The Corner Office: He Did It
• Why did you resume publishing operations at Beaufort in 2004?
Eric Kampmann: In 2004-2005, I saw a very interesting thing developing here at Midpoint. … I saw a lot of “publishers” coming here, but they were not publishers—they were really authors. We didn’t have a vehicle for them to really become authors, and to do a deal with them that’s similar to a publishing deal rather than a distribution deal. … So that’s where I saw the hole, the opportunity. In 2005, I brought in a guy named David Nelson … and he and I together really started making the connections and trying to find people who were possible Beaufort authors. … David and I worked together from 2005 into 2006, and we were kind of feeling our way toward a [business] model that worked. Then, of course, lightning struck in the summer of 2007 [with the O.J. Simpson book].