About Left Paw Press

Many people ask me, “How did you get started with publishing and writing books?” They wonder if I had a burning desire to have my name printed on the cover of a book that I could put on my bookshelf and say, “I wrote this book.” It wasn’t anything like that. I had already technically published a book while getting my MBA and I knew all the time, effort, and nose-to-the-grindstone hard work it took. I really thought I had ‘done it once and that was enough.’

Fast forward to around ten years later. My son, Zachary Tinkle, entered elementary school… the kind that was the perfect place to crush the creativity and spirit of a young child. Immediately, he lost interest of all kind in reading. This was a kid that was an avid reader and vivacious child. He could have probably easily tested at a third grade level in Kindergarten. But, suddenly, he just wasn’t interested anymore and not himself.

I tried many things to get him to go back to reading and being the boy that he once was, but most things didn’t work until I started using the names of our pugs in old-fashioned nursery rhymes. He thought it was hilarious to make fun of Inky & Sarge and Benji in that way. Then, one day, he said, “Mommy, you should write a book with these rhymes in it.” I thought to myself, “Hmmm…. Would creating a book interest him enough to want to read and stick with school?” And, so it began. I studied up on how to get a book printed. Luckily, I knew about graphics from my days of being in a corporate marketing job.

In 2008, I published the first version of “Mother Pug Rhymes” and established the Left Paw Press imprint. I can’t tell you how excited Zachary and I were to get the first printing of it in our hands. He then informed me that I needed to publish at least one pug book per year. And, so, the building of our catalog began. I’ve lost count, but I think I’ve lived up to that expectation. Our biggest year thus far, 2019, we published twenty-five books total. Several of our books have won awards over the years from organizations like the Dog Writers Association of America.

Though we had a lot of excitement about the first book, I wasn’t completely happy with the product from the printing company and the drawings. It took several iterations, years, and multiple illustrators and designers to finally get to where we are with not just our pug books, but all of our books. We take pride in the vibrant graphics and high quality materials that our books are produced with, making Left Paw Press a niche, premium publisher that produces pug, racing, medical, pet fashion, and coloring books. I hope our books entertain, educate, and support you and yours for generations to come.

Laurren Darr