Imagine finding a prestigious publishing platform that respects authors, pays them well, and treats them like we would want to be treated. According to Founder and Editor Josh Boldt. “Brown Hound Press is well on our way to that goal.” Brown Hound Press favors offbeat mystery, dark humor, southern gothic, and literary fiction, publishing one story every Thursday for readers to enjoy open access online with free subscriptions for email delivery to look forward to each week.
“We’re new,” Boldt says, “but our weekly stories already reach thousands of readers, including best-selling and award-winning authors, editors, publishers, and literary agents.”
From Inspiration to Publication
Josh Boldt is a writer himself, having authored three novels. As the founder, Boldt explains, “The Brown Hound Press logo and name are inspired by my dog, Ruby. We also wanted a name that nodded at the Southern US, since it’s where we are based. And the internal rhyme of ‘brown hound’ just rolls off the tongue.” In addition to editing Brown Hound Press, he serves on the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Lexington Writer’s Room in Kentucky.
The motivation to start Brown Hound Press comes from Boldt’s experiences in the literary community. “There are so many great stories going unpublished. I wanted to create a new venue for some of these authors. The Lexington Writer’s Room has about 100 active members in Lexington, Kentucky. I wanted to help raise awareness about writers in my hometown and all over the world who are doing good work every day. On top of that, I just love reading great short stories. Every submission brings the potential to discover a new story and author.”
Building a Community of Respect
Writers looking to submit works to Brown Hound Press can expect the positive experience Boldt seeks to provide authors. “We are proud to say that every submission will get a response in two weeks or less. Every single one. It is very important to us that we treat authors with the respect they deserve. Our acceptance rate is about three percent. An additional two percent of submissions are given editorial feedback and offered a chance to revise.”
In starting up a literary magazine, Boldt reflects, “I have been reminded how much I love working with authors to help make their stories stronger. I specifically look for stories with good bones. Stories with potential. When the author is open to revisions, and we can start a conversation to strengthen their story, it is very rewarding for us both.”
Weekly Great Reading
Readers will be the beneficiaries of these carefully curated works, which they can have delivered for free to their inbox each week along with song pairings for a fuller experience. “You never know exactly what you might get,” Boldt comments. “We mostly stick to offbeat mystery, literary, dark humor, and southern gothic, but we also have some sci-fi and fantasy in the queue. To us, the most important thing is that the writing is great and the story is fun to read.”
Recent contributors include PEN/Bingham nominee Bob Johnson, Libby Cudmore, Judy Penz Sheluk, Damieka Thomas, Soramimi Hanarejima, Christopher McCurry, Merceline Ochieng, and Deb Blenkhorn.
Brown Hound’s Future
Looking to the future of Brown Hound Press, Boldt shares, “We have plans to release a print anthology of selected stories at the end of each year. Be on the lookout for that. Longterm, the goal will be to establish a revenue strategy that allows us to grow the editorial staff and pay authors higher rates. We also plan to submit stories to the major awards. Expect to see a Brown Hound author win an O. Henry soon.”
