Q and A with Arcbeatle Press Founder James WYlder
Q: How was Arcbeatle Press founded?
A: I was just out of college, and had been working for Grail Quest Books for a while. Things had been tapering off with them, and I decided it was probably time to branch out on my own. I had put out a print version of my first ebook, and had been surprised with the reaction. After a lot of thought, I decided that maybe I wanted to do more than just self-publish, maybe I wanted to help other people get their stories into the world too. I had my first big hit with An Eloquence of Time and Space, and from there I was able to use that momentum to build to other things. My first novel, and finally, my first anthologies, bringing other writers into the fold and setting out on our great adventure together.
Q: What was the first book published by Arcbeatle Press?
A: It was my book of poetry Cascade, which I’d originally self published, and well, the only real difference between the two versions is one says it's from Arcbeatle Press. But it really was the thing that got it all going. I’d been feeling low about my work at that point, but people bought the book, and liked it, and it gave me the strength to keep on going.
Q: How did “And Today, You” come about?
A: I’d been thinking a lot about some of my own biggest fears, and working through them. While writing for some of our series I began to realise that some of our characters shared those feelings, or could understand them. There was a story there. I didn’t want to just tell a normal crossover story for our 10th Anniversary. If I was going to do a big crossover like this, I wanted it to have heart behind it. You can’t celebrate Arcbeatle Press properly without making something you really care about, after all.
Q: Do you have a favourite book or series you have worked on?
A: Picking favourites is really hard, we’ve done so many books I’m really proud of. I’ll sort of cheat here–my favourite book we’ve worked on is 10,000 Dawns: Poor Man’s Iliad. The experience of making that book, and getting to work with so many amazing talents who I’d respected for so long was incredible. Plus the huge amount of ambition involved in it paying off still astounds me–we really made a book that long and complex, and people liked it. I’ll always be proud of that one.
My favourite series we’ve done is Academy 27. It happened by pure chance, a whole ton of things we couldn’t anticipate all coming together and accidentally forming something that just… worked. It's really one of the most special experiences I’ve had working on a project, the energy behind it, the creative drive people had, and the wonderful stories that resulted from it. Plus, from my own contributions “Mania and Snow” is one of my favourite stories I’ve ever written, period. So it's always going to have a place in my heart.
Q: What are you most proud of at Arcbeatle Press?
A: How much we’ve persevered through hard times. And we’ve had a lot of them, but we’ve been so so lucky to have wonderful people who care about what we’re trying to do as a company who have given us support over the years. Too many to list. Their faith in us has helped us get through, and I’m so proud of how we’ve stuck together and pushed on.
Q: What have you got coming up later this year?
A: Well, we’re just on the edge of SIGNET, a really exciting project that James Hornby has been developing. I think folks are going to really love it. Academy 27 is also coming back for its second and final season of serial stories. Its some of our best work, and I’m really excited for people to see it. We also have the final volume of the Cwej Arc Editions that make Cwej’s story more accessible for readers, and I’m happy that it’s going to allow many new readers to experience his story. Oh–and there might be something fun for halloween, so keep an eye out.
Q: What can we expect to see from Arcbeatle Press in the future?
A: There’s going to be more Cwej, WARSONG, and 10,000 Dawns, as well as some new things. Torchfall is a project I really cannot wait to show off, and while its a bit far off right now, be on the lookout for Starlight Endeavours.
Starcatcher and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Maid will be coming back too.
Along with that, our podcast 10KFM is ongoing, and you should hear more from us in that space too.
Of course, aside from the names you recognise, one thing you can expect to see are some new things you don’t. That’s one of the things I love about Arcbeatle Press–we try new things. And even though that’s risky, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
A: I was just out of college, and had been working for Grail Quest Books for a while. Things had been tapering off with them, and I decided it was probably time to branch out on my own. I had put out a print version of my first ebook, and had been surprised with the reaction. After a lot of thought, I decided that maybe I wanted to do more than just self-publish, maybe I wanted to help other people get their stories into the world too. I had my first big hit with An Eloquence of Time and Space, and from there I was able to use that momentum to build to other things. My first novel, and finally, my first anthologies, bringing other writers into the fold and setting out on our great adventure together.
Q: What was the first book published by Arcbeatle Press?
A: It was my book of poetry Cascade, which I’d originally self published, and well, the only real difference between the two versions is one says it's from Arcbeatle Press. But it really was the thing that got it all going. I’d been feeling low about my work at that point, but people bought the book, and liked it, and it gave me the strength to keep on going.
Q: How did “And Today, You” come about?
A: I’d been thinking a lot about some of my own biggest fears, and working through them. While writing for some of our series I began to realise that some of our characters shared those feelings, or could understand them. There was a story there. I didn’t want to just tell a normal crossover story for our 10th Anniversary. If I was going to do a big crossover like this, I wanted it to have heart behind it. You can’t celebrate Arcbeatle Press properly without making something you really care about, after all.
Q: Do you have a favourite book or series you have worked on?
A: Picking favourites is really hard, we’ve done so many books I’m really proud of. I’ll sort of cheat here–my favourite book we’ve worked on is 10,000 Dawns: Poor Man’s Iliad. The experience of making that book, and getting to work with so many amazing talents who I’d respected for so long was incredible. Plus the huge amount of ambition involved in it paying off still astounds me–we really made a book that long and complex, and people liked it. I’ll always be proud of that one.
My favourite series we’ve done is Academy 27. It happened by pure chance, a whole ton of things we couldn’t anticipate all coming together and accidentally forming something that just… worked. It's really one of the most special experiences I’ve had working on a project, the energy behind it, the creative drive people had, and the wonderful stories that resulted from it. Plus, from my own contributions “Mania and Snow” is one of my favourite stories I’ve ever written, period. So it's always going to have a place in my heart.
Q: What are you most proud of at Arcbeatle Press?
A: How much we’ve persevered through hard times. And we’ve had a lot of them, but we’ve been so so lucky to have wonderful people who care about what we’re trying to do as a company who have given us support over the years. Too many to list. Their faith in us has helped us get through, and I’m so proud of how we’ve stuck together and pushed on.
Q: What have you got coming up later this year?
A: Well, we’re just on the edge of SIGNET, a really exciting project that James Hornby has been developing. I think folks are going to really love it. Academy 27 is also coming back for its second and final season of serial stories. Its some of our best work, and I’m really excited for people to see it. We also have the final volume of the Cwej Arc Editions that make Cwej’s story more accessible for readers, and I’m happy that it’s going to allow many new readers to experience his story. Oh–and there might be something fun for halloween, so keep an eye out.
Q: What can we expect to see from Arcbeatle Press in the future?
A: There’s going to be more Cwej, WARSONG, and 10,000 Dawns, as well as some new things. Torchfall is a project I really cannot wait to show off, and while its a bit far off right now, be on the lookout for Starlight Endeavours.
Starcatcher and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Maid will be coming back too.
Along with that, our podcast 10KFM is ongoing, and you should hear more from us in that space too.
Of course, aside from the names you recognise, one thing you can expect to see are some new things you don’t. That’s one of the things I love about Arcbeatle Press–we try new things. And even though that’s risky, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
