Ulysses Press began in the front bedroom of the Berkeley, California, home of founders Ray Riegert and Leslie Henriques in 1983. At its inception, Ulysses published just one title: Ray Riegert’s Hidden Hawaii, an “adventure travel guide” (a brand-new concept at the time) to the Hawaiian Islands.

The book became a success, and the publishing house expanded its adventure travel coverage to new locations, eventually releasing Hidden guides to far-flung destinations around the world, from Belize, Tahiti, and the Yucatán to New England, the Florida Keys, and the California coastline.

As the company continued to evolve and as the book industry changed, Ulysses began publishing outside of travel, first venturing into religion and spirituality and then health and fitness. With the rise of the dot-com revolution and advances in computing and e-commerce, Ulysses reinvented itself once again as a data-driven, cutting-edge indie publisher—seeking out new projects on everything from pop culture and cooking to education and true crime.

In 2011, Ulysses was named on the Publishers Weekly Top 10 Fastest-Growing Independent Publishers list for the first time—and has been featured consistently on the list for over a decade.

In 2025, Ulysses Press joined The Stable Book Group, a collection of independent publishers working diligently to champion and amplify the spirit of independent publishing.