Mākaro was founded in 2013 by novelist and editor Mary McCallum and her son Paul Stewart.
[1][2][3] McCallum had been editing an anthology of writers from Eastbourne and decided to publish it herself, with her son joining to assist with the project.
[3] Over the first five years of its operation, Mākaro published over seventy books in a variety of genres including both fiction and non-fiction.
[11] Auē had been rejected by several publishers before being accepted by Mākaro, and the editing process took a year, with six revisions.
[1][3] In 2020, Paul Stewart received the Young NZ Publisher of the Year for his work with Mākaro and the Cuba Press.