518 Publishing Company LLC is a women-owned small business dedicated to advancing the professional interests of career-focused writers in the 518 area code region and beyond through networking, advocacy, and publication.

Pub 518 as we coined ourselves is the brainstorm of 4 women sitting in a diner one Sunday night in 2016. Every Sunday night without fail, writers would gather at “The Diner” to write, edit, plot, kill (maim, or morph) characters, and talk shop. We would cheer writers on for their successes and consol the rejections. And with the many rejections, “The Idea” popped into our heads. There are many great writers that have written intriguing stories, so why not publish them.

Our mission is to give local and first-time writers a leg up in the publishing world by providing a venue to get their works in print. We publish fiction of any kind (except erotica or children’s literature) and poetry. So far, we have six published anthologies, Dark & Bitter (2017), Exploits in The Adirondacks (2018), Influence of the Moon (2019), A Guide to Useless Sidekicks (2020), Beneath the Misty Surface (2021), and Cold and Crisp (2022).

Many of our publications have provided a venue for our authors to be recognized with nominations and awards including; The 2020 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award, Pushcart Prize Nominations, Rhysling Nomination, and Critter Awards for Best Anthology, Best Editors, Best Publishers, and more!

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We are now branching out to novels and our most recent publication, Cookies to Crumbles (2024) by Shannon Yseult, is now available. We cannot wait to see what this new venture brings to the authors and readers of the 518!

The Team

Andy Lee received a BA in Creative Writing and Anthropology, followed by an MFS in Forest Science. She has published short stories and poems in collegiate publications, short fiction in a SF Bay Area newspaper, and non-fiction in regional newsletters. In both reading and writing, Andy is interested in historical, science, and literary fiction, 19th century travelogues, and biographies. She is an avid hiker and recreational bicycle rider, dog lover, and continues her interest in anthropology through armchair and actual travel.

Rachael Crawford is a teacher, writer, and director in Albany NY. She teaches theatre and creative writing to students of all ages, using her bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and Masters in Education from the College of Saint Rose. She uses her theatre knowledge to write a series of yet to be published theatre related mysteries. It is her goal to encourage more local young people to write and she hopes that this company will further this goal.

Due to the interests of her parents Shannon Kauderer was almost born at a science fiction convention. The science theme stuck as Shannon took to her own interests, getting a BS in Chemistry while writing her own science fiction on the side. Since then, through many writing challenges, she's expanded genres to include romance and fantasy too! Throughout it all she's been dedicated to the local writing community, and this publishing company is her way of continuing to build it up!

Lizette Strait has been writing professionally since 2003. She is a freelanced writer and published author.

In 2016, Lizette published Pink Sneakers in Space, a children’s chapter book. She also has published many Sci-Fi short stories. Her pen name, JK Candlen.

Educated at the College of St. Rose in math, chemistry/biology, Lizette did a U turn in her business career and decided to work in project management in the construction industry. She has recently given up the 9 to 5 grind to dedicate more to her writing.