Tiny Ghost Press Newsletter 2.0, Issue #11, January 31, 2025
Hi glamor ghouls!
We are back for another year of queer stories and spooky times! But before we talk about the amazing, exciting positive things we have in store this year I wanted to take a moment to address the challenging, dangerous times we're facing at the moment.
There is no mistaking that right now the queer community is facing a level discrimination , fear mongering, and oppression not seen in a long while. There are those in power (belligerent and crazy but also conniving and insidious) who wish to do our community harm, and to cast us back to a time before we achieved the number of rights we have today. Books bans are taking place across America, queer voices are being suppressed by our tech overloads, and barefaced discrimination is is considered a legitimate political standing to some. It can be easy to find all this overwhelming.
But, here at Tiny Ghost Press we are more galvanised than ever. As a queer publisher we are in a unique position to give voice to the under represented and oppressed, we are able to stand up to those who silence us, and we are able to provide a home and a community for those who need it. That's why this year we are particularly focused on two tenets that are driving everything we're doing here at TGP. Those tenets are: fortification and community. We are looking at ways to exist, survive, promote ourselves, our content, and our authors without relying on the social media platforms we have leant on in the past. We are building new and exciting places to foster community, where our readers can gather to talk openly, to plan and organise, to buoy each other up.
There is a lot coming our way but we are prepared to fight, to stand with our queer, trans, non-binary siblings, to create safe spaces for our communities, and to promote love, diversity, and inclusion.
With that being said there are a number of projects we have in the works that are still in the early planning stages, so we can't share too many details just yet, but we are working hard to be the support the community needs right now. We will have more information soon, so stay tuned, and stay strong.
On a less sombre note we are also very excited about the first two new books we have coming out this year.
Blackblood from debut author Kree Sullivan is a Mad Max/Western inspired fantasy with a diverse ensemble (not dissimilar to that in Six of Crows), about found family, the sins of the past, and moving beyond trauma. We recently recived our first trade review for this title from Kirkus Reviews who said: The fast-paced action scenes include graphic details of combat, and the thorough worldbuilding sets the stage for debut author Sullivan’s exploration of themes such as discovering one’s own identity and finding family and allies among unlikely companions. A riveting story of redemption.
And of course our second release this year is the hotly anticipated follow up to Penny Jessup's gay werewolf romance series, this one titled Running with the Alpha's Son. Max and Jasper are back for another heart-wrenching adventure this time (mild spoiler warning) as an official couple! But what does it mean to be in a relationship with the son of the packs alpha, and is Max up t the task.
But before the third book in the series is out we are celebrating the thirds anniversary of the first book in the series The Alpha's Son, the book that launched Tiny Ghost Press, by releasing a special edition, with new illustrations from the singularly talented artist, Kayleigh Fine, bonus content from Penny Jessup, and a note from the author. The edition is also resized so the dimensions match that of the rest of the series. So for all the collectors our there, or if you are just fussy about the appearance of your bookshelves (as am I!), this new edition will sit nicely with the other books in the series.
We were thrilled recently to announce that we've acquired a new book, set for publication in 2026, from author Amy B. Scher, called The Nowehere in Between. This is a coming-of-age while dead story in which a high schooler finds herself in a liminal space between life and death, and must solve her own murder while coming to terms with her own loss of life, before she's able to move on. We've already been having a great time working with Amy on this and can't wait for you all to read it!
There's good news for ARC readers and influencers! We are reevaluating how we distribute ARCs and promotional copies of our books and have developed a new system that will allow us to better pair readers with the books they are most interested in. From now on we will be accepting applications from readers for our Influencer Program all year round, all you need to do is head to this link:
...and fill out the application form. Your details will go into our database and based on your information we will send you the books we think you will be most excited about! For any of our current influencers, if you haven't already, we'd love you to fill out the form so we can continue sending you our books, and for any new content creators we'd love to hear from you too! The great thing about this system is if you ever chance your mailing address or email or anything really you can simply refill out the form and your new details will be logged. We're excited to get our books into more hands this year and to work with budding and established bookish influencers alike.
Additionally, for any authors out there thinking Tiny Ghost might be a great home for their novel, while our submissions are still closed for the time being, we are looking at opening them up in the summer and we'll be hunting for some truly epic, surprising, emotional, joyful, and spooky queer books. There will be more news on that soon.
I think that's all I can share for the moment but know we are working behind the scenes on a number of new initiatives that will both broaden the scope of Tiny Ghost Press in terms of books and audience, and that will also help give back to the reading community, and help provide new places to congregate, to share our love of queer books, and to fund community. There will be lots of exciting announcements this year, plus we have another THREE! books coming out in the second half of the year that we are so excited to share with you (there will be cover reveals and giveaways to come).
The start of 2025 has been a flurry of planning and excited energy for the year ahead, coupled with terrifying developments on a global and political scale. We are doing our best to walk the line between remaining strong and politically as we look to contribute in new and powerful ways, while continuing to provide amazing queer entertainment and representation, which we believe is more valuable now than ever.
We hope you are taking care of yourselves, making sure your mental health and safety come first, and if you find a little bit of solace, companionship, and verve in our books then we couldn't ask for more.
I always sign off these letters by saying 'Stay scary...'but before I do this time I wanted to speak to what I mean by that. The people who want to silence us, who don't believe we should or even do exist are acting out of fear, because they simply cannot fathom the joy and completeness that comes from loving yourself, from being authentically and unashamedly yourself. To them our authenticity is frightening, but we aren't going to dim our shine and we aren't going anywhere, so for me they can be as frightened as they like, it will not stop us. We will stay ourselves and if that scares them, that's a them problem.
So stay scary, because that's the only way we will win.
Josh xxx
Culture We've Enjoyed This Month!
A monthly breakdown of the culture the Tiny Ghost Team has been enjoying and inspired by this month.
Books: Isaac by Curtis Garner
Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire
Films: The Brutalist
Conclave
Nosferatu
TV: American Primeval
Succession
The Fall
Music: Antidote by Fletcher
This Wasn't Meant For You Anyway by Lola Young
Tiny Ghost Press - Word Search
Find the names of Tiny Ghost Press characters!
Great newsletter. Well done