Texas Monthly is relauching its book-publishing imprint with the help of Penguin Random House. Here’s everything you need to know.
For 53 years, Texas Monthly operated its own book-publishing imprint, Texas Monthly Press. Its most significant run stretched between the 1970s through the beginning of the 1990s before the magazine shifted into focusing solely on journalism. Now, the publication is teaming up with Penguin Random House to relaunch Texas Monthly Press with some exciting new titles on the way in 2027.
According to an official release marking the occasion, the books published by the imprint will cover different formats and genres, including fiction and nonfiction, “that reflect the singular mythos of Texas—its people, culture, and history; its heroes and villains; its titanic figures in politics, business, sports, and the arts; its tragedies, intrigues, and aspirations.”
The editor in chief at Texas Monthly, Ross McCammon, said, “Texas Monthly Press is another way for Texas Monthly to bring to readers both near and far the stories of this incomparable and always surprising place. I couldn’t be more excited about the books we’ll publish and the audiences we’ll reach.” Partnering with Penguin Random House makes it possible to reach readers across the US in addition to those in the Lone Star State.
Amanda D’Acierno, who is Penguin Random House Audio Global’s president, is overseeing the collaboration with Texas Monthly. D’Acierno said, “As a native Texan and lifelong reader of Texas Monthly, I was thrilled to learn of the magazine’s plans to relaunch Texas Monthly Press. The opportunity to help bring this iconic imprint back to life felt deeply personal. We’re excited to pair Texas Monthly’s singular storytelling and perspective with the reach, expertise, and resources of Penguin Random House to introduce these extraordinary books to readers across the country.”
Scott Brown, the chief executive officer of Texas Monthly, said this was the logical next step for the company as it’s “a business built on great stories, so books make sense at the DNA level of us.” With the announcement comes a list of upcoming releases Texas Monthly Press is aiming to put out next year.
What to expect from the publishing company
The latest projects selected for publishing through Texas Monthly Press have been, and will continue to be, overseen by Texas native Mark Warren, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who previously worked as editor at Random House and Esquire. Warren will serve as editorial director and work alongside business and editorial teams from Texas Monthly. They’ll all be joined by staff from Trinity University Press, a publication that will shutter by the end of this year.
Beginning in Fall 2027, Texas Monthly Press anticipates releasing several exciting titles, including:
- “The Bowie Knife That Killed Dracula,” by William Broyles and Stephen Harrigan. Centered around a Texan who killed Dracula, the book “will take readers from the pyramids of Tenochtitlán to the battered walls of the Alamo, the court of Queen Victoria, and, finally, the deep and spectral forests of Transylvania.”
- “True to the Union,” by Stephen Harrigan. This is a sequel to “The Gates of the Alamo,” a novel that follows the love story between Hannah Schönleber and Terrell Mott during the 1840s and through the Civil War.
- “The Texas Monthly Barbecue Book,” by Paula Forbes, Daniel Vaughn, and Texas Monthly editors. It’s “a spiritual guide and useful companion for barbecue enthusiasts.”
- “Where the River Took Us,” by Aaron Parsley. The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer is expanding on his original Texas Monthly article about the devastating Guadalupe River flood on July 4, 2025 and “explores the ways events and decisions from our respective pasts determine both how we experience tragedy as it unfolds and how we move through the world forever changed because of it.” Parsley recently produced a podcast with the same name.
- The third “Which Way Tree” book by Elizabeth Crook. This will conclude the trilogy centered around Benjamin Shreve and his half-sister Samantha.
Exact publication dates have not been announced as of writing.
