My Story

The question that sparked my career in publishing (spring of 2017), when I decided to ride my bike down the West Coast of the U.S. with a trailer and a surfboard.

I wrote on my surfboard the trip's fundamental research question that was probing at my brain, “Why Do You Exist?” After pedaling 2,000 miles, receiving hundreds of responses, capturing thousands of photos, and 72 days in the saddle meditating on this thought…I came to a conclusion: I exist to teach—through these small portable containers called books that preserve, announce, and transmit knowledge to readers throughout the world.

I committed to the book as my career.

I enrolled in classes, read books, watched tutorials, met with professionals in the industry, spent hours browsing book stores, and became obsessed with learning the necessary Adobe programs: InDesign, Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, and Acrobat. I researched, did, created, and experimented. I practiced.

I applied my background in academia (working for Montana and Washington State University as an environmental educator and research assistant where I: developed skills in Microsoft office; taught classes; wrote, edited, and proofed grants, project reports, manuscripts, and presentations) to my publishing career.

In January of 2020—while living in a small cabin in the woods, without running water, on Vashon Island, WA—after three-plus years of learning and working, I formally launched my professional service business (Kory Kirby Books) and my publishing imprint (Little Cabin Press) and published my first two books: Why Do You Exist? and Make It Real.