Hinton is a partnership imprint of VertVolta, serving all of the Pacific Northwest (and beyond).

Hinton publishes books by authors who identify as part of an underinvited community, including but not limited to people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from low-income backgrounds.

Hinton elevates the voices, work, and talents of authors from communities that have historically faced disadvantage, disregard, and marginalization.

Our mission is to uplift and resurface work that inspires, fosters belonging, challenges convention, stimulates thought, provokes action, and entertains while informing.

We recognize the immense power stories hold to transform. It’s a power we wish to broaden to those who have historically been excluded by the wider publishing industry.

The Story Behind the Stories

Our publisher, Marcus Harrison Green, share the story of our namesake:

“Leonard ‘Lenny’ Hinton was a visionary, inventive and insightful Black writer based in 1950s Chicago who dreamed of having his book published by a major American publisher. He envisioned the spine of his book beaming from library shelves and greeting bookstore patrons atop displays across the country.”

Meet the Team

  • Publisher

    Marcus Harrison Green is the publisher of the South Seattle Emerald, and a columnist with the Seattle Times. Growing up in South Seattle, he experienced first-hand the impact of one-dimensional stories on marginalized communities, which taught him the value of authentic narratives. After an unfulfilling stint in the investment world during his twenties, Marcus returned to his community with a newfound purpose of telling stories with nuance, complexity, and multidimensionality with the hope of advancing social change. This led him to become a writer and found the South Seattle Emerald. An award-winning storyteller, he was awarded the Seattle Human Rights Commissions’ Individual Human Rights Leader Award for 2020, and named the inaugural James Baldwin Fellow by the Northwest African American Museum in 2022.


  • DEPUTY PUBLISHER

    A former youth librarian with over 9 years of experience in public libraries and public schools, and a background in community organizing, creative writing, and theater.