Publishing Talks: Brooke Warner of She Writes Press 2026

I originally began Publishing Talks as a series of conversations with book industry professionals and others involved in media and technology, mostly talking about the future of publishing, books, and culture. I continue to enjoy my conversations with people in the book industry about the evolution of publishing in the context of technology, culture, and economics. This latest episode features a conversation I recently had with the wonderful Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press (which is only one among the many other roles she somehow manages).

It was ten years ago that I first talked to Brooke for Publishing Talks about her work with She Writes (which she co-founded with Kamy Wicoff in 2012) when the publishing world was a very different place. She Writes was and is a hybrid publisher, requiring support from its author for the publishing process. Ten years ago that was far less common than it is today.

Since Brooke not only keeps a close watch on everything that is happening in independent and commercial publishing, she also writes, talks and podcasts herself about book matters, and now she is also publishing a weekly newsletter about writers, books, and writing. So she is an ideal person for me to talk to about what is happening in the book world today, and I think you will find our conversation to be interesting and educational, no matter your role – reader, writer, publisher, book marketer – or your degree of knowledge about books and publishing. I always enjoy speaking with knowledgeable publishing folk and I think you will enjoy hearing what Brooke has to say. Please have a listen.

Brooke is also is a memoir coach and author of Write On, Sisters!, Green-light Your Book, What’s Your Book?, and three books on memoir. She’s also a TEDx speaker (“Green-light Revolution”), weekly podcaster (of “Memoir Nation” with co-host Grant Faulkner), and publishes a weekly newsletter, Writerly Things, on Substack at brookewarner.substack.com.

In March 2025, SWP joined The Stable Book Group as one of the inaugural imprints in this new publishing collective. Brooke became Stable Book Group’s COO while maintaining her role as Publisher of She Writes Press.

During the course of its existence SWP has worked with over 1300 authors.

Brooke’s own website is here.
She Writes Press website.
The Stable Book Group website.

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William Loving: Fells Point: A Novel

Fells Point: A Novel – William Loving – Rare Bird Books – Hardcover – 9781644285558 – 240 pages – $28.00 – June 9, 2026 – ebook available at lower prices

Fells Point is a bit of a noirish, bit of a postmodernish novel set in modern day Baltimore. In all honesty, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. For some reason I just did not expect to get into it so easily. Maybe because the writing is clear and the author clearly loves his characters and the city of Baltimore where the book takes place.

The novel’s protagonist is Daniel Doyle Jr., who comes off as bored with his life and aware that there must be something more. We kind of like him but we don’t quite know why. Maybe it is because now that he has reached the time he might have had his mid-life crisis, he finds out that he has a congenital heart defect that could kill him at any moment. Imminent death does seem to be a wake up call for Doyle so he starts exploring his home city for the first time. He makes a “bucket list” of places he has missed or taken for granted for his entire life that he can actually see for the first time.

Just as he’s beginning to get comfortable with his new understanding of Baltimore’s hidden treasures, Doyle starts to realize that he is being followed by a mysterious stranger who seems to appear wherever he goes. He wonders whether this is actually real, or some sort of fantasy he has created for himself, but it turns out to be real in a surprising and complicated way that makes the novel completely engrossing for the reader (and for the characters in it as well). Difficult life questions are asked and possibly answered.

Bill and I had an excellent conversation about this novel and Loving’s approach to fiction. And given the surprising twists and turns in this story, we were careful to avoid any spoilers. You will have to read the book to find out why it is so compelling. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

Before turning to fiction, Loving was an accomplished journalist at the Los Angeles Times and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In addition to Fells Point, he is also the the author of two other novels,  City of Angles (set in Los Angeles) and Blue Earth River (set in Minneapolis). In his fiction, he has tended to explore the cities he has lived in, using his journalist’s skills to create stories that reflect those places in vivid ways. He currently lives in Pasadena, California with his wife.

William Loving has crafted a maze of identity and irony that leads to a climax that will stay with the reader long after the last page.”—David Bolton, author of Whispering Pines and Love Thief

“As thought-provoking as it is hilarious, Fells Point is a page-turning masterpiece of existential wit and suspense.”—J. Paul Rieger, author of A Most Unlikely Man and Sunscreen Shower

Buy the book at Bookshop.org

Author website

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