This small Wisconsin-based press is run by a couple, Steven and Leya Booth. They share some of their story and experience on their About page here. Genius Book Publishing was founded in 2011. It publishes a range of genres, including fiction, but at the time of this review, they are only open to nonfiction submissions focused on Music or True Crime. The earliest work accepted now will be published is 2026.
Unlike many nonfiction publishers, they do not offer advances. They pay 20-40% of net. They do seem to be working towards transparency, and they have an interesting post to that end in the press kit part of their site, about issues with an author/publication, which you can read here. It seems to be the only major issue along those lines I could find, on their website or elsewhere. I did check all the watchdog sites, and looked around for other information, but turned up nothing.
I’m not sure if they have a distributor, beyond Ingram. Most of their books I looked up don’t have many sales on Goodreads or Amazon, but the covers are genre-appropriate, and they are well-presented on the website.
This is what they say about their editorial preferences in terms of True Crime:
“We are true crime enthusiasts and want to read amazing books on the subject. We are seeking true crime books that feature good storytelling as well as accurate and unique representations of the facts. We don’t want sensationalism; we want the truth in all its awful beauty. And if that means our books don’t have easy answers or convenient endings, that’s just fine. Sometimes a story needs to be told that has no ending. Not every mystery gets wrapped up within the covers of a book. Life isn’t convenient and simple, and neither are the books we publish. Please keep in mind, our motto is to Honor the Victims and Celebrate the Heroes. We do not publish books that in any way glorify criminals, even those who later got their lives together. We tried that before, and it didn’t work out the way we wanted. No more.”
They don’t have detailed editorial preferences in terms of music, but you can see work they’ve published in that category here. To see their previously published true crime books, go here.
Their submission guidelines are here, and they stress that someone beyond the author has to have edited the book, but it does not have to be a professional. This likely means they will not focus on editing themselves.
Submissions must be made via email and follow their guidelines.
Emily Harstone is the author of many popular books, including The Authors Publish Guide to Manuscript Submissions, Submit, Publish, Repeat, and The 2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishers. She regularly teaches three acclaimed courses on writing and publishing at The Writer’s Workshop at Authors Publish. You can follow her on Facebook here.
