Recently launched Shiraki Press specializes in short form adult fiction with a “hopepunk” vibe. We met the founders at the 2026 Norwescon, a Northwest science fiction and fantasy convention. Brianne Shiraki and Josh Sutphin share a background in creative work but are new to book publishing. They decided to concentrate on novellas for their first year.

With their business located in Western Washington, Shiraki’s print editions are now available at independent bookstores like We Be Book’N in Monroe. According to a recent Instagram post from the founders: “We are offering wholesale prices to local booksellers and it feels like a big step in the right direction for us. And it’s just amazing to see our books on the shelves, waiting to find the right readers.”

After a fun conversation about their upcoming books during Norwescon, we followed up with a few questions about their plans. The following interview was conducted by email. You can see all of the Shiraki Press titles and learn more about their upcoming works at https://shirakipress.com/.

What prompted you to launch an independent press in 2026?

Brianne: I firmly believe that the chaotic social climate that we’re in can only be addressed by learning to empathize and collaborate with each other. It’s so easy to feel helpless and alone in our society. But telling stories is the oldest human storytelling tradition. I can’t gather everyone I know around a fire with me, but I can publish and support the stories that make me believe in the potential of humanity again.

In an earlier conversation, you mentioned you were focusing on the novella length (around 40,000 words). Why do you think this length works well for your press?

Josh: Everyone we know says they wished they could read more, but they can’t find the time. We’re all so busy surviving late-stage capitalism… but we do reliably find a couple hours to binge-watch or doomscroll most days. We thought: what if we had more books that fit into those windows of time, without any demand for a long-term commitment? Maybe they would feel more easily accessible in these difficult times.

Brianne: As the parents of young kids, we’re time starved and we’ve really struggled to maintain our own identities some days. Access to short fiction feels more feasible as a busy adult reader. Additionally, in our first year of publication it was a practical, financial necessity for us to focus on getting stories to market quickly. 

In your first year, you announced five books. Three launched between February and May 2026 with two more coming this fall. How many books do you plan to publish each year?

Josh: Our initial goal is 5-6 titles per year, mostly novellas, though we have also taken on a couple of longer works for 2027/28 (not yet announced). We aim to keep our title count low enough that we can give each book our full attention, and the press is just the two of us for now.

Can you tell us a little about the “hopepunk vibe” in the books that you publish?

Josh: Hopepunk is the opposite of grimdark. It doesn’t mean there’s no conflict, but it does mean there’s some optimism and hope pushing back against the darkness. God knows we need some more of that in the world right now.

Brianne: For me, hopepunk is about believing that you can work together to build a community that is better for everyone. We aren’t looking for solo heroes. Hopepunk is taking action to make things better, together.

What’s the most difficult part of publishing in the first year of operation?

Josh: Unlearning bad work habits that were ingrained in us by the video games industry, like working to the point of burnout, trying to everything too big and too fast, and chasing market trends instead of listening to your creative professionals.

Brianne: Marketing. And reminding myself that it’s okay (and good) to do what I can, learn what I don’t know, and not expect myself to be an expert already.

Let’s end with the hopepunk vibe. What would you call the best part of your first year in publishing?

Josh: Making our authors happy has been a singularly wonderful experience.

Brianne: Seeing our authors support each other makes me genuinely emotional. I love meeting new people. Building a new community of authors, agents, publishers, and readers who believe things don’t have to stay the way they are and work collaboratively to that end has been a true honor.

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