Aside from the fact that I’m going to murder Post Canada for damaging my book, GUYS LOOK I AM A PRINTED-ON-AN-ACTUAL-BOOK ILLUSTRATOR AND I COULDN’T BE HAPPIER (Thank you so much @duckprintspress for the opportunity to work on such a magical and important project!)
This is an anthology of original stories written by fanfic writers. One of them is my own. For so long, fanfic writers have been discouraged from sharing their links to fandom in the original stories world and from disclosing they write fic to the publishing industry. Fic writers have been told many things. We’re told we are inferior writers. We’re told fic isn’t real writing, but practice for originals and, simultaneously, that our originals will never fly because we cling to our beloved tropes and the conventions of our genre.
I took these things to heart, for a long time, even as I knew there was an audience out there for the kinds of stories I wrote. Folks who would love the slower, more character driven adventures I wrote with fluff scenes interspersed throughout the action. Who consumed character studies and emotional prose as if they were as necessary to life as food and water. Who were desperate for the sort of inclusiveness in origfic that fanfic has always had. The same inclusivity the publishing industry has barely begun to tap into.
So many of my fandom friends can point to a 200k word story they swear is better than any published novel and that it would suffer greatly from being forced into the 100k word or less box Big 6 publishers insist on to reduce risk.
It can seem impossible to get your name and your words in print when you want to tell yourstories, not those of the publishing industry, and you don’t want to stop writing fic, much less renounce it. Self publishing, too, can seem like an insurmountable mountain of work and self-promo.
I could sit here and talk about indie presses and niche zines and how they are, for the most part, a friendlier place for fanfic writers, but I mostly want to get the word out that there are two (that I know of) who specifically only take on fanfic writers and have built platforms around supporting those of us who want to be published: Duck Prints Press (@duckprintspress) and OFIC Mag (@oficmag).
In the interest of full disclosure, I am both published with Duck Prints Press and became a part of the editorial staff after my story and contract were finalized for printing. I don’t speak now as a staff member, but the author I am. I don’t ever want to hoard opportunities, because we all benefit when there are more stories out there for us to read. I’ve got no affiliation with OFIC Magazine and haven’t submitted a story to them (yet), but they appeared on my wall and inspired this post.
I truly, deeply, down into my very core, believe in the missions of these companies and want to see them succeed (it’s why I accepted a staff position in the first place). Publishing needs diversity; not just in authors and characters, but also in style and structure. It needs new stories. Fresh stories. The kinds millions of fandom folk already love to read. We don’t need to grow out of our tropes or write something to Market with a capitol ’M’. It’s not the only market, and it excludes so many people and so many beautiful, impactful stories.
And I am glad there are people willing to put in the time and effort to publish books, anthologies, and publications to showcase all of these amazing tales of adventure, sorrow, intimacy, fluff, and love.
If you’re looking for paid opportunities to write the kind of stories you love, please check out https://www.oficmag.com/and https://duckprintspress.com/for upcoming opportunities. As I learn of more fic-writer-friendly publishers and zines, I will try to share them here as well as my fic-friendly general writing advice and answers to Asks on writing, making the transition from fic writer to origfic writer, and how my birds/guinea pigs/child/wife are doing.
And, if you aren’t interested, pass these opportunities along and keep on writing and reading. You’re all amazing.
TheAdd Magic to Taste Kickstarter ends at 11 AM Eastern on Saturday, August 14th, 2021
If you love queer fiction, and you love fanfic, and you love fluffy tropes, you are not going to want to miss Add Magic to Taste, an all new collection of 20 heartwarming queer stories set in modern, magical coffee shops, bakeries, cafes, and tea shops!
We won’t say this anthology has it all - there are too many identities in the world for us to fit all of them into one anthology of 20 stories - but if you want some queer fluff and happy feelings, you’ve come to the right place. Add Magic to Taste features characters of different races, ethnicities, sexualities, romanticisms, gender identities, religions, and home nations, united by the common theme of finding someone (or more than one someone) to enjoy a muffin and a cuppa with - for today or for a lifetime, romantically or otherwise!
Each story is never-before published and approximately 5,000 words. Our authors were selected through a rigorous process where we reviewed over 100 fanfiction authors to select those we thought best suited to working with our Press on this specific anthology - and the results are out of this world!
Our Kickstarter has also done exceptionally - we’re only $300 US shy of our second-to-last stretch goal, with under 24 hours to go! So, check out our Kickstarter, read about the book and our merch, read teasers and biographies of our authors, and more!
Backing this Kickstarter is the only guaranteed way to get Add Magic to Taste in print! We will be printing to demand, and more copies will never be made!
Duck Prints Press LLC is thrilledto announce that the Kickstarter for our first anthology, Add Magic to Taste, is now live!
ForAdd Magic to Taste, 20 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.
Love wlw? So do we!
Love mlm? We’ve got you covered!
Love genderqueer characters? Raise those trans, enby, agender, and other flags high!
Love aces? Same, and we don’t (only) mean playing cards!
Love poly relationships? Hey, we’re sharing a brain!
We won’t say this anthology has it all - there are too many identities in the world for us to fit allof them into one anthology of 20 stories - but if you want some queer fluff and happy feelings, you’ve come to the right place. Add Magic to Taste features characters of different races, ethnicities, sexualities, romanticisms, gender identities, religions, and home nations, united by the common theme of finding someone (or more than one someone) to enjoy a muffin and a cuppa with - for today or for a lifetime, romantically or otherwise!
Each story is never-before-published, approximately 5,000 words long, and features each author’s unique take on our theme. Our beautiful digest-size trade paperback book features cover art by Liz Lee Illustrations(@lizleeillustration on Tumblr - with the potential for more art - see our stretch goals!) and formatting by Hermit Prints(@hermitwrites on Tumblr).
Sign up for our mailing list to make sure you always know the latest!
The Kickstarter for Add Magic to Taste will run through Saturday, August 14th at 11 AM EDT - so follow us here, check it out, and if you want to support an awesome group of writers creating an amazing collection of fluffy queer stories - back our project!
Duck Prints Press will be launching our first Kickstarter on July 15th, 2021, and we cannot possibly be more excited for it! We’ve got a LOT more info to come related to - previews of the merchandise, teasers for the stories, and more - but we wanted to get things started by sharing our amazingcover, which features art by LizLee Illustration (@lizleeillustration,Instagram,Twitter,Personal Site)and graphic design work by @pallasperilous(Twitter,Personal Website),@hermitwrites(WordPress), and @alessariel.
ForAdd Magic to Taste, 20 authors have come together to produce all-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.
Love wlw? So do we!
Love mlm? We’ve got you covered!
Love genderqueer characters? Raise those trans, enby, agender and other flags high!
Love aces? Same, and we don’t (only) mean playing cards!
Love poly relationships? Oh hey, we’re sharing a brain!
We won’t say this anthology has it all - there are too many identities in the world for us to fit allof them into one anthology of 20 stories - but if you want some queer fluff and happy feelings, you’ve come to the right place. Add Magic to Taste features characters of different races, ethnicities, sexualities, romanticisms, gender identities, religions, and home nations, united by the common theme of finding someone (or more than one someone) to enjoy a muffin and a cuppa with - for today, or for a lifetime, romantically or otherwise!
So, mark your calendars! Follow our Tumblr! Read more about the project! Ask us any questions you have! And save your pennies so you, too, can buy this amazing collection of stories!
The Kickstarter for Add Magic to Taste launches on July 15th, 2021!
Duck Prints Press is thrilled to be recruiting authors to contribute short stories to our forthcoming anthology, Add Magic to Taste.
With a heap of queerness and diversity, a bundle of fluff, a warm and cheery coffeeshop, tea shop or bakery, and just a splash of magic, this anthology will be the hot cocoa for the soul we all deserve!
There are only five days left to apply, so if you’re a fanfiction author, and you’d like this chance to participate in an anthology of original fiction and be paid for your work - and if you think you’ve got just the flavor of happy queer love story we’re looking for - why not check it out?
Note that authors are not being asked to submit stories that fit our theme! We are asking authors to apply with a writing sample of their choice, and we will select 20 authors for the anthology based on those submissions.
CALLING: FANFICTION AUTHORS WHO DREAM OF PUBLISHING ORIGINAL FICTION!
Duck Prints Press LLC is thrilled to announce that the author application for our first anthology, Add Magic to Taste, are now open!
Times are tough, and we thought that what the world really needed were some light-hearted stories to make everyone smile. So, we picked themes that never fail to make us smile! The stories for this anthology will incorporate these themes:
Setting: Modern worlds with magic
Relationships: Queer love stories
Locale: Coffee shops, bakeries, tea shops, or the like
Trope: FLUFF!
This post is not a call for story submissions. Like a fandom zine, we’re asking prospective authors to submit writing samples. We’ll select authors based on these samples, and the chosen authors will have creative license to create a story of their choice provided it includes the four required story elements. You must write and post fanfiction to apply to this anthology, butall stories in Add Magic to Taste must be original!
If you want to be one of our authors, this is your moment - read more about the anthology and, if you’re interested, send in an application!
