[This article appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail, October 14, 2004]

Bill Clements [shown in photo at right] is the kind of guy who might make a life decision based on gut feeling.

On the surface, it may not always seem wise, as when he decided about 15 years ago to chuck a well-paying job in his field -- finance -- for a job at a bookstore.

"I had a desk job and I didn't like it," he says simply. "I took an 80 percent pay cut."

Clements was much happier peddling books at TransAllegheny Books, a Capitol Street business his friend Gordon Simmons had opened.

Customers soon gave him an idea for a venture of his own.

"People were asking for all of these books that didn't exist," he said, often on specific West Virginia topics such as mountain biking in the state. "I just had to tell them, 'Sorry.'

Two words from his economics days came knocking: supply and demand.

"I just started publishing books," he said.

With a mere $1,000 initial investment, Clements began publishing books under the names of Quarrier Press, Elk River Press and Mountain Memories Books. He created Pictorial Histories Distribution as the umbrella company that warehouses and distributes them.

The name is not to be confused with Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., created by Clements' friend and author, Stan Cohen, who writes historical books. They collaborated early on and still sell one another's books, though Cohen now lives in Montana.

At the same time, TransAllegheny was struggling at its Capitol Street location and the store closed. And Clements entered publishing full time.

"At first, I did only one or two titles a year," he said.

The work -- done from his Quarrier Street home, involved plenty of 16-hour days as Clements reviewed queries from authors, wrote contracts, edited manuscripts, worked with cover artists and page designers and found printers -- and then distributed the books.

Since he began eight years ago, Clements has published 50 books.

"There are two or three I wish I hadn't," he said.

But most, with initial printings of 1,000 copies to 10,000 copies, have done well.

"Everything is West Virginia-based," he said. "It can be about ghosts or travel or it can be a children's book, but it has to be West Virginia. That's the market I know."

Among his credits are everything from the tall tales of Bil Lepp to collections by Daily Mail columnist Dolly Withrow to his latest, "The Braxton County Monster: The Cover-Up of the Flatwoods Monster Revealed," by Frank Feschino, which he will debut this weekend at the West Virginia Book Festival.

The latest is the result of years of research by Feschino, who on a visit to Braxton County to see a cousin was taken by the stories of the famous Braxton County Monster and spent years researching them.

Clements said he agreed to publish Feschino's book on "just a complete hunch."

Already, it appears to be paying off, as Clements has had more than 100 individual advance orders for the book. And he hasn't even begun shipping them to vendors, which include everything from independent and chain bookstores to Tamarack, state visitor centers and travel plazas.

Pictorial Histories also distributes 400 titles by other authors and publishers, "from Mom-and-Pop publishers all the way up to Random House," Clements said.

He's learned that sharing some resources in the publishing business can be beneficial.

"I'm not the sole distributor for my books," he said. "And I don't have that agreement with any of the publishers whose books I distribute."

At the same time, Clements acknowledges he has earned a reputation as a bit of a one-stop shop for books by West Virginia authors or with West Virginia topics.

"Most of the places in the state would rather deal with us," he said. "Our customers rely on us to tell them what sells. And they can get all of their West Virginia titles here. We ship by UPS every day."

These days, the 39-year-old Clements is no longer a one-man operation from his home. When books started overtaking the house -- "And I was storing them in a neighbor's basement" -- he bought an office on Central Avenue.

A full-time employee, Tammy Lowers, takes and fills orders. He often contracts out editing work and he now turns over most of the weekend grind of setting up booths and tables at fairs and festivals to someone else.

"I did it by myself for a long time and I was doing more than 80 hours a week," he said.

And there still are 12- to 14-hour days when he's in the midst of a project on deadline. But he can dress as casually as he wants for work. He can wear his hair a bit on the shaggy side.

"If it's a nice day, I'll take off and ride my bike," he said.

And while he now makes more than he earned in that desk job he gave up, Clements said he never thought about it until asked.

"No idea how much I'd be making in finance today if I had put my nose down for a career in it," he said. "Rather a moot point, however, as I love what I do now and I'm lucky enough to make a living at it."

And sure, he could invest more money and become a bigger publisher.

"But then I'd have to start managing people," he said. "I'd rather be hands-on. I still do everything from take the trash out to edit books."