The name comes from astronomy. During a solar eclipse, the moon’s shadow has three parts: the umbra is the deep dark center, the penumbra is the soft halo around it, and the antumbra is the bright outer ring, the place beyond the obscuring body where the light is no longer fully covered.
I picked it because the series I’m publishing is called Heirs of the Eclipse, and “Antumbra” was the only name in my long list of candidates that earned its way in by meaning something rather than just sounding nice. The press is named for the part of the eclipse where the light comes back.
Antumbra Press is a one-person indie operation. There is no LLC, no office, no staff. It’s a DBA: a publisher-of-record name on a copyright page, registered with Bowker, attached to a domain. It exists because I’d rather see “Published by Antumbra Press” on the back of a book I wrote than “Independently published” with no house behind it. That’s the whole reason. If you’re a writer thinking about doing the same: it cost me $295 for a Bowker ISBN ten-pack, the price of the domain, and an evening at the kitchen table picking a name. The imprint is mostly a posture. I think the posture matters.
The first book is a long-form adult dark fantasy called What the Blood Remembers: Three Cages. It’s the opening volume of Heirs of the Eclipse, a series that began, as many things do, with a single Dungeons & Dragons character whose backstory wouldn’t stop expanding. By the time I could see the shape of the world she lived in, I understood she had outgrown her game and would need a series of her own. Three Cages is the result of believing that.
There is no firm launch date yet. A decision earlier this year about the shape of the larger series moved some chapters out of this book and into the volumes that will follow it. What’s left is in audit and edit; a rough draft is close. Then production begins: cover, formatting, ISBN assignment, the quiet decisions that turn a manuscript into a book. I’d rather hold the book another month, or three, than ship a version of it that wasn’t yet what it needed to be. Those who’ve waited years for a book they liked will understand. Those who haven’t will find out what kind of imprint this is.
This journal is where I’ll write about the work. Probably every two weeks during the launch ramp, probably less often after. Some posts will be about the books themselves: the magic system, the world, the structure, the decisions. Others will be about the craft of writing them, the choices behind the choices, what worked and what didn’t. A few will be about the indie-publishing side, since those decisions are interesting and not well-documented from the perspective of someone who isn’t trying to sell a course about it. Occasionally there will be a French horn anecdote or a Linux-sysadmin metaphor. I can’t promise the rhythm will be perfect. I can promise the posts that show up will be the kind worth waiting for.
If you found this site through Heirs of the Eclipse, welcome. If you found it some other way and have no idea what any of that is, also welcome. There’s an About page and a series page that should orient you.
A newsletter is coming, eventually. A direct journal subscription, too. Both are placeholder pages today. For now: thank you for being here on day one.
— Berkley Starks near Yellowstone, June 2026