Meet Lisa Kastner of University Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Kastner.

Hi Lisa, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I had been in the creative writing world for quite a bit and I was incredibly frustrated. I knew all of these fantastic writers who couldn’t get a book deal and I didn’t understand why. I was hanging out with the gentleman who later became my husband and I shared this with him. His response was, “Why don’t you start your own press? That’s how it works in music, why can’t it work that way in publishing?”

This simple interaction is what catapulted us to where we are today with a multi award winning publishing house with four imprints. Our mission is to change the world through storytelling by bringing great stories that don’t fit neatly in a box to the populace.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Some of our greatest struggles have ranged from getting books to market in time, running out of stock due to high demand, finding investors so we can meet that demand, and then simple things like not getting soaked during an unexpected downpour at the Los Angeles Festival of Books.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Running Wild, LLC is a content creation, distribution, and licensing company. This is a fancy way of saying that we find unique voices and bring them to eager fans no matter where they want to experience the story. Paperbacks, hardbacks, ebooks, audiobooks we handle in house and we license the stories for TV, film, translation, and other media.

We are known for finding and bringing to life ground breaking work like Reuben “Tihi” Hayslett’s “Dark Corners” which was named among the best of the year by Kirkus Reviews to “Pocket Full of Teeth” by Aimee Hardy which was also named among the best of the year by Kirkus to Shay Galloway’s “The Valley of Sage and Juniper” which was touted as completely reinventing the Western genre by Indie Reviews.

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I’m thankful for every moment we have to bring these incredible stories to life and for those who have reveled in those stories.

Pricing:

• ebook pricing $9.99
• paperback pricing $21.99
• audiobook pricing is typically $14.99
• hardback pricing is typically $34.99

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.runningwildpublishing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runningwildpressllc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runningwildpress
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/runningwildpress
• Twitter: https://x.com/RunWildBooks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@runningwildpress3124