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Hello! Thank you so much to have me on your blog today! I am so happy to get to come on here and talk about the story of my small press, Wild Blue Wonder.
As of January 1st, 2023, submissions are open for our first anthology, Springtime in Surrey. After that, we will be branching out to help indie authors publish their novels.
But where did it all start?
We’d have to go back a bit to when I began using “Wild Blue Wonder Press” as an imprint. Originally, I just used “Kellyn Roth, Author,” but I have always known that in the long run, I wanted to write a variety of genres, and it made sense to make sure I had the flexibility to switch pen names, etc., and still have a recognizable brand.
The name itself comes from a special location on my family’s property. As a child, I always said “wild blue wonder” instead of “wild blue yonder,” and in particular, I named a certain (rather unattractive but homey) valley “the wild blue wonder.” I love how it evokes that feeling of adventure, too. I knew at once that the logo would include a chickadee—my favorite bird and my grandpa’s childhood nickname for me—and have a snowy, cozy aesthetic.
However, once I had that set up, I realized that first, I would have to do some marketing to make the press name familiar to my audience.
Further, I am always the kind of person with a lot of irons in the fire, and it is exhausting. I love helping indie authors and young writers; I want to provide safe places for them to learn and grow. But how to do that when I have a thousand other things going on?
It eventually made sense, for that reason and just because it’s the next logical step, to combine the two. At that point, with my decisions made, it was just about finalizing the branding, deciding exactly what we would offer, and making sure the launch went smoothly.
I decided to start off with launching three anthologies, but we will soon be helping indie authors kick off their career with full-length works, too. If that’s of interest to you, you can actually contact us now!
So I began assembling a team and working on moving forward with the project. Already, several talented individual are a part of Wild Blue Wonder Press, and we are ready to move forward into the bookish community, supporting indie authors in any way we possibly can.
You see, primarily, our main mission at Wild Blue Wonder Press will be to help indie authors achieve their goals in a professional, organized matter and reduce the inherent risk of indie publishing while still giving authors freedom to make their own decisions.
Wild Blue Wonder Press’s other mission is to share fictional stories full of grace and truth. Our goal is to create stories that matter, to delve into the deepest and sometimes the saddest parts of life, and to return from the darkest valleys resplendent in the light of hope and the fullness of joy.
We’re currently focusing on women’s fiction aimed at a “new adult” Christian audience—young women navigating life as an adult and asking big questions along the way. That said, in the future, we will probably be expanding our audience. It will be a long time before we can personally work with genres like fantasy, for instance, though we have hopes that some day we may be able to.
That said, our next imprint with the exception of our main women’s fiction imprint that will also host our first three anthologies will be Wild Blue Wonder West—featuring westerns! We’ll also be launching a romance imprint shortly afterwards.
What will Wild Blue Wonder Press do?
With the anthologies, Wild Blue Wonder Press will front the cost for professional cover design, two rounds of professional edits, and formatting if need be. Selection of service providers will be determined by the group, but I’ll currently retain the right to veto any service provider. The priority is putting out a professional and marketable project.
Further details about the publishing process will be determined during the prep and planning process. However, upon request, the whole process will be shared as a learning experience for any writers who require it.
Authors are obligated to dedicate a reasonable amount of time to marketing the collection in the first three months and then put a quarterly effort in, either as an individual or with the team.
Something similar but maybe a little more involved on the author’s part will happen when an author works one on one with Wild Blue Wonder Press, but of course that is all up for negotiation.
The main thing is we want to support indie authors in any way we can. One thing I’ve observed in the indie publishing community is a lot of indie authors start out with little experience, fumbling about in the dark. There are ways to gain that knowledge, but that takes time and knowledge.
Why can’t there be a publishing company for indie authors? A way for indie authors to gain experience in publishing without spending huge sums of money.
Well, that’s preposterous, you say, because indie publishing is all about going it alone.
To be honest, I think that’s true of life, though, right? We are all responsible for our own life and decisions, right? But we can benefit from the help of others, and in fact, God put others in our life for the purpose of encouraging and growing up.
That said, everyone has an option to do what they want. I just want there to be another option for newer indie authors who want to get a start in a realistic way while learning about the process. Of course, we can’t help a lot of indie authors to start with, but in the long term, I want us to expand to help many authors get their start.
And that all starts with a successful anthology launch. We can’t do any of the above if the anthologies flop.
So if you’d like to join us, or support us, please consider doing so!
But thank you, Abigail, and all the rest of you reading this for your support. I deeply appreciate it, and I am so excited to finally see my dream project come to life!
I don't know about you, but this for sure sounds like a wonderful opportunity and I look forward to submitting my submission. Be sure to give a follow on Facebook or Instagram, and check out the website here!
See ya, booknerds!
Abigail
Thank you so much for your help, Abigail!