Single Mom Trying to Build A Brand

May 2022

Good day!

I am Denise Cittadini Author of Culture-ish, a brand that helps companies define their culture’s core values and become one strong cohesive team. I plan to launch my first book this month (May 2022). Target customers for launch will be Amazon, Wal-Mart, Barnes and Nobel, Etsy, Bookbaby, and many more small retail stores. However, being new to the publishing industry, I have insufficient funds to complete the launch. Thus, I request your kind help to fund whatever you can to aid me in the launch of Culture-ish. I am seeking a total of $21,000.00 to launch and market the brand.

 Attached to this letter is my proposal for financial aid. Kindly go over my proposal details, you can contact me at 650-608-0149 or by email at [email protected]

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Denise Cittadini     

Author/ Creator

 About You

^{I have been the Director of Culture and Wellness, managing employee engagement programs for over 15 years. As of December, I am unemployed. Since then, I have written a book on how to define your company culture. The book is based on simplifying the process for companies to identify their core values. The book focuses on Employee and Management Engagement. The book comes with templates, ready-to-send email notices, surveys, PowerPoint templates, and everything you need to complete the suggested steps. I have been struggling to make ends meet and have two kids, and unfortunately, their father has passed away. This means so much to me, and I do not want my kids to see me struggle anymore. After all this, I am staying strong and pushing forward the best I can. I am done with the book. I am asking for any help. I have applied for numerous jobs every day with no success. I just need help and need it as soon as possible.}

Executive Summary

Culture-ish is devoted to a company’s journey and success. Culture-ish is here for companies and understands that developing a culture’s foundation is a lot of responsibility and can be overwhelming. Culture-ish simplifies the process, supplies a 1-year plan, and offers everything needed, including over fifty ready-to-send templates... Culture-ish requires $21,000.00 funding aid to launch the culture-ish and start building the culture-ish brand.

Problem

Culture consists of various aspects, such as ethics, values, collective beliefs, assumptions, working methods, and standards, to name a few. Because culture is such an all-encompassing concept, it is no surprise that many leaders face challenges when trying to shape their cultures and define their core values. They do not know where to begin, so they hire an agency for $20,000 to $50,000 to do it for them, which is a huge amount for smaller companies. They do not have time, and the thought of going at it alone makes paying someone well worth it.

Community and impact

As the director of culture, I saw unhappiness in people and their happiness. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing your event or work touch others. Whether that be a community event, beautifying a school, working in the food bank, donating clothes and shoes to children in need, or hosting back-to-school drives with the fire stations. When people take time to help the community and help others, it gives them a sense of pride, it humanizes you. It makes you feel wanted, needed, and valued.

I know from experience that when you go to a job and there is negativity, it affects everything about you. When you go to a job that does good for its people and community, you feel good about what you are doing with your life. You think about how you are helping others, which also feeds into your personal life, and you become a more mentally stable, happy human. I might be focused on company culture, but within that is also a lot of community work and experience I share on how to connect people. One might think this book, and my online course is only for company culture, but there is so much more behind it. It is about how we wake up each day, and how we see the world and people.

Scope of Work and Funding

The US Book industry

• The US Book industry is worth $25.93 billion, but this number is not split up evenly. E-books and audiobooks only make up 9% and 10% of the market, respectively, while print still dominates the market.
• Books are not a dying industry. While the introduction of technology has led many to believe that the book industry is dying, this could not be further from the truth.
• At worst, book sales have only increased in value by 1.4%, but at best, print sales have seen 8.2% growth, an e-book and audiobook sales have seen over 12% growth.
• Plus, more new books are being written now than ever, with 1.7 million self-published books being made in 2020, which is 264% more than five years prior.
• The growth rate of the book publishing industry is estimated to be 2.2% from 2020-to 2021.
• Currently, the book publishing industry’s market size is expected to increase by 2.2% from 2020-to 2021.
• Approximately nine hundred million books are sold in the US each year. 2020 set a record with 942 million units sold in the US, across both eBook and print editions. That stands for a 9% increase from 2019 — if this pace continues, the US will sell over one billion books in 2021.
• Yes, many experts believe that Amazon is approaching de facto monopoly status in the publishing world. Amazon controls up to 80% of all book distribution in the US, and many worries that the company has engaged in anti-competitive and even predatory practices that have left publishers “racing to the bottom.

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  US Book industry Growth

  The book industry has seen stable growth within the past five years and is expected to continue growing. Print sales increased by 8.2% in 2020, and new self-published books have increased by 264% in the past five years.

  E-Books and audiobooks have seen even larger growth, with sales increasing by 12.6% and 12%, respectively. Overall, digital markets are seeing the most growth, even though eBooks and audiobooks combined only makeup 19% of the market. This may change, though, as the digital publishing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2021 to 2028.

  In conclusion, the book industry is far from being on its deathbed, and it is, in fact growing steadily each year.

  Us book industry stats:

• The U.S. book industry made $25.93 billion in revenue in 2020
• Including self-published and commercially published, over four million new books were published in 2019.
• Children’s fiction is the most popular genre of books sold, achieving over one billion books sold in 2020.
• In the U.S., approximately 1,700 independent bookselling companies are running 4,100 stores.
• Total U.S. book sales hit 942 million units in 2020 across print and eBook sales — a 9% increase from 2019

General US book industry statistics

• As of 2020, 1.7 million new books were self-published in the U.S.
• Religious books and bibles are the most popular adult genre, with 21.2 million sold

Us book industry revenue change by category 2019-2020

• In the U.S, the best-selling book of 2020 was ‘The Promised Land’ by former U.S. president Barack Obama.

  Category	2019-2020 Decline/Growth %	2020 Revenue
  Consumer	6%	$16.67B
  Higher Education	-5.70%	$3.1B
  PreK-12	-12.30%	$3.84B
  Professional	-14.5	$1.68B
  University Presses	2.90%	$0.39B

   

   

   

   

   Print vs. E-book statistics

• E-Books only make up 9% of total Book industry revenue.
• E-Books sold 191 million units in 2020.
• Printed book sales reached 750.89 million units in 2020.

Audiobook statistics

• 71,000 audiobooks were published in 2020.
• U.S. audiobook revenue reached $1.3 billion in 2020.
• 
• As of 2021, Audible is the most popular audiobook website.

Trends and Predictions

• In 2021, the U.S. publishing industry only had a CAGR of 1%.
• On the other hand, the digital publishing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2021 to 2028.
• Theoretically, it should grow from $24.6 million in 2021 to $37.9 million by 2028.
• eBook sales increased by 12.6% from 2019-to 2020.
• Barnes and Noble’s sales declined by 22.3% in 2021.

Conclusion

• From the outside looking in, you might think I had a good upbringing; you think I have had it made or handed to me. Unfortunately, it is the complete opposite. I grew up struggling, not knowing when we would have a meal. I would store food away for my siblings, we lived in motels, lots of abuse within our family, not knowing if we would have a place to sleep, not knowing where we were going, not feeling loved, not feeling valued, and not feeling cared for. I still had to care for my siblings and make sure they were happy. Both of my parents had extreme drug addictions.

  My father inspired me to own my own business. Watching him go through 10 years of recovery and coming out, working hard, and owning his own business was amazing. His drive and ambition have stuck with me every day since he passed. I remember getting up at 5:00 am to put fliers on cars. That is how we advertise those days. I was so impressed, and those memories stuck with me. Unfortunately, he relapsed and died when I was thirteen. My life has been a struggle ever since. I have known that there is something better out there, but I have not been able to reach it. I have not been given the opportunities needed. I have always been just getting by, trying to climb, trying to do good for my children, but it always seems to stop because I do not have money or the connections. I have worked hard to put myself through college and finish school. I have two children and am a single mom who raises both by myself. I just want this opportunity. I need one opportunity and trust me; I will not fail. This is for companies with poor work environments and need/want to have a better culture, but do not know where to start. It can be for schools, companies, and even families that want to understand each other better.

  ​​​​​​​I have been doing everything in my power to not ask for financial help. I will use the money to market my book Define Your Culture. I need the funds to launch and self-publish the book. I also need to hire an editor to edit and ensure the book is ready to print high-quality pages. I will also need some funds to help pay bills, which will help me focus on building my brand. It has been difficult to have bills, utilities, and rent notices for overdue payments. It is hard for me to focus on building my brand or filling out applications for jobs when my mind is consumed with what is next. What will get shut off and what needs my attention. I truly apricate your consideration and I hope to hear from you soon.

   

  Thank you,

  Denise Cittadini