Oct

New Digital Imprint Features Award-Winning Authors for Charity

One of the benefits of digital publishing is the open access to publication, which some purists would also argue can be one of its biggest drawbacks. Now that anyone can digitally publish, some authors are working to find ways to vet their titles and make those polished titles stand out to reading consumers. In this accessible digital era, then, a number of small press publishers who focus on digital-only or ebook-first has grown, offering authors the clout of a supervisory publisher and allowing readers to feel that these are titles that have been carefully groomed for publication.

So when Canadian publisher Fierce Ink Press Co-Op Ltd opened the doors on its digital-only YA genre publisher last month, it wasn’t hard to figure out what made this particular small press stand out: its focus on spreading hopeful messages to teen readers and its determination that teen-related charities would benefit from its titles, requiring that 20% of the net proceeds from all books sold be donated to organizations that serve young adults.

But unlike other digital-only imprints, Fierce Ink is focusing on non-fiction for teens aimed at serving as inspiration. Fierce Shorts, as the works are called, are short-form true stories aimed at young adults readers, ranging from between 5,000 and 15,000 words.

“Writing has given me a lot and Fierce Shorts offered me a way to give something back,” says author Gerard Collins in a release from Fierce Ink. “It’s not easy being a teenager. Sometimes a young person just needs to know that someone else gets it. I can’t think of a more important reason for me to write anything than to ease someone’s sense of being alone in the world.”

While Fierce Ink does accept submissions for full-length genre novels, Fierce Shorts accepts submissions for the long-form article pieces that speak to young adult readers. A complete list of upcoming award-winning titles can be found at FierceInkPress.com.

Mercy Pilkington (1129 Posts)

Mercy Pilkington is a young-adult author and a teacher in a correctional facility. She does not have a single textbook in her classroom. With the top-of-the-line technology at her disposal and the low reading ability of many of her students, there’s no need for standard paper texts. Instead she relies on e-readers, iPads, desktop PCs, Polycom video conferencing equipment for virtual field trips, live streaming for science demonstrations, and text-to-speech read-aloud software to teach English and science. Within the next ten years, public school classrooms across the country are going to look a lot more like Mercy’s classroom because the educational possibilities with these kinds of technologies are limitless. Have a question? Send an email to mercypilkington@yahoo.com