[Editorial] Kandisha Press: The Women Run and Owned Publishing House

Making it in the literary world is no easy feat, especially when you happen to be a woman. It is known that male authors are more likely to get their works published and represented, which is exactly one of the reasons that Kandisha Press was established. 

The all women owned indie press publishing house is dedicated to publishing anthologies from women. Editor-in-Chief, Jill Girardi, a published author with a novel being adapted for screen, first set up the NYC-based company to help showcase horror anthology books written by those identifying as women and provide a safe space for first time or established authors.

We caught up with Janine Pipe, who started at Kandisha working within the press as their publicist and now is working alongside Jill and the team as an Editor. Not only does Janine work editing anthologies, but also is a Splatterpunk Award nominated writer, reviewer and podcaster. We discussed everything from why we need women publishing houses, to the incredible writers they have on board and about their latest anthology: Vol 3: The One That Got Away which is available for purchase through Amazon now!

Jill Girardi

You can also find out more about Kandisha over on their website or have a look at their YouTube for some readings of horror anthologies!

Kandisha website/blog - https://kandishapress.com/

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/Deadbeatshop

What was the first inspiration behind setting up Kandisha publishing?

Kandisha exists solely because of the amazing Jill Girardi. She’d been submitting her own work to various anthologies and had realised that often the ratio of men far outweighed the women. In a nutshell, she not only wanted to do something about that but to try and help the way the public view women in horror. Hence, Kandisha Press and the Women of Horror anthologies were born. 

You mention this as being a safe space for anyone who identifies as a woman. Can you talk a little more about why you thought there needed to be a safe space? 

We aim to be a safe space for all women, and we wanted to make sure that everyone knew that meant anyone who identifies as a woman. We strive to be as open and diverse as we can and want to make sure that if a member of the trans community would like to work with us, then we welcome you with open arms. We would also like people to know that we are not experts and are always learning about how to be more inclusive. We will also not accept or print anything that is remotely racist, homophobic, transphobic or in relation to glorified violence to children or animals or work that is openly sexist and degrading to women. Our aim is to look after our writers and work with them. 

What is it about anthologies that you personally get excited by? I personally find them to be so exhilarating and fantastic celebrations of various artists' voices. 

The thing that I enjoy most about anthologies as a reader, is finding new to me voices. Nine times out of ten there will be an author in any anthology that I pick up that I haven’t read before, sometimes have never heard of before, especially if they are previously unpublished. The joy of reading something fresh and thinking man, I need to read everything this person has ever written, is just amazing.

As a writer and editor, I enjoy the scope an anthology gives you, the different ways that people interpret a certain theme or title. Alongside some traditional depictions of a topic, there will likely be some very much thinking outside of the box idea too and those make me excited, especially as an editor.

How did you and Jill first connect when it came to setting up this collaboration? And what was it that drew you into the project?

We first connected when Jill put out the call for Graveyard Smash, the 2nd volume of the anthologies. I was still finding my feet and at that point, unpublished. I admit I took the theme very literally and there is certainly evidence of some of my own influences in that story. I had no idea if it would get anywhere and then suddenly I got an email from her to say it had been accepted. And would accrue royalties. I cried. I was so happy and proud. I had started a blog where I interviewed various people within the genre, so to help out with some promotion, I offered to feature any of the contributors to Graveyard Smash on there too, for extra exposure. Our friendship and mutual respect for each other blossomed from there and her constant encouragement has led to several more publications too. When Volume 3, The One That Got Away, was announced, I asked if she wanted a bit of support with the publicity etc. At that point, she trusted me and I had built up a semi-decent following across social media platforms so she asked me to become the official press agent/publicist. From there, the next step in her mind was to make me an editor. I was both stunned and thrilled with this and immediately bombarded her with at least a hundred ideas and several of those are being worked on now. Our entire relationship is built on belief in each other. Despite having never met, since we live on different sides of the pond, we always have each other’s backs. 

Do you find that being writers yourself has helped to give you a unique perspective and connection to the writers that you have on board?

It isn’t always the case and I know several successful presses where the editors don’t write themselves, but for us it has most definitely helped. It isn’t a unique perspective since a multitude of indie press editors are also authors, but it has helped us to hone our vision for the press and to build a relationship built again on mutual respect within the community with other writers and supporters. 

Do you think it is still a difficult for female horror writers to get their works published and out into the world?

I think it is getting better every day and there are more and more progressive presses and publishers out there wanting to get women’s voices heard. The challenge in my opinion remains with the public perception of horror writers. It is fabulous that especially within the world of indie horror, there are so many women being heard, and presses like Kandisha and other women owned publishers such as Off Limits Press (Samantha Kolesnik) and Grindhouse Press (C V Hunt) are pivotal in this too. But it will still take some time to filter over to the rest of the reading world. You ask a normal member of the public to name a woman of horror, they will likely ponder a moment before coming up with Annie Rice or Mary Shelley. Great but there are so, so many more. I want that question to be asked and immediately, people fire off the names Hailey Piper, V Castro, Kenzie Jennings, Gemma Amor, J H Moncrieff, Laurel Hightower and that is just the very tip of the iceberg.

Someone else paramount in getting more women to the forefront I believe is Sadie Hartmann, Mother Horror to the community. Through her social media platforms, Night Worms subscription service and the myriad of professional reviews she writes, she is showing the world that women can and will dominate this genre just as much as men. 

What have been the challenges yourself and the writers at Kandisha have faced? How can we continue supporting and helping through this?

The biggest challenge we face is sales. Submissions aren’t an issue, in fact, we get hundreds with each call and they are wonderful. But once we have the book ready, then we are faced with the reality we are a woman press releasing a woman only anthology and that many of those names won’t be *big hitters*. This is because we aim to give a voice to as many women as possible so they can feel how I did when Jill gave me my first acceptance. The more we put out, the more people want to see from us within the community but again, who from the public is searching on Amazon for horror anthologies by just women and without a big name they recognise? Still, we don’t let this deter us from our mission. But since the way we pay our contributors right now is split royalties, every sale matters so they are getting something back for their hard work and talent.

What would you like to see for the evolution of the horror industry? 

It is kind of cliché and twee, but I really would like to see equality for all voices. I want to see POC and members of the LBGTQ community everywhere. I want own voices featured and celebrated. But that is what I’d like to see in life in general and alas, it is sadly lacking. But for now, we at Kandisha will strive to do what we can to be as diverse as we can and support WOC, women from the LBGTQ community and do the best we can to promote diversity.  

How many women do you have in your press and how did you come to get them in the books?

Behind the scenes there is Jill, the brains and beauty, owner and editor-in-chief. Myself, editor and publicist and Lydia Prime, also an editor (an awesome writer). 

Throughout our three volumes, there are 60 stories, but several women have featured in all three. We don’t have anyone linked to us via contract but there are many women who we have already published and hope to in the future, who we would welcome each time with open arms. Since we solely produce anthologies for now, with both Jill and I publishing our solo work through other houses, we don’t have any retained authors. But you never know for the future. 

What are you currently working on and anything for the future you can talk about yet?

We are working on the edits for Volume 4 which we are hoping to release later this year, probably summertime. Then we have two more projects we are working on. One will involve both Jill and I as writers and the other is super Top Secret for now. I will tell you that this is my first solo editing outing and that it is very exciting and we have big plans for it. Both of those will be 2022 releases but the preparation stages are already in full swing.

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