Announcing GHOULISH BOOKS - The New Horror Imprint of Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing

Plus, an open call for horror novellas!

In the summer of 2012 we launched our indie press, Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing (PMMP). “We” being two people: Lori Michelle and Max Booth III. For nearly a decade now, we have published books from authors all over the world. Our titles have been nominated for awards, been taught in schools, and even adapted into feature length films.

Our goal has always been a) to entertain our readers and b) provide an outlet for the kind of fiction most commercial publishers would never give the time of day. Our company has grown significantly since 2012, yet we still operate out of our kitchen. Here’s a recent photo of our table with our Black Friday sales packaged and ready to be mailed.

This was, at the most, maybe 70% of the orders we packaged that weekend. Eventually a time will come where we need to invest in an actual office space. We are excited to one day reach that level of success. The company is continuing to grow. New readers find us every day, and we welcome them with open tentacles.

Which was why, entering our tenth year of existence, we thought it was time for a slight change. Nothing too drastic, or anything, but…going forward, all of our horror titles will be released under a new imprint called Ghoulish Books.

PMMP will remain the umbrella company of everything, and continue to release non-horror titles, but Ghoulish Books will now be the face of our spooky stuff. There won’t be a separate website or anything like that. You will still find Ghoulish Books titles in the PMMP webstore (with a little “A GHOULISH BOOKS PRODUCTION” label in the product description). Think of it like how IFC Films releases their genre movies under IFC Midnight. We’re approaching Ghoulish Books with a very similar mindset.

Hey, whoa, holy smokes, there’s even a special Ghoulish Books Twitter account you can go follow.

Also, here is the artwork Betty Rocksteady illustrated for our new logo:

And, with the birth of Ghoulish Books, we’d like to announce the imprint’s 2022 lineup:

• Below by Laurel Hightower (March)

• Maggots Screaming! by Max Booth III (April)

• Leech by John C. Foster (April)

• All These Subtle Deceits by C.S. Humble (May)

• Rabbits in the Garden by Jessica McHugh (July)

• Perfect Union by Cody Goodfellow (September)

• Soft Places by Betty Rocksteady (October)

• Hares in the Hedgerow by Jessica McHugh (November)

More information about each of these books will be released over the coming months, but until then, we have another exciting announcement to make.

Beginning right now and ending on February 14th, we are making the first ever GHOULISH BOOKS MEMBERSHIPS available.

For one, up-front fee, readers will receive discounted paperback & digital editions of all eight titles listed above (mailed out as they become available throughout the year), along with an exclusive box of Ghoulish-themed merchandise, including author signature plates, die cut stickers of the GB logo, buttons, coasters, mugs, tote bags, and laminated Ghoulish membership cards containing a 10% discount code valid for our webstore and in-person events throughout the entire year.

Here is a nifty little infographic mapping out all the details:

2022 memberships will only be available for the next month. After February 14th, you won’t have another chance to subscribe until January 2023.

Obtain your Ghoulish Books 2022 membership HERE.

Note: this subscription is only available for US residents due to shipping costs. However, if you live outside the US and really want to subscribe, email us at ghoulish@perpetualpublishing.com and we can try working something out. But, be warned, it’s going to cost much more than what’s currently listed on the product page.

And now, before we leave you, we have one last thing to talk about.

As of today, Ghoulish Books is open for horror novella submissions, and we will remain open until Sunday, May 8th (11:59 P.M. CST).

What we are looking to publish: sleaze, body horror, unhinged characters, oddball premises, anti-commercial, weirdo shit that'll get you kicked out of any major NY publishing house should you even discuss it on their property.

Art for sickos and by sickos. Perverted material that makes you feel weird and uncomfortable. Characters drowning in filth and loving it.

Books that subvert normality.

We want you to bring us the material you're too scared to show anyone else.

General Guidelines

Word count: 20,000 - 40,000

Deadline: May 8th (11:59 P.M. CST)

Payment: Small advance + royalties

Reprints: No

Simultaneous Submissions: Yes

Submit all manuscripts as a doc or docx file to ghoulish@perpetualpublishing.com with the following subject line: GHOULISH NOVELLA - [TITLE] - [LAST NAME]. Please don’t forget to include “GHOULISH NOVELLA” in the subject line, otherwise we might lose your submission.

You can direct any questions to the same email address.

Okay, we lied, here are a few other ghoulish things we wanted to mention:

We produce a podcast called GHOULISH and it’s available for free wherever you download podcasts. Two years in, we have released well over 100 episodes with guests such as Chuck Tingle, Jeff VanderMeer, Stephen Graham Jones, Mary Roach, and so on. Visit the podcast’s website HERE. Subscribe and leave a review! It really helps!

We also have a Patreon.

At the end of April we are launching the inaugural Ghoulish Book Fest in San Antonio, TX. Receive your ticket HERE if you are interested in attending.