink House" may have worked kind of cartoony, but my Revolutionary War nonfiction storybooks real need better, more serious art. That is why it was so lucky for us that our son, James, was available to illustrate "Francis Marion and the Legend of the Swamp Fox."

I did do one painting of my sister, Margaret, in the 1970's that is really good. I don't know if I could still paint like that. I was doing a lot of more serious art back then, trying to be a "real" artist. I'd like to get back to that someday soon. It was fun.

I also asked Kate if she would have done anything differently as far as balancing her career and her family. Kate said, As far as parenting is concerned, I may wish I had done things differently, but it would have been impossible for me to have done them any other way. Like the drunk who got arrested by the police and said later: "I knew I had the RIGHT to remain silent, but I didn't have the ABILITY."

Before Kate began to write her books, she was a well known Political Cartoonist. I asked Kate what advice she would give to someone who would like to become a Political Cartoonist and this was her reply:

My advice for anyone wanting to be a political cartoonist would be to visit the Association of Editorial Cartoonist's website. The reason I say this is that although I have advice on the topic, my colleagues have written extensively about it!

So many political cartoonists have lost their jobs in the last 10 years -- it's accelerated in the last 2 or 3 -- that the job as an actual JOB is disappearing. Many of the cartoonists who lost their jobs were very well-known and well-respected - some even won Pulitzer Prizes!

The newspaper business is undergoing a major change in this day of the Internet. Many papers are cutting back on circulation, letting writers and artists go, and at least one (The Christian Science Monitor) has ceased producing a hard copy entirely - they are 100% digital, and available only on the Web.

Cartoonists are scrambling to earn a living by serving more than one outlet. The most recent writing available on this is by my friend, Steve Greenburg. His article talks about the state of cartooning today. Disappearing Ink-Hope for Editorial Cartoonists By Steve Greenburg 01/22/2009

I think anyone who wants to do cartoons now should get on Facebook, MySpace, all the free social networking sites - also get a website and keep it updated. The cartoonist should do cartoons everyday. Upload as many as possible to as many sites as he has access to. Communicate with others in the field of cartooning, in journalism, in the blogosphere, etc. Just get as much of his work to as many outlets as he can.

Of course, the first step is to do great cartoons so that when others see them, the cartoons will sell themselves.

I asked Kate what she was currently working on and this is what she answered:

Right now, I am working on a number of things. I'm supposed to be illustrating a book by an Aiken Equine Vet, and I'm also writing and illustrating a book for the new Greenville Children's Museum.

In addition, I've been doing research for a prospective book about the Native Americans of South Carolina. Another picture book (called "Don't Slam The Door!") is almost ready to go. All I need to do is color the art.

I am also procrastinating. I had a couple of novels started, but I can't seem to get back to them. The first chapter of one of them won a South Carolina Fiction Project Award from the SC Art Association in the late 90's. I'm thinking that maybe when it comes to novels, I can write pretty good chapters, but I really don't know where to go after that.

I spend a lot of time watching the news, and on the computer and iPhone, too. (It seems to me, reading all this, that I should get up and DO something!)

Whatever Kate comes up with next will certainly be something worth reading. I am looking forward to her next creation.

James H. Palmer, Junior is the son of Kate and Jim Palmer and is also a writer and illustrator. James gave me permission to copy the following from his bio on his website:

James has been working in a variety of graphics and art-related fields since graduating from Clemson University in 1993. After moving to Atlanta in 1999, James decided to focus primarily on illustration. His work has been featured in many area publications including Creative Loafing, Business to Business, Catalyst Magazine, and Atlanta Magazine just to name a few. In 2004, his illustrations were featured prominently in the SCETV documentary production of Chasing the Swamp Fox-a documentary about South Carolina's Revolutionary War history.

As an illustrator, James believes it is his responsibility to visually engage his audience-to transport them into a completely new world. His work has a breadth of style that is as diverse as are his interests.

Hi Friends - We recently received news that Kate's new book (it's been out for only 9 months), Almost Invisible - Black Patriots of the American Revolution, is a finalist for the 2009 SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Children's Book Award. We're very excited that this book is one of three being considered for SIBA's top award, and Kate and I wanted to share this with you. The results will be announced in early July, and the SIBA Annual Meeting will be in Greenville in late September. If you want to know more about SIBA and their book awards go to their website. Hope everyone is having a wonderful spring season! Jim Palmer Warbranch Press