ruka press, a new, independent publisher of nonfiction books based in Washington, DC, was founded in early 2010 by Daniel Kohan, the owner of Sensical Design & Communication. We publish nonfiction books with a strong information-design component for a general audience. We do not publish fiction or poetry.

• See Why ruka press? to learn more about what makes us different
• If you are an author or agent and are interested in finding out more about publishing with us, please read Info for authors.
• Visit the Books page to see our catalog.

Contrary to rumor, publishing is not dead or dying. But the business model followed by traditional publishers is no longer viable. Wasteful practices, overhead, and lack of support make it nearly impossible for most books to return their investment. Large publishers make money when they hit home runs, and therefore most of their authors are neglected in favor of the lucky few who manage to hit it big.

Vanity presses, on the other hand, will print anything that authors submit, for a price. That’s fine if you want a book to show your friends and family, but it’s not a good deal for most authors. We are not a vanity press, and do not charge an author a fee to publish a book.

At ruka press, we know there’s a better way. We will publish only a few books each year. We won’t publish anything we’re not excited about, that we don’t think we can sell. We work in partnership with our authors to create and sell books we can all be proud of, and make money from.

We have a passion for books and book design, years of experience creating and printing books for clients, and the skills and talents to put out a great product. We know how to use new technologies like print-on-demand (POD) and e-book publishing to cut costs without sacrificing quality.

Daniel Kohan

ruka press founder Daniel Kohan has been a designer, writer, and editor for the past 20 years. He founded Sensical Design & Communication, a graphic design firm specializing in publication design for non-profits and financial-services companies, in 2003. Before that, he spent 10 years as an art director and designer at Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. Daniel was managing editor of Television Broadcast magazine before switching to a career in graphic design. He is a graduate of Yale University and studied at the School of Visual Arts. Daniel is a former vice president of the Washington, DC chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design, and is a charter member of AIGA’s national task force on sustainable design.