CatStone Books Aims To Build Doorways For Diverse Voices In Publishing Presented by CatStone Books

ATLANTA, Dec. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- "CatStone Books is here to be part of the solution or a portion of the axe."

CatStone Books, a diversity-focused, non-profit press, is actively pushing publishing forward. By filling the gaps of traditional publishing's centering of white male voices in genre fiction, CatStone is seeking new ways to engage with and promote peripheral and marginalized voices in publishing. Their goal is to reach out, sell, and share a range of new voices in the speculative genre.

CatStone Books has chosen a winner for their generous $10,000 Samuel R. Delany Fellowship: Naseem Jamnia! Naseem Jamnia (they/them) is a former scientist, 2019 Lambda Literary fellow, and a recent graduate from the University of Nevada, Reno's MFA program. Their debut novella, The Bruising of Qilwa, releases from Tachyon Publications in August 2022, and their work has appeared in The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, The Rumpus, The Writer's Chronicle, and other venues. They are the managing editor at Sword & Kettle Press, a tiny independent publishing house of inclusive feminist speculative fiction, and the former managing editor of Sidequest.Zone, an independent gaming criticism website. A Persian-Chicagoan, they live on traditional territories belonging to the Numu, Wašiw, Newe, and Nuwu peoples (Reno, NV) with their husband, dog, and two cats.

You can view the entire short list for the fellowship prize here.

In Winter 2023, Catstone's very first novel acquisition will be published. SARGASSA by Sophie Burnham is a queer speculative novel set in contemporary North America in a world where the Roman Empire never fell, following the high- and low-born children of a murdered politician as they are swept up in a revolution and race to find a powerful artifact.

The team at CatStone continues to push the boundaries of what publishing can do for writers, rather than what writers can do for publishers. Inviting writers who have felt at the fringe of big trade publishing to submit their manuscripts for publication, as well as their shorter work to CatStone's literary magazine, Pharos, the innovative publisher is also deeply focused on a school donation program aimed at giving back to educators and directly fighting the resistance and censorship happening in schools across the country. Through these deliberate efforts, CatStone is developing a reputation of accessibility, transparency, and growth.

"Catstone Books embraces and elevates stories from the margins. They actively seek to publish untold stories from the global majority." - Nicole Givens Kurtz, board member and science fiction and fantasy writer

The stakes are high for books these days though publishers are still slow to reckon with the truth of our world, but CatStone Books aims to not only include, but promote at the highest levels authors of color, LGBTQIA+ authors, authors with disabilities, and authors living an immigrant experience. They are open to emerging writers, as well as authors of any publishing status.

"For years I've been delivering a clear message about the power of work by BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors: join us as we move forward or watch us chop you down. CatStone Books is here to be part of the solution or a portion of the axe. This is a press that wants to amplify diverse voices, and they're putting their time, passion, and money where their mouth is. I love them for that." - Gabino Iglesias, board member and author of Zero Saints and Coyote Songs

Author submissions information can be found here.

To learn more about their mission, hear from their board, and cheer for their fellowship finalists and early acquisitions, visit their website.

SOURCE CatStone Books