The German publishing house Drachenmond Verlag (“dragon moon”) is the ultimate publisher when it comes to fantasy books. Astrid Behrendt, founder and CEO of Drachenmond Verlag publishes unique books with lots of lifeblood. Something she doesn’t like… mass bookkeeping 🙂 Astrid lets you know more about her and her publishing company in the following interview:
How Did You Get the Idea for Founding a Publishing House?
Ever since I can think I was a bookworm and plundered my local library. At an early stage I felt the urge to write my own books, so I was highly motivated and sent drafts to several publishers – and of course got rejected. I can remember one in particular, because it was very rude the way it was worded. They wrote “those kind of stories have no place in modern children’s literature. I had a different opinion, so that is why I founded my own publishing company 22 years ago, to give stories a home that want to be told, nevertheless. At that time selfpublishing was frowned upon and something you were being laughed at for. But I listened to my gut feeling and self-taught myself everything I needed to know. It was a long way and advertisements without social networks were expensive and difficult. But I didn’t give up, raised my kids “on the side”, looked after a Namibian animal farm and thought to myself 20 years ago: “Now or never!” Ever since then I haven’t been sleeping that much, but I’m having lots of fun! 😉
What Makes You Different from Other Publishing Firms?
I don’t look what other publishers do. I publish those kinds of books, that I would like to have in my own book case. That is why I put emphasis on a nice cover and inside layout. But the most important thing to me is, that a book develops from team work. The authors and graphic designers tinker on a cover, we have a very familiar atmosphere here at our “dragon swarm”.
What Does an Author Need to Have, so They Will Be Accepted into Your Publishing Program?
It needs to “click” for me. My decisions are 100 % made by my gut feeling. I afford the luxury of publishing only books that I think are great. If I reject a book (which I need to do way too often due to the big amount of submissions), it is always a subjective assessment. Of course I want every book to become a bestseller, but I hope to be able to continue publishing books with enthralling stories, even if they are not mainstream.
What Are Your Next Goals and Projects?
One day I would like to pursue my own book projects, but for now it is my authors’ turn. And since the print plan is absolutely full this year, I won’t suffer from boredom.
A pretty big project is slowly taking shape, but that still needs to be nurtured, before I can announce that. It remains exciting, that is for sure! 😉
The most recent Drachenmond releases:
Rubinsplitter by Julia Dessalles
