The Stargazer Society

Okay, so I kind of have a lot to catch you up on…

Where do I even begin? This is kind of like when you’re trying to start a first draft and there’s all these ideas floating about and you kind of just have to reach out and grab whatever is in front of you; that is my meandering way of saying, if this blog meanders… sorry. My thoughts don’t happen in an organized way, so why would any writing I do without outlining first be any different?

Let’s go back just a few years, and I promise this will be brief. At the end of 2023, I was still working as a seamstress and embroidery machine operator at Star Cadet when one of the owners—Olan Rogers (well known for his TV show Final Space)—asked me who I was publishing my book through. I told him that I’d been planning to self publish and distribute through Ingram Spark, and he told me, “Let me get you in touch with a buddy of mine. He’s just started an indie press and he’s who’s publishing my book [Forward As Always].” Perfect. He introduced me to Matthew Medney (former Heavy Metal CEO and now founder and publisher of Gungnir Books) and we got to chatting about my book. The back and forth was rather slow for a while—Matthew is incredibly busy—but after explaining the plot and sending over a draft, he was interested in discussing a contract.

Hi, wtf do you mean we’re gonna talk about contracts already? And like, it’s this easy? I don’t have to query and get my heart broken for years before someone finally decides to throw me a bone?

I cannot overstate my luck and privilege in all of this. Although I have worked incredibly hard and put countless hours into crafting my book, the ease with which I have been able to move into the publishing phase is something that was made possible only by a few random, lucky moves on my part and a few generous moves on the part of others. From Amberle and Hannah agreeing to work with me (pro bono, mind you) on the project as we sought to self-publish, to Olan connecting me with Matthew, to Matthew believing in my story enough to offer me a publishing contract… I want to stress that publication is not often this… easy. Not unless you already have connections in the industry or are already established in the public eye with people who want more content from you. Most people slog through years of rewrites and rejections from agents and then rewrites with agents and then rejections from publishers and then rewrites with publishers and—you get the point. I am incredibly fortunate to have been offered this opportunity. And I think it was offered to me because of how much I believe in my book.

So, I signed my contract with Gungnir Books on August 8th, 2025. And honestly… there’s still a lot of this process that I haven’t, well, processed yet. I’ve gotten back into therapy because of it; long story short, a lot of experiences from my past have ingrained in me this sense of needing to hold my breath when I get a good thing. I can’t celebrate too early. I can’t share it with people. I can’t express my excitement or it will be ripped away from me. To this day? Four years into working on this book? I still haven’t told my parents what I’ve been working on. And I won’t, until I have something *concrete* to show for it.

Yeah, I’m working on it… because when I really think about it, little me who dreamed of being an author would be kicking and screaming and crying and throwing up to see what I’ve achieved. I want to be present, I want to be excited. And I am, when I sit down and think really hard about it. And honestly, I think when I physically hold the book in my hands, I’m going to be that little girl, kicking and screaming and crying and throwing up.

So now? The timeline is pretty crazy, pretty tight. I’m working to get my final manuscript polished so it can be sent for typesetting. Then it’s off to test printing. Crazy! There’s only a little more than six months before pub day! In the coming days, weeks, and months, I’m so excited to share more with you all, about myself, about my process, and most excitingly, about my story and my characters!

Thank you so much for your support and for being here. :)

The cover of The Stargazer Society by E.L.K.

Project Stargaze Update

Life has been incredibly busy over the past couple of months, and I haven’t had the chance to provide updates as frequently as I’ve wanted to, so I’m doing it now! 

I will start by promoting the Project Stargaze Patreon! At first, I didn’t really have any plans for a Patreon, but as me and my team have continued working towards publication for my first book, we’ve come to realize that self-publishing comes with a lot of out-of-pocket, up-front costs. Therefore, we started our Patreon back in August! Our Patrons have already received most of these updates–that’s one of the perks of being a Patron! If you subscribe to the Patreon (currently there is a $1 tier and a $5 tier) you will receive exclusive updates before anyone else. So far, this has included information about the process of publishing the book, as well as some behind-the-scenes photos and other little perks like access to the Spotify playlists that I’ve created for the book. If you wish to get more frequent updates before I post them to my socials, please consider subscribing here! As we get closer to publishing, I’ll be sharing even more content, like book excerpts, the first peeks at the book cover, and more. I will also make posts updating Patrons on exactly where their money is going; so far, their contributions allowed us to make promotional business cards that we passed out at a book festival!

The next big update I’ve been wanting to make for anyone keeping up with my book is that me and my team have determined that it is necessary to push back my publishing date. This may come as no surprise if you’ve kept up with my instagram; I’d originally been advertising for a fall release, but we are coming to the end of fall now. When I originally set the publishing date last year (I had settled on Friday, October 13th, and we’re well past that now) I chose it somewhat arbitrarily; I just knew that I needed a finite date so that I could keep myself motivated and on track. We’ve stayed to the schedule for the most part! But we decided, as a team, that we’d rather make sure we’re putting out a book that we’re all proud of instead of trying to stick to a concrete deadline. I finished the second draft a little over a month ago, but there are still some things that I am not entirely confident are up to my standards, therefore making publishing before the end of the year impossible. Some parts of the story don’t feel entirely fleshed out yet, and I want to do justice to the story and its characters. The bones of the story are there, but there are other areas that I think deserve a little more attention, and making that happen takes time. Me and Amberle are well into editing for draft three, and already I can see the final pieces falling into place. It’s so exciting! But I know that this final, big pass is going to take a little bit more time. All I can say in the meantime is how much I deeply appreciate the people who have kept up with this journey! The interest and support so far has really helped to keep us motivated and eager to share this book with you. All that said, we are hoping to publish around spring of 2024! I have a rough time frame in mind, but things can always change, so for now I won’t try to be any more specific than that.

With all of that out of the way, I want to tease the opportunity for Advance Reader Copies! ;) As we finish up this edit, I’m thinking more and more about giving people the chance to read the book early so we can start getting some feedback! This will help us with any final edits that need to be made as well as give us an idea for our audience and how we’d like to market things going forward. I will make an ARC specific post once we know when we'll be offering them for sure so that people can start applying, but I’m hoping to start offering ARCs around the end of winter. The ARC would most likely be a PDF copy. If you’re interested in getting your hands on an ARC, please follow my Instagram @kirstienicolewriting and keep up with my website for more updates to come!

I want to thank you again, everyone who has kept up with this journey. I love this book. I believe in this book. And I can’t wait to share it with you. Thanks for reading :)