We help indie authors create beautiful books


QUALITY
BOOKS

Quality
Books

Otterpine is a full service indie author support agency based in Asheville, North Carolina. We specialize in creating gorgeous print books with impeccable words, beautiful aesthetics, and lasting quality. We craft books that are made to last with impactful designs that will be admired on bookshelves. Print-on-demand has made printing easy and accessible for indie authors, but too often these books are made cheaply and printed just to be thrown away. We are different. We care about the materials we use.

We fret about things like paper weight and color quality and fabric type and stamping quality. And most importantly, we want to treat each book like a work of art that’s worthy of the words inside it.

That Match
Your Values

One of the first steps of our process is to get to know our authors. By getting to know you, we can better understand your values and goals for your book, leading to holistic book production and sales strategies that match your needs and your budget. Every plan is unique because every plan is personalized. Many of our authors have mission-driven goals like donating profits to charity, making books more accessible by offering them at sliding scale pricing, and giving away copies for free to clients and organizations. These goals don’t always fit into the machine of indie publishing through Amazon KDP.

With or without Dependency
on Amazon

Amazon has made indie publishing easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s made it better. We understand that many readers prioritize buying books online, but we also still love walking into a bookstore and talking to real people. Today’s digital version of connection with your readers is to prioritize selling wide, starting with a direct sales platform. By selling direct, you can have a digital connection with every single person who purchases your books, and you can fulfill the books however you want. Selling direct also means you can get paid sooner, understand your readers better, and often earn higher margins as well.

With or without Dependency
on Amazon

Where You Keep
Your Royalties

If your readers already know who you are and want to support you, then why give others a cut? You can still leverage Amazon to reach new readers and to sell books to people who only buy books there, but you don’t have to be solely dependent on them. You have choices, and selling wide will provide you with more freedom and security in the long run.

Today, writing and selling books is too much about online algorithms, based on attention-driving tasks like building social media platforms, Amazon keyword ranking, online ads, and SEO. Entire companies exist just to write books based on niche Amazon keywords that they can get to rank. We’re not saying any of these approaches are wrong, but we’re nostalgic at heart. We love independent bookstores, libraries, and used bookstores filled with the smell of worn pages. So we balance the opportunities of this digital era to help authors create and sell books that are based as equally on human connection as they are on online algorithms.

Useful Not True by Derek Sivers
INTRODUCING

Useful Not True

By Derek Sivers

Derek Sivers, author of Anything You WantHell Yeah or NoYour Music and People, and How to Live, is an ambitious creator with a laser focus on perpetually producing and creating. His latest book, Useful Not True, challenges conventional thinking by exploring a radical idea: beliefs do not have to be objectively true to be valuable.

INTRODUCING

The Playbooks

By Kendra Adachi

The Lazy Genius Tool to Making Your Planner Work Better for You.

Compact, satisfying notebooks designed to help you see your season, prioritize what matters, and prepare, adjust, and notice with intention—so you can live a life that reflects what’s important to you in every season.

Testimonials
Saeah produces my books start-to-finish. She's a perfectionist that cares about books even more than I do, so I trust her judgment even more than I trust my own.
Derek Sivers
Author of Anything you want & Hell Yeah or No
Amy brought not only her technical skills and incredible writing polish, but also her thoughtful insights into the content and direction of my book. She became an important part of bringing the whole, critically acclaimed book into the world.
Daniella Mestyanek Young
Author of Uncultured: A Memoir
World class production! World class team! Any creative undertaking from launching a book to branding a new company, Otterpine will not disappoint. They treated our dreams, visions, and aspirations like it was theirs with the utmost professionalism and mastery. If you’re a creative and have birthed a new idea, look no further than Otterpine. They’ll take your vision and execute it flawlessly. 
Haley Scheich & Dr. Tarek Pacha
Authors of My SuperHero Foods
Writing a book is hard enough, but figuring out how to get it published can feel daunting. After trying it myself, I realized that the process of getting my book professionally edited, illustrated, laid out, printed, published, and marketed both online and in bookstores, and handling all fulfillment issues too…well, it can feel downright insurmountable and it’s hard to do well. That’s where Saeah and her team at Otterpine come in—they do all the heavy lifting for aspiring authors and make it a smooth (and fun) process!
Erik Palin
Author of Hiking South Korea
I am incredibly fortunate to have worked with Saeah Wood, Amy Reed, and the team at Otterpine. Their attention to detail has been amazing and collaborating with them has been an absolute pleasure.
Arunjay Katakam
Author of Generation Hope: How Inclusive Economics Can Help Us All Thrive
Thank you to the Otterpine team, with special gratitude to Saeah Wood and Amy Reed, for embarking on this project and transforming our vision into a reality that has far exceeded our expectations—your incredible work has left us in awe.
Evan & Reed Milnor
Authors of The Essential Dog Owner’s Guide: A Reference for the Responsible Dog Owner

Derek Sivers

Editorial, Art Direction, Book Design, Print Design & Production, Sales & Fulfillment

Cory Stout

End Small Talk

Editorial, Art Direction, Book Design, Print Design & Production, Sales & Fulfillment

Haley Scheich & Dr. Tarek Pacha

My SuperHero Foods

Editorial, Children’s Book Art Direction & Illustration, Book Design, Print Design & Production, Sales & Fulfillment, Author Platform, Website, Content Management, Social Media Management

Allison Schultz

The Art of Being Human at Work

Editorial, Art Direction, Book Design, Print Design & Production

White Women, Get Ready by Amanda Gross

White Women, Get Ready

Amanda K. Gross

Editorial, Art Direction, Book Design, Print Design & Production, Sales & Fulfillment

Spencer Reese

The Military Money Manual

Editorial, Art Direction, Book Design, Print Design & Production, Sales & Fulfillment, Author Platform

Contact

Send us an email to introduce yourself and your book, to say hi, or to share something random.
Or even better, send us a letter or postcard. We always reply.

hi@otterpine.com
81 Broadway St Suite 201, Asheville, NC 28801

Contact