Mission and Philosophy

Personville Press is a Texas-based ebook publisher of quality fiction at affordable prices. Founded in 2010 by Robert Nagle, it publishes a mixture of new fiction and out of print fiction.

Some core values behind the press:

  • Focus on ebooks rather than printed titles
  • Commitment to make available unencrypted files of all ebooks for sale
  • Identify and champion overlooked authors and books.
  • Commitment to affordable prices as a way to reach more readers

To champion overlooked authors, Personville Press continues to republish out-of-print and public domain literary works which have never been digitized.

At some point Personville Press may consider publishing unsolicited manuscripts. At the moment, seeking submissions for future fiction titles.

History

Personville Press is the brainchild of Robert Nagle, who runs it from Houston, Texas (see below). It started after Robert Nagle interviewed Ohio author Jack Matthews and formed a micropress to publish some of Jack Matthews’ works as ebooks.

Starting in 2020, Personville Press has expanded into two new areas. First, it has started to republish classic literary works starting with Robert Hillyer’s My Heart for Hostage. Second, it has teamed up with editor Hapax Legomenon to form an ebook imprint Ripe Mango Take Two Press dedicated to publishing erotically-themed fiction.

Two things are peculiar to the press. First, a large portion of the press’s catalog would be classified as “short story collections.” Second, Personville Press has tackled several books which are complex and challenging not only from a literary point of view, but also a technical and formatting point of view. Although outside artists are used to produce illustrations and cover art for ebooks, all the ebooks are coded and designed inhouse.

Meet the Editor

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creative commons challenging ebooks

Services for Authors

Now is a strange time to be an author or publisher. Authors have new alternatives to the find-agent-then-publisher model that has worked in the past. Many authors (myself included) have opted for self-publishing and chosen to control things related to copyright, pricing and formatting.

Personville Press has embraced this trend and served as a small or hybrid publisher for a small number of authors.

Here is the original home page prior to site redesign.

Sometimes Personville Press offers services to authors for a fee. Depending on the book and author, these services can be purchased separately or rolled into a full publisher agreement where the author pays nothing.

  • beta reader
  • full developmental editing
  • Proofing and quality control
  • formatting and layout
  • Very basic production and editing of graphics
  • Write promotional material
  • Produce an author or book website using WordPress
  • Manage the logistics of finding advance readers and reviewers

An important part of publishing is book marketing. As of early 2025, this is something I can provide informal advice about and maybe perform certain tasks for a fee (like writing press releases or making websites). But generally But I currently don’t have the resources to offer comprehensive book marketing.