We are Wannabe Press, and we tell stories for people that bite back.
The punks, the nerds, the outcasts—the ones who refuse to kneel just because the system says so. Those are our people. We tell stories that don’t just entertain, they challenge, disrupt, and shine a spotlight on the cracks in the world around us. We believe stories should empower, not pacify. They should remind you that you have power, even in a world trying to strip it away…because you do.
Mainly, “we” means me, USA Today bestselling author Russell Nohelty, who writes most of our work, but we’ve also published dozens of other writers and artists through our anthologies.
Often, our books are thinly veiled critiques of capitalism, authority, and the dystopian nightmare people keep trying to stuff down our throat, but that doesn’t mean the journey can’t be a hell of a lot of fun, too.
From monster hunters to apocalypse survivors, and gods at war to reluctant heroes fighting the system, our books are packed with action, wit, and endless chaos to keep things interesting.
If you like the works of Kurt Vonnegut, Martha Wells, Terry Pratchett, T. Kingfisher, Piers Anthony, Jody Lynn Nye, Douglas Adams, Jodi Taylor, or Gail Carriger, you’ll love our books. They are full of absurdism, action, subversive humor, and complex heroes who rise up against the fates they’ve been dealt.
In a world that feels like it’s spiraling out of control, stories are how we fight back. They remind us that we’re not alone, that we have power, and that even the smallest act of rebellion can change everything.
“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world... The world changes according to how people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” - James Baldwin
What you can expect from us
🔥 Noblebright rebellion—stories where the fight is hard, but hope wins.
🔥 Action-packed, darkly hilarious fiction—Just because the system can get f***ed, doesn’t mean we can’t laugh at the utter absurdity of it all. The best way to face the darkness is to laugh in its face.
🔥 A middle finger to authority—not just for the sake of rebellion, but to carve out something better.
🔥 A community of rule-breakers—people who demand meaning in their stories and won’t settle for less.
Not sure if you’re one of us? Here’s a simple test: If you’ve ever screamed into the void, laughed inappropriately at dark humor, or wanted to punch a billionaire in the face, you belong here.
Damn the man. Save the Empire. - Lucas, Empire Records
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. - Frederick Douglass
Who we write for
We write for the rebels. Rebels that are obsessed with pop culture and question everything, especially authority. Punks, emo kids, goths, nerds, geeks, outlaws, bandits, and rebels, these are our tribe. People that grew up outside the system until that system realized it was "cool" to be like them, as if we did it because it was cool. Our tribe doesn't move to the back of the bus. They burned their bras and have never seen a protest they didn't like. They stand up for what's right even when it's unpopular. They don't care what anybody else thinks.
We demand to be entertained as much as we want to think deeply about real issues that matter. We want our stories to have a message, but we want that message hidden under a thick layer of action and fun.
We find humor in the dark places of the world. The darker the better. The more humor the better. We want to shine light in the dark corners and show there's humor there too, in the places we're not supposed to go.
Books may well be the only true magic. - Alice Hoffman
“Yes, You will rise from the ashes, But the burning comes first. For this part, Darling, You must be brave.” - Kalen Dion
How we started
In 2014, I was a dejected writer, lost in obscurity. I had been writing for years with very little to show for it. Small press publishers released a couple of my books, but they did a miserable job handling them. They screwed up release dates, never promoted my work, and, worst of all, made me no money.
It pissed me off something fierce and I vowed to do something about it. Instead of entrusting my success to somebody else, I decided to take my career into my own hands. I bought all the rights back to my titles and struck out on my own.
I successfully funded a Kickstarter for my first graphic novel, Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter, in 2014, and launched my first slate the following year. In 2016, we launched our second slate, including the wildly popular Katrina Hates Dead Shit ( aka Katrina Hates the Dead). Those two books were so successful, we released them in hardcover the following year.
We also launched a book division in 2016, which made wonderfully weird genre books which are as entertaining as they are thought provoking.
Now, we create beautiful, weird books of all types. We don't create the most books every year, or the cheapest book on the indie market, but we do create the best ones, printed in the most beautiful way possible.
Subscribe. Stay weird. Get the stories that remind you you’re in control—even when the system wants you to forget.
Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making contact with someone else's imagination after a day that's all too real.” - Nora Ephron
