Chapter One: In Which We Start a Small Press

Hello!

We’re Homeward Books, a brand-new small press for books which don’t quite fit into one genre or another. You are a lovely person who has attended one of our book-recommendation parties, probably, or perhaps even asked us to keep you updated about ‘that bonkers idea for a publishing company’.

We have news! Firstly, we’re throwing another book-recs party this week (more below) and we’d love for you to join us if you’re in Seattle.

Secondly, we thought we’d introduce ourselves (and this whole project) a little better.

Thirdly, despite everything in the world, we are publishing some books.

With esteem,

Rachel, Huw, Lara and Rebekah (& Emma and Tommy)

Join us in Seattle this Thursday, August 14

We’re hosting a book-recommendation party this week! We’d love to see you there. The idea is that you bring along one of your favourite books to share with others—and our hope is that you’ll leave with a longer to-read list as well as some new friends.

Any questions? Drop us a note on Instagram or via email.

It’s also WorldCon this week in Seattle—the World Conference of Science Fiction—and Rachel, Lara and Intern Tommy will be attending. Please say hi if you spot us.

Why we’re publishing books, despite everything in the world

“There’s no way I’d ever start a small press,” Huw told Lara. “It’s the worst idea in the world.”

And yet Huw suspected that most of the books he loved would be rejected by publishers today. Lara’s friend had just had a book turned down because it fell between genres—meaning that it wasn’t bad, just hard to sell.

“Maybe you should talk to Rachel about it,” said Lara. She's in New York, but Rachel and Huw are both in Seattle, and so Lara figured it would be more satisfying for Huw to lament the state of publishing in person.

“She’s not going to convince me,” he said.

Still, he and Rachel met for coffee to discuss what a bad idea it would be to start a publishing company. Then Rachel sent a voice note to Rebekah about the whole thing, and when Rebekah woke up, in New Zealand, she wrote back: “I know an art director!”

Between us, we realised we probably had enough skills, hope, stupidity, and stubbornness to give it a go.

Rachel is a genius editor who teaches creative writing. Huw has hands-on experience with book publishing. Lara is the author of four novels and also happens to be an excellent business administrator. Rebekah is a non-fiction editor accustomed to producing magazines on a shoestring budget.

We can do what bigger publishing companies can’t because this is a labor of love: it’s our free time and our savings. Our goal isn’t to maximise shareholder returns but to be able to pay our authors, illustrators, and designers well – to make creative work more possible.

Ultimately, we’re here to put something into the world that we think is missing. To connect readers to stories that reach out to them and tweak or soothe or spark something. We know that matching the right book to the right person isn’t scientific, or even a reliable way to turn a profit, but we think it can be lifesaving.

So far, we’ve learned that it takes a long time to set up a business properly. That it’s really hard to decide on a cover artist for a book you love. That half of us hate social media and the other half use it mainly for Gideon the Ninth memes. And that there are terrific manuscripts floating around, waiting to be published.

A sneak peek of our first book, The Witch of Prague. Spicy opinions. Reading recommendations and cocktails to pair with them. An introduction to our mascot, Madame Bernarde l’Ermite. (She has some advice for you.)