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Recent Campaigns: Project Updates!

We’ve been working hard on fulfillment our three most recent successful crowdfunding campaigns: Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers,” Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley, and To Drive the Hundred Miles by Alec J. Marsh.

Aim For The Heart: Fulfillment of this Kickstarter campaign is now complete; we updated the Kickstarter to this effect two weeks ago. 95% of backer orders have been shipped; the remaining few, we are waiting for information from the backer. We anticipate the e-book becoming available through our webpage and distribution network in January, and we also hope to be able to offer print options as well.

Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley: You may recall that fulfillment was delayed on this campaign as a result of an error in the initial production run of the enamel pin. I’m pleased to report that the replacements have been manufactured and are on their way to us now! Delivery is estimated for Friday, December 8th. We’ll be aiming to fill purchaser orders over the coming weekend and to put orders in the mail on the morning of Monday, December 11th.

To Drive the Hundred Miles by Alec J. Marsh: this crowdfunding campaign is now complete, the first we’ve ever run from start to finish on our own webpage! Backer rewards went in the mail this morning (December 4, 2023) and e-books were sent to the purchasers’ e-mail address. Thanks to everyone who supported the campaign, and we hope you love your orders.

Our current campaign is Hockey Bois by A. L. Heard; we are aiming to raise $2,800 by December 10th and we’re about half-way to our goal as I type this. Love what we do? Don’t forget to check it out!

Our next crowdfunding campaign is slated for launch on Kickstarter on December 26th, 2023: Aether Beyond the Binary, an anthology of 18 short stories about characters whose gender is outside the binary exploring modern and near-modern worlds suffused with magical aether! You’re not gonna want to miss it, so be on the lookout for our campaign announcement, cover reveal, and more!

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Progress on Fulfillment for Duck Prints Press Crowdfunding Campaigns

We’ve got three crowdfunding campaigns currently in the midst of fulfillment, and we wanted to take a moment to post about our progress on each of them!

Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers

Our most recent campaign on Kickstarter, to fund Aim For The Heart, ended on July 15th, 2023. After some print challenges revealed in the proof copy of the book, we had to make some fairly extensive tweaks to the manuscript, and getting that completely set has taken a fair amount of time. But we’re there now – the book is done and printed, and we’re just doing some final preparation on the e-book and backer data in anticipation of packing and shipping everyone’s orders this weekend, November 18th and 19th!


Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley

We were 100% on track to fulfill Many Drops Make a Stream orders within the next week or so…and then the enamel pins arrived, after 6 or so weeks in production, with an error that makes them undistributable (the poor tiger part of Droplet has no stripes on her back and hind legs!). Everything else for this campaign is ready to go, and the pin manufacturer has been very receptive to our issue and is rushing replacements for us, but we’re still at least a few weeks from having them even if they’re expedited – manufacturing enamel-ware takes time, and they have to ship from China.

That said, because we have everything else, we will be doing some distribution shortly: namely, for people who also backed Aim For The Heart, if we can save them shipping money by combining their orders, we will do so and refund the difference in shipping cost – combining the book shipping for these individuals, and then forwarding them their pins separately, will be a big savings for them.

For everyone else, we will prepare everything we can, and as soon as we have the pins we will distribute everything. If it looks like we will not have the pins before the December holidays start, we will send out everything BUT the pins, and send out pin orders alone subsequently. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we make sure that y’all get items of the quality and accuracy that you deserve!


To Drive the Hundred Miles by Alec J. Marsh

All of the merchandise for To Drive the Hundred Miles has arrived, and it looks great. We’re almost done repackaging it and preparing it for distribution. The proof of the book arrived last week, and we’ve reviewed it and made a few necessary tweaks; we re-submitted those files to the printer yesterday, and are awaiting their confirmation so we can sign off on production of the full print run. Once it’s in the print queue, our best guess is that it’ll be roughly two weeks before it arrives at our door. At that time, we’ll be able to get everyone’s pre-orders turned around pretty quickly.


Thank you everyone for your orders with us! We’re excited to bring all three of these large projects to a close, and get amazing books into all of your hands!

And keep your eyes open, because there’s more to come – the re-release of A. L. Heard’s Hockey Bois, revised and reprinted, will open for pre-orders on December 1st, and our next Kickstarter campaign for the anthology Aether Beyond the Binary will be launching on December 26th. We also expect to run a Kickstarter campaign in February for Tris Lawrence’s Twinned trilogy, and we’ve got more in the pipeline after that! So make sure you follow us on social media, subscribe to our newsletters, back us on Patreon for sneak peeks and backer-exclusive extras, and leave us reviews on Goodreads or Storygraph!

Want one or more of these books, and/or the merchandise that goes with them, but missed out on the campaigns? Don’t despair – the books and leftover merch will become available during this coming winter! So be on the look out!

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October Created Works Round-Up: 2 New Works by Our Contributors

A banner that reads "Created Works Round Up: October." In the upper left corner is the Duck Prints Press logo with a rainbow of duck prints around the left and bottom of it. On the right is the Dux mascot, a white duck with an orange beak and orange feet and a pleased expression on their face.

Duck Prints Press’s monthly “created works round-ups” are our opportunity to spotlight some of the amazing work that people working with us have done that ISN’T linked to their work with Duck Prints Press. We include fanworks, outside publications, and anything else that creators feel like sharing with y’all. Inclusion is voluntary and includes anything that they decided “hey, I want to put this on the created work’s round-up!”

Check out what they’ve shared with us this month…


The Dragon in the Asterfell Library by Adrian Harley

fiction || original work || no ships || general audiences || no major warnings apply || complete

summary: Five times the library dragon refused to let people take books, and one time she let them.

other tags: cozy fantasy

LINK


love is a made up feeling (so cruel and so appealing) by nottesilhouette

fiction || percy jackson & the olympians || f/f || reyna/thalia || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 2,177 || complete

summary: underneath the spinning stars, Reyna and Thalia talk about doors, death, and defiance — why Reyna joined and why Thalia’s leaving.

luckily, their relationship transcends the bounds of the Hunters.

AO3


You can check out all our past created works round-ups (since July, 2022!) here.

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“Many Drops Make a Stream” Fulfillment Progress

Since the pre-order period for Many Drops Make a Stream ended on September 30th, we’ve been hard at work preparing to fulfill everyone’s orders! To keep y’all in the loop, here’s a status update.

  1. Our final total raised is $5,102.82! We hit our second stretch-goal, so all backers who purchased packages will receive a bookmark and an Eye of Sacarus pendant!
  2. All 25% off coupons have been distributed. They’re good until September 30th 2024, so don’t hesitate to wander back in six or eight months and do some shopping!
  3. The base payment to Adrian Harley has been sent.
  4. The manuscript formatting has been paid for.
  5. The book has been formatted, the cover finished and the print order has been placed!
  6. The art print has been ordered from Papermart, and they’ve arrived! (Reveal!)
  7. The enamel pin has been ordered from Alchemy, and the proof has been approved.
  8. The die-cut sticker has been ordered from Vograce, the proof has been approved, and the stickers have shipped.
  9. The bookmark has been ordered from UPrinting, and the proof has been approved, and the bookmark has shipped. (I wouldn’t be surprised if it arrives today!)
  10. The Patreon-exclusive coasters and the wooden pendant have been ordered from E. Conway, and are in production.
  11. Funds to cover shipping have been transferred to our shipping software.

Granted, it’s early days, but so far we’re on track for December fulfillment!

Full Cover!

Art Print Unboxing!

@duckprintspress

merch unboxing/reveal! art print of the cover of MANY DROPS MAKE A STREAM by @Adrian Harley #wlwbooks #NiUnPeloMás #unboxing #artprint

♬ Musik Tiktok – Dj unodhowhow
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5 Interview Questions with Adrian Harley

Many Drops Make a Stream features Droplet, a vigilante shapeshifter, assuming many animal forms while she takes on the corrupt powers-that-be of the fantasy world she inhabits. Today, the novel’s author Adrian Harley joins us to answer five questions about Droplet specifically and in the book in general!

Q: How did you build the world for Many Drops Make a Stream?

A: I’ve been writing in this world since I was 13, full of confidence, when my only guide for what showed up in my fantasy world was “What do I personally think would be cool?” I highly recommend this, it was great fun. The twenty years since then have been a slow process of asking myself questions, which has also been great fun. I asked myself things like “why does this world have half-human, half-animal hybrids?” and “what’s beyond that mountain ridge on the map?” This has resulted in dozens of story ideas, some of which are even drafted, and I hope a lot of them make it to final book form some day.

Q: Tumblr user definitely-not-a-shark asks, “There are so many wonderful animals that Droplet gets to shapeshift into! Which of them is your favorite form, and why is it the shark?”

A: Tragically, a shark form did not make it into the final draft of this book, so it cannot be a shark. I ended up with a surprise favorite form – I loved writing Droplet as a rat. The runner-up is Droplet’s goose form. I have a soft spot for geese. I find their total disregard for people and open hostility very entertaining. I started writing Many Drops Make a Stream before Untitled Goose Game came out, but that sort of aggressive commitment to upending order is something I enjoy writing.

Q: Following up on that, what animal would you love to write that you haven’t written yet?

A: Otters, definitely. Otters or some other kind of mustelid. That bounciness and playfulness would be quite a change of pace for Droplet, but we may see more shapeshifters who would be more at home in an otter form. I’d also like to write Droplet taking on a rabbit form, in homage to Watership Down.

Q: What was the first story you ever wrote?

A: Before I could write, I dictated stories about Land Before Time characters to my mom, who wrote them down for me so I could illustrate them with dinosaur stamps. I don’t remember the first story I ever wrote myself, but it was probably about a cat. I don’t even know how many magical cat stories I came up with as a kid.

Q: What are some hobbies you have outside writing?

A: I absolutely love being outside. I take a lot of walks, and I go on hikes as often as I can. I do my best brainstorming out walking in the woods, too. My main sedentary hobby is reading, closely followed by checking out books from the library that I do not read, which sit on my end table for a month before I return them.

Have you read about the Many Drops Make a Stream pre-order campaign? Have you read the free story opener included in the Duck Prints Press zine?

You have? Awesome! You must have more questions, then – and we’d love to hear ‘um. Comment or drop us an ask, and Adrian will answer you!

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Time is Running Out to Pre-Order “Many Drops Make a Stream” by Adrian Harley!

What is Many Drops Make a Stream? Why, it’s the debut sapphic fantasy novel by author Adrian Harley!

A memory-stealing cult.
The ever-watchful City of Eyes.
Making small talk.

Join Droplet as she faces all these horrors and more…

Vigilante shapeshifter Droplet has trained her entire life to take down those with more power than scruples, but she still makes mistakes. When a rescue mission goes wrong, a memory-stealing cult of blood mages escapes with kidnapped captives in tow. To save them, Droplet reluctantly teams up with the outgoing, tenacious Azera. Droplet knows better than to trust a human—she made that mistake once, and that person’s betrayal scattered her community across the known world—and she can tell Azera is hiding secrets behind her sunny smile. But if they can’t learn to work together, even Droplet’s own memories could be lost.

Pre-orders for Many Drops Make a Stream are open through September 30th, 2023!

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Five “Top Fives” with Adrian Harley!

We sat down with Adrian Harley, author of Many Drops Make a Stream, their debut sapphic fantasy novel (pre-orders are open now!), so we could learn about five of their favorite things in five categories!

Read on to learn some more about Adrian—who knows, maybe you share some favorites!

Five favorite queer books

  1. The Locked Tomb series, by Tamsyn Muir
  2. Rust in the Root, by Justina Ireland
  3. Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir, by Akwaeke Emezi
  4. Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, by Ashley Herring Blake
  5. The Teixcalaan Series, by Arkady Martine

Five places you love to write

Here’s where I admit that I am very boring and write in one of two places: 

  1. My favorite chair inside the house
  2. Out on my porch

But someday I’ll change that! To round out the list, three places I plan to write:

  1. The cafe attached to the bookstore downtown
  2. Overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway
  3. The forest park near my house

Five writerly goals you have

  1. I’d love to write an epic high fantasy someday—one of those sprawling epics that goes for 500,000 words at least.
  2. I want to publish more books in the same universe as the Droplet series. I have a few drafted and many, many more plotted.
  3. I would like my readers to be inspired to write fanfic. If my fiction ever gets requested at Yuletide, I’ll know I’ve made it. If my fiction ever gets too big for Yuletide, I don’t even know what I’ll do.
  4. I’d like to write faster! Ideally, I’d like more hours in the day, but given the impossibility of time travel, I’ll settle for more words per fixed 24-hour day.
  5. I would like to always incorporate weird animal facts in some way.

Five works that inspired you to write Many Drops Make a Stream

  1. The Animorphs series, by K. A. Applegate
  2. Leverage (TV series)
  3. The original Abhorsen trilogy, by Garth Nix
  4. Thief of Shadows, by Elizabeth Hoyt, was the most direct inspiration. The romance channel in my slack group kept calling this book Regency Batman, and we’d discuss shifter romances, so the logical mashup of Shifter Batman popped into my head.
  5. Following on that, I think my fifth spot has to be the entire shifter romance genre, for making me go, “but why would you have them turn into just one animal?? You could have every animal! Why limit yourself?” This is before I realized I was nonbinary.

Five ideas you have for future books starring Droplet

  1. One of the first things in my notes for Book 2 was “BABY HEIST.” I’ll let you all guess what that means.
  2. Azera starts [Many Drops Make a Stream] having been jilted by her rich fiancée. At some point, that rich fiancée is going to need Azera’s help…
  3. Droplet’s old organization has been scattered across the world, but many of them are still working to take down the rich and powerful. An old friend will show back up in future books.
  4. There will be at least one murder mystery.
  5. Business people will learn more about shapeshifterkind, and nobody will be happy about this.

Thanks for your time, Adrian!!! And, dear person reading these awesome fave fives, don’t forget to check out the book!