Hello! Thank you for visiting the Broken River Books homepage.
Crime fiction author J David Osborne launched Broken River Books in 2013 with the intent of developing a publishing house focused on weird, surreal, and experimental pulp fiction. In the ten years that followed, we published books and essays from nearly fifty authors, including Stephen Graham Jones, James Sallis, Jedidiah Ayres, William Boyle, Adam Cesare, and Gabino Iglesias. For a full list of publications, please visit the “Catalogue” page.
Over time, JDO developed a frustration with the limitations of the “small press” model. While publishing at all levels can be a bit of a crapshoot (just the nature of the beast), the fact that he did not have the resources or marketing knowledge to properly promote the books he published began to wear on him. So he decided to reimagine what his press could be. He began to think smaller.
Broken River Books is now a tight-knit collective of five writers focused on broadening the genres of cyberpunk, crime, and horror. Each of us are independent, but we collaborate and work together to write books and improve one another’s work. Our stories generally focus on diverse groups of outsiders and outcasts attempting to make meaning in a harsh world.
The collective model has proved to be beneficial for all of us. Over time, we have learned new ways of getting our work out into the world, and developed our craft in an environment of friendship and tough love, harsh criticism and high praise.
Here is a directory of each member of the collective’s work:
J David Osborne
The Broken River Writers’ Collective Substack: this is the main blogging platform for JDO, in addition to featuring occasional guest posts from other members of the collective
Agitator: a weekly podcast where JDO and Kelby Losack discuss the craft of writing. We also talk about anime, manga, Japanese films, philosophy, cyberpunk novels, and much more. It’s a cool hang. We joke around a lot. And we do it all while being dads. The show has gained a cult following for its DIY feel, particularly the episodes we record between the two of us. We use two TASCAM field recorders, and the background is filled with the sounds of everyday Dad Life: dishes being done, cartoons on the TV, babbling babies, passing cars, etc. Iain Ryan calls it “A glorious mess of Japanese cinema, bro-down book chatter, hustle culture and the harsh noise of raising children… Agitator has become its own aesthetic.” It’s not for everyone! Steer clear if you prefer your podcasts short and engineered to sound like an NPR show.
Agitator Patreon: extended weekly episodes, book club episodes, and writing from JDO and Kelby (including two serialized novels, Samurai Jesus and Ronin Trash)
Instagram/Threads: @brbjdo
His current series is called Gods Fare No Better, and the first book in the series is available here.
After finishing the sequel, JDO has a sequel to Low Down Death Right Easy and the final installment of the Black Gum quartet lined up to finish. After that, it’ll be the third book in the Gods series, then a new standalone. He writes 1,200 words every morning at 4am.
Kelby Losack
A lot of Kelby’s work can be found at the JDO links above, as they work together on several projects.
Kelby’s website: kelbylosack.com
Kelby’s Substack: kelbylosack.substack.com
David Simmons
The trailer for his novel, Ghosts of East Baltimore can be viewed here:
David’s Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
Goodreads Page for Ghosts of East Baltimore
Grant Wamack
e rathke
Broken River Blog 