Have you met Pete the Cat at The Penny University Bookstore yet?

Around 18 months ago, this audacious kitty sauntered through our door and has yet to show any intention of going away again. He’d obviously been a stray for quite some time, had no collar, microchip or tattoo and RHS had no record of him. I’d already lost count of the number of times people had suggested I get a Bookstore Cat, and so, he soon took up residence at The
Penny University a few times a week, and I promoted him to Head of Marketing.

He has a firm fan base in store already, and I like to believe it is because of his general attitude to life. He is a feline optimist. Looking to improve his lot, he took a chance on us, and was rewarded for his opportunism.

Pete the Cat is an inspiration. So I’ve decided to borrow his likeness for my latest venture.There is a very long backstory here but due in part to some hoops I had to leap through to pay back my CEBA loan for the bookstore in January, I ended up inventing a publishing business in one afternoon. As one does, obviously.

That little side-quest didn’t help in the end, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. I already have a space for people to come write books and a venue for book launches at Tuppenny Coffee, and I also have the means to sell them to local booklovers at The Penny University. In my head it makes sense to join the dots and connect the writing community to the
reading community…right?

And so, Pete’s Press is born.

The world is pretty miserable and it feels like everyone writes dire warnings about the apocalypse or fictional dystopias right now, so I’d like to publish books that are at least vaguely hopeful, full of positive ideas. I think of it as a representation thing: if we don’t read hopeful things, we start forgetting that hope exists.

But sometimes, hopeful things are subtle: like the crazy, naive optimism of trying to start yet another venture in the current economic climate. Or more simply, like a cat taking a chance by walking into our house, in the hope of shelter.

Anyone interested in publishing with Pete’s Press can check out petespress.ca !