LidWhite_Whisker_Books

White Whisker Books is one of the emerging hybrid publishers, a nimble small publisher that uses marketing tools used by big publishers as well as many of the tools self-publishers are discovering. These days, there is no sure-fire way to get a book noticed, so much of what we do is try new things.

White Whisker sprang to life in 2005 when Christopher Meeks wanted to bring out his short stories previously published in literary magazines as a collection. His agent didn’t want to send the collection out to publishers because “short stories don’t make money; collections are published as favors to high-profile authors.” Meeks’ friend, Daniel Will-Harris, who had worked at Prelude Press when Meeks had been the company’s senior editor, told Meeks, “You know publishing. You saw what we did. You can start your own publishing company. I’ll do the book design for you.”

Thus Meeks brought out "The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea" in 2006, and its first review was in the Los Angeles Times, which called it “poignant and wise.” Later that summer Entertainment Weekly called it “stunning.” Meeks has since brought out another short story collection, a play after its second production, and now novels by himself and others.

Using a traditional approach for quality, Meeks uses editors, proofreaders, as well as Well-Harris for design before marketing. For marketing, we give a good lead time before publication day. At this time, we're not open for submissions.