Chilling is the right word. I watched last night and am sick over how power is used to erase Black history and vilify queer stories. How blatantly fabricated the concerns over these books are. On the other hand I’m inspired, grateful, and so proud of these librarians and allies.
unencumberedpress.com/book-publish...
#newblogpost #publishingupdates
I wrote a bit about The People in the Trees on the UP Blog. Take a look! unencumberedpress.com/publishers-p...
Who has read The People in the Trees? I just finished and think i need a hug. #fictionbooks
There have been wake-up calls for over a decade. Obama just mansplains the situation. Sir, hope in one hand or whatever grampas say. We’re awake and inspired. We are are “rightly outraged.” It’s you in power who need to wake up and take to the streets. Not so much to the letterhead.
Promotional graphic for a tarot giveaway showing a stack of Altered Tarot cards with a magenta overlay, the Altered Tarot Deck & Guidebook box, and text reading “Giveaway: Altered Tarot Deck & Guidebook,” Instagram handles @alteredtarot and @unencumberedpress, and “The winner will be announced New Year’s Eve.”
We’re giving away the Altered Tarot Deck & Guidebook on Instagram @unencumberedpress! Look for the pinned post to enter.
Not on Instagram? Totally fair.
Follow Unencumbered Press here and comment with your new-year intention or a tarot card you’re carrying, and we’ll count it. #indietarotdeck
Author Tyler Bieber joins the God Talk podcast to talk about Father Tom Oddo and his new book Against the Current: rss.com/podcasts/god...
Read what I wrote about Tyler Bieber’s conversation on God Talk—and give the episode a listen. If you’re interested in Catholic history, justice work, or higher ed, it’s a rich entry point.👇
Tyler Bieber Talks About Tom Oddo on the God Talk Podcast unencumberedpress.com/authors/tyle...
I will do better!
What a lovely reminder piece đź’•
“Sometimes summer lasts three years. / Sometimes winter arrives without warning in the middle of what you thought was spring… Sometimes you're in winter for one domain of your life and summer for another simultaneously, which creates its own kind of confusion…”
Event graphic for Tyler Bieber’s reading of Against the Current at Rose City Book Pub on November 29, 2025, with a brief summary of the biography of Father Tom Oddo.
Portland readers—Spend this evening at Rose City Book Pub at 5:30! Tyler Bieber will be sharing from Against the Current, the biography of Father Tom Oddo and his remarkable legacy. Come for the story, stay for the community.
This is my first major project with an offset run and a distributor, and it’s been…educational. Would love to hear how early projects went for others.
We’ve had to update the print release date for the third time. Ebooks are out, and print preorders are still very much welcome.
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Publication Update: Against the Current Print Release Now Dec. 12 unencumberedpress.com/nonfiction/b...
Read a bit about the process of creating the Altered Tarot Deck & Guidebook and enjoy the playlists!
Soundtrack to the Altered Tarot Deck: A Song for Every Card unencumberedpress.com/altered-taro...
đź’Ż All of this is right.
Did you know we made a tarot deck?
Stunning photos by k. hiatt. Evocotive poems by r. tanksley. Together, they invite reflection, healing, and intuition.
Read more → UPDATE |The Altered Tarot Deck & Guidebook: Continuing a Fool’s Journey unencumberedpress.com/altered-taro...
#indietarot #creative
That front cover art is rad. Happy release day!
needles fallen from
pine to porch
sap as fire-starter ignites
I wrote a poem for a city I love. Will you come read it?
#antifapoems #indiepoems #pdxlove
"A Mossy City" | A Poem from the Publisher's Desk unencumberedpress.com/poetry/a-mos...
This quote stopped me. And makes me think of Against the Current, our first major release—a book about leadership, faith, and moral courage. Maybe what astonishes the heart is realizing that integrity can still live within the very systems that test it.
*Didn't expect it to show up in this category.
Screenshot of Amazon’s Hot New Releases chart showing Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic by Tyler Bieber ranked #1 in History of Race & Ethnicity, followed by Feminism: Where It Began, Where We Are Now, and Where We Are Going by Anita Kepley at #2 and Songs of Seven Dials by Matt Houlbrook at #3.
Screenshot of the Amazon listing for Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic by Tyler Bieber. The page shows it ranked as the #1 New Release in History of Race & Ethnicity, under Kindle eBooks › History › Social History › Gay & Gender Studies.
Maybe that’s the question, though—how do stories of leadership and inclusion weave into the larger story of race and belonging in America?
#FatherTomOddo #LGBTQHistory #CatholicHistory #InclusiveFaith #SocialJustice #IndependentPublishing #NewRelease
Thank you for the comment. I was drawn to the chance to publish nonfiction that feels deeply human and a story that hadn’t been told but should have been. Tyler’s prologue pulled me in right away. I hope readers see how leadership rooted in empathy and moral courage can still feel radical today.
Against the Current: Father Tom Oddo and the New American Catholic is out now. It’s about a priest, yes—but also about courage, conscience, and the kind of leadership we’re still aching for. #indiepublishing #newnonfiction #booksky
He was a white man in power—and he was radical. He led with empathy. He believed inclusion wasn’t a threat to the Church but its renewal. He moved through the world as if service were an act of faith and love the truest measure of leadership.
That’s why I—an open atheist—chose for my first major nonfiction project to publish a biography of a Catholic priest.
Father Tom Oddo is a man I would have loved to know, and because of Tyler Bieber’s remarkable research and storytelling, I feel a little closer to knowing him.
eBook launch graphic for Against the Current by Tyler Bieber — $12.99 with reader quotes and call to boost sales.
It’s hard to swim against the current.
I know this as an independent publisher, a small business owner, and a progressive anarchist. I know it in my bones.
This biography is both intimate and sweeping, tracing the life of a man who believed that faith must act, and that love must lead. If there’s a reading near you, make the trip—it’ll stay with you!
"Against the Current" Book Talks & Signings Announced unencumberedpress.com/authors/tyle...