Today we’d like to introduce you to Armani Valentino.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Armani. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I originally started my company, The College Boy Co., while attending college at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Bad Boy Entertainment CEO, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs was one of the young business moguls & renaissance men that I looked up to, at the time. He had Bad Boy and I decided that I would have College Boy. That was in 1999, and The College Boy Co. was an idea that became really focused primarily on entertainment, music, and event productions. I started producing events on and off campus and realized that I enjoyed seeing other people have a good time. Facilitating the fun was very satisfying for me.
I already had a record label with my friends and singing group members BWP/Brothers With Potential, called Stack G’s Entertainment. We put out our first official project in October of 1999, Always On My Mind (still available online in all stores). Stack G’s was more focused on the music production side of things, and I wanted to focus on actual selling of music and earning money. In the spring of 2000, I decided to publish some of my poems I had been performing at different events on campus. I needed some extra money so I started selling copies of my poems for $1.
As I wrote more and more poems, I decided to put together the best poems, make copies at office depot, and sell them. I sold about 500 copies or so of that book of poetry, The Perfect Girl. This was the first unofficial release on College Boy Publishing. It had no ISBN, Barcode, and wasn’t registered with any agency. I sold those books out of the trunk, to friends, family, and people I would meet. The extra money definitely helped. I was in college and wanted to earn money from music and entertainment, but I was having to split my profits with partners, Nothing was wrong with this other than the fact that I always sold more CDs than them.
During this time, and especially after graduation in May 2002, I doubled down on making the distinction between the roles of Stack G’s and my vision to expand The College Boy Co. and started College Boy Records. College Boy Records grew and ended up providing weekly paychecks to the other 3 group members, myself, and my college girlfriend. We ended up selling a lot of records until things begin to change in the music industry. Fast forward to Fall 2006, I had moved to Dallas from Los Angeles a year prior in the Fall of 2005. I had left my hometown and moved to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket and $200 in my pocket. I wanted to take things to the next level.
Moving from my hometown to LA was a BIG move! I had some success while I was there. However, after about 18 months, I begin to realize that things were changing and living in LA was not going to change for the better. I told my best friend Kelland Drumgoole that I was going back to Texas because the real estate market was about to crash and I could feel it. I had earned a degree in Finance and could tell that there were some things that were going on that just were not going to work out on a massive scale. Sure enough, within a couple of years, it started.
After the breakup of me and my college sweetheart, I met another young lady and many others who just didn’t know how to pick a good match. At that time, the inspiration for what would become my national bestselling book, 99 Questions You Must Ask A Man Before Sleeping with Him & Definitely Before Having SEX, came to me. Initially, I released the book without a barcode, ISBN, or anything else because I had no budget to do so. As a matter of fact, I had lost my car, couldn’t resign my lease, and was sleeping on my pregnant sister’s couch. I had about $0.30 in the bank. I didn’t know how I would even print the initial copies, let alone get the book published.
I had given up on writing the book.
For some reason, at that time, I couldn’t get a job to save my life and ended up going back to what I knew how to do; sell some of my music. I found a few CDs and sold them until I had enough money to print up 1 copy. and handle some personal business. I took that one copy and started collecting money for a larger order than one. I ended up printing up only 10 books on my first round of printing. I sold all of them on the first day within a matter of a few hours. That was $100 in my pocket. I could eat, put gas in my car, and buy 10 more. I did that every day for about a week. I decided to increase the price of the book to $12.
The book was not edited and the original cover looked terrible in comparison to what we design for our authors nowadays. I eventually was able to afford a professional designer when a friend of mine, Cejae of Ashewar asked me if she could do a much better cover. I am glad she asked. Book sales increased after the new cover was completed. I sold those books every day, all day. I would sometimes go to the print shop and get two short print runs in a single day. I eventually started printing 25, 50, and then 100+ at a time. I would sell them in a single day because I would talk to every single person who came anywhere near me.
I eventually had to move from my sister’s apartment because she ended up having my fourth nephew, and due to complications, she had to move back home with our mother for a little while. I was going to do the same, but my girlfriend at the time asked me to come to OKC and stay with her. I eventually did and it was one of the best decisions that I made because I ended up getting some statewide press. It was at this time that I understood how important news and media was to the success of a product or service.
Press is very important for books, and especially at the time because there was no kindle, nook, and other e-readers. Wow! A lot has changed. I also got my first paid speaking engagements on the book and started my 99 Questions Before Having SEX College Tour during this time.
I eventually became a national best-selling author and was featured on Rickey Smiley Morning Show, K104 Dallas, NBC, CBS, & FOX affiliates in different markets. During this time, online radio was just getting started and I was a frequent guest on many individuals radio shows. After putting out multiple books, plays, and touring to different universities, I kept meeting individuals with great ideas and stories. They would ask me what to do if they wanted to write a book, and I would tell them to finish the manuscript first. Well, most of them never did.
At this point, I decided to start publishing books for other individuals than myself. The key factor was coming up with my Write A Book in 10 Days process that would actually help individuals to complete their first draft in 10 days. Once I perfected this, it helped the company to grow at a steady pace. Since April 1, 2012, when we signed our first author, we now have 25 authors who have published or are set to publish with us. My initial goal was 100 authors. We’re in our 6th year as of today, and I am looking forward to helping many other good people publish great books!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No. It has not been a smooth road. One of the main struggles has been not having enough capital in the form of human capital and cash capital. One will get the other, so when you don’t have either, initially you have to rely solely on your own resources.
And because every person is limited with their knowledge and skill level, you run into challenges that could be more easily solved with human resource or financial resources. Another issue is anytime you’re in the business of helping people, sometimes they can forget that it’s still a business. And because most people have never run a business they do not understand that businesses go through cycles. There is no end all and be all.
Everyone has something that they expect from you, and unless you ask, you may not be delivering it to them. There were times that I felt as if I was delivering clients what they desired, but because I had never truly asked, they didn’t tell me, and therefore I didn’t know. Another struggle was on my inability to make sure that I had my contracts in order and made sure they were signed.
I am known for being pretty dependable and about my word. I realized that when people think they may have a better deal somewhere else, they will break the agreement that you two have made. Some of them will do it even with the contractual agreement. It’s a must at this point and has saved me on more than one occasion.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about College Boy Publishing & ArmaniValentino.com – what should we know?
We publish books for people who would normally not ever be published by most publishing companies. We focus on books written by women and so-called minorities. We publish for all people, but that is our target market. As an author, publisher, and speaker, I consult individuals and companies on effective communication and making sure they are sending clear messages to their target audience(s). I do this primarily for those companies that may want to make sure they are sending out the right messages for African-Americans. Many companies have lost millions over the past few years because of lack of proper marketing messages for Black buyers.
I am most proud that we are still in business. Five years ago there was a large publishing company in a nearby state that wanted me to sign with them and bring all the books to them. I wanted to sign with them, but I wanted to keep all my books and just do a distribution and sign the company to them for that purpose. They told me that I would never go anywhere if I didn’t come with them. I was already a bestselling author at that time and had released my newest book, This Is Why I Won’t Marry You. They wanted to put me on Dr. Phil and a few other large media outlets. I had already done a lot on my own, and the amount of money I would have made had I sold 100,000 copies was less than I would earn if I sold 10,000 on my own.
Last year, that same company signed for bankruptcy and I found that out when a few of their authors called me looking for a new publisher. So, I am very proud that College Boy Publishing is still a company, and Armani’s the Boss! Technically, Chief Publisher and Director of Marketing & Book Acquisitions.
What sets my companies apart from others is we go the extra mile. It’s a principle that I live my life by and promote it to others. People who sign to us receive a 50/50 deal. That puts people in a place to win. If they can’t win in that position, they have no desire to win. It makes us joint-venture partners. At the time we started the company, no one else was doing this in the industry. Lastly, I am still an author and not just a publisher. I still sell my books and know very well what it takes to sell books. Most publishing companies aren’t led by actual independent national best-selling authors. That equates to a very large amount of mentorship made available for all of the authors that sign to College Boy Publishing.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Everyone previously mentioned in this interview. Every life experience leads you to another one. Therefore, every person contributed in some manner. My mother and family members brought me up with decent qualities that have kept me grounded, and I think the work-ethic that I saw with all my older family members let me know you have to go all the way for it or leave it alone.
My mom told me when things were not looking good at all, “Treat it like a business and it’ll pay you like a business. Treat it like a hobby and it’ll pay you like a hobby. So, you can either work your business or go get a job. If you have to do both, do both!”
Pricing:
- Write a Book in 10 Days Planning Session (Platinum) – $997
- Write a Book in 10 Days Planning Session (Gold) – $497
- Write a Book in 10 Days Planning Session (Silver) – $297
- Manuscript Review – $250
Contact Info:
- Website: www.collegeboypublishing.com
- Phone: 9727818404
- Email: collegeboypublishing@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/armanivalentino1
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/collegeboypublishing
- Twitter: twitter.com/collegeboybooks
- Other: www.armanivalentino.com
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