Pen & Publish exists to publish books that make a difference: quality books which benefit the reader, writer, and contribute to the greater good. Our mission is to provide each individual and organization with value-priced personalized service to fit their objectives.
Each project and person is unique and deserves to be treated fairly and communicated with honestly, even if it means sending them elsewhere for services. While we strive to be efficient, we will never adopt a factory model to crank out books en masse. We will not hide costs and information, or violate our ethics to grow our business. We will recommend choices based on the value to the client/author, not our potential profit.
The night of the first book release party was magic, filling the room with smiling students, parents, staff, and the local press. The student anthology celebration began with book presentations and reporters' questions; it peaked with a hive of students autographing copy after copy of their newly published book.
We created Pen & Publish to harness the power of publishing to excite the writer in each of us. Our student books may not be bestsellers, but they sure feel like it! Books are a marvelous tool. The process and finished book can be designed to accomplish a wide range of objectives in an exciting and fulfilling way.
Our focus is your objectives, whether we are co-designing your project and member collection or publishing the writing of your founders. Exploring design ideas to create your ideal project is our passion.
Open Books Press is our general fiction and nonfiction imprint, and Transformation Media Books titles fall under body/mind/spirit. In 2015, we added a literary fiction and poetry imprint, Brick Mantel Books. Each uses a traditional query-proposal process and contract.
Agents are welcome. We do not offer advances, but payments through agent clauses are available. Our standard agreement provides us with exclusive rights for the duration of the contract, and include trade paperback and eBooks. Distribution is through Ingram and Baker & Taylor. For detailed information on the querying process, please visit the website of the imprint that best suits your manuscript.
Our work-for-hire services provide the same custom approach and attention to detail as the titles we invest in. Options range from interior and cover design to international distribution, returnable books, press run and worldwide Print On Demand, eBooks, and subsidiary rights.
Our collaborative approach includes the option of using advance orders and/or crowdfunding to reduce your investment and jump-start your book promotion to help achieve your goals.
We can help organizations or publishing professionals create a small press or imprint. Query us by email.
Jennifer Geist, owner & publisher
With over a decade of experience in editing, book compositing, photography, graphic and web design, marketing, writing, and more, Jennifer Geist is able to see any book from acquisitions to publication and beyond. She received her bachelor’s degree in creative writing with a focus in small press publishing through Southeast Missouri State University. She has worked with numerous small presses and her stories and photos are published in a variety of literary magazines. In addition to heading Pen & Publish, Open Books Press, and Transformation Media Books, she added a literary fiction and poetry imprint in 2015: Brick Mantel Books. She can be reached via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or email.