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Bedside Press, the acclaimed Canadian publisher headed up by Hope Nicholson, is launching a new initiative to mentor a number of comic book creators on methods of funding projects through crowdfunding or received grants, with the potential of a full Bedside Press release on the table.
The publisher, which is dedicated to promoting and publishing new voices as well as publishing historically important works — such as the 1986 crime novel featuring the first out lesbian detective protagonist — has its own history of assisting outside creators with Kickstarter and publishing projects, including Maiden, Mother, Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes and Moonshot: An Indigenous Comics Anthology.
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Outside of that, Bedside has collaborated with publishers including IDW Publishing, Dark Horse Comics — which worked with Bedside to publish the Margaret Atwood-written Angel Catbird series — and ComiXology Originals. In addition to receiving multiple Canada Council of the Arts grants, Bedside Press has been nominated for the prestigious Will Eisner Comic Awards on two occasions.
Projects already accepted into the first round of the new initiative include Broodhollow, collecting the webcomic about an anxious man in a town filled with monsters by Kris Straub; Jed the Undead, a YA graphic novel about a zombie just trying to live his life, by Andi Santagata and edited by former Oni Press editor Desiree Wilson; Awkward Pause, which collects strips from Ryan Harby’s Honey Dill webcomic; romance/SF anthology title Gothic Tales of Haunted Futures, curated by S.M. Beiko; and The First Saturday in May, a photobook featuring in-depth looks at fashion worn at the annual Toronto Comic Arts Festival, curated by Tia Vasiliou. More titles will be announced in the near future.
“As a Kickstarter Thought Leader alumni, I often helped campaign creators succeed by offering guided advice,” Bedside founder and publisher Nicholson said in a statement. “As a publisher, I know that I’m in a privileged space with access to worldwide markets. With many talented creators who have pitches rejected by other publishers, and others with fully self-financed books who lack distribution access, I want to use my resources to lift these books out of limbo and have them on bookstore shelves.”
Those interested in submitting for future rounds are invited to email submissions@bedsidepress.com, with Nicholson and Bedside Press promising that all pitches will receive feedback, even if not accepted into the mentorship or publishing programs.
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