ABOUT US
Dead Birds Publishing is the brainchild of writers A.M. Symes and Jayne Carlson. After running the Dead Birds Writing Group for a few years, the two ladies realized they had a fantastic gaggle of writers who could write a fantastic collection of stories. When a slew of stories came in based on a writing prompt they tried for fun, they decided to publish the collection. Instead of outsourcing the stories for publication, they decided to put their combined years of marketing, communication, and editing skills to use in a horrific and creative way. Dead Birds Publishing was born.
Interested in submitting a story? Visit our Submissions page to view our latest call for stories based on a specific writing prompt.
EDITORS
A.M. Symes
Camping as a child, the adults use to tell this author that the yipping noises in the dark were from banshees hunting for kids up past bedtime. She still believes banshees are lurking in that dark line at the edge of campfire light and enjoys bringing readers to the edge of the light to make them squirm. Symes writes suspenseful, ghost-infused stories, some of which have infiltrated publications such as Crystal Lake Publishing, Coffin Bell Journal, Sinister Smile Press, Sirens Call Publications, Creepy Podcast and the NoSleep Podcast. Symes lives in Minnesota with her best friend and a banshee.
Jayne Carlson
After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from the University of Minnesota, Jayne went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Augsburg University. She writes as part of the Dead Birds writing group in a variety of genres (fiction, poetry, nonfiction), with a preference for the quirky and absurd. Her work has been published in Crystal Lake Publishing and Murphy Square Literary and Visual Arts Journal. She received honorable mention twice for Augsburg’s Engman Prize for poetry and fiction, and her poetry was selected for inclusion in Augsburg University’s first Sesquicentennial Literary Magazine. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two quirky, absurd, and totally lovable cats (who are fluent in cat French, bien sûr).
MUSE
Cody Mittens
Cody Mittens is our resident muse. He offers his wisdom and lords over others with a strict on-demand petting and feeding schedule.
“Yes, I am Sir Cody Mittens. Yes, I am a cat. But I assure you, I am not the reason the birds are dead.”
ARTIST
Sheri Mei
Most of our artwork is courtesy Sheryl Mei. Sheryl has been drawing since the age of four. She grew up in a small Minnesota town before moving to the southernmost point of the country to finish high school in Brownsville, Texas — where she still resides with her husband, Emmanuel, and son, Mason. Sheryl works out of Paragon Tattoo Studio as an artist, a graphic artist, and a tattoo artist. She fills her fleeting moments of free time creating as many products as she can – including prints, stickers, keychains, and even a streetwear line – with the hope of inspiring others to follow their artistic dreams. Follow her on Instagram under _sherylmei and Facebook under sherylmei21 to see more of her horror-themed artwork.