Scenes: Regal House Publishing: an interview with Jaynie Royal

Could you briefly describe your press’s history?

Regal House Publishing is a traditional indie press founded in 2014 by author and editor Jaynie Royal. She sought to create a publishing house that served as a true partner to the writers under its roof. With this mandate in mind, Regal House enables a full transparency to the publishing process, and seeks to invest deeply, significantly, and meaningfully in authors—both new and established. We desire to create and support an author community in which all our authors support and promote one another, to provide full engagement in the editorial process, and strong assistance in pre- and post-marketing efforts. Regal House also believes in supporting and promoting other independent, artisan enterprises that are tangential to the literary endeavor; we celebrate the success stories of independent bookstores with our Book Bound blog series, and seek to help support local businesses that support sustainable initiatives, have strong social and environmental mandates, and produce a high-quality craft product.

Galvanized by the high-volume of queries and submissions, in 2016 Regal House created two imprints, Fitzroy Books and Pact Press.

Fitzroy Books publishes MG, YA and NA fiction. While Fitzroy has a number of works in the pipeline for release in 2018, we are also seeking to foster and encourage young and emerging writers and partner with nonprofits that support high school writers.

Pact Press was born from a desire to give voice to the marginalized and afflicted, to those who feel oppressed by circumstance or thwarted by society. In this manner, Pact Press comprises a social justice imprint, publishing fictional works, poetry, and short story collections that address issues such as immigration, homelessness, religious tolerance, racism, discrimination, and LGBTQ concerns. Pact Press is very proud to publish an anthology series that focuses on particular themes and donates net proceeds to charitable causes. Our inaugural anthology, Speak and Speak Again, was released in May of this year and the net proceeds are donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center to support their fine work battling discrimination. Our second anthology, for which we are currently seeking submissions, will focus upon the opioid epidemic and the proceeds will benefit a nonprofit seeking to aid individuals battling addiction. The theme of our third anthology will address the global refugee crisis and the proceeds likewise donated to a charity.

How would you characterize the work you publish?

While Regal House publishes a diverse range of genres with our various imprints, our works are all well-crafted, thoughtful, and often engage the reader in unexpected and unique ways.

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

Regal House has a multitude of audiences, and we have particular strategies for connecting with each of these segmented demographics. Our primary audience consists of our readers, and our efforts are directed towards connecting each of our authors with their readers. We feel that indie bookstores are our natural partners in this enterprise and Regal House is excited to celebrate their successes in our recently inaugurated Book Bound series. Pact Press has also been delighted to work with indie bookstores along the west coast in support of our Speak and Speak Again reading tour. Indie bookstores are frequently the local gathering point for book clubs, author readings, and release events—events in which authors can personally interact with their readers. We were very proud to learn that our recently published Pact Press anthology was selected by Quail Ridge Books as a feature title in their August Book Bash series.

We are seeking partnerships with libraries, which are particularly receptive to our Fitzroy titles, and with online book tour and book blog tour hosts. Each of our authors brings particular experience to the Regal community (some of whom are employed in bookstores and libraries) and we seek, within our growing community, to create a mutually supportive network which facilitates a growing awareness for our titles, our authors, and our press.

We are also in the process of establishing an online literary forum, one in which our writers can engage...