“Writing is a way of saying you and the world have a chance.” -Richard Hugo

Welcome to the first edition of the Shiraki Press newsletter. Thank you for your patience while we set everything up!

The story so far:

• We formally incorporated the business on February 14
• We opened submissions on April 10
• We’ve received 32 submissions to date
• We currently have offers out for our first three acquisitions!

In this edition:

• Call for submissions
• What is hopepunk?
• Where and how we distribute
• We're a #SmallPitch participating press
• We've joined IBPA
• Upcoming events
• Support Shiraki Press
• Connect with us

Call for submissions

We are currently accepting submissions for new novellas & novelettes(10k-50k words), with a hopepunk vibe, targeted at adult audiences.

All submissions will be considered carefully, but we particularly delight in fiction that explores the indomitable human ability to stand against the dark and light the way to worlds that could be. We look for stories that remind us to stretch and grow beyond who we were before, to create and build worlds where connection emerges from chaos and community out-competes greed.

Above all, we believe that love is more durable than fear and small acts of kindness can lay the groundwork for real change.

View our Submission Guidelines​

What is hopepunk?

We bill ourselves as a publisher with a “hopepunk vibe”, and we’ve gotten some questions about what that actually means.

To us, hopepunk is where optimism and imagination meet action:

• Hopepunk imagines a kinder future. What does that look like? How do we make it real? And how do we hold onto it once we have it?
• Hopepunk emphasizes collective power. Community and connection are more effective responses to adversity than individual heroics.
• Hopepunk normalizes acts of kindness. Kindness, trust, and connection are cast as strength, and as healthy behaviors in strong communities.

We’re eagerly searching for stories that incorporate these values!

Read more: What is Hopepunk?​

Where and how we distribute

We just published this info on our website today. In short:

• We’re currently doing ebook and print-on-demand
• We’re leveraging Kindle Direct Publishing and IngramSpark
• We’re distributing to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Books, thousands of independent brick-and-mortar bookstores, and US public libraries (both digitally and physically)
• We are NOT doing audiobooks (yet)

Read more here!

We're a #SmallPitch participating press

Shiraki Press is participating in #SmallPitch, an event which authors pitch their original, completed, unpublished works—for all genres and audiences—to a group of small presses, all at once.

From smallpitch.org:

Authors, submit your pitches right now through the end of tomorrow, July 8. Publishers will review all pitches later this week!

(And don’t worry if you’re not ready to pitch your story today: #SmallPitch holds these sessions every six months.)

We’ve joined IBPA

Shiraki Press has joined the Independent Book Publishers Association!

This gives us access to industry resources, peer publishers, and an expanded professional network for developing and sharing publishing knowledge and experience.

Upcoming events

We’ll be at the Puget Sound Book Festival on August 10. No booth, just wandering and meeting folks.

This year, Worldcon happens in our hometown of Seattle, August 13-17. Again, no booth, but we’ll be around!

Support Shiraki Press

Would you like to support our mission to bring more hopeful adult fiction into the world?

If so, the best ways you can help today are:

• Share our call for submissions anywhere you think it might resonate with readers or authors
• Follow and boost us on Instagram and BlueSky​
• Buy one of these hopepunk books we admire from Bookshop.org. (Shiraki Press makes a small commission on these sales.)

Connect with us

Feel free to reply directly to this message with any questions or comments, or email us at connect@shirakipress.com. (For submissions, please follow our submission guidelines instead.)

You can also find us on Instagram and BlueSky, and at shirakipress.com.