ABOUT
Black Ember supports authors who want more than a finished book. Writers who want clarity, alignment, and full ownership of their voice. You keep your rights. You keep your royalties. We provide structure, strategy, and steady guidance from manuscript to publication.
WHY
This studio was built for authors who want ownership without isolation and support without surrendering control. We believe strength and softness can coexist.
VALUES
We value trust, clarity, and human dignity. Structure and softness are not opposites here. We work with steadiness and hold each story with care.
TRAUMA INFORMED PUBLISHING
Black Ember is a trauma informed publishing studio rooted in storytelling, ownership, and creative integrity. We offer manuscript guidance, editorial direction, design coordination, and strategic clarity from draft to finished book, supporting memoirists, first time authors, and purpose driven writers who want their work to feel honest and aligned.
PRESENCE FIRST PHOTOGRAPHY
Publishing is our foundation, but we also offer intentional photography for authors and creatives who want their presence to match the depth of their work. Portrait, branding, and event sessions are rooted in steadiness and authenticity, prioritizing connection over performance to create imagery that feels grounded, powerful, and true to you.
FOUNDER
Black Ember was founded by Rashida Saunders, a public safety leader with nearly two decades of community centered experience.
Her work is shaped by lived experience, resilience, and a deep commitment to truth. After years of serving in high pressure systems, she understands what it means to carry stories that go unspoken, and the cost of staying silent. With academic training in criminal justice and administration of justice and security, she brings both structure and humanity to the creative process.
Black Ember was built on the belief that publishing can be both strategic and deeply human, and that storytelling is not just expression, it is reclamation.
