Sarah Ettritch established Norn Publishing to offer her work in print and eBook formats. Norn Publishing’s first book, Rymellan 1: Disobedience Means Death, was originally published online and is still available at Rymellan Fiction for those who don’t mind reading on a computer. But some readers prefer to read the old-fashioned way or with their nifty new eReaders. Those readers can now enjoy the Rymellan universe and characters.
Why the name Norn Publishing?
Sarah says…
In addition to writing, I enjoy playing computer games. One game that has entertained me for the past few years is Guild Wars. Guild Wars offers computer characters, called heroes, to help you complete quests and explore the world. One of my favourite heroes is Jora. Not only is Jora a strong and capable warrior, she has a compelling story attached to her character. She and her brother were cursed when they awakened an ancient evil (yeah, cliché, but it still worked for me). Jora can no longer change into the form of a bear, and her brother, trapped in a hideous bear form, is terrorizing and killing her people. In the game, you help Jora track down her brother. When you find him, she kills him to free them both from the curse–a poignant and emotional moment.
I first considered the name Jora Publishing, but decided I didn’t want to use a first name in the company name. Jora belongs to a race called the Norn, so I researched that angle and discovered that Norn comes from Norse mythology. That explained why the Norn in Guild Wars remind me of Vikings and live in snowy, cold areas (which remind me of the winters here in Toronto, though unlike the Norn females in Guild Wars, we usually don’t hang around in fur bikinis). It turns out that the Norn are females who show up at every birth to spin the newborn’s future. When I write, I spin the fates of my characters, so I thought that was neat and decided to go with it.
I chose Publishing, rather than Press or Books, because “press” and “books” are now limiting concepts. Who knows in what form the written word will be offered in the future? All I know is that I’ll adapt and publish my work in the format du jour, and that’s why I settled on Publishing.
~ Sarah, July 2009
Read more about the Norn in Wikipedia.