Notes from the desk of the editor are offered in the interests of personal posterity and transparency for writers and other potential editors who wish to learn from my experience.
the editor
So many moving parts! This isn’t new. It does make it tough to write these behind-the-scenes updates sometimes, though. The idea of updating y’all on all that’s been going on is more overwhelming than the work itself, which is… a bit overwhelming, at times. Let’s see if I can’t do this by work category, in no particular order.
Audiobooks.
I released my first audiobook on 1 August 2025, a few weeks back. That Was Weird: Three Short Stories from Steve Capone, Jr. was narrated professionally by Calvin Swears, a talented voice actor and effective sound technician, and I’m very pleased with its outcome.
I’ve contracted Josh Innerst, another audiobook narrator, to produce the audiobook for my self-published espionage fiction YA book Max in the Capital of Spies. It should be done in early December. I’m updating the book itself in light of catching a few annoying things about sentence structure, uploading new files to the printer and distributor, and need to get this thing totally ready for my narrator by September 1st. Good luck, me. It’s not a huge amount of work, but it takes time.
I lacked the foresight to include rights for audiobook production with contracts for Costs of Living, but I did with Dread Mondays. I need to see how budgeting is looking in September before I consider contracting a professional to read and master Dread Mondays. If I want to do Costs of Living, I’ll need to reach back out and get contractual buy-in from each and all of the 35 contributors to the first anthology. That might happen. It won’t happen today.
Website.
I finished all major changes to the website early this month, and it’s lovely. I’m very happy with how things have turned out in switching to a static home page. As I discover things visitors might need that aren’t currently obvious and available, I’ll add those items. Right now, things are looking pretty good, though. Do you see anything (or rather, do you not see something) you think ought to be included on that home page?
Featured Stories, Novellas, & Calls for Submissions.
One item I added to the front page of this website is the “Submit! Submit!” button near the bottom. I’ve updated the “how to submit” page to which that button takes visitors with novella info. I’ve posted the open call to a few spots. What’s this about an open call, you ask? Well, I’ve signed three authors for late 2026 novella publications, and I want to line up a few more. I want to get one per month going for a six or so month window. That means finding two to three more authors’ manuscripts that demand publication with WHP.
I’m trying to be very careful about the brand. I want mundane horror, specifically, and I like horror with a socio-political commentary bent. We’ll see how it goes. It would appear that most of the people submitting novellas are not investigating what we usually publish. It’s annoying, but I’m being kind and supportive at all turns.
Collaboration with Collective Tales Publishing.
CTP and WHP are collaborating on an anthology whose open call will run from August 30th through October 31st for most submitters (and through end-of-November for members of historically marginalized communities). We’re negotiating the details of the call, the pay structure, and the cover. I say “negotiating,” but we tend to agree on most things. Where we push back against one another, I’m paying close attention to welcome all ideas that would improve on my own instincts. After all, what’s the point in collaborating if I’m trying to just do my own thing? I want the anthology to be better than one I could produce on my own. So I’m taking advantage of the editors’ experience over at Collective Tales Publishing and am listening carefully, only pushing back hard when I feel I must.
More details about this call to come in advance of that opening announcement, which I’m realizing is wicked soon. (It’ll be called Blood in the Sandstone or Blood in Sandstone or some such, and its focus will be “desert horror” thanks to it being a Western-USA-themed antho.)
Marketing for Costs of Living launch.
I’ve agreed to pay Facebook $100 in support of an ad for our September 5th Printed Garden Bookstore event launching Costs of Living. (The book officially releases on 9/1, but who would attend a Labor Day book launch? Just me. So it’s on Friday.)
I also put the 9/5 event on NowPlayingUtah.com, on our own website, am posting about it on the socials, and am asking our attending contributing authors to talk about it on their own channels, too. The bookstore itself is advertising on its website and newsletter. Without a budget beyond my time and the hundred bucks for the ad, I’m not sure what to do next. I’ve got an idea that I need to email a few news outlets. That’s kind of it, though. Advice?
Marketing for Dread Mondays launch.
Dread Mondays is now available for pre-order, thanks to me approving the files on IngramSpark for pre-distribution commitments. I’ve also ordered test copies for final review and sent out the current version as my ARC for reviewers.
I’ve got the 10/30 “horror book night” event at The Printed Garden posted on NowPlayingUtah.
I’ve sent out about a dozen advance reader copies of the book to those who volunteered to read for review along with physical copies to Ellen Datlow (who curates and edits THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR each year) and a few other folks. The promotions for the 10/25 Utah Horror Day and the 10/30 event are focused on Dread Mondays, and I’ll be talking up the book at every tour stop between now and then and will ramp up posting about it between now and then, too.
YouTube Channel.
No news to report. I edited three or four videos in June, and those were my most recent additions to the channel. I have about twenty videos in the can needing edits.
Event Planning.
I received flyers with my sales terms (net-90, which means bookstores either pay their invoice or return the books in sellable condition to me within 90 days) and free ebook downloads. The sheet includes book covers for our two anthologies, release information, a quote from Kirkus, the book summaries, etc. I’ll be delivering these sell sheets to bookstores to Utah booksellers in person this week along with flyers for our events in September and October. I’ve had an idea to either make postcards or physically mail some of these ad sheets to bookstores around the country with a handwritten note offering to chat with any purchasers at bookstores interested in carrying our books. I’m thinking I’d reach out in particular to the five or six horror-specific bookstores I’ve got on my very short list of such things.
The main reason I’ve got these flyers is to distribute them at MPIBA in Denver come early October, where I’ll meet upwards of 300 bookstore owners in person and can make my pitch directly—but I’m glad I have some extras to hand to local bookstores. I want to move beyond consignment to returnable ordering, and without taking on the risk of making everything returnable on IngramSpark, which is a risk I cannot tolerate right now, offering returns and orders directly to and with me is my best move, I think.
I’m working very closely with Utah Humanities to curate events and participants in our Utah Horror Day event that’s set for 10/25/2025 at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City, Utah. Stephen Graham Jones and Philip Fracassi will be in attendance as our lauded guests, and I’ve got eight or nine local (but not universally unknown, as at least three of the bunch are very well known in their own publishing areas and one writes stuff for Disney) authors, too. I’m managing the curating and scheduling, the vending arrangements, and the rest, with the help of Kase Johnstun at UH. He’s overseeing my work, and UH is compensating me for my efforts. I’m grateful. Much more to come on this event, soon!
I got word Saturday of this past weekend that I’m good to go in my role as panel facilitator at FanX here in Utah for my “horror subgenres” discussion panel. The event gets some 125k people per year, the biggest per-capita event of its kind in the world. How about that? I’ll also be signing stuff and selling WHP’s horror books at The Printed Garden’s bookselling table (they’re the main book vendor at the event) at some point.
Kickstarter.
I’ve sent and ordered all rewards for the Costs of Living supporters, and I hope folks reach out to me if there’s anything I’m missing! It feels good to meet that expectation on deadline.
Catch you next time! Hit me up with questions and suggestions, if you’ve got `em.
– steve
Whisper House Press 
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