I’m excited to introduce y’all to Wild Blue Wonder Press, a new publishing house founded by historical romance author Kellyn Roth! Read on to learn more about this new business and the opportunities it offers.
What is Wild Blue Wonder Press?
Wild Blue Wonder Press was established in January 2016 by Kellyn Roth for the purpose of independently publishing her historical women’s fiction series, The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy.
Based on a special location on her family’s property and a childhood stumbling over phrases, Kellyn chose the name to evoke feelings of wonder in a world full of dark valleys. After all, where there is snow and ice, there will be chickadees, and in the midst of the darkest woods, you can often find a cozy cabin.
As of January 2023, Wild Blue Wonder Press is beginning to work with other creatives to expand its outreach and help more independent writers achieve their dreams in a professional manner.
Wild Blue Wonder Press’s 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.
At present, we are specifically focusing on women’s fiction aimed at a “new adult” Christian audience. Our ideal reader is a young woman navigating life as an adult and asking big questions along the way. We tackle topics such as mental health, sexual sins, past trauma, and more in a godly light while also showing the positive hope that comes from healing through Jesus Christ.
What is the end goal here?
From Kellyn Roth, our founder:
“Wild Blue Wonder Press’s anthologies will be different from other anthologies/collections in that we are more interested in partnering with indie authors than we are in the stories themselves (though of course that is a big part of it). We want to support writers of quality fiction, but our focus is different. It starts with the AUTHOR—not the story. In my opinion, an author’s story starts with their character and platform. We want to encourage indie authors to develop their personal story in a healthy, restful, and determined way that focuses on building a strong relationship with God and a godly life that includes the career of writing. This will look different for every author. Sometimes we will simply partner through advice—other times we’ll help them get a start through a collection or something similar—and sometimes we may help an author on every step of the process, including actually becoming the writer’s publisher! In time, we’ll expand to help more and more genres of authors, starting with westerns and romances in addition to our current women’s fiction/historical focus.”
Launch Date
The first short story anthology, Springtime in Surrey, will be accepting submissions starting January 1st, 2023. Which means we’ll be officially launched … January 1st, 2023!
Where can I find other information about Wild Blue Wonder Press?
Make sure you check out our website. On our website, we of course have an about page, but you’ll definitely want to read our statement of faith and anthology submissions pages! If you have any questions after that, feel free to contact us!
About Springtime in Surrey
You can find out about Springtime in Surrey on our anthology page. In particular, please see the “your submission” section to see what you will be submitting in January. (It’s not exactly your average collection of stories!)
There are also further submission guidelines and a Pinterest inspiration board available for the project.
The main idea is you’re pitching YOURSELF as much as your story (which does not have to be written—just outlined—at the time of submission.
Stories included in this collection will be:
Women’s fiction, generally aimed at young adult or adult audiences.
Vintage in style if not in setting.
Real-life characters & therefore real-life problems.
Heavy Christian themes.
May be historical or contemporary.
Featuring stories set in County Surrey, England.
Desired word count: 10,000-20,000 words. Flexibility may be available.
How to Submit for Springtime in Surrey
To submit for the collection, your story does not have to be completed—but you will have to submit a full synopsis, so if you are a pantser, it may be a good idea to write the story ahead of time. You can view our official submission page here. But here’s what you’ll submit:
An introduction to yourself, written in first person, which should include past writing experience, any details about your platform, and other applicable information you wish to share about your time as a reader, writer, and member of the “bookish community.” Note that beginners are welcome; however, it is helpful to know how much you have done, even if that answer is “practically nothing.” It’ll help us know how to help you!
A brief description of the types of books you enjoy writing or would like to write and a brief summary of your dreams for a writing career. This way we can understand better what your goals are.
A “pitch” of a short story idea that could theoretically fit into our collection. This does not have to be written. However, we want a full synopsis or rough outline that gives us the beginning, middle, and end of your story idea, a decent understanding of who your main character is and why we should care about them, and a brief summary of the main theme.
A snippet of a book, short story, or other piece of writing that you have worked on in the past, preferably something that has received no professional edits (edits from friends or family is fine!). At least 3,000 words preferred.
To submit the above, you can email the above in a PDF or Word Document to admin@wildbluewonderpress.com! Note that on the anthology page, you will find a link at the bottom of the page to view further submission guidelines that are worth the read!
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