Founded in Upstate New York in 1978 by Maureen Brady and Judith McDaniel, Spinsters Ink is one of the oldest lesbian feminist publishers in the world.

Spinsters Ink was founded by Brady and McDaniel and moved to San Francisco in 1982, where it was purchased by Sherry Thomas.

[2][6] In 2001 Spinsters Ink moved to Denver, Colorado, under Sharon Silvas, who brought back into print the classic feminist utopian novel, The Wanderground by Sally Miller Gearhart.

[7] Spinsters Ink has published many well-known women authors, including Sheila Ortiz-Taylor, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Paula Gunn Allen, Elana Dykewomon, Judy Grahn, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Val McDermid, and Cherríe Moraga.

It has released several Lambda Literary Award winning books, such as Why Can't Sharon Kowalski Come Home?, Two-Bit Tango, and Cancer in Two Voices, as well as the bestselling Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging and Ageism.