Serious Literature. Unique History.
Beautifully Crafted.
To be creative, you must trust your own voice, establish your own style.
The goal of Hidden Shelf is simple –
connect serious readers to great writers.
Newest Release
Send Judah First
A young girl’s life is shattered when she is stolen from her African village in a midnight raid. Ruthlessly torn from her family to be beaten, chained, degraded, and enslaved in a heartless world she can barely comprehend.
The slave ledger at Virginia’s Belle Grove Plantation only reveals that Judah was purchased to be the cook, gave birth to 12 children, and died in April 1836. But, like the other 276 faceless names entered in that ledger, Judah lived. Brian C. Johnson’s important work of historical fiction goes beyond what is recorded to portray the depth, humanity, and vulnerability of a beautiful soul all but erased by history.
Recent Posts
5 Unique Experiences in and Around Ketchum, Idaho
It’s no wonder why celebrities make Ketchum, Idaho and the famous Sun Valley Resort a destination on their vacation lists. Ever since its founding in 1936, Ketchum has become a year-round sports enthusiast wonderland.
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7 Influential Slave Narratives
For the longest time, I have been fascinated by slave narratives. Honestly, as a black man, just saying that makes me squeamish. In Send Judah First, I wanted to take the best of these books and tell a different story…
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Send Judah First – Apple Pan Dowdy Recipe
In Send Judah First,author Brian C. Johnson not only opens a powerful and heart-wrenching door into Judah’s life, but also into Belle Grove’s kitchen where Judah served as head cook from 1817-1836. Today, we’re sharing one of the author’s favorite recipes: Apple Pan Dowdy. Ingredient quantities have been added for baking convenience!
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Serious Literature. Unique History.
Beautifully Crafted.
Hidden Shelf is an independent publishing company based in Idaho. We provide quality content to local readers and world-wide readers alike! Our mission is to take a serious approach to our unique stories. Hidden Shelf currently has a small, but continuously growing, collection of books and eBooks available through Amazon.com.
While Amazon.com works wonderfully for the individual consumer, retailers can find Hidden Shelf books through Ingram. Our print-on-demand method of providing reading material is environmentally friendly and efficient with quick and quality results.
Seven years ago, when Bob Gaines had finally been lucky enough to be signed by a literary agent, he told her about his novel, The Brave Historian. While she loved the concept, she only handled nonfiction.
“With fiction,” she said, “the big publishing houses don’t want to take a chance on unknowns. Of course, when somebody does manage to publish something different that finds success, all the other publishers then want to copy it.”
Literary agents and editors were becoming extremely frustrated that the fate of great literature was now being decided in corporate board rooms based on accounting projections. “They will print Lady Gaga’s autobiography,” she added, “but snub the next Ernest Hemingway.”
Based in a beautiful mountain town in Idaho, Hidden Shelf was founded in 2017 with the goal of providing wonderful and creative works to an audience of passionate readers. We have six more books scheduled for the next year and plan to double that by 2020.
Welcome to the Hidden Shelf . . .
Promise Lost
Patriotism – Compassion
Character – Determination
All-American Football Star
“The Perfect Marine”
And then came Vietnam
Loose Chronicles
Loose Chronicles: Dog from a Distant Universe is packed with bone-gnawing adventure.
And, it’s a true story . . .
sort of . . .
Do Or Die Time
When Cal and James discover something terrible in the woods, their youthful curiosity unexpectedly leads them on a path that soon threatens their very survival…
“The reader is drawn into the epicenter of the action . . . a must-read . . .”
—Steve Van Atta, writer, editor
Difficult to put down (“just one more chapter”), yet exciting to reengage with at the next opportune time.
– A. Kovacs
It’s must reading for anyone who wants to know what it’s like to go to war, and for every politician involved in sending our sons and daughters into harm’s way.
– Hon Lee
