What is Rootstock?

     root·stock [‘rüt-ˌstäk] noun
          1. a rhizome.
                 • a plant onto which another variety is grafted.
                 • a primary form or source from which offshoots have arisen.

Rootstock Publishing is a curated hybrid* and traditional press collaborating with authors, whom we think of as the rootstock—the primary source—of our creative content. We are not unique, modeling ourselves after other successful non-traditional hybrid publishing-partnership houses, like She Writes Press. Founded in 2017 by Stephen McArthur and Rickey Gard Diamond, who published three books that first year, Rootstock is now owned by Samantha Kolber, MFA. After building our list for many years with Stephen and Rickey, and with the support of our Creative Partners, we now publish between twelve and eighteen books a year!

We seek writers who:

• want more control over their work,

• seek higher earnings per book sold,

• have solid marketing ideas about their book,

• understand their audience(s),

• are willing to self-promote and work hard to publicize and market their book,

• and are from all writing abilities and identities.

We pledge not to discriminate against authors based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetic information. We also seek manuscripts from typically underrepresented voices, and stories with characters and worlds represented as authentically as possible. We do not accept stories intended to cause harm for, or portray hatred of, a protected class. Rootstock aspires to be an antiracist publisher.

Rootstock's model is designed to maximize the profits for the author, preserve the author's ownership of their copyright, and provide the author with editing, proofing, design, and print book distribution through IngramSpark, Baker & Taylor, and many other online channels of distribution for both the print and eBook formats. We support the author's promotional efforts in creating the greatest possible exposure for their work.  

In the hybrid model, the author covers production costs and receives a high royalty rate on book profits. With traditional publishing, that model is flipped, and the author receives a lower percentage of book sales so that the publisher, rather than the author, covers the cost of production. Rootstock does not offer advances at this time.

Rootstock Publishing is an imprint of Ziggy Media LLC, owned and operated by Samantha Kolber, MFA, in Montpelier, Vermont, or N’dakinna [in-DAH-kee-NAH], the ancestral and unceded land of the Western Abenaki people. Samantha has decades of experience in the publishing industry, from marketing and editing in all genres to web design and bookselling.

Rootstock also has great connections with press and media, reviewers, and indie bookstores. We are a proud member of the New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA), Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE), the American Booksellers Association (ABA), the Historical Novel Society, Montpelier Alive, and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).

• • •             

   *Hybrid Publishing  

Rootstock adheres to the IBPA’s Hybrid Publishing Criteria, which is considered the gold standard in the industry, with criteria that includes:

1. Vetting submissions.

2. Committing to truth and transparency in business practices.

3. Providing a negotiable, easy-to-understand contract for each author.

4. Publishing under its own imprint(s) and ISBNs.

5. Utilizing industry standards in editing (Rootstock conforms to Chicago Manual of Style).

6. Ensuring editorial, design, and production quality.

7. Pursuing and managing a range of publishing rights (for Rootstock this includes foreign rights translation services and large print publishing, with more opportunities being explored).

8. Providing distribution services.

9. Paying authors a higher-than-standard royalty.

And more, which can be found here.

To learn more about the costs and details of this hybrid partnership, see our page Working With Authors.

Ready to submit your manuscript? Please see this link for guidelines and to start your publishing journey with Rootstock today!