Our Mission

At Stag Beetle Books we publish excellent young adult speculative fiction. Fantasy and science fiction are our passion, including dystopian, post-apocalyptic, horror, and paranormal.
We are a white-glove boutique publishing house with high royalties for authors but we do not offer advances.

​We know that fiction matters. It influences, instructs, enlightens, and entertains.
We believe young adult fiction is for readers of all ages, but carries with it the expectation that it will not contain material that would be above a PG-13 rating as it plays on the screen of your brain. 
If your story features more mature content we may decide to market it as a New Adult novel rather than a Young Adult novel. ​

What Makes Us Different

- We are looking to cultivate long-term relationships with our authors. We don't just publish your book. When you join our publishing family, it's our intention to stick with you for the duration of your writing career.  We want you to write at your speed, whether that's one book every four years or three books a year, as long as it's fantastic quality. 

- As a publisher of Young Adult Fiction, we know the importance of having young adults interested in our stories. That's why we have young adults working with our main acquisitions editor. That's right, we share your submissions with young adults (aged 12-18) who tell us which ones grab their attention.  Each submission is read by the acquisitions editor and at least two young adults, because we don't think 30-50 year old's should be determining what makes great young adult fiction. (If you are/have a teenager interested in being a Young Adult Acquisitions Consultant, please contact us.) 

-We personally reply to every submission we receive within 14-20 days of receipt. You won't get a vague "publishing is a very subjective business, etc." email from us 6 months later. 
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-We respond to solicited full-manuscript submissions within 30 days. ​

​Why a Stag Beetle?

​You know those bookworms we've all been affectionately called? Well, the bookworms you've heard about that flocked to eat the glue out of old books, weren't exactly worms. They were silverfish and beetles. Not stag beetles exactly, but 'borers' sounds boring, and beetles are significantly more interesting than worms. 
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Stag Beetles are fighters. They're tough. They persevere. 
Beetles carry about as many associates with symbolism as there are sub-genres in YA Fiction. 
They represent persistence, wisdom, and strength, especially in tough times.
In Ancient Egypt they were engraved for good luck. 
​In France, for some time, it was believed that carrying a stag beetle could bring you wealth. (I mean, it's worth a shot.)

Each of our books carry the logo, a stag beetle, on the spine, because we believe that books, words, worlds, and stories are wealth. 


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Laura Hughes- Owner

​Laura had been stalked by the idea of making a publishing company for years until she finally took action and started Stag Beetle Books in 2022. 
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Laura has an MFA in Creative Writing and has worked in marketing writing commercials and coming up with creative content for big name chocolate companies, international singing groups, social media companies, (and other companies she signed a NDA with but wishes she could mention here) for the past two years.
She's written 14 books and published 7 of them with various publishing companies over the past 11 years. 
She's edited many books that have gone on to publication, some with publishers and some self-published. 
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Her experiences with publishing companies left her with actionable ideas of how to make an author-focused young adult publishing company that creates a familial feel for authors and readers alike. ​

"I started Stag Beetle books with the intention of doing two things that I haven't seen a publishing company do yet. 
First, I think a publisher should be a home for the books and the author writing them. Stag Beetle Books intends to stick with our authors for the duration of their writing careers. We will be a home for our authors, for as long as they want to stay. 
Secondly, I have found that many books labeled as young adult don't strike me as particularly young adult friendly. I wanted a publishing company that has young adults involved during the process, from reading submissions and giving feedback on the cover art. At Stag Beetle Books, we value the opinions of teenagers at every step of the publication process to ensure that we publish books our target audience wants. "
  -Laura Hughes 

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​Things We Will Never Do

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-Ask you for money.
Our authors are our teammates, not our customers. We aren't here to turn a profit from you but you turn your story into a profit for you. We want your worlds, characters, humor, and patience--not your money, 

- Leave 100% of marketing up to you.
Unlike self-publishing, we will help you with marketing but it should go without being said that the more you can do to market yourself, the more successful you will be!  Our marketing efforts focus on the initial launch, including a pre-order period, social media promotions, and outreach to book reviewer and influencers.

-Expect professional editing from you.
We will always have a professional editor (or two) look over your work before we seal it in ink for the world to read, consume, enjoy, explore, (insert verb of choice here).  Please deliver the best you can, but as writers, we know that editing your own work is its own nightmare because you're too close to it. We will not click publish until it's been polished up.