Grand Angels announces 10th investment (back) 9/11/2007 Creative Byline, a Holland, Michigan-based internet startup that uses proprietary software (patent pending) to match up and connect writers and publishers, has completed its first round of financing by tapping local angel investors. The Grand Angels, a West Michigan-based group of individuals interested in making investments with a difference, led the investment, and the newly formed Lakeshore Advantage Capital Seed Fund, which targets high-growth technology firms in the Holland/Zeeland area, is a significant participant. Creative Byline CEO Brad MacLean, a former executive at Herman Miller, Inc., is excited about the opportunity that Creative Byline represents. “Currently, there are no other on-line manuscript filtering/sorting services designed to fit into the daily workflow of busy editors,” he says. In addition, MacLean said that the marketplace for creative media is large, and with the support of Grand Angels and Lakeshore Advantage, Creative Byline has the opportunity to redefine that market. “Creative Byline is exactly the type of high tech, high growth company we are targeting with the Seed Fund and the Business Garden Incubator,” says Randy Thelen, president of Lakeshore Advantage. Jody Vanderwel, Grand Angels president, says, “We were attracted to Creative Byline because it addresses a significant but unmet market need. We also liked Brad’s considerable business experience. This is the perfect blend of a great idea and a person who has the skills to implement it.” MacLean has spent the last 18 months researching the industry and confirming the business need. In the existing business model, writers send manuscripts through the mail to publishers and wait to hear back while publishers sort through their “slush piles.” With Creative Byline, writers upload manuscripts to the Creative Byline site. Editors can then electronically sort the manuscripts by genres or other criteria. Creative Byline also does an initial screening of manuscripts for quality. MacLean says Creative Byline has attracted a lot of interest from some of the largest New York-based publishers, as well as smaller publishing houses. “No one likes the inefficiency of the way things work now,” he says. “Publishers are frustrated by having to wade through 6,000 manuscripts every year in order to find the ones that have a shot at becoming the next best seller. Writers are frustrated because they have to wait nine months, on average, to hear back from a publisher—even if the answer is no. But until now, there hasn’t been any other way.” Creative Byline will launch its service later this fall.