Lost Borders Press

What Lost Borders Press does

Lost Borders Press is a small independent publishing company headquartered in Big Pine, California (the Owens Valley/Payahuunadu region), owned and operated by Meredith Little and Selene Foster with a two-person staff. The Press publishes books, handbooks, and a DVD focused on modern wilderness rites of passage, vision quests, eco-therapy, and conscious dying, drawing from the foundational work pioneered at The School of Lost Borders (founded 1981 by the same individuals). Its catalog includes seminal titles such as The Book of the Vision Quest, The Four Shields, The Trail to the Sacred Mountain handbook, and memoirs by guides, with the 2025 revised edition of Trail to the Sacred Mountain representing the most recent major product release.

The Press serves a defined niche audience: individuals undergoing major life transitions, wilderness guides and facilitators, and educational institutions including bookstores, libraries, and universities. Customers access publications through a direct-to-consumer Squarespace e-commerce storefront at lostborderspress.org, supplemented by a 40% wholesale discount channel for institutions with resale licenses and a 20% discount program for wilderness guides purchasing handbooks. Physical books ship within North America (US, Canada, Mexico), while PDF downloads extend reach to international customers. The associated School of Lost Borders functions as a referral and cross-promotion partner, funneling trainees toward Press materials.

The business model is straightforward transactional publishing: revenue derives from one-time sales of physical books, DVDs, and PDF digital downloads priced between $12.95 and $25.00 retail. There are no subscriptions, no recurring contracts, and no institutional investors or external funding. The Press operates with no proprietary technology beyond its Squarespace storefront and email-based wholesale ordering, and carries no patents, certifications, or AI/ML capabilities. Its core differentiator is the canonical status of its content within the wilderness rites-of-passage field and its structural integration with the closely affiliated School of Lost Borders training ecosystem.

Name

Lost Borders Press

Legal name

Lost Borders Press

Website

https://lostborderspress.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Lost Borders Press is a two-person independent publisher based in Big Pine, California, selling books and handbooks on wilderness rites of passage and vision quests directly to individuals, bookstores, libraries, universities, and wilderness guides.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent Book Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Trade Education Publishing (Vocational/Certification) (MPAJABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Interdisciplinary/General Education & Study Skills (EDAGABAN)

Keywords

• Independent book publishing
• Wilderness rites of passage
• Vision quest handbooks
• Eco-therapy literature
• Conscious dying books

Headquarters

HQ city

Big Pine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Lost Borders Press generates revenue through the sale of published books and DVDs. Products are sold both as physical goods (shipped within North America) and as PDF digital downloads. The company offers tiered pricing including retail, wholesale (40% discount to bookstores with resale license), and guide discounts (20% discount on specific handbooks).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Lost Borders Press is a small independent publishing company that publishes and sells books, handbooks, and DVDs on wilderness rites of passage, vision quests, eco-therapy, and conscious living and dying. Its publications are the written curriculum of The School of Lost Borders and serve individuals in life transitions, wilderness guides, and educational institutions. Products are sold directly through the company's e-commerce website as physical books (shipped within North America) and PDF digital downloads (available globally), with wholesale and guide discount programs.

Product overview

Lost Borders Press is a small independent publishing company based in Big Pine, California (the Owens Valley/Payahuunadu) that publishes books and media focused on wilderness rites of passage, vision quests, and personal transformation. The company's product portfolio consists of printed books, handbooks, and DVDs centered on the teachings and methods developed by The School of Lost Borders. Key products include: The Book of the Vision Quest and The Trail to the Sacred Mountain handbooks (for adult wilderness rites of passage); Lost Borders Youth Handbook (for young people coming of age); The Four Shields series (both book and DVD on eco-therapy); The Soul's Red Thread and We Who Have Gone Before (memoirs by guides); The Roaring of the Sacred River (on field therapy); and supplementary works like The Way of Council, Small Wonder, Dying for Beginners, and Bound for the Crags of Ithaka. The Press also supports The School of Lost Borders, which offers vision fasts and rites of passage training programs. The company is operated by Meredith Little and Selene Foster.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Trail to the Sacred Mountain: A Handbook for an Adult Wilderness Rite of Passage A practical, evocative, pan-cultural guide for individuals in life crisis or transition who wish to end an old life and initiate a new through fasting alone in a wilderness place. The standard adult preparation manual used by vision fast participants and recommended by vision fast guides worldwide.
• Trail to the Sacred Mountain Adult Handbook (PDF Download) Digital PDF version of the standard adult preparation manual for vision fast participants, available for worldwide download.
• The Soul's Red Thread: Memoirs of a Guide A 50-year memoir by Scott Eberle tracing his passage from adolescence to elderhood as both a physician and wilderness rites-of-passage guide, exploring themes of dying, meditation retreats, and psychedelic-assisted healing journeys.
• Rites and Responsibilities: A Guide to Growing Up A guidebook by Darcy Ottey about how rites of passage help young people initiate into healthy adulthood, featuring real-life stories, social science research, and step-by-step exercises for creating initiatory journeys.
• Lost Borders: A Vision Fast Handbook for Youth Coming of Age in the Wilderness Companion handbook for the documentary film, required reading for young people planning to participate in traditional coming-of-age ceremonies in the wilderness. Includes remarks to parents, fasting precautions, and emergency checklist.
• The Book of the Vision Quest The seminal work by Steven Foster with Meredith Little on the ancient rite of passage of vision questing, originally published in 1981. Recounts experiences guiding contemporary seekers through a three-day, three-night fast alone in a wilderness place.
• The Final Crossing A memoir by Scott Eberle documenting the death of his mentor Steven Foster, exploring the connection between symbolic dying and literal death, and the lessons learned at the bedside of a teacher preparing for his final passage.
• The Four Shields: The Initiatory Seasons of Human Nature A modern classic of practical eco-therapy presenting an old yet contemporary therapeutic paradigm for self-healing in natural settings. Covers the four faces of human nature, initiatory paths, and seasonal rites.
• Bound for the Crags of Ithaka Steven Foster's final work, written in the last days before his death from genetic lung disease. A meditation on Homer's Odyssey drawing from 65 years of life experience as professor, wilderness guide, writer, and poet.
• The Roaring of the Sacred River: The Wilderness Quest for Vision and Self Healing An important landmark in eco-psychology of wilderness passage rites by Steven Foster and Meredith Little, examining ancient therapeutic strategies for self-healing in wilderness settings with case histories of candidates.
• We Who Have Gone Before: Memory and an Old Wilderness Midwife Steven Foster's reflections on life near its end, drawing on coyote-wisdom of ancestral memory to explore love and death, reality and illusion, sacred and profane, nature and human.
• Dying for Beginners A book of poetry by physician Patrick Clary exploring the journey into death with compassion, suitable for mortals and those who love them.
• The Four Shields of Human Nature: A Teaching DVD A teaching DVD documenting a preparatory meeting before a wilderness passage rite for youth in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Profits support the Steven Foster Memorial Scholarship Fund at the School of Lost Borders.
• Small Wonder A collection of poetry by Pedro McMillan drawing from experiences as a participant and vision quest guide in wilderness settings.
• The Way of Council A book by Gigi Coyle and Jack Zimmerman on the practice of council, a method for training individuals in basic communication skills applicable to communities, schools, businesses, and therapeutic groups.
• The School of Lost Borders: A Love Story A memoir documenting the founding story of Rites of Passage, Inc. in 1976 and The School of Lost Borders in 1981 by Meredith Little and Steven Foster, tracing their work in wilderness passage rites.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The School of Lost BorderscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1981Founded in 1981 by Meredith Little and Steven Foster as a training center pioneering the methods and dynamics of modern pan-cultural passage rites in the wilderness. The School offers vision fasts and rites of passage training, while Lost Borders Press publishes books to support the work of guides and trainees worldwide. The two organizations share founders and mission.
• Steven Foster Memorial Scholarship FundminorOthersA scholarship fund established at The School of Lost Borders in memory of Steven Foster. The profits from the sale of The Four Shields of Human Nature: A Teaching DVD are divided between this scholarship fund and Lost Borders Press, supporting future wilderness rite practitioners.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Park Street Press: Imprint of Inner Traditions focused on alternative health, shamanism, and consciousness studies. Highly comparable niche subject focus around wilderness and shamanic practice.
• Chronicle Books: Independent publisher known for design-driven, lifestyle, and nature-themed books. A comparable independent publisher with broader catalog scale but overlapping direct-to-consumer/trade distribution.
• SteinerBooks: Small independent publisher of spiritual and anthroposophical works. Comparable in scale and niche mission publishing, though focused on a different spiritual tradition rather than wilderness rites.

Direct peers

• Hay House: Independent publisher of self-help, wellness, and spiritual books with direct-to-consumer focus. Operates a similar model of small-press publishing with mission-driven content and audience-aligned marketing.
• New World Library: Independent publisher focused on personal transformation, spirituality, and eco-psychology titles. Comparable business model—small independent press with trade and wholesale distribution for transformational nonfiction.
• Shambhala Publications: Independent publisher of Buddhist, contemplative, and wellness-oriented books. Similar mission-aligned independent publisher serving readers seeking nature-based personal growth and spiritual practice.
• North Atlantic Books: Independent publisher of holistic health, integrative medicine, and ecology titles. Comparable niche nonfiction publisher with mission-driven catalog and direct-to-consumer plus wholesale distribution.
• Inner Traditions / Bear & Company: Independent publisher of books on spirituality, alternative healing, and earth-based traditions. Closest direct peer in the niche nonfiction/spiritual publishing space where Lost Borders Press operates.

Broad incumbents

• HarperOne: Imprint of HarperCollins publishing spiritual, self-help, and personal growth titles. Overlaps with Lost Borders Press's transformational/spiritual category but operates at significantly larger scale as part of a major publisher.
• Penguin Random House: World's largest trade publisher, with imprints covering self-help, spirituality, memoir, and nature writing. Sets the competitive backdrop for any independent publisher competing for retail shelf space and library acquisitions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lost Borders Press