Secrets Of A Book Publisher

What does it take to publish a book?

When Chelsea Hodson announced that she was starting her own independent book press, Rose Books, in 2022, there was a collective cultural response: Finally, something cool is happening.

Hodson became a literary darling with the release of 2018’s Tonight I’m Someone Else, an exacting book of essays where each sentence cuts through you like a newly-sharpened knife. I knew whatever books she published under Rose Books would feel the same way: dangerous, freeing, and totally alive.

Rose Books publishes two titles a year, a massive (and intentional) departure from a traditional publisher. You could call it “slow,” but Hodson doesn’t care. “I don't really see it that way,” she tells me over the phone from her home in Sedona. “I just see it as that's what it takes to create a really beautiful, solid book.“

Ahead, Hodson shares her insights on publishing, from writing the best book you can to doubling down on your risks.