The Woman Behind Emma M. Lion

On Nov. 5, 2019, Beth Brower’s The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion quietly arrived with the first two volumes—atypical for the writer, who usually produced fantasy novels. Set in a fictional London neighborhood in 1883, the series follows the day-to-day thoughts and adventures of an orphan on the brink of adulthood, with whimsical traditions, tea shops and ghostly happenings. Brower marketed it lightly on Instagram, relying on readers to find it. The books later evolved into self-publishing success: more than 100,000 Goodreads reviews for volume one, and deals with Bloomsbury and 17 other international publishers. Brower, 41, lives in Orem, Utah, and has self-published 13 novels since founding Rhysdon Press in 2016.