LAKE CLAREMONT PRESS, 1994-2019
Lake Claremont Press had a fabulous 25-year run, but we are now closed.
Select files and memorabilia from Lake Claremont Press's 25-year history, including correspondence, books, graphic proofs, press kits, memorabilia, posters, reviews, photographs, VHS tapes, promotional items, zip drives, thumb drives, and other digital formats can be found with the Chicago Authors and Publishers Archives of the Chicago Public Library's Special Collections.
Lake Claremont Press celebrates the power and character of place for our particular corner of the globe, Chicago and greater Chicagoland. Our nonfiction histories and guidebooks foster and reveal Chicago’s special identity by exploring our city’s history, culture, geography, built environment, people, and lore. We publish authors with specific Chicago passions and knowledge and local organizations with Chicago-centric missions. We are a small, independent, niche publisher and we stand broad-shoulders to shoulder with the publishing houses of that other big city.
Founded by Sharon Woodhouse in 1994, Lake Claremont Press has published over 60 titles, including local bestseller Chicago Haunts: Ghostlore of the Windy City and several award winners. Other favorites over the years have included Hollywood on Lake Michigan: 100 Years of Chicago and the Movies, The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History, A Cook’s Guide to Chicago, The Streets and San Man’s Guide to Chicago Eats, The Golden Age of Chicago Children’s Television, Oldest Chicago, Historic Bars of Chicago, and Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians, and Murderers in an American Courtroom.
LCP authors and books have been featured in hundreds of local and national newspapers, magazines, and online publications, and on dozens of local and national radio programs, television shows, and cable channels, including CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC, A&E, The History Channel, The Travel Channel, The National Geographic Channel, WGN, Chicago Tonight, the Chicago Stories series, Crain’s Chicago Business, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the New York Times. Our staff and authors are actively involved in promoting and sharing our love and knowledge of Chicago with our community and the world beyond.
In 2016, Lake Claremont Press added the distribution imprint "A Chicago Joint," to its mix, offering our special brand of distribution and support services to self-published authors of high-quality, Chicago-focused nonfiction as a way of expanding the content we can bring to our individual and retail customers.