The fonds consists of the business records created and/or collected by Lazara Press and its founder Penny Goldsmith, predominately from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. The records are loosely divided into two main categories: administrative and publication records. The administrative records contain material documenting the different functions of Lazara Press, including promotional/distribution information, financial records, memberships information, and correspondence Lazara Press had with other printing presses and booksellers in Canada and in Europe. Other administrative records include materials pertaining to projects Goldsmith was involved in, either as a representative of Lazara Press or of her own initiative.

The publication records contain material relating to the publication process of the various broadsheets, chapbooks, volumes of poetry, plays, short stories, and essays printed by Lazara Press. These records include drafts and manuscripts, layouts and prototypes, as well as the published editions of many of these works. Other records include correspondence between Lazara Press and various authors, contracts, promotional information, reviews, and distribution lists.

The fonds is divided into eleven series: Promotion and distribution; Lazara Press business records; Literary associations and publishing groups; Literary festivals and book fairs; Publishers; Editing + consulting; Penny Goldsmith articles; Other projects; Lazara published books; Broadsides and chapbooks; and Discussion series. The last three series are further divided into subseries, typically by author name but occasionally by the title of a publication.