Why I Write for Astraea Press: Stephanie Michels

I first became acquainted with Astraea Press two years ago when my critique partner (and later co-author), Patricia Kiyono, told me AP was doing a fund raiser to support Tsunami Relief for Japan. At the time, Patty was thinking about writing a story for them since she has relatives in Japan, and the topic was very dear to her. I immediately went to the AP website http://www.astraeapress.com to check them out and discovered Astraea was a very new publishing house. Since I'm a business person, I knew the first few years for any company is pretty much of a struggle. So, I was very impressed that AP would donate their profits to such a worthy cause.

What really sold me on Astraea Press, however, is its fundamental principles. At a time when most of the biggest ePublishers were publishing erotic titles, Astraea's owner, Stephanie Taylor, set a much different standard for her company.  AP prides itself on good, clean, and wholesome stories. There is plenty of romance and sexual tension, but no actual sex shown.  Hallelujah! I have a good imagination -- I don't need every Tab A and Slot B spelled out for me.  

Since I'm also a grandmother, I don't like picking up some supposedly YA title one of the teenagers is reading to find sex scenes that are far too explicit and adult in it. Since I found Astraea Press, I've been able to share their titles with the kids.  Clean romances and YA books where men and women treat each other respectfully, and the only stalkers and abusers are the bad guys.  Books where actions have consequences, too!  There's something for almost everyone: great romances, contemporary, historical, paranormal, Regency, suspense, YA, etc., And the stories have believable heroes and heroines of all ages and walks in life. Heartwarming proof that romance can happen to anyone. Books you hate to have end.

So, when it came time to look for a publisher for our Stitching Post series, Patty and I both had Astraea Press on the top of our list. We like the people -- anyone who has ever met Stephanie, Kim, Elaina, and others will say the same -- and AP has a reputation for the kind of books we admire and want to be known for. There's nothing on their site or in their back lists that would make me feel uncomfortable about sharing it with my friends from church or my women's groups.    

I'm grateful to Astraea Press for taking a chance on an unknown author like me.  Management is fun and the other authors are friendly and supportive. Behind their notes of welcome, I can almost hear them saying: C'mon in a sit for awhile!  I hope it will be a good long visit.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Michels