PROFILE

BEWITCHED

Brunonia Barry cast a spell on the publishing world with

an indie novel that became a breakout success.

BY JORDAN E. ROSENFELD

Brunonia Barry’s story sounds, as she puts it, like a “not-in-

your-wildest-dreams” tale. Her self-published novel, The Lace

Reader, was on shelves for only two weeks before it ignited bidding

wars among mainstream publishers—and soon after its release

by William Morrow, it hit The New York Times bestseller list. Barry

credits her success to the fact that she and her husband, Gary Ward,

approached publishing just as they had other business opportuni-

ties: with a solid plan and some entrepreneurial flair.