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A local artist has launched a book publishing company in an effort to get his work and the work of his peers in front of potential buyers.

Jason Brommel, a newly published author who in December completed his first illustrated children’s book, has worked since February to place copies of “Moon Seeker” on the shelves of local stores.

Now, as the 31-year-old visual artist readies to publish his second book, he’s employing grass-roots efforts to get the presses running on a national level.

To that end, Brommel last month formed Myriad Book Publishing LLC.

“I’ve been interviewing authors and reading their manuscripts,” Brommel said of his move into the publishing business. “Some of them have already printed a few copies, but don’t have any idea of how to market it. So I’m looking at about a dozen different local authors that want me to publish their book.”

Children’s books, poetry books, fiction books and coffee-table books are among the genres Brommel has in hand.

Brommel said he has sold around 200 copies of “Moon Seeker”: about 100 copies at a Borders Group Inc. bookstore in West Des Moines and the rest through local vendors and direct marketing.

But as Borders stores in six other states expressed interest in carrying the title, Brommel learned that the chain has specific rules regarding such deals.

“They have a contract that says they have to go through a distributor if I sell at more than one of their stores,” Brommel said. “All I have to do is get on that list, then I can call and sell the book to every bookstore myself, and it will be available to them through their distributor.”

Brommel said companies of Myriad’s size are typically handled by smaller distributors, who in turn dispense books to larger ones, such as Baker & Taylor and Ingram Publisher Services Inc.

But following a three-month search for the right distributor, Brommel said, one of his contacts, whose name he declined to reveal, helped him hook up last week with four distributors: Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Barnes & Noble Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

“I now have a direct relationship with all those companies,” he said, noting that La Vergne, Tenn.-based Lightning Source Inc., a subsidiary of Ingram Content Group Inc., will provide Myriad with an online print-on-demand service that will allow orders to be printed, packaged and delivered nationally within 24 hours.

“They bridge the gap from the publisher to the distribution channels as a print-on-demand company,” Brommel said. “Yet the marketing and placement of titles is up to the publisher.”

Through a network of vendors and venues in target markets such as Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Colorado and Florida, Brommel said he will promote book tours, which will be advertised in advance of an author’s arrival.

Myriad will focus heavily on preliminary research for its customers, which Brommel said will ensure that clients’ books land in front of the right people.

“I’ll market it through the same channels to different audiences, but through those same bookstores,” he said. “At that moment, the audience that is already waiting for the book, plus the public audience, is going to latch on to that.”

In addition to creating a website and using social media, he’ll follow up with poster, postcard and e-mail blitzes in those communities.

“We’ve got people compiling e-mail lists for us in all of those places,” he said. “That’s the beginning of the process.”

To fill local orders, Brommel said he will employ Bindery 1 Inc., a Des Moines-based company that has printed three runs of “Moon Seeker.” He’s also reaching out to local bookstores, such as Beaverdale Books.

In Greater Des Moines, Myriad’s marketing efforts will revolve around collaborations within the arts community.

Josh Boyd, an author, artist and entrepreneur, is currently on a West Coast tour to promote his first poetry book, “Catacomb Confetti.” After submitting that manuscript to potential publishers for nearly six years, Boyd, 26, finally locked in a deal with Long Beach, Calif.-based Write Bloody Publishing to carry the title.

Now, as his second book nears completion, he has decided to go with Myriad.

“I wanted to jump on board and be a part of it because I love Jason, I believe in Jason, and also because I believe in Des Moines,” Boyd said. “Because of my national connections now, I’m really hoping to make Des Moines a venue for the arts.”

Brommel and Boyd are entrenched in the art scene, and they said a group of about 100 to 150 established artists in the metro area regularly collaborate to showcase one another’s talents.

“It’s a social, artistic, cultural network,” Brommel said. “It has to work on all levels to be functional. Especially when you’re working with limited time, second job, limited budget, you end up getting a construct of people together that are your support group, and then you’re their support group when it’s time for them to showcase their work.”

“We are all good friends first and business partners second,” Boyd said. “There are a lot of artists dedicated to making Des Moines greater.”

Myriad is based at Northland Studios, a downtown co-op of art studios at 621 Des Moines St.