Why TKG Publishing Exists — TKG Publishing

So, you finished a book? That’s cool. What are you going to do about it?

I had the same thought. What was I going to do with it? I needed to publish it. But… like… how? I wanted to keep everything in one place, but also, I didn’t want the writing to stop with Seven Minutes, or my forthcoming titles after this and Cacotheosis. I didn’t want it to stop with just Teagan. I didn’t (don’t) want it to just stop.

After rejection letter number one, and five, and twenty, and a billion, I was starting to get discouraged. Not just discouraged, defeated. Seven Minutes existed, it was written, it was edited professionally (link to my editor below if you are looking for one), it was typeset, it was read and reread to ensure the story was just right. I had a beautiful manuscript and no one who wanted to take it. No way to get it out into the world, and more importantly no place to house it.

A traditional publishing option wasn’t for me. Self-publishing is a real option. Places like IngramSpark and Amazon’s KDP make it a real thing. I will get into the how in another post, but it is enough to say: I founded an LLC.

So, that is the why.

TKG Publishing is an indie publisher who seeks stories that tell something more than just the words on the page. Whether that is through the prose, the formatting, or the meta narratives, we seek stories. We take risks, and have a firm belief that all stories are worth telling, but TKG Publishing is ambitious in looking for the ones that break the mold. Sometimes that being told part requires some work to get the point of the story right, but a story that says something will move readers.

TKG Publishing, as an indie publisher, is not looking for the hot new trend. We want to publish things that tell the story that wants to be told. Sometimes that is something hot, but more often than not it is the thing that is not hot.

I founded TKG Publishing on a principle of the love for telling stories. The biggest reason we stick together is through shared stories: a myth everyone understands and accepts as real, within the context it lives in. A series that is beloved. The shared story about capitalism. The shared story of religion. Everything boils down to a shared story, and TKG Publishing wants to seek those stories.

I am here for the stories. So, yes, I am the author and the publisher, but that is what makes me unique. As an author I can seek those stories, instead of just profits. I can find the joy in what is created instead of just the bottom line.

I want to help people find that reason to write. Sometimes that isn’t about what is going to get that publishing deal with that big publishing company. Sometimes that just means sitting down and writing what you want to write. So, go, write something, anything. Stop seeking permission for your writing to exist in the world and forge your own path to make it exist in the world.

TKG Publishing believes in stories.

As a result, the best publishing company reviewed and approved Seven Minutes. No rejection letters, no well this won’t sell right now. And the reason why it’s the best? Because it’s mine. A story that transcends the narrative into the meta of what it means to tell a story. An archived queer love story, a system trying to hold everything together while corrupting, and an author holding on to something he already lost.

So, you wrote a book? That’s cool. Go make it exist.

Seven Minutes was edited by Odessa Taylor.