Our Story

Dear Reader,

I grew up on Lillibridge Road in a small, pastoral American town. A creek happened to run beside my childhood home, with a tree growing next to it. During trying times, I used to climb this tree—sitting in its branches for hours, wrapped up in my thoughts. Once in a while, I would use the rocks in the stream to build castles with moats, or to make charms for enchantments, so that my imaginary figures could act out the fantastic stories I was creating.

But, you ask, what do a tree and rocks have to do with a publishing company that sells eBooks and print-on-demand novels?

When I reached the seventh grade, I encountered an unusual teacher. I'll call her Mrs. DeLane. No one really liked her: I had heard the rumors beforehand about Mrs. DeLane, and they weren't good—not good at all! Other kids said she picked her nose and ate it or that when she was mad she would pinch you. I was never a witness to this, but she did clean her fingernails with her teeth quite often. One of the assignments Mrs. DeLane had us read was a short story titled "The Towers of Babylon." I read it in the tree beside my house and it changed my life. It opened my mind to the world of speculative literature, revealing the endless possibilities hidden in everyday life. To this day I don't know who wrote this incredible story, even though I have looked for it many times. I wish I knew. I wish I could thank Mrs. DeLane for introducing me to it.

Stories are one of the oldest forms of human expression; they allow us to connect, to communicate, and to dream about the sort of world we wish to live in. I believe stories are crucial to our survival as human beings. I started Lillibridge Press because I wanted to give writers who are either overlooked or inexperienced a chance to work with excellent editors who care intensely about the value of stories. I wanted to connect these writers with readers who were looking for new characters and worlds that would sweep them up and intoxicate them with possibility. Most of all, I wanted to share with readers the sense of exhilaration a great story can deliver—the same exhilaration I felt up in that tree all those years ago, beside the creek on Lillibridge Road.

Sincerely,

Ronald E. Blakeslee

Publisher, Editor-in-Chief