Survival & Preparedness Books
field-tested, built to last

We help survival instructors, wilderness medics and homesteaders turn hard-won skills into accurate, durable guides, memoirs and survival novels, with expert review and full ownership of every right.

Publishing Survival & Preparedness that sells

A survival book makes a promise most genres never have to make: if the reader follows it, they should come home. That raises the bar for everything we do. Paladin Press works with people who have actually slept in debris huts, run a wilderness medicine course in sleet, or kept a homestead running through a three-day power outage. Our job is to get that experience onto the page clearly, check it hard, and package it in a format that survives a pack, a glove box or a flooded basement.

The name carries some history. The original Paladin Press, based in Boulder from 1970 to 2017, built a long shelf of survival and self-reliance titles alongside its martial arts and military books, and you can still browse that list in our survival and self-reliance archive. Today we work as a publishing services company for authors. You hire us for the work, and you keep 100% of your rights and royalties.

Most survival manuscripts we see take one of three shapes. There is the instructional guide, organized by skill or scenario. There is the narrative, such as a winter alone in a cabin or a career in search and rescue. And there is fiction, from grounded grid-down stories to full post-apocalyptic sagas. Each needs a different editor. A skills book sits close to our field manuals list, where checklists, cross-references and diagrams carry the load. A survival memoir needs story structure and honest reflection. A survival thriller needs pacing, stakes and gear that behaves the way real gear does.

Accuracy is the part we refuse to rush. Any chapter on wound care, hypothermia, water treatment, plant identification or food preservation goes to a qualified reviewer before it reaches layout, and we flag claims that should be softened, sourced or cut. Then we help you write a disclaimer that fits the content, rather than a generic paragraph pasted onto the copyright page. A clear statement of scope protects readers, and it protects you.

Format matters more here than almost anywhere else in publishing. A bug-out reference might need a 4 x 6 trim that fits a cargo pocket, a laminated cover, high-contrast diagrams that read under a headlamp, or synthetic waterproof paper from a short-run printer. We plan those choices at the start, alongside the ebook and audio editions, so the book you design is one you can actually produce and sell.

Good survival books are built twice, once in the field and once at the desk. Here is the process we use to turn experience into a book that stays accurate, readable and in print.

Start by naming who is holding the book and where they are standing. A first-time car camper in Ohio, a ranch family facing wildfire season and a backcountry hunter in Alaska need different books, even though all three need fire, water and shelter. The tighter your scenario, the easier every later decision becomes, from chapter order to trim size.

Write a one-paragraph brief before you write chapters. Include the climate, the likely emergencies, the reader's skill level and what they should be able to do after finishing. We use that brief during editing to cut material that belongs in a different book, which is often the fastest way to make a survival guide better. If you already teach, your course syllabus is probably the best outline you own, since it reflects the order in which real students learn.

Organize by priority, not by gear. Many first drafts are really gear lists with commentary. Readers in trouble think in priorities: stop the bleeding, stay warm, find water, signal for help, then worry about food. Structuring chapters around decisions keeps the book useful when the reader's kit is incomplete, which in a real emergency it usually is.

Add quick-reference elements early, such as a priorities chart, scenario checklists and a one-page summary for each skill. These pieces often become the most photographed pages in the book, and they are far easier to design while the manuscript is still flexible.

Anything that can hurt someone gets expert review. Medical, foraging and food preservation chapters carry the highest risk. Our book editing process routes them to reviewers with matching credentials, such as a physician or wilderness EMT for injury care and an experienced botanist for edible plant content. Reviewers check your claims against current sources, including the clinical practice guidelines published by the Wilderness Medical Society.

For canning, curing and long-term food storage, we compare your methods with the tested guidance from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. If a family recipe departs from tested methods, we will say so plainly, and you can decide whether to label it, revise it or leave it out.

Expert review does not replace your voice. It sharpens it. Readers can tell when an author knows exactly where the safe line sits.

A disclaimer is not a magic shield, and we are not your lawyer. What we can do is help you write a plain statement of scope: what the book covers, which situations it does not, and when readers should seek hands-on training or medical care. For books with significant medical or firearms content, we recommend a review by a publishing attorney before release.

Put safety notes where readers need them, not only in the front matter. A warning box beside the tourniquet section does more good than a legal paragraph nobody reads.

We also check content against retailer policies. Survival topics overlap with knives, firearms, trapping and improvised tools, and some retailers restrict certain material. We keep books focused on lawful, responsible use, and we decline manuscripts that teach illegal activity.

A knot, a shelter frame or a splint is easier to show than to describe. Our book illustration team draws clean line art from your photos and sketches, which reproduces well in black-and-white print and stays readable on small ebook screens.

Shoot reference photos during your next course or field day, from the angle a learner would see, and label every step. Illustration costs drop when the reference material is clear. Plant images should always show the features a forager actually uses to tell edible species from their dangerous look-alikes.

Choose a format built for the field. Pocket guides usually work best between 4 x 6 and 5.5 x 8.5 inches. Our interior formatting team designs for that space with larger headings, tabbed sections and diagrams that never split across pages. Run your manuscript through the page count calculator to see how trim size changes spine width and printing cost.

Print-on-demand covers most needs, and a laminated cover adds real durability. True waterproof editions are different. They require synthetic paper and a short-run or offset printer, with an upfront print order and storage to think about. Many authors release a standard paperback for retail and a small waterproof run for students, outfitters and course sales.

Ebook editions need their own planning. Checklists and charts should be rebuilt as live text where possible, because many readers want a copy on their phone alongside the printed one in their pack.

Memoir and fiction deserve the same care. Narrative survival books earn trust differently. A memoir of a solo canoe trip or a long career in search and rescue works when it shows decisions, mistakes and consequences, not just a list of hardships. We help you find the spine of the story, usually one trip, one season or one rescue that changed how you think, and build the rest around it.

Fiction readers in this genre are often preppers themselves, and they will catch a rifle that never needs cleaning or a wound that heals in a day. A technical read by someone with field or medical experience costs little compared with a wave of one-star reviews. We pair a developmental editor focused on plot and character with a specialist who checks that the survival details hold up.

Both forms benefit from a short author's note explaining what is drawn from life and what is invented, which readers of survival stories appreciate.

We handle ISBNs, copyright registration, metadata and distribution through our book publishing service, so your guide reaches online retailers, bookstores and libraries in print, ebook and audio. Categories and keywords matter here. A homesteading book and a wilderness first aid manual sell on very different shelves.

Survival readers follow teachers. Course rosters, podcasts, outdoor retailers and preparedness expos usually outperform broad advertising, and our book marketing team builds plans around those channels. Many instructors pair the book with filmed lessons through our instructional video service.

Finally, schedule revisions. Guidance on wound care, water treatment and emergency kits changes over time, and agencies such as Ready.gov update their recommendations. A clearly dated second edition keeps your book trustworthy and gives you a reason to relaunch.

Plenty of the best instructors would rather teach than type. If that sounds familiar, our ghostwriting team can interview you between courses and turn recorded lessons into chapters written in your voice. If you already have pages, a free manuscript review will show you where the draft stands and what it needs next.

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