Iguana Books is a Canadian hybrid publishing house. Here's what makes us unique.
Quality: As a publishing services company, we’ve been editing and designing books for major publishers since 1977. Going it alone, you won’t even know which editors are good and which ones are wannabes. Your book will be fully professional – and readers can tell the difference.
Credibility: Readers will come to know that they can trust Iguana Books to be completely professional since our books are all “good reads.” You will benefit from our reputation.
Community: Publish the book yourself, and you do it in isolation. When we publish each book, that author’s readership visits our site, and some of them will see other books they want to buy. As we grow, more and more readers will discover your book.
Continuity: We don’t just want to publish your book. We want to foster your career as a writer and help you build your readership.
Reach: Our books are available worldwide in all the major ebookstores.
History
Iguana Books has existed in various incarnations since 1991. However, it was relaunched as a sustained publishing program in 2011 by founder Greg Ioannou. Greg has a long history in publishing; he’s edited somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 books, taught publishing at Ryerson, served four terms as President of the Editors’ Association of Canada, and is the CEO of Colborne Communications, a writing and editing company, and co-founder of PubLaunch.com, a crowdfunding and freelance marketplace website. He was inspired to start Iguana to address some of the structural problems facing traditional publishing and to help publish top-quality books unable to find a home in traditional houses; Iguana's genres span from mysteries to political thrillers to inspirational memoirs. Under his direction, Iguana published its 100th book in 2017.
Greg Ioannou, President
This whole Colborne thing was Greg's idea. He's been writing and editing since 1977. He's edited more than 2000 books, and written everything from board games to annual reports. When he's not busy running the show, he likes to walk around the office in bare feet, sipping coffee and admiring his collection of stuffed mooses. Outside of the office, he captains a team in a weekly trivia league and has been known to frequent local pubs and stamp auctions. He was the very first member of the Editors' Association of Canada and has been on EAC's executive for longer than some of the other Colborners have been alive. He's loquacious ["full of loquats"], pugnacious ["resembling a pug"], and ornery ["Greg-like"].
Lee Parpart, Editor
Lee is a writer, editor, and marketing whiz from Toronto. She loves helping new writers publish and promote their work, and is active in the Toronto writing scene, where she won an emerging writer award for short fiction in 2016 and organizes publishing industry events. She has a journalism degree and an MFA in film theory, and worked as a reporter, video columnist for The Globe and Mail's Broadcast Week magazine, and media studies lecturer before returning full-time to creative writing and editing in 2014. When she's not fussing over her own words and those of others, she bakes vegan cakes for her husband and daughter and plays "chase you around the island, you crazed beast" with their hyperactive Westie.
Paula Chiarcos, Editor
Paula is a writer and editor who attained a degree in International Relations before deciding to pursue a career in editing. She graduated from the University of California’s Professional Sequence in Editing program and joined Editors Canada not long after. Her experience ranges from editing medical reports to memoirs to juvenile fiction. When not working, she’s usually having Nerf battles with her kids or baking something yummy while listening to her favourite political podcasts.