What’s New at Duck Prints Press: July, 2023
Halfway through 2023, Duck Prints Press has a lot of recent publications and exciting upcoming works.
We’ve got six new short stories out in June, the Kickstarter for our next anthology has only THREE DAYS left, our Pride Bundles are still available for another two weeks, with almost 40% of the proceeds going to charity, our Patrons have gotten some great stories recently, and we’ve got much more in the works!
All the deets are in this e-mail, or you can use these links to jump right to our shop and current campaigns!
June, 2023 Releases
We released five short stories and a novelette in June!
- Of Loops and Weaves by Catherine E. Green
- Solarpunks: Viva la Revolución by J. D. Harlock
- Seal Island by K. B. Vimes
- More Than We Deserve by Nicola Kapron
- Live Like There’s No Tomorrow by Tris Lawrence
- Moongatherer by Willa Blythe
These stories are all available for individual purchase, or you can buy the bundle that contains all of them! Learn all about them now…
Seal Island by K. B. Vimes
Michael has always known he was a boy, and always known he didn’t fit in with either the boys or girls around him in the quiet fishing community where he grows up. To escape the insistence of his friends and family that he become a “proper young lady,” he seeks refuge on the island in the bay where the seals sun themselves during the summer.
It’s not until he’s 18 that he realizes he might be able to make the island a more permanent home. Will the seals welcome the young man who’s never felt like he’s belonged?
Moongatherer by Willa Blythe
The Summer Solstice is approaching, the day when the sunlight lasts the longest and the dangers of being out in the world, exposed to the harsh rays, is greatest. As is their way, Clan Firefox has once again chosen two representatives to travel to Moon’s Rest and make an offering to the Goddess to bring the moonlight back.
No one is surprised that Pomegranate will be making the journey.
But everyone is shocked when Honeycomb is selected, and no one more so than Honeycomb herself.
And, as they set out on their journey, all Honeycomb can see is the memory of harsh solar rays and burning fires…
Maybe during this journey, these two young women can find more than they ever thought to seek…
Live Like There’s No Tomorrow by Tris Lawrence
Middle-school student Jackson is not particularly upset about his cancer; the doctor’s assure him he’ll recover, and his biggest concern is that his friends will be a grade or more above him by the time he’s able to get back to school.
Well, that and that he’s sure that his mother is keeping a secret from him, but he can’t figure out what that secret is and she’s not talking about it.
Solarpunks: Viva la Revolución by J. D. Harlock
The future is perfect, with strong community ties, collective ownership, plenty for all, and an ideal balance of private life and public life.
In such a setting, what’s a group of bored teenagers to do to shake up the order of things?
Sami, Ros, and Amara aren’t sure…but Sami has a plan.
Of Loops and Weaves by Catherine E. Green
Robin loves to sit in the local coffee shop, crocheting a sweater for her friend Dee, who she hopes will become more than a friend.
She doesn’t expect to need to frog a chunk of project.
And she really doesn’t expect Dee to walk in on her doing so…
More Than We Deserve by Nicola Kapron
Every year, the employees of The Winterborne Group have to fill out Form 301-A, checking off boxes related to gender and sexuality to enhance the megacorp’s diversity numbers.
This year, Dice uses this opportunity to finally, after years of passing, tell the company he’s trans.
That’s not the problem.
The problem is that Grey, Dice’s favorite company-owned Horizon super soldier, has asked for Dice’s help completing his Form 301-A.
Want them all? But of course! The June 2023 Bundle offers all six of the above titles in one convenient purchase, yours at a discount!
Only Three Days Left to Back Our Kickstarter!
Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s The Three Musketeers
The crowdfunding campaign for our next anthology, Aim For The Heart, concludes on Saturday, July 15th at 10:15 AM Eastern time. Over the past month, we’ve shared lots of amazing story teasers, artwork trims, and merch pics, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the response we’ve had. As of July 7th, our campaign has reached it’s funding goal! So, this project will definitely be coming to life, and we anticipate listing it on our website during the winter. However, you’ll get your copy much sooner if you back now, and with your help, we can reach our stretch goals and give all our contributors a raise (and there are some great perks for backers, too)!
Don’t forget to check out our add-ons while you’re there – this campaign includes a lot of print books and merch left over from past campaigns, things not available anywhere else and that are in short supply.
2023 Pride Bundle
14 Great Stories, 1 Easy Bundle, 2 Fantastic Causes!
We’re celebrating the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots by offering this bundle of 14 of our general imprint titles for the discounted price of $19.69! Approximately 35% of the proceeds from this bundle, given on behalf of the Press and of select authors who chose to donate their royalties, will be combined with the a share of the proceeds from our Erotica Bundle sales and divided between two charities: The Ali Forney Center and the Transgender Law Center.
So grab yourself a bundle, get some wonderful reads, and support a queer-owned business and queer charities! Does it get any better than that?
Become a Patreon Backer, Get Free Stories!
Did you know that backers of our Patreon get free stories? Well now you know! Every single month, all our backers get a free, fluffy, general imprint story, perfect for warming the heart. And, if one just isn’t enough, the benefits only get better – backers at the $7/month level get up to 5 stories a month, backers at the $10/month level receive up to 6, and backers at the $25/month level get as many short stories as they want from our catalog! And that’s aside from all the other awesome extras, behind-the-scenes information, Discord access, voting opportunities to influence anthology themes, and more, that we offer to people who support us on the regular!
You can learn all about the benefits by visiting our Patreon page!
Or, read on and learn about our two most recent reward stories… (only 2 of the over 25 stories that a new backer can read instantly!)
A Cup and Company by A. J. Ash
Meet Zoe and Rae as they meet each other on a tough, rainy day. This sweet f/nb getting together is the perfect piece to sweeten your day!
Waiting for the Tide to Turn by Genevieve Maxwell
We’re over the moon to welcome first-time author Genevieve Maxwell with this debut story, Waiting for the Tide to Turn – an adorably, incredibly fluffy best-friends-to-lovers modern f/f story!
Read to the end to find out what we’ve got in the works? I’m impressed by your perseverance! We’ve got a lot going on, and there’s more to come…
- our next anthology, Aether Beyond the Binary, will be crowdfunding in the fall. Mar Spraggen just finished the cover art, so be on the look out for the cover reveal!
- July will feature new short stories by J. D. Harlock, R. L. Houck, K. B. Vimes, and Lyn Weaver!
- the Twinned trilogy by Tris Lawrence will be coming to crowdfunding soon, complete with an all-new edit of the first book in the series, Commit to the Kick. This series of modern-with-magic stories focuses on Pine Hills University as the students there weather the changes brought to the world by the Emergence of Talents in the modern US.
- the debut novel by author Adrian Harley, Many Drops Make a Stream, will be coming out shortly! This fantasy novel focuses on a quest to rescue a kidnapped friend, with a great quarrelers-to-lovers f/f romance brewing in the background.
- we’re also almost ready with a re-edited re-release of A. L. Heard’s beer league hockey romantic m/m story, Hockey Bois. Beware, here there be slow burn!
- this fall, we’ll be doing a print run of the novella To Drive the Hundred Miles by Alec J. Marsh, a f/m modern story focused on a young man coming home for the holidays, and his struggles to get his relatives to accept him as he is.
- …and that’s not even everything!
So be on the look out – there’s lots of great stuff to come, and following our newsletter will help ensure you don’t miss a thing!
Thanks for all your support, and we hope you’re having a wonderful summer or winter, and keeping as hot or cool as your preference dictates! 😀
Claire Houck, Owner, Duck Prints Press