Geneva woman starts publishing business

Oct. 24—A longtime dream of being a writer has come true for a Geneva woman who now runs a small publishing company for writers seeking a voice.

Sara Frank, who grew up in Madison and has wanted to be an author since she was 15, self-published her first book of poetry in 2018 and branched out to assist others in 2021.

Frank said the poetry was an attempt at self-healing after recovering from some childhood trauma. She writes under the pen name of Ravven White.

The publishing company, Curious Corvid, stemmed from a post she made on her Instagram account seeking authors who might want to share their stories.

"I now represent 16 authors from all over the world," she said.

Frank said she likes to focus on writers outside the mainstream publishing industry. She said she likes to empower people to tell their stories in their own ways and will assist them as needed.

Frank's Instagram post resulted in responses from a lot of people.

"I got a surprising amount of posts," she said.

Frank said she has an author in Bedford, another in Pennsylvania, others from all over the United States and several from England.

Many of the authors write on mental health issues, surviving sexual assault or subjects stemming from challenges facing the LGBTQ community.

"I am drawn to works of passion," she said of people who have a story to tell from their own perspective. Frank said she doesn't try to interfere with the telling of the story but will provide grammar editing and assistance in making sure a story flows and makes sense.

She said there are people who form partnerships with the authors to fill those needs.

Frank said she was able to attend what is described as the largest literary event this spring in Los Angeles.

"We attended the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, she said. "We had all of our books on display, as well as our literary magazine [Magpie Messenger]."

Frank said the magazine was started after a discussion with Mark McClish. "He came to me with the idea of starting a magazine," she said.

The event was held at the University of Southern California. An estimated 150,000 people attend the event each year.

With computers being the driving force of literature these days, it isn't necessary to live in a major metropolitan area to succeed as an author, Frank said.

"You can make your mark where you are," she said.

Frank also has recently completed a novel, which will be released at Halloween, and she has a book signing scheduled for 7 p.m. Nov. 12 at Pretty Good Books on Main Avenue in Ashtabula.

Frank describes the book as a story about vampires and humans in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world.

"It's set after a great war and vampires and humans are struggling to survive," she said.

The magazine and the book, can be purchased at www.curiouscorvidpublishing.com and through Amazon.