Bookstores and Libraries
Our print books are available from Ingram Books and our e-books are available from Overdrive. If you prefer to order from us directly, please contact us by e-mail for access to our electronic order system. We will provide you with a unique log-in to enter your purchase order number and receive your discount. See this page for more information.
Who We Are
Drollerie Press is probably best described as a micro indie press because we focus on a particular niche, and we publish a limited number of stories every year. We find good fiction transformative. Our lives have been shaped by the stories we were told and by the stories we chose for ourselves. Recognizing that we are constantly exposed to stories that shape us—who we are, where we come from, what should matter—we have become fascinated both by the stories themselves and what each particular story says about us, the tellers. As a result, we have ended up here, focusing on the publication of mythic fiction—in particular, the stories we choose for ourselves.
Drollerie Press publishes this transformative fiction in print and electronic format. You might characterize some of our stories as speculative fiction, mythic fiction, slipstream, new weird, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, paranormal, magical realism, mystery, science fiction, romance or horror. Any of those would be true, but there are story elements that never die: the quest, the coming of age tale, the epiphany; and there are elements that will always fascinate us: tales of creation and dissolution, who we are and where we come from; stories about magic, love, mystery, and life. We find those ideas especially intriguing when presented within the framework of myth, legend, and fairy tale.
Our Name
Drolleries are the decorative beasties (oftentimes half human and half something else) in the margins of illuminated manuscripts. Since we believe in beautiful books filled with beautiful stories from a unique and unusual perspective, we chose to name the press after one of those strange but enchanting creatures, and each of our imprints is named after an element of historic book design.
In our Drollerie Press line (symbolized by the transformative on the top left), you’ll find fantasy, myths, legends and fairy tales. Some are old favorites in new clothes, some are brand new but feel as time-tested as the old. Our Illuminated Press line (above right) is where our romances reside. Here you’ll find lyrical, mythic romance.
A gauffer is carved or painted on the outermost edges of the pages of a book so that when the book is open it looks like random oddities, but when closed, the edges display a pattern. We like that for its mysterious nature, so our line of mysteries, thrillers, and tales of intrigue was named Gauffer as well.
Drolleries were also known as grotesques, or grotesqueries (left), but we find that name evocative of something a little darker than the whimsical or curious, so you’ll find our horror there.
Our Quadrivium Press line is all about science, at least, in fiction. “The quadrivium” were the science courses in medieval times. We find that name singularly appropriate for our mythic science fiction.
Chrysography is from the Greek for “writing in gold,” and was used to describe luxury book production. In our Chrysography line (right) you’ll find literary fiction, art books, special items, hardbound, casebound, and limited editions in a variety of bindings.
A kettlestitch holds two quires, or sections of a book, together at top and at bottom. Looking at it with a slight headtilt, one might almost say the kettlestitch is the transition between pages and a book. We named our YA line Kettlestitch after that idea of transition between one thing and another.
A Pen Flourish is a fine lined embellishment added to a letter or page, often in green, violet or purple. Our Pen Flourish line contains works of erotica that include the mythic elements we love. We think that’s a perfect combination.
In the (hopefully near) future, we’ll be offering a line of GLBT fiction, a line of multicultural fiction, and a line of inspirational fiction as well. I’m sure we’ll be just as creative finding names for them—hopefully as creative as the stories they’ll contain.
