Actress & Entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein and Her Partner, The Araca Group, Launch Her Universe Press

New Her Universe Publishing Imprint will Provide Fans with Books Written by New and Established Female Authors

NEW YORK, NY – October 13th, 2015 – Groundbreaking fangirl fashion company, Her Universe, and its founder, Ashley Eckstein, announced Saturday in a special panel at New York Comic Con that the company is expanding its reach by launching a new publishing program under an imprint called Her Universe Press. The imprint will build its readership on the company’s wide audience of fans and provide new and aspiring female writers the chance to see their original work professionally published. Focusing on the sci-fi and fantasy genres, the imprint will publish fiction and non-fiction for all age ranges with an emphasis on the tween, young adult market. Her Universe Press will be seeking to publish female authors who write empowering stories with positive messages and a focus on strong female protagonists. Each book will be marketed and promoted by Her Universe and by Ashley Eckstein personally through social media, events and promotions. Titles by Her Universe Press will be available through major booksellers, such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, as well as on eBooks through Audible and iTunes. The first two books will be released spring/summer 2016.

For its publishing program, Her Universe is teaming up with Permuted Press, a company owned and operated by a team of dedicated publishers with over twenty years of experience including overseeing nearly 25 New York Times bestsellers. Established in 2004, Permuted Press has published over 400 works as an industry-leading independent publisher of sci-fi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic and horror fiction. Permuted Press continues to enhance its reputation by publishing an even wider range of high-profile books via various partnerships with leading editors and content curators.

“I’m so excited to finally announce Her Universe Press,” said Her Universe Founder, actress and voice of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels’ Ahsoka Tano, Ashley Eckstein. “Her Universe continues to expand because of our wonderful community and passionate fans. It is truly a group effort by fans wanting their voices to be heard. I felt that Her Universe Press was necessary because so many fans were presenting me with their manuscripts with no professional outlet or opportunity to publish their work. I’m thrilled to be able to provide a platform for these stories to be told via books, entertainment, merchandise and beyond!”

“We’re truly excited to be extending the Her Universe brand,” said Michael Rego, Chief Executive officer of The Araca Group. “From the beginning, we wanted to create a community for fangirls that went beyond just fashion and this is yet another step in that direction with our new publishing program.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Permuted Press to come together with this high profile brand,” said Anthony Ziccardi, Publisher at Permuted Press. “Ashley and Her Universe are well known for catering to a very specific audience that we believe is underserved in the area of female-focused fiction. I’m convinced that Her Universe Press will receive a strong reception from this group of enthusiastic readers.”

The first title from Her Universe Press, announced at New York Comic Con, will be book one in a series created by new author Anne Convery and Eckstein, written by Convery with illustrations by Dave Filoni (Supervising Director on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Executive Producer of Star Wars Rebels). The Confidence Chronicles, set in an alternate universe gold rush California, is a steampunk fantasy featuring twelve-year-old Adelaide Lenihan, whose grit, energy and obsession with all things mechanical lead her along with her automatic owl, Eureka, to uncover exciting and sometimes chilling secrets in her own home town. Mining, mystery and mayhem in this first installment set the stage for Addy’s fantastic adventures from west of the Sierra Nevada to east of the Mississippi and beyond.

The second book is titled Weirdest by author Heather Nuhfer – a writer specializing in all-ages material who has worked on such well-known comic book titles as My Little Pony, Fraggle Rock, The Simpsons, Vampire Diaries and Wonder Woman. Weirdest is the story of thirteen-year-old girl who, in her desperation to be the coolest in her school, makes a wish and, as a result, has her strongest emotions physically manifest themselves in weird ways. Her powers run haywire as she tries to solve the mystery.

Writers, new and established, wishing to submit their ideas and synopses for consideration by Her Universe Press should go to: www.heruniversepress.com

“I’m so excited to finally announce Her Universe Press,” said Her Universe Founder, actress and voice of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels’ Ahsoka Tano, Ashley Eckstein. ‘”I’m thrilled to be able to provide a platform for these stories to be told via books, entertainment, merchandise and beyond!”

Her Universe, and its founder, Ashley Eckstein, announced Saturday in a special panel at New York Comic Con that the company is expanding its reach by launching a new publishing program under an imprint called Her Universe Press. Ashley and the NYCC panelists (from left to right) – Anne Convery, Dave Filoni and Heather Nuhfer.

Her Universe Founder, Ashley Eckstein, says Her Universe Press will be seeking to publish female authors who write empowering stories with positive messages and a focus on strong female protagonists.

One of the first books released by Her Universe Press next year will be a steampunk fantasy called The Confidence Chronicles written by E. Anne Convery with story by Convery and Eckstein and illustrations (including the cover seen here) by Dave Filoni.

The second book from Her Universe Press is titled Weirdest by author Heather Nuhfer who has written for comic book titles such as Fraggle Rock, The Simpsons and Wonder Woman. Weirdest follows the story of a young girl who, in her desperation to be the coolest in her school, makes a wish and, as a result, has her strongest emotions physically manifest themselves in weird ways.

Ashley Eckstein Photo Credit:Preston Mack

Her Universe Press logo designed by Chris Petescia of Carrot Creative http://carrot.is/chris

About Her Universe
Her Universe was launched in 2010 by actress and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein and The Araca Group, a leading theatrical production and brand management company. Ashley and Araca created Her Universe to address the expanding market of female sci-fi and fantasy fans. They entered their first agreement with Lucas Licensing to develop and produce a line of female-centered Star Wars apparel and accessories. The success of that line was followed up with a collection for BBC Worldwide for Doctor Who, CBS Consumer Products for Star Trek, AMC for The Walking Dead, Nerdist Industries, Marvel, Hasbro for Transformers and Studio Ghibli. You can learn more about Her Universe and purchase the current line of fangirl apparel and accessories by going to  www.heruniverse.com and by following Eckstein & Her Universe on Facebook (facebook.com/HerUniverse) Twitter (twitter.com/HerUniverse), Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/heruniverse/) and YouTube(https://www.youtube.com/user/HerUniverseChannel?sub_confirmation=1).

About Permuted Press
Established in 2002, Permuted Press has published over 400 works as an industry-leading independent publisher of sci-fi, fantasy, post-apocalyptic and horror fiction. Owned and operated by a team of dedicated publishers with over twenty years of experience as well as nearly 25 New York Times bestsellers both fiction and non-fiction, Permuted Press continues to enhance its reputation by publishing an even wider range of high-profile books via various partnerships with industry leading editors and content curators. To learn more visit www.permutedpress.com