About

Company Overview:

Sunbury Press, Inc., headquartered in Mechanicsburg, PA is a publisher of trade paperback and digital books featuring established and emerging authors in many fiction and non-fiction categories. Sunbury’s books are printed in the USA and sold through leading booksellers worldwide.

Sunbury Press is a traditional publisher leveraging digital capabilities. We receive approximately 1000 proposals from authors and agents over the course of a year. We publish about 70 titles per year, a good number of them from our existing authors. Thus, our selection rate is about 5%. Our most successful categories have been history, biography, self-help, historical fiction, horror, police procedurals and mysteries.

Our editing and design staff are employees of the company. When we invest in a manuscript with our time and money, our goal is to produce the best quality book possible while getting it to the market as quickly as possible.

Our books are sold on all major bookseller websites and eBook platforms. Our best-selling titles are distributed to stores and libraries via Baker & Taylor and Ingram.

Our Mission:

“Continue the Enlightenment”. During the 18th century, a societal shift occurred based on the core values of a strong belief in rationality and science and the critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals. Out of this era came the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. This “Age of Reason” has shaped our Western tradition and continues to resonate to this day throughout the globe. At Sunbury Press, we champion these core values and support authors who challenge “the establishment”, regardless of their political or religious affiliation, socioeconomic status or nationality.

Company History:

Founded in 2004 by Lawrence Knorr, the company is named after Sunbury, PA – a Susquehanna River town very close to the Mahantongo & Lykens Valleys. The company’s first books were genealogical titles related to these areas and the Pennsylvania German communities that thrived nearby.

In 2006, Sunbury published its first fiction book “the 100th Human” by Chris Fenwick. This metaphysical fiction novel quickly rose to #1 in its category on Amazon, becoming the company’s best-selling book ever at that time.

By 2010, the company had transformed its business model to leverage new developments in the publishing industry such as eBooks and print-on-demand. The company grew five fold between 2009 and 2010 and nearly tripled the next year (through 2011).
Titles such as “Prohibition’s Prince” and “Fireproof Moth” achieved regional and international acclaim. Sunbury also became known for the “Keystone Tombstones” series by Joe Farrell and Joe Farley, which was mentioned on numerous broadcast and cable TV affiliates. The company signed its first foreign rights deal (with a Taiwanese publisher) in 2012.

Late in 2012, the company moved from offices in Camp Hill, PA to Main Street in Mechanicsburg, PA and began hosting book release parties and author signing events at the venue.

2013 is a big year for Sunbury. We exhibited at Book Expo America in New York at the end of May. Also, one of our books — “The Cursed Man” by Keith Rommel — was made into a motion picture in Hollywood.

We celebrated our tenth anniversary in 2014, including an anniversary party at our headquarters. Keith Rommel, author of “The Cursed Man” appeared at our company store, as did Brahm Gallagher, who played the lead role in the film. (Brahm is now appearing in “Game of Thrones”.)

Sunbury Press participated in Mechanicsburg’s Jubilee Day in 2015, interacting with the 60,000+ patrons who participated in the largest street fair in the eastern US.  The action was right in front of our office/bookstore.  Keith Rommel’s “The Lurking Man” was also signed to a Hollywood deal. Sales at the Press nearly doubled in 2015.

At the start of 2016, Sunbury Press moved its offices and bookstore around the corner to 105 South Market Street, sharing a two-story 5,000 square foot building with 2nd Floor Gallery.

Our Owners:

Lawrence Knorr has been involved with book publishing since 2000. He holds an MBA from Penn State University, and is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM). Lawrence’s 30+ year career in information technology, as a programmer, analyst, project manager, CEO and Chief Information Officer has prepared him well for the “Age of Content” – the new era of eBooks, data integration, eCommerce and networks. Lawrence has taught business and project management courses for over ten years, and is the author or co-author of thirteen books. He is also an award-winning digital artist. During 2013, Lawrence was the President of the MidAtlantic Book Publishers Association (MBPA).  Lawrence often speaks or is a panelist at regional writers conferences and book fairs.

Tammi Knorr, a former Deloitte consultant, has been with Sunbury Press since 2010.  She “retired” from her 20+ year career in information technology to manage our e-Commerce store and internal operations.  Tammi is also a very talented photographer and graphic artist and designs many of the marketing materials for our books.