About Onion River Press
Onion River Press is an independent, locally owned hybrid publisher based in Burlington, Vermont.
Whether you’re a first-time author or a seasoned professional, we work to help you bring your book to life and connect you with the readers who’ll love it.
We offer a wide range of competitively priced publishing packages specifically tailored to the needs of each individual project. We can handle everything from a quick copyedit to an editorial overhaul; from a little help with layout to pro-level design; from basic book distribution to lively launch events.
Get in touch soon and let us shout about your book from the rooftops. Just use the Contact Form below to tell us a little bit about your project.
We Are Now Offering Editorial!
Our team of in-house editors have a combined 20+ years of experience in editing across all genres and age groups.
You do not need to publish with Onion River Press to request our editorial services.
Books Published Through Onion River Press
Nat Winthrop
"Journalism is in fact history on the run." - Thomas Griffith, The Waist-High Culture
Reporter and publisher Nat Winthrop has collected articles spanning two decades covering a wide range of topics, including getting a grip on health care costs, landmark Vermont Supreme Court decisions, our communities' response to diversity, profiles of creative people in theater, film, and literature, and many other subjects. These stories have stood the test of time and, along with Nat's updates, show how little many of the aspects of life in Vermont have changed over the past decades.
Stephen D'Agostino
Roommates Jerry Smollens and Ike Bower are young, uninspired artists living in a rundown apartment on West Fourth Street in Greenwich Village. Ike is beautiful, beguiling, and driven by his libido. Jerry is shy and pines for his roommate, and in 1983, when the novel opens, he is far more concerned about AIDS than Ike is. Even as the crisis worsens, Ike refuses to consider the potential consequences of his pursuit of pleasure.
Inspired by his condition, Ike turns to his talent to express his struggles with disease, sexuality, religion, and mortality, striking a chord with the gay community in the midst of the epidemic. Jerry sacrifices his goals and ambitions to care for the man he loves, but he is no match for Ike's creative drive, newfound success, and HIV.
Nineteen years later, Ike's nephew, twenty-nine-year-old Andy, is the lead art director at a boutique publishing firm and shackled to the trappings of his success. To keep his beautiful Manhattan apartment, Andy works practically non-stop, sacrificing his health, looks, and self-confidence. To keep his attractive boyfriend, Andy allows their relationship to be open, giving Tim a freedom he often exercises.
Andy finds a carving Ike had made of an angelic figure in a dazzling white hospital gown, which he names Saint Ike, and Andy devotes his time and energy to learning all he can about his uncle and to emulate him as much as possible as a way to lead a different, more carefree life.
Andy's obsession costs him his job and his boyfriend. With his life in tatters, he moves in with Jerry, whom he met as he investigated Ike's life. Over time, Andy sheds his inhibitions and his weight, striving to be as desirable as Ike was.
To Jerry, Andy has become the reincarnation of Ike, giving him a second chance to have the love of his life, save him from AIDS, and redeem himself. Jerry and Andy develop a sexual relationship that makes Andy wonder why Ike never gave Jerry what he wanted. As his understanding of who Ike was becomes more dimensional, his impression of his uncle dims, making him question if what he's doing is right. Still, he persists in his mission, engaging in risky behavior in an effort to better understand his uncle, shattering Jerry, but also opening Jerry's eyes-and Andy's-to the true meaning of sacrifice and self-love.
Walter Blasberg
Walter Blasberg thought owning a historic Vermont inn would mean candlelit dinners and foliage season. What he got instead was a septic system with an acute sense of bad timing, a rotating cast of chefs who made Gordon Ramsay look stable, a New Year's Eve brawl that brought down the Christmas tree, and a great flood that nearly took the whole place with it.
Along the way he also found an unlikely family - his partner John, John's mother Aida who became the inn's force-of-nature housekeeper, his ex-wife Anne, and a rotating cast of John's and Walt's family members who showed up season after season to cook, clean, wait tables, and somehow make it all work.
Modern Vermont Innkeeping is the real story behind the romantic façade of country inn life - told with the honesty, warmth, and humor of someone who lived every improbable minute of it.
Think Modern Family meets Kitchen Confidential - Vermont edition
Grace H. Pugh
Grace Pugh was not your typical friend, mother, or elementary school teacher, she was a modern woman with a vision and a passion. She was a pilot, flight instructor, and champion of aeronautics. She was Vermont's First Lady of Aviation and the first female licensed pilot in the state.
Grace met the love of her life, Harold Pugh, a handsome daredevil of the sky. In 1932, Harold became the Burlington Airport manager and they were married two years later.
Harold and Grace were visionaries and understood the role aviation would play in our nation's history. Together they dedicated the next thirteen years to the growth and development of the Burlington Airport and the promotion of aviation. A thing they were truly passionate about.
Peter F. Langrock
Breaking bread or sharing a libation with someone changes your relationship with that person. This book tells the stories that arise out of just such common occurrences. It is intended to arouse the readers' own memories of meals and libations shared, and how that has changed relationships and, in the words of Robert Frost, "that has made all the difference."
Colin Thompson
An underdog love story set against the backdrop of Los Angeles' later Obama Years. Writer/director Colin Thompson's debut novel is a late coming-of-age story wrung from the sadness and madness of banging one's head against the moon on the fringes of Tinsel Town.
Venice, California. 2014. Ryan Wilson, a once hopeful aspiring screenwriter is transitioning to hopelessness. The clock, the bank, the zodiac-they all point toward the exit door of this creative dream. Hapless and broke at 31-years-old, he finds himself one more sandbag for the hourglass, taking a job coaching middle school lacrosse in the affluent neighborhood of Brentwood. In a town and entertainment industry built on connections, a pool of wealthy parents is a great place to look for a guy with everything to gain.
And as luck would have it, a connection reveals itself: Camilla Emerson Tourney, the wife of his Hollywood Hero, writer/director colossus Buck Tourney. Trapped in a crisis of her own-hers of apathy and routine-the attraction is immediate but fraught: is he just some sort of slum crush? A dive-bar holiday for a bored Hollywood Aristocrat? And what about him? Is she only magnetic because of who her husband is? Had they met in Denver would he feel the same?
At times and at turns warped with polemic introspection, The Spoils is a ride through the looking glass of the young-ish American Man. Neurotic, hedonistic, sensitive and tawdry, Ryan Wilson takes us along as he sailor dives into the murky waters of adulthood: the battleground of infidelity and integrity, drive and success, love, status, and the ruthlessness of trying to make it in Hollywood.
Lindsey Godwin (Author), Molly McGuigan (Author), Miriam Novotny (Author)
Ditch the Ditty: Doing What Matters Instead of Doing It All is a bold, refreshing guide for women who are ready to break free from the endless cycle of over-commitment and people-pleasing. If you've ever felt buried under obligations, pulled in too many directions, or like you're doing everything for everyone else but yourself, this book is your invitation to stop.
With humor, personal stories, and proven strategies, Ditch the Ditty invites you to reclaim your time and energy. You'll learn how to say "no" without guilt, break away from the pressure to be perfect, and start making choices that align with what truly matters. Imagine living a life where intentional decisions replace busyness, and mindful productivity takes priority over doing it all.
This isn't just about saying "no" to others-it's about saying "yes" to yourself. Whether you're a working professional, a busy mom, or simply someone tired of juggling too much, this book will show you how to set healthy boundaries, overcome burnout, and let go of outdated gender norms that keep you stuck.
Filled with research-backed insights and practical tools drawn from personal development and self-improvement, Ditch the Ditty will guide you to focus on what's most important, build confidence, and create a life where you're not just surviving, but thriving-on your own terms.
Ready to ditch what's holding you back and start living intentionally? This book will give you the tools to do just that.
Ashley Barcroft
The Challenges We Faced; The Women We Became shares firsthand experiences in women's lives worldwide. It is a compilation of interviews addressing the overarching question: What is a challenging experience you have faced, and how did overcoming it make you stronger?
Many of us encounter difficult experiences at different stages in our lives, and these events are often accompanied by a sense of isolation and despair, which can result in long-term effects, getting in the way of productive and happy lives. The Challenges We Faced, The Women We Became can make people in these situations better understand that they are not alone in what they are going through and make them aware that accomplished women around the world have also endured similar challenges and were able to find a way to overcome them to become who they are today. The Challenges We Faced, The Women We Became, provides comfort, inspiration, and newfound self-belief for people struggling to combat the challenges they are confronting and anyone hoping to learn from others' experiences. Any profits made from The Challenges We Faced; The Women We Became will be donated to Amnesty International.
Major Ursa
Containment had been lost. The virus that she was not supposed to be working on had been loosed on the human race. The world was falling apart as the Virus-C pandemic spread. Dr Anita Caufi now had a serious problem. Or was it an opportunity? Virus-C was not the only research project that the President didn't know about. The new serum killed Virus-C, but was the cure worse that the disease? The serum changed people. Were the results of the serum an improvement to the human race or things out of nightmares? Pointed ears, animal forms, bearded midgets, monstrously strong creatures and computers that failed when the changed were around. Were they even people anymore? Anita wished she knew what to believe. If only she could figure out how to control the transformation. If she could choose their final form, she could control the fate of the world. But only the Changed seemed to know the answer to that riddle and they did no like being lab rats. They wanted their freedom. She would not allow another containment breach...
Charlie Grey
A debut collection of poetry that explores themes of identity, queerness, neurodivergence and the challenge of communicating and connecting with others, love and divorce, mental health struggles, and finding joy and self-acceptance.
Charlie Grey is a queer AuDHD sky-obsessed poet who was born and raised in the Virginia Tidewater area and is now living in Vermont. After many years of practice, she considers herself an expert in joy. Her top tips: talk to birds, dance your heart out, sing every day, and of course, look at the sky more.
Available to pre-order now through your local bookstore!
Call Phoenix Books at (802) 448-3350 to place your pre-order!