Scenes: Open Books Press: an interview with Jennifer Geist

Could you briefly describe your press’s history?

Open Books Press was founded in 2010 to publish fiction for all ages and nonfiction for adults. It was created from parent company Pen & Publish, Inc., which was established in 2005 by Paul and Dee Burt to publish work for and by schools and nonprofits. Open Books Press also has two sister presses, the brand-new Brick Mantel Books, which I founded this year to publish literary fiction and poetry, and Transformation Media Books, an imprint publishing work in the body, mind, and spirit genres which was started in 2009. In 2015, I took over as publisher. Paul remains president and is currently pursuing his passion for social justice, sustainability, and quality of life initiatives.

How would you characterize the work you publish?

We pride ourselves on being able to publish a wide variety of work, from children’s books and YA fiction to fiction novels, nonfiction, and memoirs. I’d like to think that everyone would be able to find something that interests them within our catalog.

We’re currently publishing many memoirs (two last year, another two or three next year), but my love is always for fiction, and we publish a lot of that as well—a YA trilogy, mystery, suspense, short story anthologies, and more in the works. If I had to put the work we publish into a box, I’d say that we publish work that illustrates humanity or work that is for the greater good—work we have a connection to and believe in and that we feel others will as well.

Aside from being open to all genres, we’re also able to publish a wide range of work and enjoy working with both first-time or unknown authors and New York Times bestselling authors. We find that even relatively unknown authors’s books can do well if they are committed to reaching out online and within their community to build lasting connections.

Who is your audience, and in what ways are you trying to reach them?

Because we do publish such a wide range of work, we’re also trying to reach a very wide audience. If you want a murder-mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end, we have that. If you’re a parent looking for an illustrated children’s book to read to your kid before bed, we have that. If you’re a baby boomer looking for a coming-of-age memoir based in the 1960s and 1970s, we’re publishing that soon. How about a story of self-discovery amidst the backdrop of loss and grief? That’s on the way as well. Our audience is anyone who loves to read, no matter the genre, ages one to ninety-nine.

In terms of how we reach our expansive audience, while Open Books Press was founded in Bloomington, Indiana, we are now also working on expanding our presence in St. Louis, Missouri, where I live and work. We’ve already attended two local events this year (St. Louis Indie Book Fair and All Write Now! Writers’ Conference). Open Books Press and the other imprints will also attend at least one more event this year, the St. Louis Small Press Expo, and we’re exploring other options as well. We’re becoming well known not just in Bloomington, but also in Missouri, and all of our imprints now have at least one St. Louis or Missouri author represented. We’re also expanding our online presence, with revamped websites for all of the presses and new social media sites that are quickly gaining followers. Social media doesn’t exactly sell books, but it is a great accessory for connecting with readers and authors, hosting book giveaways, sharing news and events, and even finding new manuscripts through the Manuscript Wish List, #MSWL, on Twitter.

What is your role in the publishing scene?

I think, like most people that work in an independent press, I’m very hands on and do a little bit of everything. I studied small...