OUR STORY
Lights Out Ink is woman-founded, owned and operated, but also by authors, for authors.
Our leadership team is synergistic; a creative collective. We wish to barter expertise, support, and strengths in business, graphics, editing and marketing within a community that wants to redefine women’s fiction. We are inclusive (males welcome, of course) to allies of women.
We are seeking to share diverse voices from all walks of life, and unique stories with strong, complex female characters who are central to the plot, for an adult audience. As an independent publisher Lights Out Ink is a bridge between the stigma of self-publishing, and the overhead of traditional publishing.
Our books are curated, professionally edited and of high quality. Most importantly, they tell important stories.
MISSION
Our Vision
Growing up in the nineties, most of us were exposed to a host of complex art that vastly influenced our writing and personal styles.
Our influences included J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Juliet Marillier, Quentin Tarantino, Neil Gaiman, Mercedes Lackey, and Joss Whedon. Among these, there were few females. This is a reflection of the time and perhaps the genre, but our team grew up wanting to hear more from the female voice, to follow leaders that looked like us, to have role models that we could emulate, but not just as a female version of the male hero. In fiction, whether on the page or on a screen, one thing we noticed was that women were gaining strength as characters in their own right, but in largely typecast roles. A ‘tough’ character would be crammed into a leather bustier, while the overdressed ‘good girl’ would affect a sweetly smiling simper. Even in the better films, books, and TV shows, these women were more often than not accessories to male-dominated plots.
From the women-authored series we read, the characters — like Anne Shirley, or Elizabeth Bennet, or even Jo March — had big dreams. They had voices and spirit, but they never had the kind of adventure that they deserved to have. They were products of their time, but we needed more. What happened to Pippi Longstocking when she grew up?
We resolved that none of our female characters would ever be relegated to sidekick.
Our Mission is simple: strong characters deserve their own stories.
We curate creative fiction that features multi-dimensional female characters in typically male-dominated genres.
We know that a woman is every bit as complex and capable of driving an intricate plot as a male character.
Our first aim is to provide a vehicle for underrepresented authors to propel these narratives forward.
We want to use more environmentally-friendly means of publishing our catalogue, and hopefully help establish a trend among Indie Houses.
Lights Out Ink is on a journey, and we welcome you to join us on this adventure.
FOR BOOKSELLERS
BOUTIQUE BOOKS FOR SALE
We're a small Indie Press looking for Booksellers and Indie Shops to support our brand! We consider ourselves a 'boutique curator of published fiction' and are eager to team up with booksellers who share a passion for non-corporatized, quality fiction. Let's grow together!
At Lights Out Ink, we strongly believe in community. Ours is a small, tight niche carved from the highly monetized publishing industry. We are looking to branch out into stores, but aim to start where we ourselves shop for books— Boutique and Independent Booksellers.
Yeah, every author wants to see their books on the shelf at Barnes and Noble... but we're a little different. We want to support our local and small-town shops and businesses FIRST. We love Amazon and B&N and are happy to have our books available online on each site, but when it comes to shelf space, we'd rather make meaningful connections with readers like us.
The way we see it, we're a small business. We want to partner with other small businesses with similar goals.
UNIT PRICING
Our books are available in paperback or hardcover from our distributor at a 30-35% retailer discount. This is a great option if you require drop-shipping or distributor access. Our rates and averages are fixed with this option.
If you are looking to purchase a small number of books at a more significant discount, you may order books directly from Lights Out Ink. The discounts here are 40-45%, depending on the size of you order. With each package, we supply shelf talkers and book plates. If additional marketing materials are required, we can negotiate costs.
If you select the latter option, we encourage small orders from our various tiers (below). While we require that books at this level be prepaid to accommodate our grassroots budget, we do provide FREE SHIPPING for every order you make through us directly. Not too bad, when you think about it. Nearly half off retail price, and free shipping. We aim to make it easy for everyone.
*Return Shipping is unavailable at this time.
SMALL PRESS & BOUTIQUE BOOKSELLERS: A PERFECT MATCH!
You have a boutique book shop and we offer quality indie fiction at a discounted rate... let's hook up!
Lights Out Ink is based in the US, but sells internationally through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indigo, and more.
Contact us today to make some magic happen!
