What kind of publisher is Thinklings?

We answered the question "What is speculative fiction?" pretty quickly, but another question that seems to be coming up often is: "What kind of publisher is Thinklings?" We haven’t actually put a name to the type of publisher we are because there isn’t anyone else out there like us. But, since people like to be able to name things, and often use the established systems to do so, people often call us “indie” or “small press.” Thankfully, no one has confused us with the predatory vanity presses, which are publishers who have ads on TV (or elsewhere) trolling for unsuspecting writers. Everyone knows we aren’t traditional, so that must leave one of the other two: indie or small press.

​​But...we’re not either of those.

So we had a big brainstorming session last week to settle on specific nomenclature for our type of publisher. Our idea has always been that we want to make a publisher that can handle the needs of the modern writer, like help with social media presence.

After terms like “hybrid,” “IDK,” “unique,” “yo mama,” and a million others were thrown out, we were finally hit with the obvious: The publisher for a modern writer would be a modern publisher, duh! 

So Thinklings is a modern publisher for the digital, mobile age. 

If you want to read more about our business model and specifics on how we are different from the big New York City publishing companies, read our blog posts about diversifying our income and cutting our costs.

It can be hard to put exactly into words, but what we’ve set out to do is to be the kind of publisher that we would want to publish our own books. So here’s a list of what we want to do:
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1. Look out for the writer. Yes, Thinklings as a business has to make money, but we can make money without giving writers bad contracts.​
2. Provide support from other writers: foster a community where writers can help each other. Our authors consistently produce extremely top-notch stories, but the assistance we give them doesn't end with publishing their books. We understand that writing can be a lonely profession, and we believe that fostering a safe and supportive family environment is important. Here at Thinklings, it's crucial to us that we lift one another up by being positive, helpful, and encouraging. To combat the loneliness that's compounded in this age of disconnected social media, we offer ways to connect, such as the authors-only area that we’re currently setting up.
3. Include support from a loyal, involved community of readers who want to interact positively with writers. And to help our authors find more readers, we provide them with materials for their street team. What’s a street team? Read here to find out!
4. Offer help navigating the sticky waters of self-promotions, social media, and marketing. This is where our Platform in a Box comes in. We understand that writers are writers, not publicists. We want our authors to be able to spend as much time as possible working on their craft, and get as much out of their book-promoting efforts as they can. That’s why we’ve teamed up with marketing experts to put together Platform in a Box.
5. Provide ongoing education in marketing, writing, and publication. We are writers as well as editors and consultants. We keep up with the market, trends, and issues that arise. If you’re puzzled or stymied about anything in the biz, drop us an email at contact (at) thinklingsbooks (dot) com.
6. Offer multibook contracts. In dealing with self-published authors in my capacity as a consultant, I (Jeannie) have noticed that their most reliable income comes from series, not standalones. (We do publish and welcome standalone books too!) With series, we have a clause in the contract stating that if the first book in the series does not perform admirably, we can refuse publication, in which case the author would be free to publish the book elsewhere. It’s basically the same thing as first right of refusal. We don’t want to keep anyone’s books tied up indefinitely.

As you can tell from the above information, our top values and priorities are quality and community. We strive to provide the best product to our readers and the best service and support to our authors.

No publishing company is 100% perfect, but we believe our business model addresses the issues and meets the needs of modern writers. It’s about time someone started this #PublishingRevolution!

Jeannie Ingraham

Jeannie lives in a magic lamp with a dragon and a pirate. Her author/editor/consultant website is www.jeannieingraham.com.

Sarah Awa

Sarah writes books about werewolves and lives with two hairy guys. Her debut novel is Hunter's Moon and her author website is www.sarahmawa.com.

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