Each of Us a Story Walking
Walking Stories Press is an independent publishing house based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Intimate by design, we publish emotionally resonant, culturally grounded stories that reflect the vibrancy of Kenyan life.
We believe that a book should be a beautiful thing — not just the words and the stories but the physical object itself.
And we believe there is lots more room and many more ways to tell Kenyan stories.
So here we are.
Your Questions,
Answered
“We tell stories because as long as we have been able to, humans have scribbled, ‘I was here.’ We are ephemeral and we are eternal.”
“Through our stories we tell others who we are, and even better, we tell ourselves.”
“We are yet to discover better ways to pass the time together than keeping the company of a good storyteller.”
Is Walking Stories Press the right publisher for me?
We might be — and we’d love to find out together.
We publish both fiction and nonfiction — the former under our Hisia imprint and the latter under our Nilivyo imprint. You can find more information about the specific kinds of stories we are interested in on the imprints’ respective pages, which you can find on the website menu.
For both fiction and nonfiction, we value stories with a strong sense of place, reflecting the richness of Kenya’s many landscapes, languages, and laughters.
If you write domestic fiction with a central love story or you can use lively storytelling to share your specific expertise or experience and help others navigate their own lives better — and your work just “feels” Kenyan (which, of course, we can interpret quite widely) — we would be delighted to hear about your manuscript.
How can I submit my manuscript?
We believe publishing should begin with relationship, so we like to start with a conversation.
If you think your manuscript may be a good fit for Walking Stories Press, please get in touch and we’ll schedule a chat. We’ll talk about your work, your vision for it, and how we might support that vision while fulfilling our own mission of creating beautiful books for our local readership.
Even if we ultimately discover that the fit isn’t quite right, we’ll be glad to have met you — and that connection still matters a great deal to us.
And if the fit feels right, we will invite you to formally submit your manuscript for review. We will then prepare a manuscript critique, and if we are confident that we can successfully bring your book to market, we will offer to accept it for publication.
What happens after you accept a manuscript?
The fun then begins! We’ll move into a collaborative production process that includes developmental editing, line and copy editing, designing the look and feel of the book, and developing a thoughtful marketing plan — all in close partnership with you, the author.
Because we take such a deliberate, craft-centered approach, our timelines, production methods, distribution model, and even our approach to royalties differ significantly from conventional publishing. We see books — like all artistic work — as accruing value over time. For us, the process of making the book is just as meaningful as placing it in readers’ hands. The whole business asks for patience and trust, to be sure.
What we promise, ultimately, is a publishing process that feels like an equitable relationship and a book that is as gorgeous as we can make it.
Connection leads to community; community supports creativity.
So talk to us!
You could be a writer looking for information on what writing and publishing support we can offer. You might already have a gorgeous love story waiting to find its way into the world. Maybe you’re a book-lover just looking for other book-lovers.
If you'd like to reach out, we’d love to hear from you.