Morgan James Publishing
David Hancock founded Morgan James Publishing out of a deep passion for entrepreneurial literature and author success. Unlike traditional publishers seeking to monetize authors as commodities, Hancock approached publishing with a philosophy rooted in partnership. He came from a lucrative banking career in the 1990s and didn't need the extra income—he simply wanted to help entrepreneurs amplify their impact through books. This foundational mindset became the core differentiator for Morgan James.
The publishing house grew to become a selective, high-quality operation. Today, Morgan James receives over 5,000 submissions annually but publishes only 135 titles per year—a roughly 2.7% acceptance rate. Hancock revealed that 80% of the selection criteria focuses on the author themselves: their passion, entrepreneurial drive, coachability, and the larger purpose the book serves. The remaining 20% centers on book quality, which can always be improved through editing or ghostwriting. This author-first philosophy shaped the company's entire operating model.
Morgan James attracted high-profile entrepreneurial authors by offering a unique hybrid model combining traditional publishing's resources with self-publishing's author control and flexibility. Notable early successes included Jeff Walker's "Launch," Joel Combs' "The AdSense Code," and later Brendan Burchard's "The Millionaire Messenger"—which received a $2.1 million advance after its success with Morgan James. The company's reputation for supporting authors' broader business goals (seminars, workshops, membership sites, follow-on products) made it attractive to entrepreneurial authors who viewed books as business tools rather than revenue sources.
The company's success hinged on a counterintuitive insight: authors who ignored book sales and royalties and instead focused on the book's role in building their brand and business actually sold the most books. Hancock illustrated this with his own experience, selling 40,000 copies of his second book to a bank that wanted to use it to establish thought leadership—the book became a byproduct of a larger business strategy. Morgan James pays advances (small ones, typically under $5,000) and offers competitive royalty rates: 20-30% on physical book wholesale prices and 50-50 splits on ebooks, compared to traditional publishers' 7-12% on print. The company charges no publishing fees and sells no author services, operating on a partnership model where author success drives publisher success.
Morgan James has become a recognized leader in the publishing industry, with Nasdaq citing David Hancock as "one of the most prestigious business leaders" and "the future of publishing." The company maintains a deliberate, author-focused growth strategy, publishing 135 titles annually and maintaining strong distribution through bookstores (80% of business) while Amazon accounts for 24% of overall revenue. Hancock works limited hours (10 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday) while maintaining balance with his family—his two children, Morgan and James, are even named after his publishing company's name.
- •By selecting authors based primarily on their entrepreneurial drive and coachability rather than manuscript quality alone, Morgan James aligned itself with founders who treat books as business tools and actively promote them, creating a virtuous cycle where author success drives both book sales and publisher reputation.
- •The founder's financial independence from publishing revenue removed the pressure to extract short-term profit from authors, enabling a genuine partnership model that attracted high-profile entrepreneurs who would otherwise avoid traditional publishers extracting 88-93% of royalties.
- •Focusing on authors with existing platforms, businesses, or audiences (seminars, workshops, membership sites) meant Morgan James books had built-in distribution channels and promotional power independent of traditional marketing, multiplying the company's reach without proportional cost.
- •By offering superior royalty rates (20-50% vs. 7-12%) without author service fees, Morgan James created a sustainable economic model where publisher and author interests aligned, making authors incentivized to drive sales rather than resentful of the publisher's cut.
- 1.When evaluating potential partners or clients, weight founder/leader characteristics—passion, drive, coachability, larger purpose—at 80% and output quality at 20%, then invest in improving quality through your existing resources rather than rejecting promising people for imperfect initial work.
- 2.Identify and deliberately recruit founders, entrepreneurs, and business owners with existing audiences or distribution channels (workshops, memberships, consulting practices, speaking engagements) as your primary target market, since they will leverage your product as part of a larger business strategy rather than relying solely on you for promotion.
- 3.Structure your economics so that your success is directly tied to your partner's success—use royalty splits or profit-sharing rather than fixed fees—and publicly communicate this alignment, as it signals genuine partnership and attracts quality partners who would reject transactional relationships.
- 4.If you have financial runway independent of your business, explicitly use that freedom to reject short-term extraction opportunities and reinvest in long-term brand positioning as a thought leader in your category, as this attracts higher-caliber partners than competitors chasing immediate revenue.
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