April Showers Publishing

18/06/2026

Comment “Pride” for the link to enter!

14/06/2026

Introducing our new Online Writing Competitions, starting with ‘Pride and Acceptance’ which is open until 30th June 2026! Link in bio for more info and to enter!

Use either of the two prompts and follow the instructions to submit your entry.

UK only
Prose: up to 1000 words
Poetry: up to 30 lines
Submission fee: £3 per entry
Prize money: £15 (max of 3 winners)

Winners published in a free ebook on our website.

🌈

09/06/2026

Pre-order Issue 5 of our art and literature zines. This issues theme is Whimsy!

05/06/2026

🦌Cover Reveal! 🦌

We’re delighted to show you the cover and announce the contributors of Issue 5 of our not-for-profit literary and artistic zines ‘Chase the Forest’!
The theme for this issue was ‘Whimsy’ as chosen by our wonderful Discord community! You can join in the link in our bio.

This issue’s cover is ‘Sunlit’ by Mara Smirnova! You can read more about this gorgeous piece and Mara in the article in the back of Issue 5.

This issue is now available for pre-order via the link in our bio! Limited print run, once they’re sold out that’s it! You can also buy our existing zines along with Issue 5 in this discount bundle however Issues 1 and 4 are now sold out!

27/05/2026

𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐀. 𝐒. 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭-𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬!

𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝑺 𝑳𝒆𝒐 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒎𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅-𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆.

𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚 𝐕𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡, a yoga mentor and equine wellness retreat owner, is loved by everyone in the community around 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬. She rescues abused horses and uses her signature brand of equine herbs to calm them enough to be ridden. So, when she's found dead by the lakeside surrounded by her horses, no one can believe it was murder, and Leo's superiors are at a loss for suspects and motives.

Holly and her friend Pippa were enjoying a much-anticipated equine holiday with their horses Linnet and Freya at the retreat when Layla's body was found. At Pippa's request, Holly looks into the strange case and goes to Leo to offer her help. But when her research brings some surprising results, they soon realise this case will shake the local community to its core...

𝑭𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒊𝒅𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑴𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝑹𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑰𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒆-𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕-𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓 𝑨. 𝑺. 𝑴𝒄𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆.

, a yoga mentor and equine wellness retreat owner, is loved by everyone in the community around . She rescues abused horses and uses her signature brand of equine herbs to calm them enough to be ridden. So, when she's found dead by the lakeside surrounded by her horses, no one can believe ...

12/05/2026

🪩 Holographic Special Editions have arrived!! 🪩

Hollow Fate: A Collection of Poetry about the Women of British Mythology by . C. Emerys is available to pre-order in the link in our bio now! Released 23rd May!

10/05/2026

It’s safe to say I’m not a natural on camera 😂

13/04/2026

Pre-orders of Issue 4 of our zine “Where All is Rooted” went out last week!
Has your copy arrived? Post a photo and tag us 😊

Thank you to all the contributors of this edition of our not-for-profit zines! Details about Issue 5 will be released soon!
Beautiful cover by .forest 😊

23/03/2026

🌳 Release Day Announcement! 🌳

Our not-for-profit mythology and folklore themed zine “Where All is Rooted” will be released on 02/04/26! Anyone who has pre-ordered a copy will receive their copy ASAP after this date (please be patient with our small team time to pack and post them all!)

There are only a few copies left of this limited print run so if you’d like a copy please head to our website linked in bio 😊

About us:
April Showers Publishing is a Dorset-based micropublisher. We produce independently published books, zines and anthologies. We are an anti-AI, woman-owned company with nature at the heart of everything we do.

Photographed in this post:
Cover - King by .forest
Poem - Andromeda by .s.b.murray
Art - Last Bloom by
Art - The Wishing Tree by
Poem - Seal Folk by .tk.in
Poem - Morrigan by
Photograph - The Witch - Cloud by
Comic Strip - Where’s Your Mask by
Art - Hubris by Thomas Abbosh
Art - Conjure by Thomas Abbosh

13/03/2026

⏰2 Days to Go!⏰