Welcome to Bona Fide Books!

Bona Fide Books is a small press that seeks to publish provocative and adventurous literature. We will promote bold, unsung writers and connect them with readers. In an alleged age of declining readership, Bona Fide wants to give everyone a reason to read.

Does the world need another small press? In our opinion, the more of us there are doing good work in the service of literature, the better. Our mission largely rests on the idea of building community and forging connections between readers and writers. As David Foster Wallace said, good writing should help readers become less alone inside. In addition to an ether-based community, we also have a bona fide bricks and mortar office, the Center for Wayward Writers. If you find yourself in South Lake Tahoe, drop in to check out the latest lit journal, talk about your query letter, and have a cup of tea or something stronger.

Our Bona Fides

Kim Wyatt

Publisher

Kim Wyatt is an editor who only recently allowed herself into stores with names that weren’t correctly spelled (we’re looking at you, Quik Stop). She has worked in most facets of publishing, including journalism, textbook development, manuscript evaluation, and managing editor at print and online publications. Other bona fides include a stint as a bunny girl in Tokyo, a deckhand in Alaska, and over ten years working in Yosemite National Park. She holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and is managing editor of literary journal EDGE. Bona Fide Books is the natural convergence of her lifelong love of literature and commitment to community. She is also a fungophile, Francophile, and amateur naturalist.

Shelley Hocknell Zentner

Creative Director

Shelley Hocknell Zentner is a British artist who is learning that creative honesty absolutely must be the bedrock of your artistic endeavors. Shelley fled the UK after fulfilling her dream of building a beautiful art gallery (to avoid ‘the man’), and then feeling utterly unable to paint. She hit the road in 2005, traveling, rock climbing and reclaiming her art for herself. She forgot about selling for a while and discovered life. Shelley and Kim met through Melissa, a mutual friend who connected them through art, and the struggle to create balance between commerce and creativity. Shelley has officially abandoned tourist art in favor of the stuff which is hard to sell.

Our Mission

The Real Story, Kim's POV: On February 24, 2009, friend and artist Melissa Lanitis Gregory died; she was only 47. I had talked to her earlier that day, and she was going down to Reno for a blood transfusion. She didn’t make it back. We had spent the past few months talking about art v. commerce – I was feeling particularly crappy about writing lightweight articles for pay, editing books I felt little connection to, and neglecting my novel. I also felt that the state of publishing was a mess; it seemed great writing was being overlooked for celebrity advances. Mel was feeling bad about not making jewelry she could sell; instead she was drawn to creating giant papier-mâché hearts. One cold January night, after an inspiring visit with Truckee artist Carole Sesko, we drove home along the west shore of Lake Tahoe. It was one of those fantastical moonlit nights—granite peaks and snow aglow, the lake shimmering a thousand feet below—and it seemed impossibly beautiful. Right then and there, in Mel’s car, we made a pinkie pact that 2009 was the year we would be brave and unapologetic about our true work. And then she was gone. But our daily conversations didn’t stop, they just continued in my head. A week after she died, I decided to start a small press: I would have to be brave and unapologetic on my own.

But I'm not alone. Shelley soon came on board. I also belong to Tahoe Writers Works, a writing group that has forged a strong literary and artistic community, despite the odds and inclement weather, in a hole on top of a mountain. Week after week, year after year, we workshop and hold open mics and produce plays and readings. We wrestle with carving out time to write. And we write. We write the kind of work we want to read. Exciting, distinctive, and relevant. And there are writers like this everywhere, in the woods and in cities and tucked away in cubes or turrets, who just need someone to believe in them. Bona Fide Books will take on writers they love and promote the hell out of them.

Bona Fide Books will operate online and out of an office near Lake Tahoe, which will also serve as a drop-in center for writers who can’t afford literary journals or want query advice or a shot of tequila. The fellowship of other writers is the lifeblood of Bona Fide. It’s a place where writers and readers are taken seriously; we’ll also have a lot of fun and make great books.

It is our opinion that the more of us there are doing good work in the service of literature and community, the better.