Interestingly, she has moved from more commercial publishers toward independent presses. Her first works, short stories, poems, and novels, were published with Houghton and Avon, but she has moved toward collectives and respected small presses as her work has become more experimental. It is certainly the reverse of many career trajectories to go from Houghton and Avon to Sun & Moon Press, but Howe has the courage of her convictions and is writing now for a small audience of enlightened readers. While her main themes of social injustice and the spiritual dimension of life remain constant throughout all of her literary output, her style has become more edgy and boundary-challenging as her work has progressed.