One Voice Press, a new publisher of Bahá’í-themed inspirational literature based in the Baltimore area, is releasing its first book. The Flower at the End of the World by David Erickson (July) is a book of poetry and short fiction. It’s Erickson’s first book, though the Canadian author has been published in anthologies and has been writing for 43 years.
One Voice publisher Dale Lehman launched the new press last year. Lehman owns the Web site Planet Bahá’í, which hosts writings about the faith and offers an online community for members. The site is a ready source of material for the new publishing imprint, some of it by guest writers and the rest by Lehman and his wife Kathleen, the site’s editor.
The publishing operation grew in part out of the Lehmans’ desire to make inspirational writing about the Bahá’í faith more available. Lehman’s professional background is in software development, and his wife has done retail and library work. They put together their skills, and their money, to start a publishing house that will specialize in inspirational literature, “works that show faith in action,” Lehman told RBL.
One Voice will not be only for Bahá’í writers and Bahá’í material, though it seeks content with a compatible message, whether fiction, poetry, or nonfiction. It won’t publish scholarly or introductory material about the Bahá’í faith; Lehman says that is already being done well by other publishers.
A number of other titles are in various stages of development. Lehman hopes to announce shortly a book about the first indigenous Canadian Bahá’í; the house is also interested in a proposal it has received for YA fiction. One Voice also distributes POD books by other authors. Lehman and his wife are using their own money, having decided they were unlikely to attract significant investment for their publishing niche“ (though angels would certainly be welcomed). We’re basically bootstrapping,” he said, “(but) we’re managing to do quite a lot without too much capital.”
