Starting Over

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Little did he know that the change would involve his dog, a pocketbook-size Papillon named Genevieve. Just for fun, Fried had written a handful of comic essays about his pooch, which his wife Katrina distributed to several online dog groups. After getting enthusiastic e-mail responses to the stories, Fried decided that he might have enough humorous anecdotes about Genevieve to sustain a book. With time on his hands and a marketing background to help him get a book into stores, he started Eiffel Press in 1999. Fried hired a book packager to help design the publication, and in 2000, he self-published Memoirs of a Papillon: The Canine Guide to Living with Humans Without Going Mad.

Fried had about $15,000 in up-front production costs, sold 20,000 books around the U.S. at $13.95 a copy and netted about $50,000 after expenses. With Genevieve patiently by his side at all book signings and personal appearances, he garnered publicity on TV and in major newspapers across the country. He hopes to write a sequel, also to be published by Eiffel Press.

"I've always wanted to write a book. This was the absolute right time in my life to do this," Fried says. "I'm busier now than I've ever been, and this is the most fun I've had compared with any kind of job."