Inspired by classics like Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and contemporary titles such as Ayiti by Roxane Gay, 9th House explores liberatory living in revolutionary times through fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Founded by writers and creatives, Taraneh Erfan, Thérése Cator, and Carmen Spagnola, and co-operatively run with shared decision-making, creative input, and profit.

The press is named for the astrological house concerned with publishing, philosophy, wisdom traditions, higher learning, and oral histories that stand the test of time. Their launch, catalogue debut, and publication dates are selected using electional astrology under the guidance of writer, editor, astrologer, and Chief of Staff for the CHANI app, Thea Anderson. “This (concept announcement) feels like a message that ultimately comes back and garners a lot of support”, says Anderson. Bucking the traditional Tuesday publication date in favour of Mercury-favoured Wednesdays, their titles are soulful rather than exclusively spiritual; each is grounded in an earnest inquiry about what it means to be human amidst inhumanity, and what it takes to seed the best qualities of our humanity into the future.

With four of their eight debut titles secured, 9th House Press is now accepting submissions for works by like-minded radicals that take an actively anti-capitalist, anti-racist, antifascist, collapse-aware, trauma-informed, and relational approach to connecting with readers about difficult themes. Though Spagnola has already published two titles with Countryman Press, an imprint of W.W. Norton, and describes her experience with her editors as “genuinely warm and collaborative”, the book launch and marketing process was less satisfying. For her first book, The Spirited Kitchen: Recipes and Rituals for the Wheel of the Year, Spagnola spent all of her advance on photography, a marketing coordinator, a social media assistance and a PR professional. While the book did well – an immediate backlist title for Countryman – the experience left her wondering if all authors felt abandoned by the Marketing Department.

Having interviewed dozens of authors on her decade-long running show, The Numinous Podcast, including the likes of Dr.Sharon Blackie, Francis Weller, J.B. MacKinnon, and Colette Baron-Reid, Spagnola was alert to the notoriously lackluster promotional support that large publishers offered new, unproven, or midlist authors. For her second book, Spells for the Apocalypse: Practical Magic for Turbulent Times, Spagnola decided to launch with what she calls “the Carmen Spagnola Minimum” to see what difference that would make, if any, to sales.

Instead of a big budget, 9 month, multi-channel, multi-event book launch campaign, she simply sent out three emails to her subscriber list, made a special episode on her podcast, and posted a few times on Instagram. Spells for the Apocalypse, released in January 2025, outpaced The Spirited Kitchen (October 2022), and continues to sell briskly, though Spagnola doubts she’ll ever see a royalty cheque. “Traditional publishing contracts simply do not favour the author. It seems they are more about keeping a struggling pre-internet industry afloat”, she says. She determined that a more intuitive, relational, and anti-establishment approach was needed if she was to bring a third book to market.

A longtime entrepreneur, Spagnola tapped two friends, Cator and Erfan, each with book proposals in the works, to consider throwing in with her instead of pursuing a traditional publishing deal. Though they do not pay advances, net royalties from 9th House significantly favour the author with escalators from 50% - 75%. To honour their value of enthusiastic, ongoing consent and collaboration, after seven years, publishing rights are returned to authors with an option to renew, take their work elsewhere, or distribute on their own if they wish. Books will be distributed through their own website, bricks and mortar stores, and via “street teams” selling their catalogue and “book bling” at community events, markets, and festivals.

The idea of not going into business with your friends “is an idea rooted in capitalism,” says Erfan, an Expressive Arts Therapist and author of Conscious Grieving: The Path of Awakening Through Loss. “Don’t bring your life, don’t bring your humanity, into work because we want you to be the most productive little worker bee.” She says the idea of joining with friends in a woman-led, queer-led business is an anti patriarchal, anticapitalist model, “that I fucking love. That’s what I want.”

“I don’t want AI!” says Cator, founder of the Embodied Black Girl Global Healing Summit, with a laugh. “Can I say that? I don’t want AI.” When asked about what she’s looking for in the slush pile, Cator lights up. “I want the voices of Black women, and Black queer folks and Black trans folks and Black non-binary folks, folks that I don’t often see published. I want Indigenous folks and voices that are often pushed to the margins to be brought to the centre. Not just for consumption or pedestalizing, but to really listen for how we can be in relationship in good ways.”

9th House Press will begin pre-order campaigns for their first catalogue early next year, starting with their lead title, Farm Stand News: Letters to the Neighbourhood, by first-time author Marianne Unger, a resident of Victoria, BC, whose pandemic-inspired neighbourhood farm stand and newsletter has become a model for mutual aid. Unger’s debut book of essays is a poetic and philosophical ode to an urban neighbourhood with a small town feel and quirky charm, with a lyric nostalgia akin to A Prairie Home Companion. Cator’s debut non-fiction, Revolutionary Healing, and Erfan’s sophomore title, a book of poetry for gatherings, debut in Fall/Winter 2026.

About 9th House Press
9th House Press is a co-operatively run publishing house that produces works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry that challenge oppression and explore liberatory living in revolutionary times. A worker co-op is run by writers, editors, and creatives, the 9th House Press catalogue curates ethical frameworks, spiritual practices, and creative world-building to support a more humane, equitable, and beautiful society. Founded by Taraneh Erfan (Squamish, BC), Thérèse Cator (Maplewood, NJ), and Carmen Spagnola, (Summerland, BC), the co-op is funded through associate memberships and robust pre-order campaigns. Learn more at 9thhousepress.com and follow them on Instagram @9thhousepress