Deanna Cooper Gillingham RN, CCM

Why Blue Bayou Press?

Blue Bayou Press was founded as a result of its founder, Deanna Cooper Gillingham, a Registered Nurse, realizing how publishing a book could increase the authority a person had in their chosen field of specialization. This authority could then be leveraged to launch a lifestyle business.  

As a nurse, Deanna had reached a plateau in her career and was looking for a way to grow her income and become location independent. As you can imagine, this is not an easy task in a career that normally requires the nurse to be physically present where the patient is.

After spending significant time learning all she could from experts such as Dan Miller, and Pat Flynn, she accepted a challenge by Miller to double her income in the next 6 months. She began writing her first book, which took her a year to write and publish but did result in her doubling her income.

Quoting Deanna, “I may not have technically passed the challenge, but I am thrilled with the results. I doubled my income in a year, something I never thought was possible. And just as exhilarating is the positive reinforcement I get from my book helping other people.”

But the self-publishing process was a terrible experience and she was disappointed with the lack of credibility of a self-published book as compared to a book published under a recognized imprint. She says, “I was losing sales because people were recommending my book to their peers, but when they went to the bookstore to ask for it, they were told the book did not exist. I knew there had to be a better way. I had been helping friends and associates through the process of writing and publishing their own books based on my experiences, and I decided that I could better help them and others if I started my own publishing company.”

While still pursuing her daytime job as a nurse, Deanna began to lay the groundwork for a new publishing business whose sole vision was to work with professionals to start a business by authoring and publishing a book, in the same way, she had done for herself.

meet our team

People behind Blue Bayou Press

Deanna Cooper Gillingham RN, CCM
Deanna Cooper Gillingham, RN, CCM

Author & Co-Founder

Abi Carmen

Co-Founder & Website Developer

Dawn Venedam

Operations Manager & Support