Small Press Profile: Creston Books

Creston Books, a small author/illustrator-driven children’s book publisher in Berkeley, California, produces quality picture books and middle grade titles, at least a third of which are by debut authors and illustrators.

Marissa Moss, Creston’s publisher, was inspired to start the company following the demise of Tricycle Press, the children’s book imprint that published her first book, Amelia’s Notebook, in 1995. Written in a diary format with Amelia’s scribbles and doodles throughout, Moss’ book ended up selling millions of copies and led to a 25-book series, now published by American Girl. Although the book’s unique format set the stage for other blockbuster series, including Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries, initially, none of the big New York houses wanted to publish it.

“It really took a small press to take a chance on a weird, weird, odd book,” Moss said. “When Tricycle closed, everybody here in the Bay Area felt real grief because we had lost an important voice — a small but loud voice. So that’s when I thought, I could either feel bad or I could do something about it.”

Soon after, Moss launched a Kickstarter campaign, which brought in enough start-up capital for her to launch Creston Books with its first list in 2013. Since then, the company’s titles have received more than 20 major awards and starred reviews.

“To me it’s a great pleasure to be able to find great people and foster their careers, and to work with established people who should be getting published more. With established authors, I’ll ask, ‘What is the book you always wanted to do but New York publishers wouldn’t do?’”

Creston publishes eight books a year — four in the fall and four in the spring. All Creston titles offer online curriculum guides for use by teachers and homeschoolers and some have associated videos posted on Creston’s YouTube channel.

Among the company’s recent releases are Julius Lester’s The Girl Who Saved Yesterday, illustrated by Carl Angel, which received a starred review from Kirkus, and Lola Goes to School, a photo picture book by Marcia Goldman featuring an adorable Yorkshire terrier who goes on adventures.

This September, Creston will publish Jack Death, a middle-grade graphic novel by debut author M.L. Windsor about an ordinary boy whose father is Death. Creston’s first YA novel, written by Moss, also comes out in September: Caravaggio: Painter on the Run, a fictionalized biography of the 16th century Italian painter.

Creston’s spring 2017 season will feature two picture book biographies, Kate Warne, America’s First Woman Detective, written by Moss and illustrated by April Chu, and Sweet Dreams, Sarah, written by Vivian Kirkfield and illustrated by Chris Ewald, which tells the story of Sarah Goode, who went from slavery to owning a patent for her own furniture invention.

Moss said that Creston has helped fill the void left by New York publishers’ consolidation into fewer and fewer big companies, producing books that reflect less diverse tastes and interests.

“Creston’s mission is basically to provide more opportunity. Because of consolidation, there is just less choice out there these days,” said Moss. “When I started out as an author almost three decades ago, there were so many publishers, and there was just a wide variety of visions and faces. It seems like there is just less chance for people to break in, and there is also less diversity among midlist authors.”

As a publisher, Moss tends to ignore some of the major dogmas set by large New York houses. For example, she looks at unsolicited manuscripts from the “slush pile,” something that large publishers usually avoid. For the slush-pile find In a Village by the Sea, a picture book that received a lot of attention and great reviews in 2015, Moss paired debut author Muon Van with then debut illustrator Chu. This decision broke a second orthodoxy in big publishing, Moss said: never pair an unknown author with another unknown illustrator.

“At Creston, I have a much leaner machine and lower overhead, and I want to give more of these authors a chance. I only do eight books a year, but I promote every single book we do heavily and I promote backlist, too,” Moss said. “Books by debut authors have done especially well here, which is very gratifying to see.”

Creston’s most successful book by far, said Moss, is the picture book biography Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, written by first-time author Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by Chu. The story of Lord Byron’s daughter who excelled in mathematics has sold millions of copies, made multiple top 10 book lists, and received a host of prizes, including the California Reading Association Eureka! Gold Medal and a Cook Prize Honor.

Moss, who attended the 2016 ABC Children’s Institute and is an annual attendee at the Winter Institute, said that small presses such as hers and independent bookstores are natural partners that understand each other’s values.

“Indie bookstores really matter,” Moss said. “They underpin cultural diversity in our country.”