Introducing Wolfdog Publishing

Wolfdog Publishing opens its metaphorical doors today. We are an indie publisher and marketing consultancy of sorts. We are based in South Africa, and we seek to help out other South Africans who want to get some of their artistic stuff out there. At present, we are very small and are only operated by a single person, but perhaps things will change in the future.

At present, we have two people operating under the Wolfdog Publishing brand. On one hand, we have L.C. Lupus, the owner and founder of Wolfdog Publishing and a writer, and on the other hand, we have Nightshade Designs, a nerd-oriented cosplay and crafts business. We hope to welcome others in time, but as we are still new to all this, we’re going to keep it nice and small for a while.

L.C. Lupus is a freelance writer, educator and novelist, and his first published novella will be published under the Wolfdog Publishing brand, and if you are interested in checking out what he’s got, then click here and check it out. His first published novella, The Cyborg Wilderness, will be released on 15 November 2022 on Kindle, Rakuten Kobo, Itch.io and Gay It Forward (all of these details can be found on his creator page here).

The Cyborg Wilderness is a story told with minimal punctuation to match the emptiness of the world in which it takes place. Follow the unnamed cyborg as she makes her way through a grey world in search of something worthy of hope. A post-apocalyptic story in search of hope rather than the bleakness and desperation so often found in post-apocalyptic stories.

Nightshade Designs, on the other hand, offers all sorts of custom-made accessories and cosplay items for the burgeoning nerd who needs to accessorise in style. You can find out more about her specific work by clicking here, and Wolfdog Publishing is thrilled to have her onboard as its first non-L.C. Lupus colleague.

Wolfdog Publishing does not have a hand in her production at all, and we are instead there to help her out in the marketing and social media space. You can check out her work on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Furthermore, you can contact her directly through any of those channels if you have any custom requests that you desperately need fulfilled, and her commission rates are her own and untouched by Wolfdog Publishing.

She also makes the occasional appearance at nerd conventions around South Africa, such as rAge, ComicCon and FanCon. Wolfdog Publishing will always ensure that anyone interested in her work is made fully aware of when she makes appearances at any of those events. We will also ensure that everyone is made aware of any other, lesser known and more unusual markets that she might involve herself in from time to time, but these will likely only be in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

And so, at last, we get to Wolfdog Publishing itself. Follow us on all the usual places, Twitter and Instagram, to stay up to date with whatever we have brewing. Everything will be tabulated and collected there but following the individual accounts of the actual individuals will probably be best for those who want to see what they are doing in particular.

Lastly, we get to our ethos here at Wolfdog Publishing. You can find the same declaration on our home page, but we are a progressive, queer-inclusive, anti-colonial, anti-fascist, anti-capitalist, feminist, ecologically conscious, animal liberationist, anti-corporate, anti-war and BLM-supporting company.

We obviously cannot control the individual thoughts of those we work with, but what we can do is action. We will not publish or support anything that goes counter to that above list of buzzwords. We do not believe that we should celebrate or endorse those who would propagate ideas that are discriminatory, colonial or actively harmful to any marginalised group.

And there is a simple answer for those who would attempt to claim that Wolfdog Publishing cannot be anti-capitalist because it is a business. You see, sadly, unless we decide to disconnect from society completely and live in nature somewhere far from standard government land protections or private property, then you can’t really exist in this world without engaging in the capitalist economy.

However, what you can do is try your best to be good in a world filled with people who would prefer to do something harmful instead. If you choose to spend your time in this world, whether its in the “real” world or the digital world, being a bigot of some or other description then Wolfdog Publishing will likely not be all that friendly to you or your sensibilities. This is an inclusive place, not a place for the views of those who would remove the rights of others.

So, everyone who is not a bigot is more than welcome to interact with Wolfdog Publishing and those who work with the company. But, be warned, those who do harass others will be blocked and/or reported when such incidents occur. And to everyone else, we wish you a great day/week/month ahead!