Three years ago, at Shore Leave, my frustration with the changes in traditional publishing finally amounted to something.

Great stories were lying around untold because publishers, pressured by an increasingly treacherous marketplace, were hewing more and more to the “sure” thing, refusing to take a chance anymore on anything even slightly outside the box. At the same time, advances in internet tech were making it possible for writers to publish their own books. For the first time, we could reach the reader without a middle man if we were clever enough. I had been obsessed with the possibilities for some time, and couldn’t stop preaching them to anyone I could buttonhole. Finally Bob Greenberger, who was probably just tired of my chewing his ear off, convened a gaggle of writers on the convention floor. “All right,” he said, “we’re listening.”

And that was the beginning of Crazy 8 Press.

In July of 2011, we launched with our first book, Peter David’s wry and witty The Camelot Papers. A month later, Aaron Rosenberg debuted No Small Bills, the first entry in his quack-a-minute DuckBob Spinowitz series. I followed in November with Fight The Gods, a roller coaster of a contemporary fantasy anchored in Greek mythology.

Two years later, Crazy 8 Press is putting out books like we’ve been doing it forever. Books I’m really proud of, from the quality of the stories inside to the quality of the paper they’re printed on. Like Peter’s Pulling Up Stakes. Like the popular ReDeus anthologies. Like Bob’s novella, A Matter of Faith. And next month I’ll be re-releasing the first books I ever wrote, a trilogy steeped in Norse mythology called The Vidar Saga.

How long can we keep all the balls in the air? Well, take that 8 in our logo and turn it on its side. That long.

Providing, of course, that we continue to get the kind of support we’ve gotten from our readers. Because we’re in this together, you know. When great stories get told, it’s not just us writers who benefit. It’s you. And with you in mind, we go forward.