About
Why we started Lion — and the one thing we refuse to do.
Lion Publishing started with a simple frustration: too much of modern publishing had stopped trusting the reader. Books were getting acquired for what they signaled, not for whether they were any good.
In 2023, Rebekah heard an incredibly talented author — a straight white guy — explain why he didn't bother going to an agent to pursue traditional publishing for his political fantasy series. (It's great, by the way.)
The answer was that no one wanted him. It wasn't even about the story; he knew in advance that rejection was likely based solely on his lack of perceived victimhood.
We thought that was backwards. A great story doesn't need a cause bolted onto it, and a bad one isn't rescued by having the "right" politics. So we built a house with story in mind — the books must be fantastic, and we can sleep soundly at night having shared them with the world.
The short version of a longer story.
We got tired of seeing amazing books get turned down for the wrong reasons (and stories we didn't get greenlit for all the wrong ones).
Instead of simply complaining about it, we decided to start the kind of press we wished we could submit our novels to.
Our publishing house officially launches in February 2027 with a crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit. No investor cash... just hard work and people who believe in the vision.
In 2027, not only will our first three novels see a wide release, but we're hoping to release 4-6 more! We're branching out to new genres and even non-fiction... and just getting started.
Co-founder
Rebekah is an author and entrepreneur living in east Tennessee with her husband and lazy Great Dane, Molly. Her favorite color is rainbow, and her wardrobe (and phone case... and wallet... and bookshelf) proves it! When she's not working on the next big update to The Based Reader App or an acquisitions edit for Lion's next litRPG or sci-fi, she's running a marketing agency or upping the word count on her next novel.
Co-founder
Seth grew up outside of Indianapolis, Indiana. In elementary school, he fell in love with reading and writing, wasting away his time writing stories and flipping pages. At 20, he fell in love with Jesus. At 30, he fell in love with Jesse. They remain his three loves to this day. He spent his high school years known as the comic book guy and his early adulthood evangelizing for Dungeons & Dragons. It took many different loves and passions before he found the one that stuck: fantasy novels. He currently resides in Johnson City, Tennessee with his wife and fluffy pup.
Where we're headed
This press was born of big dreams.
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