Who We Are

I read somewhere recently that all respectable online publishers identify themselves -- that is, they tell people who they are. Well, we have been publishing for something like ten years now, and nobody has ever asked us who we are...but, nonetheless, we are nothing if not respectable, so here goes. In case you're interested..."we" is actually me, Jean Goldstrom. I am a retired newspaper reporter, editor and publisher. My main stint was with The Baltimore News American (circulation 180,000 daily, 230,000 Sunday) but after The News American folded (along with most other afternoon dailies across the US) I worked for a number of other publications. My favorite, of course, was my very own newspaper, The Knoxville-Mt.Oliver American, which purported to cover the two communities where I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. During its five year existence, The American grew to fit the somewhat pretentious title of The South Hills Communities American. It was a monthly, and circulation ranged from 15,000 to 20,000, depending on how many ads I could sell. (You sell the ads to pay the printer, so if you sell more ads, you can order more copies of the paper.)

After folding the dear old American when I moved from my native Pittsburgh PA to Florida, I just could not stop publishing things, thus Whortleberry Press. The odd name resulted from the first couple of books I published. They were about Clan Mackintosh, the Scottish Highland Clan into which my father was born. The clan's symbol was the red whortleberry, which looks something like a holly berry. I figured nobody else would name their press anything so...um...silly, which is a good thing, because you don't want to have the same name as some other press. (They make you change it.)

We publish primarily fantasy and science fiction, although we've done some poetry, non-fiction and mainstream fiction and we're open to all kinds of suggestions. Have any? Royalties: Well, we don't make enough money to give authors an advance. On the other hand, WE DO NOT CHARGE YOU ANYTHING TO PUBLISH YOUR BOOK. (Please don't deal with anyone who does -- there are a lot of honest online publishers out there besides us who will be straight with you and not take your money.) We will promote your book as best we can, and any sales made will be divided 50-50 between you and Whortleberry Press.

Got something you think we'd like? Let us know. Write me at jean.goldstrom@earthlink.net. I'll answer, honest.

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