STORIES WORTH TELLING. BOOKS BUILT TO LAST.
Black Ember Press is an independent publishing house creating and stewarding emotionally honest work rooted in humanity and lived experience.
We publish books that explore what shapes us, what we carry, and what becomes possible when we tell the truth.
STORIES THAT STAY WITH YOU
Some stories entertain us. Others remain with us.
Black Ember Press publishes memoir, poetry, guided reflection, and other work exploring family, identity, faith, resilience, survival, healing, and the human experience.
Different voices. Different forms. A shared commitment to honesty, depth, and work that matters.
FEATURED BOOK
Permission to Break
A Memoir of Strength, Silence, and Softness
By Rashida Saunders
For years, strength was survival.
Permission to Break explores what happens when the person everyone depends on begins to question the cost of always holding everything together.
Through motherhood, grief, identity, public service, silence, and healing, Rashida Saunders examines the quiet weight of being strong and what becomes possible when strength no longer requires self-abandonment.
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Reading Permission to Break with a book club, classroom, leadership team, community organization, or on your own?
The complimentary discussion guide was created to help readers move beyond the final page and into deeper reflection, meaningful conversation, and connection.
Download the Discussion Guide →
MORE FROM THE CATALOG
Reflections of a Black Woman's Heart
Poems of Faith, Fire, and Resilience
By Doris Drew
A collection of poetry rooted in lived experience, faith, family, and resilience. Written with honesty and quiet strength, these poems move through love, hardship, healing, and the enduring spirit of a woman who has carried much and still found grace.
Permission to Break Workbook
A Guided Journey of Reflection, Release, and Softness
By Rashida Saunders
A companion for readers ready to move beyond recognition and into reflection.
Through guided prompts and intentional exercises, the workbook creates space to examine what you carry, what you are ready to release, and what it might mean to choose yourself without apology.
BLACK EMBER PRESS
More than publication.
Black Ember Press is building a focused catalog grounded in lived experience, emotional honesty, and human truth.
We believe meaningful work deserves more than publication. It deserves care, intention, and stewardship.
We create space for stories that ask something of us. Stories that help us see ourselves and one another more clearly. Stories worth returning to long after the final page.