nemainofthewater

(Video ID: a white person with short reddish hair in glasses sits in front of a book case and talks. /end ID)

Transcript: So my next question is, what are some misconceptions that people have about publishing in general or about indie publishing that I would like to talk about?

So, I think the big one for me as an indie publisher is this pervasive idea that indie publishing is somehow “less,” that what we publish is worse, which is really nonsense. There’s a ton of reasons to not do traditional publishing or that traditional publishing would not be interested in your work that has nothing to do with a work’s quality.

In the end the Big Five traditional publishers are ginormous corporations primarily interested in Number Go Up. They’ve got investors and traditional stock stuff going on. If they don’t show returns, they don’t succeed. And so they won’t take risks, especially on things that don’t fit neatly into a category, so they frown on indie – uh, sorry – cross genre. They don’t like to takes risks on queer works, as we all know. They don’t like to take chances on new authors, because what if they lose money on that new author? They don’t want people who don’t have existing followings. And so what gets published by the Big Five aren’t the best books. That’s not even what they’re trying to publish. The Big Five are trying to publish the books they think will make the most money. Which is not at all the same as the best books.

And I’m not saying indie publishing is publishing the best books either. Book quality is part of making money, so yes, a lot of what Tradpub publishes are good books, no contesting that. But a lot of what indie presses publish are also good books. They’re just books that don’t fit neatly into the boxes that indie pub – that traditional publishing likes to try to shove everything into. And so this idea that – that indie publishing is somehow “less” quality is not only wrong, it’s just completely unhinged from what the purpose of traditional publishing and indie publishing are.

Indie publishing is a space for people taking different kinds of risks, for people whose works don’t fit neatly into boxes, for works that the Big Five don’t think will make that much money. And that gives us a lot of room to find really amazing, amazing things to publish that wouldn’t see the light of day otherwise. To amplify voices that don’t usually get heard. To take risks and, you know, push outside of boxes. So, yeah, support indie publishing! We’re not “tradpub light.” We’re awesome! And we’re different! We’re trying to do something different and that’s important.

This has been an Indie Press Month Ask Me Anything with Claire. Feel free to drop me any asks you might have in the comments. Bye!

March 17th marks the first day of the Trans Rights Readathon. As their carrd explains, “The Trans Rights Readathon is an annual call to action to readers and book lovers in support of Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) on March 31st. We are calling on the reader community to read and uplift books written by and/or featuring trans, non-binary, 2Spirit, and gender-nonconforming authors and characters.”

In the spirit of the Trans Rights Readathon, we wanted to bring your attention to our books that feature trans main characters and/or were written by trans creators. And, we wanted to do something tangible!

Duck Prints Press will donate $50 to the Trevor Project in mid-April to support their crisis intervention and suicide prevention work with queer youth. AND, for every one of the above books you buy from our webpage or itch.io between now and March 31st, we will increase that donation by adding 20% of the net we earn from those sales to the amount we donate!

We hope you’ll consider reading some of our work as part of your Trans Rights Readathon read-a-thoning. Want to know more about them?

Learn about the eligible books!

Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories (trans and non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors)

Duck Prints Press presents 22 delightfully fluffy, happy, odd, snug, and cozy stories about queer characters pursuing academic excellence! From field research shenanigans to cooking adventures, from space station education departments to eldritch libraries, creators brought their vivid imaginings to life in these charming fantasy and science fiction stories. Settle into your favorite research carrel or prepare to read on the sly under your desk as you join us for Scholarly Pursuits: A Queer Anthology of Cozy Academia Stories.

Lightbringer by boneturtle (non-binary author)

I’ve never heard this story told outside our village, but my friend, it’s about you as well as us. Your life is also forfeit to the Lightbringer who mended the chaos, and the chaos which breathed the Lightbringer to life.

In a lonely valley where darkness laps at the ragged shore of reality, there rests a village where the people are reborn each time they die. Though they’ve forgotten their past lives, they faithfully maintain their ancient festival to coax the light back whenever the darkness takes hold.

In this village where no one visits, a man named Ashe arrives. Beloved, yet cursed to be forgotten by those he holds most dear, he waits in the ever-growing darkness for someone who may never return. The villagers beg him to give up, to play the part of the Lightbringer and marry someone else.

Then a new stranger arrives, one who may hold the key to breaking this cycle of darkness once and for all.

Scrap Metal Angel by Nicola Kapron (trans man main character)

Reality, tiny and fragile, is cut off from the sea of chaos and nightmares that surrounds it by seven Gates. One of them is open—and has been since the Stone Age. Through that opening, strange creatures and energies slip through. Some are malevolent. None are harmless. And all of them must be kept a secret.

Every hidden magical world needs a shadowy clean-up crew. Adrian Somer is a Gatekeeper, sworn to protect the cosmic Gates, to defend reality from the unknown entities that exist beyond them, and to help those whose lives are affected by magic.

When a grieving sorceress starts punching holes in reality to try and resurrect her murdered fiancé, Adrian must turn to a ghost from his past in order to save the city, and perhaps the world—even if that means digging up someone he thought was safely buried: the twin brother he killed eight years ago.

To Drive the Hundred Miles by Alec J. Marsh (trans man main character, trans author)

Serendipity, WA is filled with Christmas cheer, beautiful mountain views, and trans man Will’s feminist Wiccan family. Home for the holidays, he avoids their clumsy attempts at support by hiding in the local coffee shop and flirting with Bea, a friend from high school.

The beautiful landscapes can’t make up for the the realities of being queer in a small town, and Bea wants out. Will grabs for a prosperity spell, and finds a new way to connect to the magic he’s become estranged from. New romance and optimism get them through the holidays, ready to face their next problems.

A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” (non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors and artists)

With this third installment in our Queer Fanworks Inspired By… anthology series, we set out to explore the truth by which we at Duck Prints Press live: that a classic work without a single canonically queer character must be in want of a very LGBTQIA+ makeover! “A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice,” with 21 short stories and 20 full-page color artworks, is just that. 38 creators have contributed to this project, drawing inspiration from Pride and Prejudice’s characters and story to create delightful, thoughtful, intriguing, and (of course) very queer fanworks and Pride and Prejudice-inspired original works. For this collection, we encouraged our creators to focus on Sapphic/wlw relationships and/or transgender and genderqueer interpretations for their inspiration, though those are definitely not the only types of queer we’ve fit into this diverse collection.

And Seek (Not) to Alter Me: Queer Fanworks Inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” (trans and non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors and artists)

In “And Seek (Not) to Alter Me,” 16 authors and 15 artists have come together to create an exquisite, full-color collection of artwork and stories inspired by William Shakespeare’s play “Much Ado About Nothing.” We encouraged contributors to stretch their imaginations, think outside the box, and put their own unique—and queer—twists on Benedick, Beatrice, Hero, Claudio, Don Pedro, and the whole gang! In true Shakespearean fashion, our creators utilize gender, sexuality, romanticism, and a host of costume changes to tell unique artworks and stories—some featuring original characters, some characters from the play—that show Shakespeare’s work in a whole new light.

Add Magic to Taste Second Edition (trans and non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors)

For this gorgeous re-issue of Duck Prints Press’s debut anthology “Add Magic to Taste,” 18 authors have come together to produce new, original short stories uniting four of our absolute favorite themes: queer relationships, fluff, magic, and coffee shops! Our diverse writers have created an even more diverse collection of stories guaranteed to sweeten your coffee and warm your tart. This edition also includes the 16 microfics originally written for our Kickstarter extra Mini-Morsels!

Aether Beyond the Binary (trans and non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors)

How would Earth look if the very atoms around us were suffused with magical aether? How would our lives be different if this aether was discovered last year, or last century, or last millennia? How might the people who lived with this magic explore their gender identities? These are the questions we posed to the 17 authors who contributed to “Aether Beyond the Binary.” Their inventive answers comprise this must-not-miss collection about magical realms, adventures and mysteries, new chances and well-earned endings, and characters as gender-diverse as the worlds they inhabit.

Many Hands: An Anthology of Polyamorous Erotica (trans and non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors)

For those who love their short stories spicy, welcome to Duck Prints Press’s debut explicit anthology. In this collection of brand-new stories, we celebrate many flavors of polyamory. Orgy? Yes please! Ménage à trois? C’est magnifique! Foursomes and moresomes? Delighted to attend! We asked our 15 contributors to blow our minds with their fun combinations, unusual settings, favorite trope usage, and (of course) super sexy smut—and they didn’t disappoint. From a vampire free-for-all to a heartfelt reunion, from surprise soulmates to enemies-to-lovers, this collection has polyamory in lots of scrumptious varieties that lovers of erotica won’t want to miss!

Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” (trans and non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors and artists)

“Aim For The Heart” features 20 stories, each up to 5,000 words long, 19 full-page art pieces rendered in black-and-white or grayscale, and a 12-page comic. Our contributors have delved into their imaginations and the intricacies of Dumas’s novels to tell new stories and create new images. They take us from the depths of deep space to the streets of 17th century France to the modern day, with a healthy dose of fluff and feels along the way. Every creator has shared their vision of these beloved characters, some with fanfiction and fanart, others with original pieces, and all with a heaping dose of inspiration.

She Wears the Midnight Crown (trans and non-binary characters, trans and non-binary authors)

“She Wears the Midnight Crown” is one of our two paired masquerade-themed anthologies. It features 17 stories exploring wlw relationships developing, growing, and changing while the characters attend or participate in masquerades!

Our contributors stretched their imaginations to present innovative stories exploring what a masquerade can be…and, of course, tell rich, engaging tales of wonderful queer folk finding love, companionship, acceptance, the queer platonic relationship of their dreams, or the found family they deserve. The collected works feature characters in all the colors of the Pride rainbow, queer and genderqueer, and these diverse individuals inhabit worlds ranging from science fiction settings where everyone must be masked to breathe, to fantasies where no one wears a literal mask but everyone shows the world a false guise, to iterations of the real world where some people lean into deception.

“He Bears the Cape of Stars” is the companion to this anthology, featuring 17 mlmstories.

He Bears the Cape of Stars (trans characters, trans and non-binary authors)

“He Bears the Cape of Stars” is one of our two paired masquerade-themed anthologies. It features 17 stories exploring mlm relationships developing, growing, and changing while the characters attend or participate in masquerades!

Our contributors stretched their imaginations to present innovative stories exploring what a masquerade can be…and, of course, tell rich, engaging tales of wonderful queer folk finding love, companionship, acceptance, the queer platonic relationship of their dreams, or the found family they deserve. The collected works feature characters in all the colors of the Pride rainbow, queer and genderqueer, and these diverse individuals inhabit worlds ranging from science fiction settings where everyone must be masked to breathe, to fantasies where no one wears a literal mask but everyone shows the world a false guise, to iterations of the real world where some people lean into deception.

“She Wears the Midnight Crown” is the companion to this anthology, featuring 17 wlw stories.

Note: only books purchased from duckprintspress.com and itch.io will count toward the donation!

In mid-April, I will post an accountability update with our total donation amount and proof of donation! (Same as I’ve done for our Pride Bundles every year.)