About Us
The Story Behind Stillfire Press
A father and son. Two novels. One refusal: we would not hand our books to an industry that asks writers to give away what they built.
How We Started
Justin Cronk spent nine years writing a fantasy novel. When it was finally done, he realized that every traditional path to publication required handing over the very thing he had spent nearly a decade building. The rights. The creative control. The ability to decide how and when and where his own words appeared in the world.
His son Carter was building his own novel — a dark fantasy born from a completely different sensibility but the same conviction: the work belongs to the person who wrote it. Not to a corporation. Not to a platform. Not to an algorithm.
So they built Stillfire Press — an indie press where the authors own everything, the books are sold directly to readers, and every manuscript is blockchain-verified before a single copy is sold. No middlemen. No gatekeepers. Just books.
The Name
Stillfire comes from the two novels that started everything:
Still
From Man Amongst the Clouds, whose first part is called The Still Water. The quiet before the storm. The lake, the birds, the careful rhythm of days.
Fire
From Ash to Fury. The ember under the restraint. The thing that burns when you have been still too long. Ash. Flame. Fury.
Together, it captures what both books share: the tension between stillness and fire, restraint and release, the quiet surface and what burns beneath it.
What We Believe
Authors should own their work
Not metaphorically. Legally, financially, and permanently. Every book published by Stillfire Press belongs entirely to the person who wrote it.
Readers deserve to know who wrote the book
Every Stillfire Press manuscript is cryptographically hashed and recorded on the Polygon blockchain before publication. Immutable proof of authorship. No AI slop. Real books by real people.
Buying direct is better for everyone
When you buy from Stillfire Press, 97% of your money goes to the author. No corporate cut. No distributor markup. Stripe takes 3%. That is it.
Two books is enough to start
You do not need a catalog of fifty titles to be a real press. You need books worth reading and the conviction to put them into the world on your own terms.
Blockchain Verified Authorship
Both Stillfire Press manuscripts have been cryptographically hashed and permanently recorded on the Polygon blockchain. This means the authorship of every book we sell is publicly verifiable, immutable, and timestamped — it cannot be faked, altered, or disputed.
Both proofs include AI transparency statements: AI was never used to write prose, dialogue, or narrative. It was used only as an editorial aid for identifying plot holes, inconsistencies, and copyediting.
Open Submissions
Stillfire Press is open to submissions from other authors. We accept fantasy and science fiction manuscripts. We read every submission personally. If we believe in your book, we will sell it alongside ours on stillfirepress.com.
You keep all rights to your work. We provide the storefront, the checkout infrastructure, and the blockchain verification. Being listed on Stillfire Press means we read your book and we believe in it.
Submit Your BookThe Founders
Justin Cronk
Co-Founder & Author
Author of Man Amongst the Clouds, a literary fantasy novel nine years in the making. Technology background. Built the blockchain proof system. Handles the technical, strategic, and business operations of Stillfire Press.
Carter Cronk
Co-Founder & Author
Author of Ash to Fury, a dark fantasy novel currently in development. Sharp editorial instincts. Reads widely across genres. Brings creative vision and a fearless narrative voice to everything Stillfire Press publishes.
Browse Our Books
See what we are building. Two books. Two voices. One press.
Visit the Bookstore