About Chad Prevost
Ph.D. Author. Publisher. TEDx Speaker. Founder of Crossroads Publishing Group.
The Work
I have spent most of my adult life at the intersection of three things: writing, publishing, and the question of what makes either of them worth doing.
I hold a Ph.D. in literature. I have taught, written, edited, and published for over two decades — long enough to have seen most of the ways the industry works and most of the ways it fails. I gave a TEDx talk. I wrote books. I founded a press.
In 2006, I co-founded C&R Press with Ryan Van Cleave. We built it from nothing: no funding, no institutional backing, no blueprint. Over the following years we published forty titles in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We ran contests. We built a small but real reputation in the independent literary world. We did it because we believed the work mattered, and because no one was going to do it for us.
That experience taught me everything I know about what makes a literary press work and what eventually makes it break. The weight of royalty accounting. The boundary problems with authors who expect the press to also be their publicist, their therapist, and their champion at every conference. The distribution maze. The gap between the quality of the writing and the quality of the object holding it.
I left that chapter with a clear sense of what I wanted to do differently. Crossroads Publishing Group is the result.
Why I Built Crossroads
Crossroads Publishing Group houses three things I believe in deeply enough to build a business around.
The first is IF/THEN Books — the Iris Blackwood Mystery Adventures, an interactive detective fiction series for readers ages 10–13. I wrote it, designed it, and published it because I wanted to make something a kid would read twice. Six books. Twenty-seven endings each. A protagonist who thinks for herself and trusts the reader to keep up.
The second is Crossroads Press — a bespoke book production studio for executives, researchers, and practitioners who have built something real and want a physical artifact that reflects its actual worth. Not ghostwriting. Not templates. Architecture, design, and production at the level serious ideas deserve.
The third is Ouroboros Editions — a literary imprint opening in 2027 for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry produced at the level the work deserves. A co-publication model for writers who are serious about their work and understand what it takes to produce a book that lasts.
Running through all of it is The Descent — my essay practice on Substack, where I write about the intersection of ambition, identity, and what it costs to build something that lasts. Not content. Not productivity tips. Attempts, in the old sense of the word.
Where I Am
I live and work in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I write every day. I believe the object matters — that how a book feels in the hand is not separate from what it says, that design is argument, and that the gap between a serious idea and a serious book is exactly the gap I exist to close.
If you are here because one of the things I build might be useful to you, I am glad you found your way.
Crossroads Publishing Group — Imprint Overview
For journalists, administrators, clients, or collaborators who want the full picture in one place:
IF/THEN Books — Interactive fiction for young readers. Current series: Iris Blackwood Mystery Adventures, ages 10–13. Six titles publishing April–December 2026. Print only. Author: Chad Prevost. Distributed via Amazon and IngramSpark.
Crossroads Press — Bespoke book production for professionals and thought leaders. End-to-end services: editorial architecture, interior design, cover design, print setup, distribution. Engagements begin at $9,500. Entry point: The Legacy Audit, $750.
Ouroboros Editions — Literary imprint for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Co-publication model. Opening for submissions in 2027. Founded by Chad Prevost. Editorial selectivity is the imprint's primary identity.
Press & Media Inquiries
For interview requests, speaking engagements, or media inquiries about any Crossroads Publishing Group imprint, please use the contact form or email directly at cthomasprevost@gmail.com.
A full press kit including author photo, biography in multiple lengths, and imprint fact sheets is available on request.