My third historical novel, The Fever Hut, was released by Fireship Press in February 2024. In June, the publisher, Mary Monahan, died and FP made plans to close as there was no one to take over the Press. By August 2024, my book was no longer available for readers to buy—mine and many other authors whose books made up the catalog of FP. It had been on the market only six months. The odds of finding another publisher to republish an already published book was close to zero. The odds of finding an agent to advance the book was less than zero. 

So, I worked with a former FP editor to make the book available through Amazon KDP. Not the way I ever wanted to go, but given the time and costs and other writing-related demands, this seemed like the most expedient route. The book is back. I’m glad to see the front pages note, the copyrights from 2024 and now 2025, and that it was “previously published by Fireship Press in 2024.” In other words, the original manuscript was contracted by Fireship and published. The book is only on KDP because of a series of unfortunate events at FP.

Small presses are an important part of the publishing ecosystem. Still, because they are small, they are vulnerable to market forces and mortality. The publisher might die without someone to take his or her place. If someone dies at HarperCollins or Hachette, no one cares. They might not even notice. But when death or ill health comes to a small press it may be disastrous for the press, for their authors, and for the catalog of published books that may no long be available to readers.

I’m working on a new story. And when I finish, I’ll have to start looking for an agent or another small press. The next time around I will not worry so much about advances or royalties or marketing as I will about a doctor’s note regarding the age and health of the agent/publisher.