Ashley Eckstein announces Her Universe PressYesterday at New York Comic Con, actress and Her Universe geek fashion entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein announced the launch of Her Universe Press, a publishing line for “new and aspiring female writers to have their voices heard and to see their work professionally published.”

Her Universe Press is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at helping members of the fan community fulfill their own creative potential. The Her Universe Fashion Show at San Diego Comic Con is perhaps the most well known of such efforts, giving designers in fandom a chance to flaunt their own talents and even to design their own styles for Her Universe — another is the popular Fangirl of the Day.

Through these and other means of outreach Her Universe has succeeded in bridging the gap between celebrity creators and the broader geek community – even as Ashley is featured in NYCC announcements for Star Wars Rebels and DC Super Hero Girls, she continues to provide new opportunities for fans to step into the spotlight themselves.

3 COMMENTS

  1. That does appear to be where they are now, but I wouldn’t count out graphic novels in the future. Her Universe is savvy in its openness to opportunity.

    More generally, Her Universe, like NYCC itself, falls within the broader ambit of geek culture, though there are multiple links to the comic world — it has the Marvel license, an animation connection (Studio Ghibli) as well as multimedia brands that have appeared or currently appear in comics, such as Star Wars.

  2. Today’s press release — note that the first book will have illustrations.

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    From Fashion to Publishing – Her Universe Expands its Reach

    Actress & Entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein and Her Partner, The Araca Group, Launch Her Universe Press

    New Her Universe Publishing Imprint will Provide Fans with Books Written by

    New and Established Female Authors

    NEW YORK, NY – October 13th, 2015 – Groundbreaking fangirl fashion company, Her Universe, and its founder, Ashley Eckstein, announced Saturday in a special panel at New York Comic Con that the company is expanding its reach by launching a new publishing program under an imprint called Her Universe Press. The imprint will build its readership on the company’s wide audience of fans and provide new and aspiring female writers the chance to see their original work professionally published. Focusing on the sci-fi and fantasy genres, the imprint will publish fiction and non-fiction for all age ranges with an emphasis on the tween, young adult market. Her Universe Press will be seeking to publish female authors who write empowering stories with positive messages and a focus on strong female protagonists. Each book will be marketed and promoted by Her Universe and by Ashley Eckstein personally through social media, events and promotions. Titles by Her Universe Press will be available through major booksellers, such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, as well as on eBooks through Audible and iTunes. The first two books will be released spring/summer 2016.

    For its publishing program, Her Universe is teaming up with Permuted Press, a company owned and operated by a team of dedicated publishers with over twenty years of experience including overseeing nearly 25 New York Times bestsellers. Established in 2004, Permuted Press has published over 400 works as an industry-leading independent publisher of sci-fi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic and horror fiction. Permuted Press continues to enhance its reputation by publishing an even wider range of high-profile books via various partnerships with leading editors and content curators.

    “I’m so excited to finally announce Her Universe Press,” said Her Universe Founder, actress and voice of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels’ Ahsoka Tano, Ashley Eckstein. “Her Universe continues to expand because of our wonderful community and passionate fans. It is truly a group effort by fans wanting their voices to be heard. I felt that Her Universe Press was necessary because so many fans were presenting me with their manuscripts with no professional outlet or opportunity to publish their work. I’m thrilled to be able to provide a platform for these stories to be told via books, entertainment, merchandise and beyond!”

    “We’re truly excited to be extending the Her Universe brand,” said Michael Rego, Chief Executive officer of The Araca Group. “From the beginning, we wanted to create a community for fangirls that went beyond just fashion and this is yet another step in that direction with our new publishing program.”

    “This is a tremendous opportunity for Permuted Press to come together with this high profile brand,” said Anthony Ziccardi, Publisher at Permuted Press. “Ashley and Her Universe are well known for catering to a very specific audience that we believe is underserved in the area of female-focused fiction. I’m convinced that Her Universe Press will receive a strong reception from this group of enthusiastic readers.”

    The first title from Her Universe Press, announced at New York Comic Con, will be book one in a series created by new author Anne Convery and Eckstein, written by Convery with illustrations by Dave Filoni (Supervising Director on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Executive Producer of Star Wars Rebels). The Confidence Chronicles, set in an alternate universe gold rush California, is a steampunk fantasy featuring twelve-year-old Adelaide Lenihan, whose grit, energy and obsession with all things mechanical lead her along with her automatic owl, Eureka, to uncover exciting and sometimes chilling secrets in her own home town. Mining, mystery and mayhem in this first installment set the stage for Addy’s fantastic adventures from west of the Sierra Nevada to east of the Mississippi and beyond.

    The second book is titled Weirdest by author Heather Nuhfer – a writer specializing in all-ages material who has worked on such well-known comic book titles as My Little Pony, Fraggle Rock, The Simpsons, Vampire Diaries and Wonder Woman. Weirdest is the story of thirteen-year-old girl who, in her desperation to be the coolest in her school, makes a wish and, as a result, has her strongest emotions physically manifest themselves in weird ways. Her powers run haywire as she tries to solve the mystery.

    Writers, new and established, wishing to submit their ideas and synopses for consideration by Her Universe Press should go to: http://www.heruniversepress.com

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