Category Archive

Author of three editions of the Offbeat Bride book and From Shitshow To Afterglow, Ariel Meadow Stallings acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites.

State of the Empire, 2019

IT’S BEEN 84 YEARS. Ok, it’s actually only been 12 years since I launched the Offbeat Empire, but 12 in internet years might as well be 84, y’know? Here’s what’s up with the Empire this year…

From Shitshow To Afterglow: how the book got its name

I owe y’all an update about my next book, the recovery memoir that was called ONWARD, then Offbeat Resilience, then Shitshow After-Party and now (hopefully its final title!) Well, That Was A Shitshow: Putting Life Back Together When It All Falls Apart. It can be a challenge to talk about a book when it’s still […]

Offbeat Bride’s 3rd edition: why the book needed an update

My book Offbeat Bride was first published by Seal Press in January 2007 as Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides, with a second edition released in February 2010 under the title Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides.

In the eight years since the release of the second edition, wedding culture has shifted dramatically (the influence of marriage equality and social media have both been huge!) and offbeatbride.com has reached 50 million website visitors. Clearly, it’s time for an updated and revised version of the book… which Seal Press will be publishing fall of 2019!

Let’s talk about the updates being made for the third edition…

Onward, Offbeat Resilience: the book that became Shitshow

A couple months back, I mentioned I was working away on trying to sell my second book, ONWARD. The first draft of the book was completed, but a series of literary agents and publishers all had the same feedback: you can’t sell this particular book, in this particular format.

So I hired a familiar face to help me rework it into a better format…