As of 2017, we have a new initiative.
Without further ado, we unveil…
The Book Smugglers Publishing Novella Initiative
Starting in 2017, we are publishing a number of Speculative Fiction novellas per year, alongside our short stories, anthologies, and other works. They say “Novellas are the new novels” and we have embraced the concept: from Fantasy to Science Fiction, from Horror to Romantic Comedies, our novellas run the gamut of genres and formats (YA, Adult) all continuing our stated mission to publish diverse stories. Our initial line-up include:
Keeper of the Dawn by Dianna Gunn:
“Fast paced and richly imagined.” — Teen Vogue
Sometimes failure is just the beginning
All Lai has ever wanted is to become a priestess, like her mother and grandmother before her, in service to their beloved goddess. That’s before the unthinkable happens, and Lai fails the trials she has trained for her entire life. She makes the only choice she believes she can: she runs away.
From her isolated desert homeland, Lai rides north to the colder, stranger kingdom of Alanum—a land where magic, and female warriors, are not commonplace.
Here, she hears tales about a mountain city of women guardians and steel forgers, worshiping goddesses who sound very similar to Lai’s own. Determined to learn more about these women, these Keepers of the Dawn, Lai travels onward to find their temple. She is determined to make up for her past failure, and will do whatever it takes to join their sacred order.
Falling in love with another initiate was not part of the plan.
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Kindle | Paperback
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Reenu-You by Michele Tracy Berger:
“Compelling.” — Black Girl Nerds
New York City, August 1998. On a muggy summer day, five women wake up to discover purple scab-like lesions on their faces—a rash that pulses, oozes, and spreads in spiral patterns. City clinic doctors dismiss the women’s fears as common dermatitis, a regular skin rash. But as more women show up with the symptoms, one clear correlation emerges–an all-natural, first-of-its-kind hair relaxer called Reenu-You.
As the outbreak spreads, and cases of new rashes pop up in black and Latino communities throughout New York, panic and anger also grow. When the malady begins to kill, medical providers and the corporation behind the so-called hair tonic face charges of conspiracy and coercion from outraged minority communities and leaders across the country.
At the heart of the epidemic are these five original women; each from different walks of life. As the world crumbles around them, they will discover more about each other, about themselves, and draw strength to face the future together.
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Amazon:
Kindle | Paperback
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Smashwords
Kobo
Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw:
“Cassandra Khaw’s Bearly a Lady is like the most adorable piece of candy you’ll ever eat, quippy notes of tart hilarity balancing perfectly with big-hearted sweetness—my only regret is that it’s not longer, for I wish to consume a whole bag of this werebear-flavored treat.”
— Sarah Kuhn, author of Heroine Complex
Zelda McCartney (almost) has it all: a badass superhero name, an awesome vampire roommate, and her dream job at a glossy fashion magazine (plus the clothes to prove it).
The only issue in Zelda’s almost-perfect life? The uncontrollable need to transform into a werebear once a month.
Just when Zelda thinks things are finally turning around and she lands a hot date with Jake, her high school crush and alpha werewolf of Kensington, life gets complicated. Zelda receives an unusual work assignment from her fashionable boss: play bodyguard for devilishly charming fae nobleman Benedict (incidentally, her boss’s nephew) for two weeks. Will Zelda be able to resist his charms long enough to get together with Jake? And will she want to?
Because true love might have been waiting around the corner the whole time in the form of Janine, Zelda’s long-time crush and colleague.
What’s a werebear to do?
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Temporary Duty Assignment by A.E. Ash:
“Ash writes fast paced and futuristic sci-fi romance that will hook you from the very first line.”
— HEA USA Today
From the author of Luminous comes a high stakes sci-fi romance.
Samantha Gao is an elite Metro soldier, dedicated to the job and to her team. But following a devastating mission, Sam is handed a new temporary duty assignment. On paper, she’s supposed to babysit a Metro tech-inspector during a routine evaluation of Greenerhouse seed colony’s corporate sponsor. Sam expects to be on duty at all times, ready for whatever comes. But what she didn’t expect was to see him—Caleb—again.
Caleb Estes is an engineer at Greenerhouse and cannot believe his luck when his first love, Samantha Gao, walks into his lab—and back into his life. It’s enough to make him believe in second chances after all.
But Sam and Caleb’s reconciliation will have to wait when the routine bodyguard job goes sideways, and the future of the seed colony itself is at stake..
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Girl Reporter by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Sharp, witty, and wrenchingly heartfelt, this is the brilliant Tansy Rayner Roberts at her sparkling best” – Stephanie Burgis, author of Kat, Incorrigible and The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
From the award-winning author of Cookie Cutter Superhero and Kid Dark Against the Machine comes a brand new novella about girl reporters, superheroes, and interdimensional travel
In a world of superheroes, supervillains, and a machine that can create them all, millennial vlogger and girl reporter Friday Valentina has no shortage of material to cover. Every lottery cycle, a new superhero is created and quite literally steps into the shoes of the hero before them–displacing the previous hero. While Fri may not be super-powered herself, she understands the power of legacy: her mother is none other than the infamous reporter Tina Valentina, renowned worldwide for her legendary interviews with the True Blue Aussie Beaut Superheroes and her tendency to go to extraordinary lengths to get her story.
This time, Tina Valentina may have ventured too far.
Alongside Australia’s greatest superheroes–including the powerful Astra, dazzling Solar, and The Dark in his full brooding glory–Friday will go to another dimension in the hopes of finding her mother, saving the day, maybe even getting the story of a lifetime out of the adventure. (And possibly a new girlfriend, too.)
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A Glimmer of Silver by Juliet Kemp
Jennery is floating on xyr back when Ocean speaks for the first time. Just three days away from freedom, all Jennery has ever wanted to do was become a musician—because if you reach sixteen and Ocean hasn’t spoken to you once, then you can pursue a different life instead of becoming a Communicator.
But Ocean speaks to Jennery—only to Jennery. And Ocean is angry. And when Ocean is angry, bad things happen to the humans who have colonized Ocean’s world. Jennery must choose whether to listen or to swim away.
A Glimmer of Silver is a novella about responsibility, growing up, and what happens after first contact.
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Paperback
Accelerants by Lena Wilson
Spring, before
When Lucy is six years old she finds two things that will change her life forever: she is an Omni that can control fire, and her power is deadly. Under the sharp watch of her secretive father, Lucy is confronted with the consequences of the worst mistake of her life every day. On the eve of her eighteenth birthday, things finally seem like they are getting better—with the promise of freedom at college on the horizon, and the dream that Jessa, the girl of Lucy’s dreams, might reciprocate Lucy’s feelings. But in an instant, everything changes.
Winter, now
Incarcerated and stripped of her rights, Lucy’s new world is behind locked gates and antiseptic interrogation rooms. Like other Omnis, Lucy is separated from her family, seen as a criminal for trying to live with other humans, and locked away—possibly forever. But Lucy and her fellow Omnis aren’t going quietly into submission.
Accelerants is a novella about first love, cold-hearted betrayal, and the implacable truth that sometimes you have to burn it all down.
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Paperback