Great news: we’re a finalist for an award!! The 2025 IBPA Book Awards in the “Neurodivergent Communities” category selected The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters as one of three finalists! We’ll find out in mid May whether we’re a gold winner or a silver winner, but either way we’re so pleased to get this wonderful recognition.
We hope you’re enjoying your copy! If you loved it, it would help us immensely if you’d post a review where your friends or family can see it! If you’re not sure, Amazon and Goodreads are both fantastic options. Another great option is to go back in time and start a popular and award-winning blog where you can review The Neurodiversiverse glowingly in depth and feature it prominently!
We’re so grateful for all the support from our contributors, backers, and community that enabled us to bring this wonderful book to life.
The staff of Thinking Ink Press hopes this news brings a little spark of joy into your world, no matter what may be happening to it. 💖
In addition to editing, Liza handles several other crucial roles at Thinking Ink Press, all of which are informed by their editorial vision of inclusiveness. They develop author and artist contracts, manage our finances, and they’re our technology lead.
The Quick Grant funds were awarded to help cover the cost for Liza to attend IBPA Publishing University 2025 (Pub U). The Independent Book Publishing Association (IBPA) hosts this excellent publishing conference on an annual basis. This year, Pub U will be in St. Paul, MN in May 2025. If you’re also a publisher and going to be there, let us know so Liza can meet you!
Thinking Ink Press is eligible for this grant because of our fiscal sponsorship by the nonprofit organization Independent Arts & Media. We’d like to extend a big thank you to both CCI and IAM! We’re excited to receive this grant, and we’ll continue to look for more grants and opportunities.
Hello, science fiction fans! It’s awards season in the science fiction community, in which the Hugo, Nebula, and other awards collect eligible works for consideration – generally, stories and novels published in the previous year.
This year, Thinking Ink is proud to highlight the authors in The Neurodiversiverse: Alien Encounters, which was published in 2024, making them eligible this year! Among the pieces which are eligible for awards are:
Art
“She Weaves Her Web 1A”, an illustration by Edward Michael Supranowicz
“LoveHEART”, an illustration by Natasha Von
“Chatter”, an illustration by Barbara Candiotti
“Radar”, an illustration by Barbara Candiotti
“Resilience”, an illustration by Vincenzo Cohen
“Look”, an illustration by Barbara Candiotti
“Space Encounters”, cover art by Barbara Candiotti
“Skeleton in Roses”, an illustration by Natasha Von
“Soul Sisters in Autumn”, an illustration by Natasha Von
Poems
“When the Aliens Came”, a poem by Avra Margariti
“A Conversation with a Xotiran”, a poem by M. A. Dubbs
“McCarthy Knew”, a poem by A.J. Dalton
“Wi(d)th, De(p)th, Brea(d)th,”, a poem by River
“Our connected space”, a poem by Swarit Gopalan
“Drifting”, “Scanning”, “Flashin’ Out”, “Infection”, four poems by Chief Red Chef
“Hell No!”, four poems by Sid Ghosh
“Good Omens”, a poem by River
“Stopping for Fuel on a Starry Evening”, a poem by Crystal Sidell
“Flare to Brilliance and Fade”, a poem by J.D. Harlock
“Close Encounter in the Public Bathroom”, a short story-poem by Keiko O’Leary
Short Stories
“Music, Not Words”, a story by Ada Hoffmann
“The Grand New York Welcome Tour”, a story by Kay Hanifen
“The Pipefitter”, a story by Tobias S. Buckell
“Impact”, a story by Jasmine Starr
“Where is Everybody?”, a story by Anya Leigh Josephs
“Shadows of Titanium Rain”, a story by Anthony Francis
“The Interview”, a story by Brian Starr
“Someone different, like me”, a story by Daan Dunnewold
“Scary Monsters, Super Creeps”, a story by Cat Rambo
“These Things Never End Well”, a story by Maub Nesor
“First Contact”, a story by David Manfre
“The Space Between Stitches”, a story by Minerva Cerridwen
“Cadre”, a story by Sam Crain
“The Cow Test”, a story by Lauren D. Fulter
“Gamma Zaria”, a story by Gail Brown
“Where Monolithic Minds Can’t Travel”, a story by Akis Linardos
“The Zeta Remnant”, a story by M.D. Cooper
“Are We Human?”, a story by Brianna Elise
“A Hint of Color”, a story by Jody Lynn Nye
“Be Your Own Universe”, a story by Kay Alexander
“Navigational Aid”, a story by Holly Schofield
“Heart-Side Sometimes-Table”, a story by Madeline Barnicle
“Trading Partners”, a story by Jennifer R. Povey
“Greetings From Earth”, a story by R. S. Mot
“Close Encounter in the Public Bathroom”, a short story-poem by Keiko O’Leary
“Primordial Voices”, a story by J. L. Lark
“Tangible Things”, a story by Jillian Starr
“Meeting of the Branes”, a story by Kiya Nicoll
“Meaning Green, Unclear”, a story by Clara Ward
“The List-making Habits of Heartbroken Ships”, a story by Stewart C Baker
Note many of these poems are also stories – “A Close Encounter in the Public Bathroom”, for example, is not only a pantoum, it’s also a story, and “Stopping for Fuel on a Starry Evening” isn’t just a riff on Robert Frost, it’s also a story too! So please check them out when considering them for a nomination.
We’re excited to announce that we recently signed an agreement for a fiscal sponsorship with the nonprofit organization Independent Arts & Media (IAM)!
This arrangement makes us eligible for grants, lets us receive tax-deductible donations through IAM’s nonprofit structure, and gives us access to new tools, mentorship, and networking opportunities.
Our partnership with IAM will help us fulfill our purpose of publishing inclusive books. We’re still Thinking Ink Press and we’re not becoming a nonprofit.
Until this opportunity came up we didn’t even know what fiscal sponsorship was. Wikipedia has a longer explanation if you’re curious to know more.
We’d like to extend special thanks to our publishing mentor Johanna Vondeling, who recommended that we apply for a fiscal sponsorship and then helped us during the application process. Johanna became our mentor through the Innovative Voices Program at the Independent Book Publishing Association (IBPA). We learned so much from her! We also appreciate the support from Lisa Burger, the Executive Director at IAM, who answered our many questions and explained all the things that IAM offers.
Check out this cool new widget.
You can also see it in the sidebar on the right.
Clicking the widget takes you to our new Flipcause donation page, which accepts contributions to Thinking Ink Press using IAM’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. IAM will accept, process, and acknowledge contributions to support Thinking Ink Press made via this page. This includes issuing receipts for tax deduction purposes.
Buying Thinking Ink Press books and products—whether through our website, in person, or at bookstores—is still a great way to support our press and our authors directly. Thanks for buying our books! If you feel moved to support our purpose even more, now you can make a tax-deductible donation, thanks to IAM. Only donations through our fiscal sponsor are tax-deductible.
A diverse, hopeful book of neurodiversity-themed science fiction short stories, poetry, and art for anyone who loves science fiction, who cares about neurodiversity, or who wants to see optimistic visions of the future.
We will be developing three more original postcard designs for our Inspiring Quote Kickstarter campaign rewards. In the meantime, the sample tote bag and sticker arrived. Here’s a picture of them with a copy of Keiko’s book Your Writing Matters so you can get a sense of scale.
The original quilling & calligraphy art for the first quote postcard, by Julia Macek. Isn’t it beautiful?
Thanks to everyone who backed our campaign and helped us reach our funding goal and even a stretch goal!
Because the Kickstarter campaign succeeded, we are developing a set of four postcards with inspiring quotes for writers from the book Your Writing Matters by Keiko O’Leary. The postcards feature new original quilled art and calligraphy by award-winning artist Julia Macek, with art photography by visual designer Caroline Sanney. The campaign unlocked a stretch goal, to create bonus 3 x 4 inch vinyl stickers.
Once the campaign rewards are finished and sent out, we’ll announce when the postcards and stickers are available for everyone to buy.
The four quotes are:
You deserve to create what’s in you to create
Your writing matters. Your life matters. Your stories matter.
What you create could change someone’s life
Have faith that what you create could touch someone
We love sending postcards in the mail, and we’re so excited that these beautiful images are going to be available to inspire writers and creatives alike!
