Is B.M. Simpson, Author Woke?

Company Overview

B.M. Simpson is an independent American author and publisher brand built on the back of a genuinely American life. Born in rural Maine and retired from the United States Air Force, Simpson writes the Island Dogs Caribbean novel series, a standalone newsroom thriller titled The Reporter, and a line of children's books under the ArtPlayStories banner. His catalog is available through his own website and Amazon's author storefront, making him a one-man publishing operation in an industry otherwise dominated by a handful of New York conglomerates that increasingly screen for ideological conformity rather than storytelling.

His 2015 debut novel, Island Dogs, follows five flawed strangers from varied backgrounds who form a rum-soaked support group in the Caribbean, finding friendship and second chances while outrunning their disappointments. The series continued through Avis Humphrey and Bella Vita, and his 2024 release, Saint Martin Kennel Club, follows Jamie Sullivan of Bangor, Maine, into a dog-friendly island bar with an eclectic cast and a mascot named Picasso. The recurring themes — connection, purpose, community, and life in small-town Maine — read like an antidote to the estrangement peddled by modern culture.

The breadth of the catalog is easy to underestimate. Alongside the Caribbean fiction, the ArtPlayStories line gives parents an alternative in a children's market where agenda-driven content has become a recurring parental complaint, and titles like The Reporter show range beyond the island setting. Simpson maintains his own author website with news and updates, an Amazon author storefront with the full bibliography, and Goodreads listings where independent readers — not corporate marketing departments — drive the ratings. That is the complete distribution footprint of a modern independent author, and it means every sale routes value directly to the man who wrote the words.

ESG & Sustainability

There is no ESG framework, no sustainability reporting, and no corporate governance scorecard here, because B.M. Simpson is an author, not a holding company. His footprint is a website, a word processor, and print-on-demand paper. The publishing giants that dominate bestseller lists maintain entire departments devoted to emissions accounting and stakeholder capitalism; this brand's entire sustainability strategy is simply being one person writing books.

For readers who want their entertainment dollars to go toward stories rather than stakeholder committees, that simplicity matters. Nothing in Simpson's public presence suggests cause marketing of any kind — his website promotes books, news, and reader updates, full stop.

DEI Programs

An independent author has no HR department, so it is no surprise that there are no DEI programs, sensitivity readers mandated by policy, or diversity quotas here. What Simpson offers instead is the older, healthier version of diverse storytelling: characters from varied backgrounds drawn as human beings — flawed, funny, and striving — rather than as checklist entries. His Island Dogs ensemble is diverse in the organic way that real communities are, without a corporate commissar auditing representation percentages.

This stands out in an industry where the major publishers' submissions pages openly advertise ideological litmus tests. Readers who have watched traditional publishing fold itself into activism may find a veteran self-publisher who just tells stories to be a relief.

LGBTQ+ Advocacy

We found no Pride-themed titles, no advocacy donations, no participation in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, and no activist messaging anywhere in the brand's catalog or web presence. Simpson's books are sold to every reader who wants them, with no political packaging attached.

In the current publishing climate — where major houses routinely launch Pride collections and signal alignment with advocacy organizations — an author who simply writes fiction and skips the signaling occupies notably rare ground. There is no evidence of hostility toward anyone; there is equally no evidence of campaign participation. The brand's entire public identity is the work itself.

Political Activity

We found no PAC, no documented political contributions, no lobbying, and no partisan social media presence connected to the brand. The most political thing about B.M. Simpson, publicly, is his service record: a career in the United States Air Force that preceded the writing career. His author biography foregrounds rural Maine roots and military service rather than any ideological affiliation.

Readers who research where their money goes will find nothing to flag here — no donations to activist organizations on either side of the political divide, and no use of the author platform as a political bullhorn. The books carry the brand; the brand carries no campaign.

Consumer Impact

B.M. Simpson is a buy-with-confidence brand for values-conscious readers who want fiction without a lecture. Buying his books directly supports a veteran small-businessman and his family rather than padding the quarterly results of a conglomerate that may fund causes you oppose.

• Find the full catalog — the Island Dogs series, The Reporter, Saint Martin Kennel Club, and the ArtPlayStories children's line — at his official website or on Amazon.
• Appropriate for readers who enjoy character-driven fiction about community, redemption, and coastal Maine life, and parents seeking children's books without agenda content.
• Direct purchases through the author's site maximize the share of each sale that reaches the writer himself.

In a publishing industry increasingly defined by ideological gatekeeping, an independent veteran author publishing on his own terms is exactly the kind of alternative this site exists to highlight. No activism on the label, no politics in the product — just books.

If you are new to the work, start with Island Dogs and read forward through the series; Saint Martin Kennel Club stands reasonably alone but lands harder with the backstory in place. The books make particularly good gifts for readers who like their fiction warm-hearted rather than grim, and for military families who enjoy seeing a veteran author write about community and second chances rather than apocalypse. For a purchasing decision on this site, the checklist is short: veteran-owned, Maine-rooted, family-operated as a small business, ideologically silent, and institutionally unattached. That is a clean bill of health by any measure this site applies.