We publish compact, extraordinary fiction and non-fiction for discerning genre nerds. Join us if you love fantasy, crime, sci-fi, and horror.
Chapbooks, collections, novellas, & short novels are our jam.
If you're in Victoria and a fan of spooky things, Jason Nahrung will be part of Ballarat's Vampires After Dark on Friday the 13th of September.
Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1017885019885488
Can't make it to Ballarat for the event? Grab a copy of the ebook or paperback here: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/cruel-nights/
When dating the living doesn't work out, Melanie invests in an EZ-Boyfriend: loyal, obedient, just a little bit undead.
This is just a taste of the Dead Ones Don't Hurt You, one of 12 incredible horror and fantasy tales from World Fantasy Award winner Angela Slatter.
What's your favourite story in the collection?
So, a little behind-the-scenes story: Sean Williams 'The Writer's Career Path' essay is the reason the writer chaps series exists.
Sean's book wasn't the first Writer Chap we accepted—that was a pitch from Angela Slatter that became 'You Are Not Your Writing'—but in turning that manuscript into a book I to got to thinking about the other outstanding writing advice writers had given over the years.
I read The Writers Career Path when I was just getting started as a fiction writer and referred to it constantly. Sean had it up on his website, and I'd link people to it whenever I thought it would be useful (and I talked to a lot of writers. It was constantly useful).
Then, one day, the link didn't work, The essay had moved on Sean's site, and soon wasn't there at all. But I *still* wanted to send people to read the essay.
So as we started planning to do our first chapbook of writing advice, I figured it couldn't hurt to ask Sean if we could gather up some of his outstanding advice and maybe get The Writers Career Path in front of a new audience.
Which got me thinking about all the other brilliant advice I'd received as a younger writer, much of it via hard-to-revisit blogs or presentations at festivals, and so I started making a list of all the other writing advice that meant something to me and reached out to the authors who gave it.
Check out The Writer's Career Path in Sean's mini-collection of essays, Eyes On The Stars: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/eyes-on-the-stars-writing-science-fiction-fantasy/
💀 LAST MONTH TO GET NO GOOD DEED FREE 💀
Have you been putting off downloading a copy of Angela Slatter's No Good Deed? This delicious slice of gothic fantasy is free to download at all good digital bookstores, but time is running out to get your copy.
The last day to get a free digital copy will be September 30, 2024, as we're currently laying the groundwork for a special edition release next year.
💀 Grab No Good Deed Today! 💀
Brain Jar Press Store: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/no-good-deed-a-sourdough-tale/
💀 BLURB 💀
Angela Slatter’s No Good Deed is a dark fantasy tale of magic, ghosts, and marriage set in her World Fantasy Award-winning Sourdough universe.
Isobel assumed her wedding would be the grandest day of her life, but when she wakes in a ghost-filled tomb still wearing her bridal veil, it’s clear events have taken an unexpected turn.
With the assistance of a vengeful spirit Isobel escapes her imprisonment, but her new husband Adolphus will not be pleased to discover his wife is alive. As Isobel comes to understand her husband’s darkest secret, the newlyweds begin a deadly dance that only one will survive.
This chapbook presents a stand-alone Sourdough story that does not appear in any of the three mosaic collections devoted to Slatter’s world of myth and magic, plus a chronology for all the publications that have appeared thus far.
🐦♥ Get 40% off The Birdcage Heart 🐦♥
Brian Jar's very first book, 'The Birdcage Heart & Other Strange Tales', is going out of print and we've got just nine copies left in stock. In order to clear the shelf space for upcoming releases, we're offering a massive discount on paperback copies sold via our store.
Get your copy here: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/the-birdcage-heart-other-strange-tales/
Not sure if this is your thing? Read a sample of the collection here: https://read.bookfunnel.com/read/zbwsermfy5
📚 Libraries used to be a safe space 📚
Meg Vann's 'Provocation' is a taut psychological thrillerthat asks how much we really know about the people we trust to keep us safe? Madeline Kyle is putting her life back together, throwing herself into a new library job and trying to leave her past behind her.
But a chance encounter with a library security guard threatens everything she's worked for, and nobody else trusts her instincts when she says danger's looming....
📚 AVAILABLE NOW 📚
Direct from Brain Jar Press: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/provocation/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PCBYQ52
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08PCBYQ52
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08PCBYQ52
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1548235748
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/provocation-15
Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/?id=bSoTEAAAQBAJ
Everywhere Else: https://books2read.com/Provocation
Or read a sample: https://read.bookfunnel.com/read/q9ti1erqjz
The delayed end-of-financial-year stocktake of Brian Jar Press, Eclectic Projects, and GenrePunk Books titles. We used to do this on the coffee table, but now it needs a larger space.
Can you spot anything you want to read in the chaos?
Are you signed up for Angela's newsletter yet? If not, now is definitely the time!
Now that the copy edits are in for The Crimson Road, I can start ticking other things off the very long catch-up list.
For example, writing the next newsletter and organising a giveaway of two witchy packs... Each contains a copy of The Briar Book of the Dead novel (), the novella Of Sorrow and Such (), and the No Good Deed chapbook ()... Oh, and a bone pen.
Please stand by as I get my ducks, owls, bats and cats in a row...
Also, to be in the running, sign up for the newsletter at my website! www.angelaslatter.com
Now that I'm home, I'm going to run a giveaway next week (with the next newsletter) for a copy of the UK version of The Briar Book of the Dead from (it has the gold foil), a copy of the chapbook "No Good Deed", and one of the "bone" pens that went out to influencers when we launched Briar Book earlier in the year.
Details to come, via the newsletter - so you should probably sign up for that at my website www.angelaslatter.com 🧡❤️.
When was the last time you got lost in a great short story?
**Watch your Inboxes**
Happy Monday, Friends. It's been a while between drinks, but the next edition of the Brain Jar Press newsletter will be hitting inboxes tomorrow.
No major announcements, but some behind-the-scenes news that might interest you if you're a Brain Jar fan.
Get the latest Brain Jar Press news here: http://brainjarpress.com/newsletter
When we published the Sourdough chronology in the back of No Good Deed back in 2021, the A.G. Slatter books from Titan were just a glimmer of hope on the horizon that Angela's world would keep evolving and growing.
Now there's a fourth book in 2025 and we're very, very excited.
Much excitement! Cover reveal for The Crimson Road and the opening chapter as a sneak peek. Thanks so much to Reactor for hosting and to for my gorgeous cover!! 💚💚💚
https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-the-crimson-road-by-a-g-slatter/
"Sometimes awards don’t mean much, but Angela Slatter’s accomplishments – a Shirley Jackson Award, a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, three Australian Shadows Awards, and eight Aurealis Awards – point to one thing very clearly: She’s a superb writer. She’s also a writer who is constantly pushing the envelope of what can be done with short stories, and her latest collection, The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings, shows Slatter firing on all cylinders."
Gabino Iglesias on Angela Slatter's The Wrong Girl and Other Warnings.
Find out more: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/the-wrong-girl-other-warnings/
What's this? A sudden surge of people buying Kathleen Jenning's TRAVELOGUES? Must be festival season in Australia :)
We can always tell when Kathleen's been doing public events, because it's followed by a bunch of newly charmed readers going out and buying her poetry collection.
If you're in Brisbane, keep an eye out for the launch of Kathleen's short story collection later this month (it's not published by us, but it is *outstanding*). You can grab tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/meet-kathleen-jennings-brisbane-square-library-tickets-887362443957
Can't make it to Brisbane? Well, it just might be time to revisit Travelogues and see the world through Kathleen's eyes for a moment.
Still need to grab a copy of Travelogues? https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/travelogues-vignettes-from-trains-in-motion/
Taking a quick look back at the first five Writer Chaps, collecting some of the best writing advice from Australia's cohort of outstanding speculative fiction writers.
Check out the full run of Writer Chaps here: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product-category/chapbooks/writer-chaps/
Winter is here in Brisbane and we're huddled in the office, clustered together with the feline editorial assistants for warmth. The perfect time to revisit an old favourite, no?
🔥🔥BLURB🔥🔥
Traversing the borderlands between terror and lush, fantastic beauty, Winter Children and Other Chilling Tales, Angela Slatter’s eighth collection of short fiction, gathers twelve tales of horror, the uncanny, and dark lament.
Here, you will find Lovecraftian terrors, Aussie vampires, fell magic, ancient wisdom, wayward children, and twisted moments of desire gone horribly wrong. From the otherworldly threats of “The Song of Sighs” and “Only the Dead and Moonstruck”, to the sand-blasted Australian outback of “Sun Falls”, to the shadowy secrets of the past in the “The Red Forest”, these tales are dark gems that will haunt you long after your first reading.
Originally collected in a limited edition, this publication brings the first-rate chills and nightmarish turns of Slatter’s imagination to a broader readership for the first time. Shortlisted for the Aurealis Award upon its original release, now’s your chance to find out why Stephen Jones has dubbed Angela Slatter ‘a powerful and eloquent voice in horror fiction.’
🔥🔥GET YOUR COPY🔥🔥
▪ Direct from Brain Jar: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/winter-children-and-other-chilling-tales/
▪ Everywhere Else: https://books2read.com/WinterChildren
Flashing back to 2021 and that very stressful run where we tried releasing books without a reliable computer or internet access.
Fortunately, lots of folks have discovered No Good Deed since then.
Have you? https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/no-good-deed-a-sourdough-tale/
A very happy book birthday to Cruel Nights by Jason Nahrung!
Australia’s master of undead horror returns with a grunge-soaked tale of love and vampirism that starts in 90s Seattle. Out now at your favourite bookshop.
https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/cruel-nights/
It's not officially out for two weeks, but copies of Jason Nahrung's CRUEL NIGHTS have arrived in the Brain Jar offices and we've started shipping pre-orders. If you want to get your copy a little early, hit up the Brain Jar Press webstore.
https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/cruel-nights/
"Compelling, dark and bittersweet. I've never read, or loved, a vampire story quite like Cruel Nights. Nahrung takes familiar horror tropes and creates something completely new, injecting them with grunge, love and intrigue. It's extraordinary."
—Steven Paulsen, author of Shadows on the Wall and Dream Weaver.
CRUEL NIGHTS is out in ebook and paperback on May 21.
Have you pre-ordered you copy?
https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/cruel-nights/
Congratulations, Matthew R. Davis! BITES EYES is shortlisted for best collected work in the Australasian Shadows Awards for best collected work in horror.
"Slatter is one of the best short fiction writers out there, and this collection will hit the mark with her fans while also being a perfect introduction to her work for those who haven't read it yet. Don't miss it." —Locus Magazine on The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings
3 rules for surviving as a vampire:
▪ Rule 1: Keep moving so the hunters don't find you.
▪ Rule 2: You're a taker, not a giver.
▪ Rule 3: Don't fall in love.
Guess how many Charlie will screw up?
Advanced reader copies are (briefly) in the house!
Pre-orders for Jason Nahrung's incredible vampire novella, CRUEL NIGHTS, are now open! Harkening back to the days of grunge and undead, this books delivers everything you loved from the vampire boom while also asking what those characters would be like as the new Millenium wore on.
Cruel Nights will be out on May 21, 2024.
💀💀Preorder your copy TODAY!💀💀
▪ Direct from Brain Jar Press: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/cruel-nights/
▪ Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/cruel-nights/id6477521862
▪ Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cruel-nights-jason-nahrung/1144827584
▪ Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/cruel-nights
▪ Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=8RDzEAAAQBAJ
▪ Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CV4YKSRV
▪ Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CV4YKSRV
▪ Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CV4YKSRV
▪ Books2Read (Covers All Ebook Retailers): https://books2read.com/BoneChimeSong
▪ Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/cruel-nights-jason-nahrung/book/9781922479662.html
💀💀BLURB💀💀
ustralia’s master of undead horror returns with a grunge-soaked tale of love and vampirism in ’90s Seattle.
Charlie died in Nevada, 1973, after seeing Led Zeppelin live on stage and making the wrong choice on the long drive home.
Corey meets him at a TAD gig seventeen years later and feels an immediate attraction. They both swear their night together will be a onetime thing, but neither can stay away.
Corey and Charlie spend two decades building a life together, a mortal and vampire in love, but there are some things Corey’s not willing to give up. She can move cities when Charlie’s eternal youth raises suspicion and she can rebuild her career as a music journalist after every disruption to their life, but as she gets older, it’s harder and harder to be satisfied with their nocturnal existence.
Then a moment of weakness delivers Charlie and Corey the one thing they never expected to have…and their relationship gets more complicated than either of them ever dreamed.
Happy release day to Joanne Anderton's The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories, out now in paperback and ebook! Dive into this award-winning book of exquisitely dark speculative fiction!
★★GET YOUR COPY★★
💀 Direct from Brain Jar Press: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/the-bone-chime-song/
💀 Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/.../the-bone-chime.../id6475968344
💀 Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../the-bone.../1114819581...
💀 Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/.../the-bone-chime-song-and-other...
💀 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=rxDkEAAAQBAJ
💀 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNMCWBTP
💀 Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CNMCWBTP
💀 Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CNMCWBTP
💀 Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CNMCWBTP
💀 Amazon DE: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CNMCWBTP
💀 Books2Read (Covers All Ebook Retailers): https://books2read.com/BoneChimeSong
💀 Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/.../the-bone-chime-song.../20912684...
💀 Booktopia: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the.../book/9781922479648.html
★★BLURB★★
In The Bone Chime Song & Other Stories, Joanne Anderton explores the darkness and the beauty of humans caught on the fringes and pushed to the very edge of the abyss.
Enter worlds where terrible secrets are hidden in a wind chime's song, where crippled witches forge magic from scrap, and the beautiful dead dance for eternity. With deities built from circuits and wires, sacrificial drought-ridden towns, and artists who dabble in bone and decay, every story plots a course from the gothic to the fantastic and winds its way back again.
Whether charting bleak futures or delving into the darkest of horrors, Anderton’s extraordinary talent weaves magic into every tale, presenting stories guaranteed to draw you in—and never let you go. Winner of both The Australian Shadows Award and Aurealis Award for best collection, The Bone Chime Song & Other Stories returns to entice a new generation of readers.
★★PRAISE FOR THE BONE CHIME SONG★★
“A fantastic collection from one of Australia’s best writers. This is dark, surreal, and wonderful.” - ALAN BAXTER, author of The Gulp
Are you feeling your resolution to get more writing done flagging as we hit the end of January? If so, may we suggest checking out Tansy Rayner Roberts' FROM BABY BRAIN TO WRITER BRAIN? Don't be fooled by the name—its great for new parents trying to figure out where writing fits into their new normal, but the advice works for any writer juggling priorities like work, family commitments, and more.
Today, we ask the important questions:
🐱How many times *do* you remove a cat from your suitcase when packing for a convention?
📘 How much space do you reserve for books on the return trip?
A very happy to Lee Murray's GOAL SETTING (LITERALLY) and Kirstyn McDermott's BRAID, both out today from Brain Jar Press.
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Taking a quick look back at the first five Writer Chaps, collecting some of the best writing advice from Australia's cohort of outstanding speculative fiction writers. Check out the full run of Writer Chaps here: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product-category/chapbooks/writer-chaps/
If you like your books digital and downloadable, we've got you. If you get nostalgic for beautifully designed paperbacks and chapbooks, we've got you too. If you like to write on a computer, or your phone, or in a notepad, or even an old school typewriter, we've got advice that will help you get where you're going. Brain Jar Press likes to look ahead with the way we use technology, but we're fans of many outstanding books that were written in the days before the internet was around. Our philosophy: take the best bits of both worlds, and produce the best books we can.
Two short story collections from a World Fantasy Award-winning storyteller. One low price.
Every now and then we pull open The Martial Art of Writing and play a little game we call "Is Alan Baxter talking about kung fu or writing in this excerpt?" The answer is almost always "both." The Martial Art of Writing is available now: https://www.brainjarpress.com/product/the-martial-art-of-writing-other-essays/
Kathleen Jenning opens her poetry collection, Travelogues, with a simple question, then demonstrates why you should watch the world rolling by with every line that follows.
There's only so much time to spend on things when you're a small, scrappy press like Brain Jar. Given the choice between great looking books and great looking video, we opted for the books.
As we prepare for the release of Writer Chaps #5, Brain Jar publisher Peter Ball looks back at the Sean Williams essay—and the particular piece of advice—that eventually inspired the creation of the Writer Chaps line.
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