Mnemosyne
Boutique Publishers of Women's Memoir & Autobiography
Women Editors, Editing Women Writers
.Greek Goddess
o.f Memory
Mnemosyne
An imprint of Saint Julian Press
Why Mnemosyne?
In Greek mythology, Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory. The daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth), and, according to Hesiod, a philosopher and writer in antiquity, the mother (by Zeus) of the nine Muses.
Could there be a better name for a memoir imprint? Our publisher suggested her for our namesake and we jumped on it. We know that writers need their muses!
Who We Are
Mnemosyne Books is an imprint of Saint Julian Press, a Houston- based publisher of poetry run by poet and editor, Ron Starbuck.
By expanding to include first person stories by women in the genres of memoir and autobiography, Saint Julian Press now provides a home for long form creative non-fiction and life stories that:
- gives voice to women's authentic experience
- provides a platform and online address for books and other literary products
- provides affordable and simple, relatively fast publishing options at a time when mainstream publishing has become slower, more rigid and complex than ever
- creates a strong community for women writing women's stories
- provides a team of skilled editors, designers and publicists who work in partnership with the author, giving power and a serious say to writers over the final product of their creative labors and how it launches into the world.
What We Do
At Mnemosyne, we seek beautiful books by women on broad themes important to women's lives, from caregiving to women's health and illness narratives, to parenting, women's history, relationships, work, spirituality, sexuality, gender and gender roles and other topics we deem fitting. We strive to be in synch with issues that affect women's lives globally, while reflecting women's lives locally, both present day and historical.
Once accepted, we will work hard to craft and produce a book that reflects a strong professional standard as well as the author's topic and intent with intelligent, graceful, original designs, on a schedule that works for the author as well as Mnemosyne. Have a piece of art you love? Show it to us. Clueless about a cover? Mnemosyne's staff will offer choices that work to meet the writer's aesthetic in a meaningful way.
Mnemosyne works with authors to craft books that are well-edited and publishing plans that partner with writers to assist in the creation of publicity packages, launching with simultaneous print-on-demand books, individualized websites, e-books, and an online presence on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the Mnemosyne web site and Instagram and Facebook pages.
Mnemosyne will look out for authors and their books post-publication, too, helping authors seek reviewers and bloggers, deadlines for contests and prizes, potential reading opportunities, and book events relevant to the topics.
Mnemosyne does not see itself as just a publisher, we are a publishing partner, working hard to put author in the driver's seat. We think of ourselves as co-pilots, literary comrades and author allys. Writers who want to work with us in our team-based publishing model will share in publishing decisions, as well as printing, design and publicity costs. Together, we will guide the memoir or biographical book to the shelf, in a manner that works to meet the author's vision, and our own
Memoir quotes
that INSPIRE US
“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” —Anne Frank“
“When I was a little boy, they called me a liar, but now that I am a grown-up they call me a writer.” —Isaac Bashevis Singer
“The things that make you a functional citizen in society - manners, discretion, cordiality - don't necessarily make you a good writer. Writing needs raw truth, wants your suffering and darkness on the table, revels in a cutting mind that takes no prisoners...”
― Natalie Goldberg, Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir
“Whatever it takes to break your heart and wake you up is grace.”
― Mark Matousek, Sex Death Enlightenment: A True Story
“Writing is a socially acceptable form of getting naked in public.” —Paulo Coelho
“Stars, on the other hand, were inexplicable. Not holes in the sky, not candles, not electric lights, not anything that resembled what you knew. The immensity of the black air overhead, the vastness of the space that stood between you and those small luminosities, was something that resisted all understanding. Benign and beautiful presences hovering in the night, there because they were there and for no other reason. The work of God's hands, yes, but what in the world had he been thinking?”
― Paul Auster, Report from the Interior