Spec-Fic Small Press Rundown #3

Shiraki Press

And just like that, we’re on our third Spec-Fic Small Press Rundown. Today, we’re going to highlight one that, in some ways, is the opposite of Drek Death & Doom Publishing (rundown #2).

Shiraki Press fits squarely in the spec-fic category, but their hopepunk ethos sets them apart. Honestly, a lot of their mission resonates with me (and probably will with more than a few of you authors), particularly points 1 and 2 from their About page:

To seek hope, community, and joy amidst the chaos
To build a community of authors and readers who are driven to imagine—and act toward—a better future

If the press sounds familiar, that’s because they’re the ones behind Ian Patterson’s Fruits of Our Labor. They’ve got plenty of other authors, too, including the upcoming Light & Earth & Marrow by Jeannie Marschall, which comes out 9-22.

Founded: 2025
Founders: Brianne Shiraki and Josh Sutphin
Website: shirakipress.com
Publishes: Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Alternative History, Legends & Fairy Tales, Gothic, Magical Realism, Noir, Occult & Supernatural, Romance, Action & Adventure, Mystery, Horror, Thrillers, Westerns
Formats: Novellas and short novels (17,500 words to 70,000 words)
Open to Submissions: Yes
Contact: Submissions: submissions@shirakipress.com, general inquiries: connect@shirakipress.com
Contests and Anthologies: None currently

Brianne Shiraki was good enough to answer all my questions and then some.

About the Press

Finish the sentence: this press exists because ______. What did you feel was missing, and were you right?

As busy, working parents of young kids, we know what it’s like to be time-poor and feel overwhelmed by all the negative media you see every day. So we decided to focus on fiction that shares stories about people using their autonomy to build the lives and communities that they want to live in. It’s been really well received so far!

How many books do you put out in a year, and how many people does it take to do it?

Right now we’re publishing 5-6 stories per year with a two-person, full-time team. We also usually contract out two other people per title (cover art, copyediting).

Where do you sit genre-wise, and how does your hopepunk focus affect acquisitions? Any additional imprints for works that are solid but might fall into a different area?

Our comfort zone is science fiction and fantasy. I’m up for a challenge, though. If the author can make a compelling pitch as to why their story is hopepunk, regardless of genre, I’m open to the idea of publishing it. We don’t have additional imprints because they’re all going through my editorial lens, so… they’re all being published under Shiraki Press.

What Are You Seeking?

Describe the book you’d sign tomorrow if it landed in the inbox this afternoon. (Asking more about what you’re not seeing enough of rather than for a comp title)

Stories with older (40+) protagonists that are struggling with the world or circumstances, not their immediate family/community. Family stories (found or otherwise) where safety is the standard, and it’s not trauma porn.

What do you get so much of that you’ve stopped being able to say yes, no matter how well it’s done?

We’re brand new, so I’m not sure that we have hit that limit yet. But I will say that a superhero story (protagonist saves the world/universe) would be a very difficult sell.

What’s the fastest way for a submission to make you stop reading the query letter, and in the first five pages?

Queries that don’t follow our guidelines and ramble are quick stops. Brevity is your friend here! Gratuitous (isn’t connected to the plot) racism, homophobia, torture, body shaming, and violence will all make me set a story down. Grimdark, nihilism, or transgressive shock-value stuff will also get a very quick pass.

How Do Submissions Work?

Walk a writer through what happens after they submit. Who reads it first, how many passes does it take to get to yes, how long before they hear anything, and what does a “no” from you look like?

We both read the sample pages (though Josh often gets there first), and either of us can veto

Then we request the full manuscript.
Next, we request an author interview.
At the author interview, we go over our potential editorial direction, the production process/schedule, and what our basic soft offer terms are.
We extend a soft offer officially via email, and from there we negotiate.
At any of these steps, it can be a “no,” and in that case we send an email as soon as possible, letting the author know that we are not going to pursue the story further.

Answer the four things writers are nervous about asking directly: simultaneous submissions, unagented work, reprints, and AI-generated or AI-assisted text. Where do you stand on each?

Yes (please do, just let us know if you sell it elsewhere)
Yes (we’re happy to work with agented and unagented authors)
No (only first prints right now)
No (AI work cannot be copyrighted and it’s killing the planet/the economy)

Without naming any figure you’d rather not publish, describe what your standard contract looks like: which rights you take and for how long, whether there’s an advance, how royalties are calculated, reported and paid, and how an author gets their rights back, including if the press ever winds down.

STANDARD TERMS

Exclusive Worldwide English ebook and print rights for 10 years from the execution date of the contract; all other rights stay with the author.
Trailing rights of 5% of any third-party licenses if the author chooses to license subsidiary rights to a third party.
Rights reversion allowed by written request 3 years after publication if prior 12 months’ sales are below $500 (or if we close voluntarily).
Author retains copyright; publisher registers copyright.

FINANCES

$1000 advance: $250 at signing, $250 at acceptance, $500 at publication or no more than 12 months after acceptance

Paid quarterly with accompanying account statements
Reserve against returns up to 30% of royalties due

Where do you stand on different lengths/formats, like novellas, collections, and anthologies?

We plan to keep publishing 3-4 novellas per year as a fundamental part of our press. We are also open to publishing full-length novels, though we’re going to try to keep them on the shorter side… but exceptions happen!

Print run or print-on-demand, and how does that decision affect what you can acquire?

We’re currently a print-on-demand publisher as it makes our upfront investment far more manageable. In the near future, we are investigating short print run options for new editions. It costs about $10k for the development of a story already, so adding on tens of thousands of dollars for printing and warehousing of large print runs (that may not sell) just doesn’t make sense financially.

How much say does an author get over things (cover, final title, etc.) and where do you draw the line?

We try to be very inclusive and sensitive to what the author wants for the book. They have opportunities to provide input and feedback at each step.

However, we do have our own publication standards that we adhere to internally for final quality assurance.

What does your editorial process consist of, start to finish, and how long does it last on average from signed contract to finished book?

Acquisition
3 phases of Developmental Edit (Plot, Characters, Settings/Timelines)
Copyedit
6 months marketing
Publication
The whole process usually takes 10-18 months depending on the length of the manuscript.

What’s Life Like for One of Your Authors?

Split the work of selling the book. Specifically, what does the press do for every title, and what is the author expected to do?

Shiraki Press marketing:

Publish a book page and an author page on our website
Promote through our newsletter & social media
Paid marketing to readers, libraries, and bookstores
Minimum of 1 paid print ad (and often included in our Shiraki Press ads as well)
Send out media review requests with a 6-month NetGalley listing for access
Request book blurbs from other authors
Coordinate local launch event and assist in other event planning as needed
Directly sell our titles at local markets and book events

Author Marketing:

We expect authors to talk about their own works in their own ways on the platforms that they are comfortable using. Some of our authors attend more conferences, some do more local bookstore events, some authors hand-sell their books in person, and others promote their titles online. Books sell better when their authors promote them consistently (not necessarily constantly).

How many of your authors know each other? What’s the inter-author camaraderie like?

They didn’t know each other before, but they’ve almost all met each other in person or online now. Distance is a bit of a factor since Jeannie is in Germany and our other authors are from all over the USA! They’re all very supportive of each other online and it was great to see folks bond when some of us were able to meet up in person at WorldCon in August.

Who is this press wrong for? Describe the writer who’d be happier somewhere else.

The author who does not want their manuscript to be touched should go elsewhere. We take great pride in polishing each story with the authors to make it the best book possible. The author who just wants to hand it over to someone else should go elsewhere. We’re working together; it’s a tough process, but it’s worth it. Anyone with a white savior story can just skip us. Anyone expecting perfection, please move on. We do our best, but we’re learning and refining, and we don’t expect that to change.

Last Call

What’s the one thing you wish more writers understood about small-press publishing?

Writing a story, getting published, and selling your book are 3 different jobs. (There are many more jobs and tasks that writers & readers may never see, too!) If you don’t want to do a task, it’s okay to get someone else to do it, but paying to do a task right is expensive. Having a team (agent, editor, publisher, pr, etc.) will help you be more resilient and responsive. But if they’re not helping you… they may not be the right team for you, and it’s okay to go find a different team.

If you think you have something that’s a good fit for what the press is looking for, make sure to read the submission guidelines and get in touch!

Make sure to subscribe to the Speakeasy to get the full spec-fic small press series in your inbox, and if you know of or run a small press that focuses on horror, sci-fi, or fantasy, let us know!