By
Today’s spotlight is on the fantastic Snowy Wings Publishing. I talked with their founder, Lyssa Chiavari about how the co-op publisher was formed.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your business. How did your creative journey begin?
Snowy Wings Publishing is an indie co-op publisher I founded alongside several other indie authors back in 2016. After going the indie publishing route on my own for about a year and a half at that point, I’d found that having a community of other authors working alongside you made the process smoother, and there were things we could accomplish as a group that we couldn’t achieve individually. That has proven to be more and more true over the past nine years as our group has grown and more opportunities have opened up to us.
What does a typical day look like for you in your creative business?
On any given day, I could be responding to emails answering questions from our authors, doing phone chats with new prospective members, sending upcoming titles out for trade reviews, coordinating with our social media assistant, or posting in our author Facebook group with some news or other about the publishing industry.
What’s your favourite part of the creative process? And what’s the most challenging?
I truly love when one of our titles receives recognition in the industry. Whenever we get an email from a trade publication with a positive review for an upcoming title, I feel so happy and proud. One extra special moment for me was when Fire Heart by Joyce Ch’ng was selected as part of the 2024-2025 cohort for the IBPA’s We Are Stronger Than Censorship initiative. Fire Heart was a book I was passionate about for a long time before Joyce was able to join SWP, and arranging the rights for an international release was one of the more complicated deals I worked on. The original published version published in Southeast Asia censored the LGBT elements of the story, so I was gratified that when we were able to get the book published in its uncensored form in the West, the book received recognition for that.
How do you stay inspired or motivated during busy or difficult times?
It can be tough to juggle everything because I’m chronically ill, which means there are periods where my symptoms are flaring up and working can be difficult if not impossible. Managing to get all the work I need to for SWP done during the periods I’m not ill, and juggling both SWP and my own writing, can be a challenge. But it’s worth it for me because we have some really great titles that have impacted readers’ lives, and knowing those books wouldn’t be out in the world without SWP makes all the difference.
Do you have a favourite project you’ve worked on recently? What made it special?
I was not as hands-on for this book (Bev is so organized and on-the-ball, she doesn’t need much help!), but I really enjoyed one of our most recent releases, What the Sea Brings by Beverly Twomey. The story really resonated with me, and it seems to have resonated with readers as well. The review we got from Kirkus for the book was stellar, and it was great to see the author so happy and excited about the nice things they said about it. The book also got some great features that were a first for SWP, like inclusion in Ingram’s Early Buzz Catalog and Kobo’s Best of the Month for Australia and New Zealand. Bev worked really hard on the book and on her advance marketing, and it seems to have paid off in terms of sales, so I’m really proud of her!
What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own creative or service-based business?
Not every business is going to be able to be as community-oriented as SWP is, but as much as possible, if you can try to cultivate a community around your business, it will help a lot! Our mantra at Snowy Wings is that a rising tide lifts all boats, and the way our authors have been able to help each other out over the years has made the publisher a success.
In what ways do you support the creative community?
Right now we have forty-five member authors, each of whom is an indie creator. Through their membership, they have access to things like traditional pro reviews, inclusion in a library distributor, and more, things that it’s difficult or impossible to achieve as a solo indie author. We also have a strict no-AI policy, which means that all books published by Snowy Wings Publishing and our sister imprint, Crimson Fox Publishing, use human freelance editors and cover designers.
Are there any upcoming projects, launches, or goals you’re excited about?
I’ve been in talks with a few new member authors who we hope to be announcing in the near future, and I’m excited to bring their books to readers. On a personal level, I’m also going to be doing a Kickstarter next spring celebrating the tenth anniversary of my debut novel with a special edition boxed set of the whole series—metallic foiling, sprayed edges, the works! So that will be really exciting.
Where can people find you online and follow your work?
You can find us at snowywingspublishing.com, and on most social media platforms @snowywingspub.
