Making a story of diversity and connection accessible—to share hope and a love for the ocean!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Hardcover Update, plus last week for 2 very important books!
15 days ago
– Thu, Oct 03, 2024 at 09:01:05 AM
Hi everyone, Chris here. I have some exciting updates for you:
Hardcover update:
First, the special-edition hardcover files have been sent off to the printer. Printing and binding will take about 6 weeks, then they will go to Clara and Matt for signatures.
And here is a preview of the book dust jacket!
The hardcover edition includes the all-new bonus story from Clara Ward, "A Grad Student's Guide to Micro-Dating" with new line art from Matthew Spencer.
Last week to pre-order two really important books:
If you'd like to support our other current work, we do have one week left on topics I know are dear to this group: Black voices, Ukrainian voices, and topics of mental health.
The first book is The Factory, a contemporary fantasy set in an old abandoned factory, written by the late author Ihor Mysiak. Ukrainians have told us that supporting and reading Ukrainian literature supports Ukraine, so we're doing our best to get that word out. Of note - we are not aware of any other novels that were translated from Ukrainian to English in 2024. You probably saw, Emily fought hard to make this book happen.
The second book is Songs for the Shadows, a book of grief and life and sonic magic, set in the Sauútiverse, a writer-owned shared creative world (think Wakanda-in-space, but not owned by The Mouse). We believe it is about to become a huge thing. We are publishing the first novella in this world, and are very excited about it. And if you listen to audiobooks, Songs for the Shadows will be produced in audio, read by the author (listen to a sample here).
Chosen Postcards, Clara Ward at Worldcon, and Production Update!
about 1 month ago
– Wed, Sep 11, 2024 at 08:00:34 AM
Hi!
This is Minerva with an update on the postcards.
Clara Ward summarised it this way:
The tentacles wave! The crab claws clap! All the Sea Creatures celebrate together as some are chosen for postcards, some remain paper-free, and all are friends because Minerva made them special Sea Creatures! (Did I just tack a Hopepunk ending onto a Chosen Ones narrative? Maybe?)
In other words: after running the Sea Creatures poll for over a month, we have now decided which of these Creatures will be represented on the Be the Sea Kickstarter reward postcards. Thank you very much to the 45 of you who voted!
Even with your help, it was a tough choice. In the end there were 4 Sea Creatures with the same number of votes who competed for the last 2 spots on a postcard. We of the Be the Sea Kickstarter team have seriously discussed our options, taking into account the varieties of Sea Creatures and the balance in styles within the set of postcards. Considering this was "just" a stretch goal reward for this Kickstarter, you can imagine how much work Chris is doing with all the actual rewards. A round of applause for him, please.
Yes, I do expect you to be clapping in front of your computer screen or at your phone now. Don't be shy. Extra cheering is encouraged; Chris will feel the love.
Now, the Chosen Sea Creatures are:
Floral Sea Horse, Dites-moi Hermit Crab, The Dragon at the Bottom of the Sea, Rainbow Tardigrade, Crochet Non-Binary Jellyfish, Watercolour Octopus, Flower-spotted Moray, and Galaxy Angelfish.
Do you like our final selection? Did your favourites make it? Let us know in the comments!
You can still visit all of the Sea Creatures from the campaign on this page.
Worldcon in Glasgow was amazing! I finally met six other members of my Atthis Arts community (from four different countries!) in person, and we celebrated together with cake, chocolate, and real in-person hugs. To add to the excitement, one of those people was Minerva (who made the amazing Sea Creatures above), and we both had stories published in an out-of-this-world anthology that launched while we were at Worldcon. The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters includes my hopes for human-sized hamster balls on ocean exo-planets and Minerva’s plans for astrophysical rescue crochet.
Still eager for more? You can see me online on Sunday, Sept. 29th, 2024 at Flights of Foundry (a free, all virtual convention) discussing “Climate Solutions in Science and Fiction” or listen to a recording of my June SFinSF discussion with Robin Sloan and Rudy Rucker.
On to Chris!
Production Update
Hey everyone. This is Chris with a production update.
On the audiobook side of things, Sam has completed the prep work necessary to start recording (understanding the plot/characters, testing out character voices, etc). I'm expecting to get the first batch of recorded chapters in the next week or so (super excited!).
On the hardcover side of things, we'll be doing the layout this month (to include the bonus story!), then get everything off to the printer in October. We're still looking at delivering the hardcovers in early December. The hand-colored special editions will take a bit longer :).
And finally, postcards! Now that we have the artwork selected, those will get printed and shipped when the books go out.
Thank you all for your support!
The whole Be the Sea team wishes you all the best.
BackerKit Surveys Going Out (from Worldcon!!)
2 months ago
– Thu, Aug 08, 2024 at 05:57:50 AM
Surveys will be going out over the next day via BackerKit. If you are a first time Kickstarter backer, you can think of your survey as a final check-out to confirm your pledge level rewards and to download your digital items.
The Be the Sea e-book will be available to download immediately after filling out your survey (click the button that says "Get Your Digital Downloads" that shows up after you click "Place My Order"). Any other digital bundle items will be available within a day or two after submitting your survey, except for the Be the Sea audiobook which is still on track to be ready in Nov/Dec. Be the Sea paperback copies will be shipped out in late August. Hardcover and print bundle books will be shipped in Nov/Dec when the hardcover is finished.
Atthis Arts at Worldcon!
We are all so excited to be at Worldcon this week in Glasgow, Scotland. Emily and Chris are excited to be joined by Clara Ward, Minerva Cerridwen, Ava Kelly, Gregory A. Wilson, and Joyce Chng (author of the upcoming title Wolf's Path). After Glasgow, we'll be joining Gregory A. Wilson in London for a special live D&D event at the historic Omnibus Theatre, where Greg will be DMing a group of adventurers through the Forbidden Library!
Minerva Cerridwen, E.D.E. Bell, and Clara Ward at Worldcon Glasgow
Vote for Your Favourite Sea Creature!
3 months ago
– Tue, Jul 23, 2024 at 08:57:06 AM
From Sea - to Space! (And where's Emily been?)
3 months ago
– Sun, Jul 14, 2024 at 01:28:23 PM
Hello, Emily here! If you don't know me, I'm the executive editor here at the press. If you do know me (some of you have been with us a long time), you'll notice I wasn't around this campaign much. Well. I need to seriously, seriously, thank Minerva for making this happen. I was completely overloaded, but the readers wanted a hardcover and an audiobook, and Minerva stepped in to make it happen without delays. I'm thrilled by the success! Thank you so much! There was, as you saw, a whole enthusiastic team - but Minerva played the role of Emily this time, and xe was way cuter and cooler too. (I was living for the Sea Creature of the Day.)
In addition to that thanks, I'd like to make sure you see there is an awesome campaign ending soon for a collection in e-book and paperback. Stories and poems in space. Around 50 of the best writers in the business. And ... four of these writers are on my "auto-read" list and I need to tell you, I have a very short auto-read list. (And I haven't read work by quite a few of the writers in this, so who knows who else I'll fall in love with! And you might too!)
No worries at all if this would be an emotional or financial hardship, or any other such thing, but if you can - I sure love the visual of a bunch of queer sea creatures flying into space to get this funded before it gets too close to the end! ~ microbes, fishies, and other wigglies - activate! ~
