“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” -Terry Pratchett

Welcome to another edition of the Shiraki Press newsletter, where we talk about publishing short-form adult fiction with a hopepunk vibe.

These are difficult times, but we don’t have to suffer them alone!

In this edition:

• New acquisitions in August
• Shiraki Press news
• Featured author: Lauren C. Teffeau
• What we’re reading
• Upcoming appearances
• Call for submissions

New acquisitions in August

We are pleased to announce the sale of Emily O’Malley Liu‘s THE MAN IN THE GARDEN HOUSE, a queer garden-core romantic fantasy inspired by Beauty and the Beast, to Brianne Shiraki at Shiraki Press, for publication in 2026. Emily is represented by Gabrielle Harbowy at Corvisiero Literary Agency.

Shiraki Press news

We attended the Puget Sound Book Festival in Bremerton, WA on August 10 and met a bunch of indie booksellers and presses. Small events like these are so great for building local connections!

The next week was Seattle Worldcon, which was overwhelming, but very cool. We attended several panels on indie publishing, design, and editing, learned a lot, and made dozens of new connections. We also got to meet our featured author, Lauren C. Teffeau, in person for the first time, and she gave a sneak-peek reading from her upcoming eco-thriller novella ACCELERATED GROWTH ENVIRONMENT, which we’re publishing next year!

After Worldcon, we decompressed at one of our favorite Seattle restaurants, Secret Congee, which is about as comforting as comfort food can get. ♥

And lastly, we commissioned a really lovely woodcut of the Shiraki Press logo from former Bungie colleague Matthew Bianchi. It’s been a wonderful addition to our home office!

Featured author: Lauren C. Teffeau

This month we are featuring Lauren C. Teffeau, author of the upcoming hopepunk eco-thriller ACCELERATED GROWTH ENVIRONMENT, due out from Shiraki Press in 2026! Learn more​

What we’re reading

(Books linked here are sold through Bookshop.org and may support a local bookseller of your choice. Shiraki Press makes a small commission from these sales.)

Josh’s favorite reads this month:

• ​A Half Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
• ​Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Brianne’s favorite reads this month:

• ​New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
• ​A Half Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
• ​We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian
• ​Murder By Memory by Olivia Waite

Also, SFWA published a fascinating, comprehensive history of the paperback novel. Book nerds, you’ll definitely want to read this!

Finally, if you follow political news at all, you know it’s easy to feel hopeless these days. But there is actually a ton of resistance going on out there! Rebecca Solnit has this round-up, and it’s extremely empowering to read and realize we are not alone.

Upcoming appearances

We’ve really enjoyed meeting folks in the community, and we’re looking for more book-centered events for us to attend as a press.

We’re currently considering—but not yet confirmed for—OryCon45 in Portland, OR and RadCon 9B in Pasco, WA.

If there’s an event you’d like to see us at, or a panel topic you’d like to see us discuss, reply to this email and let us know!

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 click here instead.)

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