Why So Spooky???

The Tiny Ghost Newsletter, edition #11, July 7, 2022

Hey fiendish friend!

One of the questions we get asked all the time at Tiny Ghost Press is why we specialize in queer young adult novels that dabbles in the spook-tastic, squeal-inducing, and supernatural.

Yes, a big part of this is personal preference. Starting Tiny Ghost was all about wanting to publish books that the team wanted to read, or wish they could have read when they were teens. For us this meant stories that were majorly queer, but also a little dark, and a little spooky. Personally for me I grew up loving the vampires of Anne Rice's books and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the witches of The Craft, and the jump scares of the Scream movies. And I knew I wanted to publish books that were haunting, if not down right scary.

On closer examination I got to thinking about why I felt these genre stories resonated with me as queer person and why I felt there was a market for spooky books for queer readers. And the thing I came to realize (much like Buffy in season seven) is it's all about power.

So often as queer people we feel like we lack power, or confidence, or a sense of self in a world that doesn't reflect who we are back at us. Like vampires we aren't visible in the mirror of the world presented in books and media. We are often outnumbered, misunderstood, outsiders. But we aren't alone. Just like the vampires hiding in the shadows, or the witches who can't reveal their magical abilities we are unique and ostracised. Yet despite being different we are still powerful. Vampires are immortal, strong, and poetic; witches find community in covens, and learn how to embrace their powers; ghost can float through walls and see things others can't. Queer people are the same, we're magical, mystical, perceptive, and powerful.

So by seeing ourselves represented in these stories–where the non-binary kid can find their inner magic, the werewolves can fall in love, and the monsters aren't necessarily the villains–we can see the power we hold. Power that comes from being unique, from finding like-minded communities, from embracing our differences and our queerness. And maybe, hopefully, take a bit of that mystical energy with us as we leave the pages of a good book and traverse our everyday lives.

That's why we love spooky books and why we want to publish books that leave our readers feeling empowered and represented in new exciting ways.

On that note, we're looking for new titles to publish. Our submissions are open (and will stay open for the foreseeable) and we'd love to hear from you if you have a book you think might be a good fit. If you're sitting on a teen slasher with a queer final girl, a contemporary vampire story with a super queer twist, or something demonic and demonic-ly queer we want to read it!

I hope you're all having a fantastic summer (or winter depending on your hemisphere), and I hope whether you're brewing potions with friends, transforming under a full moon, or sinking your fangs into a new book you feel powerful and just a little spooky.

Stay scary,

Josh

P.S. As we continue to grow it's so exciting to see who's along for the ride but we're also really interested in what people are keen to see more of. What would you like to see covered in this newsletter? What sort of books would you like us to publish? Which communities would you like to see represented? Let us know if the comments, and help us build a reader focussed publishing experience!