From pioneering the hybrid publishing field to managing the publishing journey of hundreds of authors, our publishing team has been hard at work solidifying She Writes Press, SparkPress, and SheBooks as the gold standard in independent publishing.

In honor of SparkPress’s 6th birthday, we’re celebrating six of our biggest publishing firsts. We invite you to wish our sister press, She Writes Press, happy 7th  birthday by reading about the 7 ways we are trailblazing the publishing industry.

1. Our catalog hits 100 titles

It is a banner year for us as our list of titles continues to grow. In 2019, we celebrated the SparkPress catalog adding its 100th title! Thanks to the success of our talented authors and our dedication to producing engaging, high-quality books, our list is now booked through Fall 2020. 

2. Awarding the first STEP contest recipient

In 2018, we took a step towards inclusion with the She Writes Press and SparkPress Toward Equality in Publishing contest, which offers a publishing contest to women of color writers. We awarded two STEP winners, one of which to be published by SparkPress in spring 2020: Yodassa Williams for her YA title, The Goddess Twins. The second annual STEP contest just closed its submissions on July 1, 2019, and we will pick a winner this summer for our Spring 2021 lists.

3. Hybrid publishers get new standards from Independent Book Publishers Association

In 2018, SparkPress and She Write Press Publisher Brooke Warner spearheaded the first effort to standardize hybrid publishing in her role as Chair of the Advocacy Committee of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA). These efforts helped to establish important guidelines for the publishing industry and authors alike. This was a huge step forward for “hybrid publishing,” a term that Brooke Warner elevated in the publishing industry in a 2014 Publishers Weekly article shortly after SWP was acquired by SparkPoint Studio.

4. Getting the Rights, Right

SparkPress has long acted as a springboard for authors to acquire traditional publishing agents. As an example, SparkPress published Colleen Oakes’s Queen of Hearts trilogy before Harper Collins acquired the rights; it’s since been optioned for film by Universal. SparkPress also published Susie Orman Schnall’s On Grace and The Balance Project before helping her secure a literary agent and publishing deal through St. Martin’s Press for her forthcoming novel. There are over 11 SparkPress authors that have gone on to get traditionally published deals, and who continue to be hybrid authors, publishing both traditionally and with the hybrid model. Since selling our first foreign rights in 2014, SparkPoint Studio has helped sell foreign rights for over 20 of our titles, audio book rights for over 25 titles, and TV and film rights for three titles. We hope that to see these books optioned for film, and when they do, we’ll meet you in the theater!

5. Sweeping the Awards Season for the First Time

One of the first books on the SparkPress list, 2012’s Girl Unmoored, earned 10 medals and finalist titles alone. In 2014, an array of SparkPress authors swept the awards season—and they have not stopped! In fact, SparkPress is one of the top-awarded indie publishing imprints in the industry, with over 160 accolades to date in nationally recognized contests like the National Indies Excellence Awards, USA Best Book Awards, Sarton Women’s Book Awards, Foreword INDIES, Readers’ Favorite, International Book Awards, IPPY Awards, IndieFAB Awards, Next Generation Book Awards, the Benjamin Franklin Awards, and more.

6. Acquisition of She Writes Press and Traditional Distribution

In 2014, SparkPoint Studio acquired the small, independent press She Writes Press and the world’s largest online writing community for women SheWrites.com.With the acquisition of a sister imprint, SparkPress was able to ramp up its publishing operations, including giving its authors access to the trade through SWP’s distribution deal with Ingram Publisher Services. With both imprints streamlined on the same publishing process and distribution, and by the same team, SparkPress has been able to thrive and grow with the added operations.