NYCC 2015: Her Universe goes from Fashion to Publishing
Groundbreaking fangirl fashion company, Her Universe, and its founder, Ashley Eckstein, announced Saturday in a special panel at New York Comic Con that the company is expanding its reach by launching a new publishing program under an imprint called Her Universe Press. The imprint will build its readership on the company’s wide audience of fans and provide new and aspiring female writers the chance to see their original work professionally published. Focusing on the sci-fi and fantasy genres, the imprint will publish fiction and non-fiction for all age ranges with an emphasis on the tween, young adult market. Her Universe Press will be seeking to publish female authors who write empowering stories with positive messages and a focus on strong female protagonists. Each book will be marketed and promoted by Her Universe and by Ashley Eckstein personally through social media, events and promotions. Titles by Her Universe Press will be available through major booksellers, such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, as well as on eBooks through Audible and iTunes. The first two books will be released spring/summer 2016.
For its publishing program, Her Universe is teaming up with Permuted Press, a company owned and operated by a team of dedicated publishers with over twenty years of experience including overseeing nearly 25 New York Times bestsellers. Established in 2004, Permuted Press has published over 400 works as an industry-leading independent publisher of sci-fi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic and horror fiction. Permuted Press continues to enhance its reputation by publishing an even wider range of high-profile books via various partnerships with leading editors and content curators.
The first title from Her Universe Press, announced at New York Comic Con, will be book one in a series created by new author Anne Convery and Eckstein, written by Convery with illustrations by Dave Filoni. The Confidence Chronicles, set in an alternate universe gold rush California, is a steampunk fantasy featuring twelve-year-old Adelaide Lenihan, whose grit, energy and obsession with all things mechanical lead her along with her automatic owl, Eureka, to uncover exciting and sometimes chilling secrets in her own home town. Mining, mystery and mayhem in this first installment set the stage for Addy’s fantastic adventures from west of the Sierra Nevada to east of the Mississippi and beyond.
The second book is titled Weirdest by author Heather Nuhfer – a writer specializing in all-ages material who has worked on such well-known comic book titles as My Little Pony, Fraggle Rock, The Simpsons, Vampire Diaries and Wonder Woman. Weirdest is the story of thirteen-year-old girl who, in her desperation to be the coolest in her school, makes a wish and, as a result, has her strongest emotions physically manifest themselves in weird ways. Her powers run haywire as she tries to solve the mystery.
