Stelliform Press

Sorry about the state of the world that resulted in longer than usual delivery times!

It is a great day when @stelliform.press orders show up! Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens by @lynnhutchinsonlee.bsky.social and Seed Beetle by @mahaila.bsky.social.

If anyone needs some optimistic sff in their lives right now, check out this Kickstarter from Habitats Press!

Authors in the Park, August 24 2025, 1-5pm, Victoria Park, Hamilton

Urru the silken windhound being cozy

Heads up, Hamilton! Stelliform will be at Authors in the Park this year (our first time!), with our complete catalogue plus a selection of anthologies from Reckoning Press and other goodies like t-shirts, totes, and more.

Depending on the weather, I may bring the gremlin with me.

These new environmental poetry collections from @stelliform.press @univnebpress.bsky.social @graywolfpress.bsky.social @faberbooks.bsky.social @penguinbooksusa.bsky.social and others include some of our favorite books of the year so far. therevelator.org/environmenta...

The City and the City Book club. Join us to discuss THE ORIGINS OF DESIRE IN ORCHID FENS by Lynn Hutchinson Lee. 15% off copies of the book. September 15th at 7pm at The Hearty Hooligan, 292 Ottawa St N. No need to register, just come on by and have a cupcake and some book talk.

From @thecityandthecitybooks: Come join us on Monday, Sept 15th to The Hearty Hooligan to discuss ORIGINS OF DESIRE IN ORCHID FEN by Lynn Hutchinson Lee. ... It is one of my favourite books I have read all year and can't wait to talk to more people about it.

A selection of interior art from Syr Hayati Beker's WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE. Art by Zeph Fishlyn. The black and white images are all landscape in orientation, in an oval shape. Clockwise starting at top left, the images are of a garbage filled wave, grasping hands coming toward each other surrounded by donuts and glass bottles, and a young queer person sitting at a bar overlaid by a roaring polar bear.

The graphics heavy layout of WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE gives the story its feeling of a community coming together, all contributing to a book that gets passed around during a season of wildfires, floods, and more. These three illustrations are a selection of the art by Zeph Fishlyn.

"It's our task to placate the Ancient Ones. As it's yours to be offered up to them. Forgive us. And let us get it over with."

If you know this quote, you'll love these recs

Here's you Cabin Horror TBR - Day 1
@ghoulish.bsky.social @hedonebooks.bsky.social @stelliform.press @regalhouse.bsky.social

Since this is getting some uptake, it may not be from a big publisher, but y'all should check out @mahaila.bsky.social 's SEED BEETLE out now from @stelliform.press!!

www.stelliform.press/index.php/pr...

Blurb for Syr Hayati Beker's forthcoming novella in fairy tales WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE: "Syr Hayati Beker’s transformed and transformative fairy tales are like nothing else you have ever read. Lyrical, resonant, weirdly wonderful, wildly inventive." — Karen Joy Fowler, the New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, and Booth

We are so incredibly grateful for these words from legendary author Karen Joy Fowler: "Syr Hayati Beker’s transformed and transformative fairy tales are like nothing else you have ever read. Lyrical, resonant, weirdly wonderful, wildly inventive."

Fish is on Netgalley for a few more days!

Looking forward to the bookfair at #Readercon today—I’ll be selling copies of Reckoning and some titles from @stelliform.press. Also the gorgeous new Tanith Lee tribute collection, Storyteller, and other titles from Essential Dreams Press!

@reckoningmag.bsky.social
@thisjulieday.bsky.social

Mahaila Smith's Seed Beetle Resistance and regrowth

"This is a twisty ride, at the level of the line and of the narrative arc."

New review of Mahaila Smith's sci-fi poetry collection Seed Beetle:

reviewsofbooksigotforfreeorcheap.substack.com/p/mahaila-sm...

@stelliform.press

#BluePit 📖 #A #SF
Coming 2026 @stelliform.press
THE WILDCRAFT DRONES: Stories from a #solarpunk future where tentacle robots rewilding North America as a food forest must learn how to feed the Citystates without blindly following the eco-fascists & tech companies who think they’re in charge. 🤖🌳

DReadCon pitch sessions. Sign up by August 1 at www.dreadconcan.com.

If you're an Ontario horror/dark fantasy writer looking for a home for your work, sign up to pitch at DReadCon!

We want unique dark ecofiction - check out our horror titles to see what we like. We'd love to see subs from BIPOC and/or LGBTQ2S writers.

Sign up here: www.dreadconcan.com/

There are so many good candidates but be sure to get consent!

Yes, we're officially closed to submissions, but pitch sessions can be a way to get our attention even when we're not reading subs. We will be looking for unique ecofiction, especially novellas, especially BIPOC and/or Canadian.

More pitch opportunities to come! Some in-person!

Oops, I messed up! What a Fish Looks Like is still available on Netgalley.

Oops! When I said that WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE would be archived on Netgalley at the end of June I was wrong. I forgot I selected 2 months! So there's still time to download the book. We'd especially love to reach readers who love weird shit, including structure/formatting.

www.netgalley.com/ca...

Hey netgalley folks-- my collection THE OTHER SHORE is available to you guys. It's all about the Salish Sea, and the special kinds of beauty and weirdness you might find there. Forthcoming from @stelliform.press in October!

@rebeccacampbell.bsky.social

Screenshot from the netgalley download page for Rebecca Campbell's THE OTHER SHORE (short story collection)

Looking for a weekend read? Rebecca Campbell's THE OTHER SHORE is now available on Netgalley. If you loved dwelling in the west coast forests of ARBOREALITY but wanted more of their dark history and their technological future, THE OTHER SHORE is a trip you shouldn't miss.

www.netgalley.com/ca...

Text: LAST HOURS ON NETGALLEY Background is the cover of Syr Hayati Beker's WHAT A FISH LOOKS LIKE

In a few hours Pride Month will be over, which means there's just a few hours left to download a review copy of Syr Hayati Beker's queer novella in fairy tale retellings, What a Fish Looks Like.

If you love weird gay lit, this is not one to miss. Download it here: www.netgalley.com/ca...

The Hamilton Review of Books' Independently Published Bestsellers List: May 2025 Take a look at which independently published books Canadians are purchasing from independent bookstores. June 24, 2025 Fiction The Fun Times Brigade by Lindsay Zier-Vogel, Book*hug Press The Cost of a Hostage: A Lane Winslow Mystery by Iona Whishaw, Touchwood Editions Who By Water: A Dame Polara Mystery by Greg Rhyno, Cormorant Books She’s A Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock, ECW Press I Cut My Tongue on a Broken Country by Kyo Lee, Arsenal Pulp Press The World So Wide by Zilla Jones, Cormorant Press Catch You on the Flipside by Lee Kvern, Enfield & Wizenty Walking Upstream by Lloyd Ratzlaff, Thistledown Press a body more tolerable by jaye simpson, Arsenal Pulp Press Origins of Desire in Orchid Fens by Lynn Hutchinson Lee, Stelliform Press

As far as I know, this is the 1st Stelliform book on any bestseller list! Lynn Hutchinson Lee's ORIGINS OF DESIRE IN ORCHID FENS is #10 on the HRB Indie Bestseller list for May. It's a great time to pick up a copy or tell your friends about this beautifully swampy book!

hamiltonreviewofbook...

Hot Gay Summer. Need some downtime from gay crime? Check out our super queer books!

A selection of queer Stelliform books by queer Stelliform authors, including: Depart, Depart! and Seeds for the Swarm by Sim Kern After the Dragons by Cynthia Zhang Sordidez by E.G. Conde Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris Seed Beetle by Mahaila Smith What a Fish Looks Like by Syr Hayati Beker Instantly downloadable ebooks are only $5 at www.stelliform.press

How's everyone doing in this heat wave? If sky high temps are interfering with pride celebrations, check out our queer Stelliform books by queer Stelliform authors, always $5 on our website: www.stelliform.press...

Coming up at 6pm on June 27 at L’Eugélionne the Feminist Bookstore: Seed Beetle + Fire Cider Rain Poetry reading! Come to 1426 Beaudry, in Montréal for a beautiful and thought-provoking evening with poets Mahaila Smith and Rhiannon Ng Cheng Hin.

Coming up at 6pm on June 27 at L’Eugélionne the Feminist Bookstore: Seed Beetle + Fire Cider Rain Poetry reading! Come to 1426 Beaudry, in Montréal for a beautiful and thought-provoking evening with poets Mahaila Smith and Rhiannon Ng Cheng Hin.

Cover of Syr Hayati Beker's What a Fish Looks Like: black, with two silvery-blue merpeople gently cradling each other at center (one human-head-fish-tail, the other fish-head-human-legs).

queers, if you want a book to hold your heart through the current awful, preorder this magnificent collection by @syr.bsky.social, out in September from @stelliform.press. it's a guidebook on how to love a world (& each other) through constant, unendurable loss. www.stelliform.press/index.php/pr...

Romanistan graphic for the Lynn Hutchinson Lee episode. Text reads: on water spirits, storytelling, and her debut novella ORIGINS OF DESIRE IN ORCHID FENS.

ICYMI, there's a discussion with Lynn Hutchinson Lee on a delightful podcast about Romani art, culture, politics, and more. If you're interested in this aspect of ORIGINS OF DESIRE IN ORCHID FENS, check it out.
Romanistan on Spotify: open.spotify.com/sho...
On Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/u...

Question for small presses: has your experience with Publishers Weekly changed over the last year? They used to positively review nearly every title we submitted, but now most of our books are declined. Now there's a fee to submit, so I'm paying for nothing. Our books are bangers, so what gives?

Books and Brews Bookfair for Adults July 5th 12-5 at Jobsite Brewery 45 Cambria St. Stratford, ON Featuring Little Ghosts Books, Aaron Millard Illustration, Invisible Books, Pandemonium, Rad Riot, Annick Press, Triple Take Productions, BookHug, Wolsak & Wynn and more

Books & Brews July will have THE MOST publishers and vendors EVER! Don’t miss it! Get locally brewed beverages from a great brewery and browse books from so many Canadian small presses and indie vendors.

See you in Stratford!

Factory Reading Series June 20 7pm Anina's Cafe 280 Joffre-Bélanger Way, Ottawa, ON

Heads up, poetry lovers! Another great poetry event is coming up in a week. The Factory Reading Series, with Mahaila Smith, James K. Moran, Pearl Pirie, Manahil Bandukwala, and MA|DE will be on June 20 7pm at Anina's Cafe, 280 Joffre-Bélanger Way, in Ottawa. Mark your calendars!

This book might interest folks looking for eco-non-fiction reading for Pride month. Rachel Carson is thought of as one of the founding voices of modern environmentalism. This book explores her intimate letters with Dorothy Freeman and how nature made their love possible.

bookshop.org/p/books...