Connecting Authors and Readers

Whether it’s the accumulation of experiences and wisdom in their areas of expertise, an entertaining children’s story with fun illustrations, or a light-hearted romance, the stories PathBinder authors tell shine. We handle all their publishing needs, from providing professional editing services to formatting for hardback, paperback, and ebook to designing amazing covers and making their books available to the public through bookstores, libraries, and online worldwide.

What Kind of Publisher is PathBinder?

Authors pay us for the services we provide, and in exchange receive more input and personal care than they might at a large, traditional publisher. Unlike vanity presses you may have heard about or encountered, we do not charge outrageous fees, make unrealistic sales promises, steal copyrights from authors, nor pay substandard royalties. You will get a contract that spells out in detail all of your rights as an author as well as our responsibilities.

Where Quality Matters

We take pride in the quality of our books, which means we can’t accept every manuscript that gets submitted. We want authors and readers alike to know that PathBinder books are written, edited, and designed to high standards. As an author, you don’t want your awesome book to be marketed alongside subpar efforts, and our team of professional editors and designers are here to make sure to show off the best your book can be.

What We Accept

PathBinder Publishing will consider manuscripts of all genres, as long as they are of good quality and original works of the author (we will consider publishing newer editions of older works with expired copyrights under certain circumstances). We accept nonfiction, but expect that the author has verified all the facts therein. We do not accept manuscripts that promote hate, violence, or deal with eroticism. Romance novels will be considered, as long as they are tasteful. We will consider how-to and business books as long as they contain valuable, true information. We reserve the right to refuse any manuscript for any reason.

Are You Ready?

If you’re an author and feel you are ready to submit a manuscript, email it to info@pathbinderpublishing.com and tell us a little about yourself and your book. If you’re not quite sure if you’re ready and would like someone to make sure you’re headed in the right direction, we can give you a bit of advice free of charge.

For older posts, click here for our What’s New archive

Two PathBinder books named finalists for Imadjinn Awards

April 2, 2024 – Two books published by PathBinder Publishing LLC last year have been named finalists for the 2024 Imadjinn Awards.

Checkout Time by John Bukowski and Jason Phoenix and the Demon Lamp by Kyle Willis were selected from the largest field of nominations ever in the 11-year history of the Imaginarium Convention. All finalists advance to the awards jury to determine the winners in each category. Winners will be announced live at the Imaginarium 2024 Awards Banquet, taking place on Saturday, July 20, at the Holiday Inn Louisville East.

Checkout Time is a finalist in the Best Thriller Novel category. Published last February, it’s the story of handsome scientist Thomas Tomacinski and beautiful FBI agent Sally Butterworth, who combine efforts to try and stop an extortion bomber mysteriously known as Conrad Hilton. Tom-Tom and Sally Pancakes, as they are affectionately known, are led on a merry chase through the scenic backroads of Kentucky and Tennessee with more plot twists than a country lane.

This is the second thriller by Bukowski, an East Tennessee resident. His first was Project Suicide, which came out in March 2022.

Jason Phoenix, also published last February, is in the Best Urban Fantasy Novel category. The title character is like any normal teenager until the discovery of a mysterious lamp. The seductive, female demon who emerges from the lamp in a spire of black smoke manipulates Jason into exchanging his soul for omnipotence.With unlimited power at his fingertips, young Jason Phoenix is both thrilled and terrified as he now has easy access to his deepest desires, but unless he harnesses his abilities, he can also destroy those he loves.

Be sure to get your single-day or full-weekend Event Tickets for the big weekend, and a limited number of Dinner Tickets are still available for the awards ceremony.

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Author talk a smashing success

April 1, 2024 – PathBinder Owner Paul J. Hoffman had the opportunity to chat with New York Times best selling author Michael Koryta March 27 for an author talk put on by the Johnson County Public Library on the campus of Franklin College. Hoffman and Koryta, a Bloomington, Indiana, native chatted about, among other items of interest, Koryta’s 19 novels, including his latest release, Lost Man’s Lane, which published the day before the talk. That novel was written under Michael’s pen name, Scott Carson, which he uses for his horror books. Koryta is reserved for more thriller-type fare.

Hoffman, an author of two nonfiction books, engaged Koryta in conversation, enlightening and entertaining the audience of 200-plus. Many of the attendees had read several of Michael’s books, as well as some of Scott’s.

Hoffman and Koryta both signed and sold books afterward.

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Wynne continues conversations on anti-racism

April 1, 2024 – W.E. (Bill) Wynne, author of Understanding and Combating Racism: My Path from Oblivious American to Evolving Activist, was part of two programs in March in western New York, where he lives. On March 14, he did a joint anti-racism program with another local author, John Strazzabosco, at Hipocampo Children’s Books in Rochester. On March 16, Wynne presented a program titled “Transformation from Fear of Each Other to Becoming a Beloved Community” at the Mount Irenaeus Franciscan Mountain Community in West Clarksville.

Wynne, who lives near Rochester, included the following quote from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the March 16 program: “I am convinced that men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they don’t communicate with each other, and they don’t communicate with each other because they are separated from each other.”

On April 23, Wynne will be part of a discussion on “How to BE an Anti-Racist” at the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse in Pittsford. The discussion, sponsored by their Justice and Care for Creation Committee, will focus on some personal experiences of encountering and combating racism.

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Two PathBinder authors to participate in Seymour, Indiana, event

February 26, 2024 – Kyle Willis and Kimberly S. Hoffman, both of whom have had books published by PathBinder, will be two of the authors participating in an authors event in Seymour, Indiana, on May 18.

The inaugural Magic of Books Author Signing will feature authors from several genres and stages in their publishing careers to meet and greet readers at Rails Craft Brew & Eatery, 114 St. Louis Ave. General admission and VIP ticket packages will be available through Eventbrite soon.

Kyle’s young adult fantasy book, Jason Phoenix and the Demon Lamp, published in February 2023.

Kimberly has eight children’s books:

Cleo and Roger Discover Columbus, Indiana – Architecture

Cleo and Roger Discover Columbus, Indiana – Art

Emma’s Dancing Day

I Llama Ewe

Love, Hope: Children Express Their Emotions During the Coronavirus Pandemic

Pete the Brave

The Red Coat: Giving and Gratitude During The Great Depression

Sigmund Stanley Spider Squared

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Biography by Palestinian author remains popular

February 26, 2024 – Terry Ahwal’s debut memoir, Keeping the Dream Alive: My Quest for Peace and Justice, continues to rank among the top ten best sellers in Arab & Middle Eastern Biographies for paperbacks on Amazon. It’s been in the top three, and at present occupies the No. 9 spot. The book, which published in November 2023, details her years growing up as a Palestinian Catholic under Israeli occupation, her reluctant immigration to the United States as a teenager, and her daily battles in becoming a Palestinian American who cares deeply about both her homeland and her adopted country.

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Children’s author gets in some acting

February 26, 2024 – Kimberly Hoffman, author of eight children’s books, acted in a production of Inherit the Wind at The Crump Theatre in Columbus, Indiana, recently. Kimberly, who has lived in Columbus most of her life, played the part of Mrs. Blair, a member of the local church in the fictional town of Hilsboro. The play, popularized by the 1960 movie starring Spencer Tracy and Fredric March, is based on a real-life case in 1925 in which two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution. Kimberly is working on her ninth book, which is in the process of being illustrated.

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Author gets story in horror comic anthology

February 22, 2024 – East Tennessee author John Bukowski’s short story, “Carpet Sharks” will be published in the anthology, Max Blood’s Mausoleum. John has received his author’s copy and assumes it will be available to the public within the next month. A comic book fan growing up in the 1960s, John loved them, and on occasion he’d explore horror comics, of which Max Blood’s Mausoleum reminds him. He says that the graphics are amazing, and the paper copy has the look and feel of the old creepy-tales-like comics.”

John has published the thrillers Checkout Time and Project Suicide with PathBinder. He’s working on three novels and has been shopping them to traditional presses that accept unagented work. He continues to make the literary circuit near his home.

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Wynne, book on racism featured in magazine

February 5, 2024 – A local magazine has published a story on author Bill Wynne and his book, Understanding and Combating Racism: My Path from Oblivious American to Evolving Activist. 55-Plus of Rochester (NY) published the story in its January/February issue.

He said he wasn’t exactly enamored with the headline, but was happy that a topic near to his heart got some press.

The story goes into Bill’s self-discovery of the many evils associated with the racial injustice permeating our society. In the book, he says: “My personal view of white privilege, as created out of white supremacy, especially white male supremacy, is that  it encumbers all white people in this country to one degree or another, whether they are aware of it or not.”

The story also details some of the things Bill has learned during his conversations and presentations in the Rochester area on the topic of racism.

To read the story, click on this link and go to Page 59.

PathBinder published Understanding and Combating Racism in 2021.

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Book to document church’s 200 years

January 22, 2024 – PathBinder Publishing is getting into the bicentennial business as it will publish a book celebrating the 200th anniversary of First Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Indiana.

The congregation was officially chartered on July 3, 1824 with the Rev. John M. Dickey as installing minister. The church boasted seventeen members at the time. It wasn’t until the end of the 1830s before the congregation held services in a church building, having been invited to share the church building the Methodists had erected. (In 1846, the Presbyterians moved into their own building.

Over the years, the congregation has been known for its community outreach. One of their pastors started the first Alcoholics Anonymous chapter in the city. The church started a program to educate young mothers, who at the time were not allowed to finish high school. The church also instrumental in establishing a women’s shelter and the first homeless shelter in Columbus.

The church self-published a history book to coincide with its 175th anniversary in 1999. The new book will incorporate the material in the previous book and will contain information about its highlights in the 21st century.

The book is anticipated to be available this summer.

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Author’s next children’s book gets visual

January 22, 2024 – The illustrations are in for Kimberly S. Hoffman’s upcoming children’s book, No Matter What, which depicts a mother’s unconditional love for her child, who asks her some serious what-if questions.

Professional artist Greg Potter of Franklin, Indiana, lends his artistic talents to the book, showing mother and child interacting throughout. Potter, a U.S. Army veteran, has painted murals on buildings in Franklin and was selected to paint an iconic helmet for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His work has been featured in art shows and other events in the community for years. He is a part of the Franklin Public Art Advisory Commission, which focuses on enriching the city with art installations.

This will be Kimberly’s ninth book, all with PathBinder.

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Selling well in his city of residence

January 21, 2024 – PathBinder Publishing LLC Owner Paul J. Hoffman’s second book, Wicked Columbus, Indiana, made his local bookstore’s bestseller list for 2023. The book placed fifth on the adult nonfiction list at Viewpoint Books in Columbus, Indiana, and was the top selling title by a local author on the list.

The book has been out 6½ years. It was No. 2 on Viewpoint’s bestseller list the year it came out (2016), despite only being available the second half of the year.

Wicked is a series of nine stories about terrible, awful, unfortunate, nasty things that have happened in and around Columbus, mostly a really long time ago. His first book, Murder in Wauwatosa: The Mysterious Death of Buddy Schumacher (2012) tells the tale of an 8-year-old boy who went missing in 1925 from his home just west of Milwaukee. Both of his books were published by The History Press.

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Kara to ‘visit’ Times Square

Florida author Ritu Anand’s children’s book Kara’s Dreams will be highlighted on Times Square marquees Dec. 20 in New York. That’s because her debut children’s book won Distinguished Favorite in the Independent Press Picture Books category of the 2023 New York City Big Book Award contest.

The 10-second spots for the book will be shown throughout the day.

Ritu and her husband moved from Long Island, New York, to Sarasota in 2016. Her niece, Anjali Anand, a high school senior in New York, translated Kara into Spanish. That version of the book just published under the title, Los Suenos de Kara.

Kara was inspired in part by Punjabi scripture and by her hikes in North Carolina, Ritu told  Observer, based in Sarasota, for a story posted on Dec. 12. “The book also serves as a reminder, she said, that ‘every creature no matter what size — plants and animals included — (is here) to rejoice and play together on the planet.’”

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A busy bee

December 12, 2023 – Children’s author Kimberly S. Hoffman has been busy with craft fairs and book events. This coming Sunday, she’ll participate in her sixth event in the past seven weeks. On Dec. 17, she will be at Viewpoint Books in Columbus, Indiana, at an event called Cider Sunday. The event brings people inside for hot apple cider, treats, and local authors.

The most prestigious event she’s been a part of recently was the Annual Holiday Author Fair on Dec. 2 at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis, her second straight appearance. Hundreds of authors apply to be part of this annual event held in December, which annually showcases some of the Hoosier State’s top books and authors. Kimberly was selected due to her book, I Llama Ewe, which published last fall. Beautifully illustrated by Calder Robinson, it teaches children that differences shouldn’t drive us apart. In fact, our differences can often be the catalyst to form close, lasting relationships. The story also emphasizes that sometimes we don’t understand why someone loves us because we can’t see the beauty within ourselves that they see in us.

She and her husband, PathBinder owner Paul J. Hoffman, were part of the store’s 50th anniversary celebration in October. Besides having eight books out, Kimberly also sells her handmade essential oil diffuser jewelry under her Queen Bee Designs.

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Teaching authors about firearms

December 12, 2023 – Author John Bukowski has added a workshop to his teaching schedule at this year’s Imaginarium conference in Louisville. Last year, he taught on researching for fiction. This year, he will also be teaching a second workshop, “A Primer on Firearms in Fiction.” John says that “many fiction writers aren’t familiar with firearms, so they make basic mistakes that turn off readers who are. My favorites are when characters attach a suppressor (silencer) to a revolver (doesn’t work) or release the manual safety on their Glock (doesn’t have one). Anyway, I can hopefully provide the basics and save them some angry emails.”

Imaginarium, now in its 11th year, is a unique event for writers and storytellers of all genres, including filmmakers, game developers, artists, musicians, poets, cosplayers, and many other creatives, and their fans. The convention features three days full of extensive panel and workshop programming, an expo, a film festival, live entertainment, literary and film awards, cosplay, and much more. This year’s event will be conducted July 19-21 at Holiday Inn Louisville East.

The East Tennessee resident is the author of PathBinder Publishing thrillers Checkout Time and Project Suicide.

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Number Three!

December 7, 2023 – Terry Ahwal’s memoir, Keeping the Dream Alive: My Quest for Peace and Justice, recently hit the No. 3 spot on the Arab & Middle Eastern Biographies paperback bestseller list on Amazon.

Keeping the Dream Alive details Terry’s years growing up as a Palestinian Catholic under Israeli occupation, her reluctant immigration to the United States as a teenager, and her daily battles in becoming a Palestinian American who cares deeply about both her homeland and her adopted country.

Her goal is not to cast aspersions against the Israeli people, but to support her fellow Palestinians, who have endured much hardship under Israeli rule, and to realize her dreams of seeing a lasting, just peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

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Happy Book Birthday to our first foreign language book!

November 30, 2023 – Today, PathBinder Publishing LLC launches Los Sueños de Kara, the Spanish edition of Kara’s Dreams, Ritu Anand’s debut book that we published in March 2022, is December 16. The Spanish edition once again features the same wonderful, rich, Veen Redwood illustrations as the English edition. The book was translated into Spanish by the author’s niece, high school senior Anjali Anand of New York City.

The story centers on a young tree named Kara, who has seen others around her defeated by the obstacles thrown at them. She fears the same fate might befall her, and she may never be able to attain her dreams. But some mentoring from a wise friend helps Kara realize that she has everything within her to reach her dreams; she just needs to adjust to her surroundings and believe in herself.

The English edition has earned much praise. It earned honors as a Distinguished Favorite in the Independent Press Picture Books (all ages) category of the 2023 New York City Big Book Award contest. It was also named Best First Picture Book in the Northern Lights Book Awards 2022 contest.

Amazon: https://lnkd.in/gRyiX58S

Barnes & Noble: https://lnkd.in/ggxgWtgt

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December releases set for two new offerings

November 13, 2023 – PathBinder Publishing LLC has set publication dates for its first Spanish-language book and a memoir of grief and renewed hope.

Los Suenos de Kara, the Spanish edition of Kara’s Dreams, which PathBinder published in March 2022, is in presale and will publish on December 16. The Spanish edition once again features the same wonderful, rich, Veen Redwood illustrations as the English edition, written by Florida author Ritu Anand. The book was translated into Spanish by the author’s niece, high school senior Anjali Anand of New York City.

The English edition has earned much praise. It earned honors as a Distinguished Favorite in the Independent Press Picture Books (all ages) category of the 2023 New York City Big Book Award contest. It was also named Best First Picture Book in the Northern Lights Book Awards 2022 contest.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati author Kelly Holden’s debut book, A Kintsugi Life: Finding Strength and Hope in the Face of Loss, is set to publish on December 14; it is also in presale.

Kelly earned a degree in journalism at Franklin College in Indiana and had always dreamed of publishing a novel. She had written short stories, novels, and wannabe books. But this is her first published book, which she started as a cathartic exercise to process the grief of losing her husband, Nick, to leukemia in 2013. Since then, she has shared her journey with many and hopes this book will help others heal from tragedy and loss.

Kelly was blessed to find love again and shares her life with her husband, Keith, their four wonderful children, and a dog. She loves to travel any chance she can and spends her free time reading, attending concerts, and hosting pool parties and cookouts for friends and family.

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Memoirs of a Palestinian Catholic in presale

November 2, 2023 – Terry Ahwal’s nightmares have returned. In 1969, Israeli soldiers burst into young Terry’s home. More than fifty years later, she still vividly sees her father’s arms in the air while young soldiers beat him. Her mother’s shouting and pleading provide an aural backdrop she also can’t forget. Now, the recent outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which includes her hometown, is a brutal reminder of what it was like for her growing up a Palestinian Catholic under Israeli occupation.

In her debut book, Keeping the Dream Alive: My Quest for Peace and Justice, Terry addresses her thoughts on today’s violence, as well as what led to it.

“I can’t sleep through the night because the images of homes toppling on children is devastating me,” she writes. “While this pain will always be with me, I will never abandon my belief in nonviolent resolution.” She also states: “For me, violence is never a tool to gain justice. The Hamas attack in Gaza of October 7 was wrong. But we must also understand the cumulative attacks that obliterated thousands of Palestinians for 75 years.”

The book is available for presale now and publishes Nov. 30.

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I Am My Language cover revealed

November 2, 2023 – Maaz Farzaan has produced a wonderful illustration for the cover of author Ritu Anand’s next book, I Am My Language, about a young girl who puts out great effort to learn to read her native Punjabi language. The colorful cover shows the main character, Surjeet, holding Oodaree, a Punjabi storybook, with a background of beautiful Monarch butterfly wings and small butterflies flitting above her. The book is written in English, but children will learn a few Punjabi letters and words as they follow Surjeet’s struggles and triumphs.

I Am My Language will be Ritu’s third book with PathBinder Publishing LLC. Her first, Kara’s Dreams, published last March. Her second, Los Suenos de Kara (a Spanish language edition of Kara’s Dreams) is in presale now and will publish on Nov. 16.

Ritu lives in Sarasota, Florida.

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Author spreads his anti-racism message

November 2, 2023 – W.E. (Bill) Wynne, author of Understanding and Combating Racism: My Path from Oblivious American to Evolving Activist, continues to give presentations on his book. On Nov. 16, the Rochester, NY-area author will be at the Victor-Farmington Library in Victor, NY.

He will also participate each Saturday in November in Elders and Allies Group for Free the People Saturday BLM Silent Vigils from noon to 1 p.m. at the intersection of Routes 250 and 441 in Penfield.

PathBinder published Understanding and Combating Racism in November 2021.

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After seven years, author finally gets short story published

November 2, 2023 – John Bukowski, author of PathBinder Publishing thrillers Checkout Time and Project Suicide, tells the story of the trils and tribulations of getting a short story of his published:

“One of the first short stories I ever tried to get published was “Carpet Sharks. “ That was way back around 2016. The story is my take on the killer-bug genre, kind of like that nasty cockroach vignette in “Creep Show.” I initially got some positive feedback on the opening, but that was about it. So, I kept pitching and revising for seven years and about twenty submissions, sending it to any likely horror magazine or anthology I could find. Last week, the editor of a new magazine called “Max Blood’s Mausoleum” loved it and wants to publish it in their seminal issue. It will be my ninth published short story among 300 or so pitches. Like I said, perseverance is a key to fiction writing.”

Congratultions, John!

The East Tennessee resident has been spending his free time on podcasts and attending literary events. He’ll do a series of podcasts in 2024 with his friend, Andrew Stamper of Stamper Cinema. They’ll explore the works of Michael Mann, John’s favorite living director. Possible movies include Last of the Mohicans, Manhunter, Thief, and Heat.

He attended a local author symposium at the Dayton (Ohio) Metro Library that included 25-30 authors and hundreds of readers. He’ll attend the Rose Glenn Literary Festival in Sevierville Tennessee in February.

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Kara’s Dreams earns award

October 11, 2023 – Kara’s Dreams, Ritu Anand’s first children’s book, earned honors as a Distinguished Favorite in the Independent Press Picture Books (all ages) category of the 2023 New York City Big Book Award contest. The contest is for independently and traditionally published authors, publishers, big and small presses.

Books are judged on presentation, editorial quality, and audience appeal.  Submissions are welcome in a number of categories: fiction and nonfiction, children to adult. Audiobooks also welcomed.   

PathBinder published Kara’s Dreams last March; a Spanish language version is planned by Thanksgiving. Both are wonderfully illustrated by Veen Redwood.

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A cover for Los Sueños de Kara

October 2, 2023 – We have the Spanish version of Kara’s Dreams covered! The front cover for the Spanish language edition employs the same great illustration of the title character that Veen Redwood drew for the English edition that PathBinder published in March 2022. The title in Spanish is Los Sueñs de Kara, and the book was translated from English by author Ritu Anand’s niece, high school senior Anjali Anand. It should be out sometime this fall.

The story centers on a young tree named Kara, who has seen others around her defeated by the obstacles thrown at them. She fears the same fate might befall her, and she may never be able to attain her dreams. But some mentoring from a wise friend helps Kara realize that she has everything within her to reach her dreams; she just needs to adjust to her surroundings and believe in herself.

Kara’s Dreams was Ritu’s first book.

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Cover of Kintsugi Life strikes gold

October 2, 2023 – The front cover for A Kintsugi Life: Finding Strength and Hope in the Face of Loss by Cincinnati’s Kelly Holden features a portrait of a woman that displays just what “kintsugi” is. The woman looks like a statue that looks to have been broken, with the cracks filled in with gold. Kintsugi is a centuries old Japanese art of repairing broken pottery and transforming it into a network of art with gold. “Kin” means “gold” and “tsugi” means “joinery.” Kintsugi pertains to the Zen ideal of wabi sabi, the concept of embracing imperfection. It also relates to finding value and beauty in those imperfections and blemishes.

The cover was designed by Kassondra Hattabaugh of Colorado. It’s her second cover with PathBinder.

The book centers on the author losing her first husband to cancer at an early age. Kelly, who lives in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, hopes to help others going through similar situations by discussing lessons she learned about grief, hope, and long hospital stays. She is a graduate of Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, an attorney, and now remarried.

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Kara’s getting a Spanish edition

September 12, 2023 – Ritu Anand’s debut children’s book, Kara’s Dreams, is getting translated into Spanish! Los sueñs de Kara, translated by Ritu’s niece, Anjali Anand, should be out sometime this fall.

PathBinder published the English language edition of the book in March 2022. The tale is augmented by Veen Redwood’s rich, beautiful illustrations.

The story centers on a young tree named Kara, who has seen others around her defeated by the obstacles thrown at them. She fears the same fate might befall her, and she may never be able to attain her dreams. But some mentoring from a wise friend helps Kara realize that she has everything within her to reach her dreams; she just needs to adjust to her surroundings and believe in herself.

For older posts, click here for our What’s New archive .