#How to Create Ebook

[not-poignant]

I was thinking back to the post I made about ebooks being so much more accessible for so many people compared to paperbacks/hardbacks and the other thing I wanted to add is the vast, vast majority of the time, the author gets so much more profit comparatively for an ebook than a paperback/hardback.

That's not a problem for huge huge huge authors either way, but for small-time authors, or authors with small publishing houses, the difference in profits can sometimes be $2.00 or $3.00 per ebook sold vs. $0.50c or $1.00 per paperback. Really. You pay more, but the author gets a lot less.

In the case of indie authors like myself, ebooks give the highest returns always.

This isn't necessarily something most readers think about, but I have had readers assume that because the book format cost them more, that automatically means more goes to the author. In fact it's often the opposite. There are very few exceptions (university texts come to mind). But in the case of your run-of-the-mill indie fiction, if you genuinely want the most profit to go to the author, get the ebook.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Scrimshaw

sequel to Deephaven, a middle grade historical/paranormal mystery

Nev investigates the basement of the academy during winter break and discovers a strange skull with carvings on the teeth - carvings which foretell danger and disaster, causing students to get hurt

they start getting haunted by a headless spirit they realise belongs to the school’s mysterious founder, and they have to figure out a way to stop it before anyone else gets hurt

[fruitycasket]

Thinkin' about Dark Puppetry.

It's such a shame I was broke when that book was still for sale, I thought it looked neat then and now having hunted down the post it was advertised in (it's deleted now but the reblogs live on), I stand by that.

Now I guess someone could release another collection of fics in a book but you see that would require gathering the writers and other things so like. (Image of the book for reference under the cut.)

[sweetnovember95]

I think this is the year that I create my own book, community and course🤯

[tzifron]

"During the writing process, he was in his living room excitedly explaining the T-1000 to his friend and collaborator Stan Winston when Winston raised a concern. "I don't know who the bad guy is," Winston said. "I need a specific character, a specific image." To Winston, what Cameron was describing sounded like a blob of goo, not an iconic evildoer. "From a story standpoint, I thought it was a problem," Winston later recalled in an interview for the picture-book history of his story, "The Winston Effect." Cameron respected Winston's instincts for creating memorable characters, and he started reconsidering how he would shape this one. Later that same night, the effects artist got a phone call from his friend. "I've got it!" Cameron said. "He's a cop!" The form the T-1000 would take for most of the movie was a Los Angeles police officer. This solved the storytelling dilemma Winston had raised and also gave Cameron an opportunity to underline a central theme in both of the Terminator movies - how people, especially those in violent jobs, like soldiers and cops, can become barbarized. "The Terminator films are not really about the human race getting killed of by future machines. They're about us losing touch with our own humanity and becoming machines, which allows us to kill and brutalize each other," he says. "Cops think all non-cops as less than they are, stupid, weak, and evil. They dehumanize the people they are sworn to protect and desensitize themselves in order to do that job.""

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Futurist-Life-Films-James-Cameron-ebook/dp/B0034184U0

[gptknowledgezone]

Full guide to create, Market and sell eBooks

Meta Description : Learn how to create, market, and sell an Ebook that generates income. This guide covers everything from choosing a topic to marketing your Ebook successfully. Looking to create, market and sell an Ebook that can make you proud and maybe even a full-time income? You’ve come to the right place. In this guide I will take you through everything you need to do, from picking the…

[the-hwaelweg]

Working in publishing, my inbox is basically just:

Article on the Horrors of AI

Article on How AI Can Help Your Business

Article on How AI Has Peaked

Article on How AI Is Here to Stay Forever

Article on How AI Is a Silicon Valley Scam That Doesn't Live Up to the Promise and In Fact Can't Because They've Literally Run Out of Written Words to Train LLMs On

[health-supplementproducts]

Healthy Heart Solution Kit Digital - Ebooks

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As someone who's always been fairly active, I never thought I'd need to worry much about my heart health. But after a recent scare with high blood pressure, my doctor recommended some lifestyle changes and suggested I look into resources to keep my ticker in top nick. That's when I stumbled upon the Healthy Heart Solution Kit (Digital - Ebooks). Let me tell you, it's been a game-changer!

Unveiling the Root Causes: Knowledge is Power

One of the things that impressed me most about this program was its focus on understanding the underlying reasons behind heart issues. The ebooks delved deep into the science of heart health, explaining how factors like inflammation and cholesterol can contribute to problems. This knowledge was empowering. It wasn't just about following a rigid diet or exercise plan blindly; it was about understanding why these changes were important and how they would benefit my heart in the long run.

A Bespoke Approach: Tailoring the Plan to My Needs

Thankfully, the Healthy Heart Solution Kit isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. The ebooks provided a variety of strategies and techniques, allowing me to create a plan that fit my lifestyle and preferences. Whether you're a gym bunny or prefer a gentler form of exercise, there are options for everyone. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on stress management techniques; a good cuppa and some deep breathing exercises do wonders after a long day!

Delicious Discoveries: A Heart-Healthy Diet Doesn't Have to be Bland

Let's face it, the thought of restrictive diets often leaves a bad taste in the mouth. But the Healthy Heart Solution Kit surprised me with its focus on delicious, nutritious meals. The included recipe guides were packed with flavourful options that incorporated heart-healthy ingredients. From vibrant veggie dishes to lean protein options, there was something to tantalise everyone's taste buds. I've even managed to impress my mates with some of the new dishes I've whipped up!

Keeping Track and Celebrating Success: A Supportive Companion

The Healthy Heart Solution Kit also included a handy journal that proved to be a fantastic tool for tracking my progress. It allowed me to monitor my blood pressure, note down healthy meals I'd prepared, and even record my exercise sessions. Seeing the positive changes I was making, both physically and mentally, was a real motivator. It felt like the program was cheering me on every step of the way.

A Heartfelt Recommendation: Invest in Your Wellbeing

Overall, I can't recommend the Healthy Heart Solution Kit (Digital - Ebooks) highly enough. It's a comprehensive, informative, and, most importantly, effective program that has helped me take control of my heart health. It's a worthwhile investment in your long-term wellbeing, and it's much more affordable than a gym membership or a basketful of fad diet supplements! So, if you're looking to improve your heart health and embrace a healthier lifestyle, this program is definitely worth considering. You won't regret it!pen_sparktunesharemore_vert

[charliegyrth]

Hello from Charlie Gyrth!

A Brief Introduction (and Links!)

Hello, Tumblr! My name’s Charlie. I’ve been writing (and reading) gainer fiction for years, and I finally have the confidence to start posting. My goal is to publish one story or chapter every day for the rest of 2025.

Here’s what I have so far:

Long Stories:

Fat Passengers - 3 parts (ebook) Fat for a Day - 3 parts (ebook) Nightly Feedings - 4 parts (ebook) A Milkshake a Day - 4 parts (ebook) Adiposexual - 5 parts (ebook) My Former Best Friend - 5 parts (ebook) Go with the Flow - 9 parts (ebook) Fatter for the Wedding - 12 parts (ebook) Alex Gets Soft - 22 parts (ebook)

Short Stories:

You Peaked in High School Darren's Birthday Surprise Fattened by Donuts Changing My Body for You The Summer You Got Fat How to Be a Fat American How to Be an AlphaBig, Fat Crush on My Doctor King Kong and the Blob What Happened to the Hot Swimmer? Mukbang Mikey Getting Fat for TV Feeding You in Public Your Wonderful Boyfriend Cody Comes Back Fit to Fat to Fit: What Could Go Wrong? Fattened in a Hotel Chicken Shack Fatties One Pound a Week Fattening the Actor Fat Felix Tries Ozempic Unrecognizably Fat Fat Farm Boys Improving Myself Final Destination: Obesity Three Roommates Scooter Hangry Search History Back from the Oil Rig Good Memories Tiny Tim and Small Sam You Ruin Your Perfect Body Metabolism Blockers Sliding Doors, Changing Waistlines I Really Want You to Like Me Liam's Sweet Tooth Are You Happy? My Best Friend Comes Back The Writer's Retreat Halloween Before and After Marriage Body Mark Wears the Pants Two Fat Guys on a Blind Date Giving In (2 parts) Hey, Chubs! (2 parts) Fat Camp Reunion (2 parts) The Lottery Winner (2 parts) I'm Too Fat for My In-Laws (2 parts) Speedos (2 parts) Fat Blind Date (2 parts) The Hottest Guy in Town (2 parts)

And here’s a bit about me:

I love writing about positive, supportive male couples who embrace the joys of gaining, feeding, encouraging, stuffing, and belly play. I don’t write about force-feeding (unless it’s consensual) or revenge fattening. I read those kinds of stories sometimes, but as a writer, I want to explore the healthier sides to gaining.

I find fat beautiful, so I kind of get lost in describing it sometimes. I love the sheer variety of plus-sized body types, so I try to reflect that in my stories. Not every fat guy is destined to grow a big, round beer gut (although those are great, of course).

I typically stay away from magical plots or instant weight gain. That usually doesn’t do it for me.

I will never use AI in my writing. I like creating these stories myself. (I have a day job as a full-time writer/editor, so this stuff is sort of a release for me.)

I try to be realistic with how quickly my characters gain, but sometimes I get a little ahead of myself and stretch reality. Just go with it.

I've started to publish some of these stories as ebooks. They will always be available for free on Tumblr, but one of my goals in life is to make gainer fiction more accepted in the literary world. We need to get more of this stuff out there. I don't expect gainer fiction to ever become mainstream, but there's no reason why it isn't as mainstream as, say, werewolf shifter erotica or other niche subgenres.

Probably not important, but I'm a redhead, so if you're wondering why there's an overrepresentation of red-haired characters in my stories, now you know.

I’m a gainer in my personal life, but I’m terrible at it. I always get up to about 210 or so and then chicken out. These stories are a way to help me process some of those feelings so that I can eventually have the confidence to keep going. We’ll see. (196 as of today!)

And I think that’s about it. Thanks so much for checking out my Tumblr! And happy eating!

[superbat-love]

For all those who have run out of fics to read on AO3 and are looking for older fics, there actually used to be an active Superbat community called World’s Finest on LiveJournal that was created all the way back in 2006!

Tagging system’s not as sophisticated as AO3 though, so you’d have to go through page by page if you actually wanted to find a specific fic. There was a site that would do monthly round ups of the fics from the different writers, but that site’s defunct now.

They had fanfic and fanart events back then too, just like how we have our Superbat Week now. I think someone even helped to put them together into ebook compilations for each year, because I recall reading one from 2008. I’ll add them here if I can find them.

You can find some of those old fics here: https://worlds-finest.livejournal.com/?skip=390&tag=fanfic%3A%20comicsverse

(I just filtered by the most used tag on the site and went to the earliest entries, but there may be older fics that are untagged)

[jstor]

JSOTR why do you make your research locked behind a subscription? So much knowledge, lost forerver…

Hi there. We often receive questions like this, so we'd like to provide some clarity here (we have a few previous posts on here about this that are a bit outdated). Scholarly publishing and the hosting of said published content is complicated, and we see how it can appear complex from the outside.

JSTOR doesn’t own the content hosted on-platform. We're not a publisher ourselves. We’re a mission-driven nonprofit that works with publishers like university presses and scholarly societies, and we pay licensing fees to host their scholarship. Those fees go back to support scholars, editors, and academic publishing as a whole.

Institutional and personal subscriptions helps us pay those fees, digitize and preserve physical materials, maintain reliable access for millions of users, and serve libraries and students around the world—including institutions in Africa (free access), low-income countries (near-free), and correctional facilities. Our role is to make these troves of knowledge more discoverable and accessible. In many cases, hosting an item on JSTOR actually helps to ensure it isn't lost to the ages or left in storage.

Over the years, we've worked to make more items on JSTOR free to access. So far, that includes:

Open access journals and ebooks you can read and download

More than 664,000 articles published before 1923 in the U.S. (and before 1870 elsewhere)

8.5+ million articles available for free online reading when you register for a free account

Collections from Artstor, collections shared by colleges, universities and museums, and Reveal Digital’s alternative press newspapers, magazines, and activist journals

A growing number of open research reports

Articles that connect scholarship to current events and cultural contexts via JSTOR Daily

Scholarly monographs in our Path to Open pilot program, where titles from university presses are accessible to participating libraries immediately and become open access three years after publication

Plus, there are a few additional ways you can access the articles you find on JSTOR:

Some institutions offer alumni access to JSTOR

Many public libraries provide access to JSTOR

Often, authors of articles will send them to you if you contact them directly

We should also mention: JSTOR doesn’t have full control over the access terms for most of the scholarship we host. That’s up to the publishers who own the rights. These partners play a vital role in creating and curating scholarship, and we work closely with them to make as much available as possible while respecting the sustainability of their work.

All the above is to say that JSTOR is just one part of a much larger publishing ecosystem. We’re committed to our values and to doing our part in preserving the scholarly record, making as much of it available as we can. We have a team of over 350 people hard at work on article intake, metadata, search functionality, support, and more.

There’s already a lot you can explore for free, some without a log-in and even more with a free account. Start here if you’re curious!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

I assure you, an AI didn’t write a terrible “George Carlin” routine

There are only TWO MORE DAYS left in the Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle, the sequel to Red Team Blues, narrated by @wilwheaton! You can pre-order the audiobook and ebook, DRM free, as well as the hardcover, signed or unsigned. There's also bundles with Red Team Blues in ebook, audio or paperback.

On Hallowe'en 1974, Ronald Clark O'Bryan murdered his son with poisoned candy. He needed the insurance money, and he knew that Halloween poisonings were rampant, so he figured he'd get away with it. He was wrong:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Clark_O%27Bryan

The stories of Hallowe'en poisonings were just that – stories. No one was poisoning kids on Hallowe'en – except this monstrous murderer, who mistook rampant scare stories for truth and assumed (incorrectly) that his murder would blend in with the crowd.

Last week, the dudes behind the "comedy" podcast Dudesy released a "George Carlin" comedy special that they claimed had been created, holus bolus, by an AI trained on the comedian's routines. This was a lie. After the Carlin estate sued, the dudes admitted that they had written the (remarkably unfunny) "comedy" special:

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/01/george-carlins-heirs-sue-comedy-podcast-over-ai-generated-impression/

As I've written, we're nowhere near the point where an AI can do your job, but we're well past the point where your boss can be suckered into firing you and replacing you with a bot that fails at doing your job:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/15/passive-income-brainworms/#four-hour-work-week

AI systems can do some remarkable party tricks, but there's a huge difference between producing a plausible sentence and a good one. After the initial rush of astonishment, the stench of botshit becomes unmistakable:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/03/botshit-generative-ai-imminent-threat-democracy

Some of this botshit comes from people who are sold a bill of goods: they're convinced that they can make a George Carlin special without any human intervention and when the bot fails, they manufacture their own botshit, assuming they must be bad at prompting the AI.

This is an old technology story: I had a friend who was contracted to livestream a Canadian awards show in the earliest days of the web. They booked in multiple ISDN lines from Bell Canada and set up an impressive Mbone encoding station on the wings of the stage. Only one problem: the ISDNs flaked (this was a common problem with ISDNs!). There was no way to livecast the show.

Nevertheless, my friend's boss's ordered him to go on pretending to livestream the show. They made a big deal of it, with all kinds of cool visualizers showing the progress of this futuristic marvel, which the cameras frequently lingered on, accompanied by overheated narration from the show's hosts.

The weirdest part? The next day, my friend – and many others – heard from satisfied viewers who boasted about how amazing it had been to watch this show on their computers, rather than their TVs. Remember: there had been no stream. These people had just assumed that the problem was on their end – that they had failed to correctly install and configure the multiple browser plugins required. Not wanting to admit their technical incompetence, they instead boasted about how great the show had been. It was the Emperor's New Livestream.

Perhaps that's what happened to the Dudesy bros. But there's another possibility: maybe they were captured by their own imaginations. In "Genesis," an essay in the 2007 collection The Creationists, EL Doctorow (no relation) describes how the ancient Babylonians were so poleaxed by the strange wonder of the story they made up about the origin of the universe that they assumed that it must be true. They themselves weren't nearly imaginative enough to have come up with this super-cool tale, so God must have put it in their minds:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/29/gedankenexperimentwahn/#high-on-your-own-supply

That seems to have been what happened to the Air Force colonel who falsely claimed that a "rogue AI-powered drone" had spontaneously evolved the strategy of killing its operator as a way of clearing the obstacle to its main objective, which was killing the enemy:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/04/ayyyyyy-eyeeeee/

This never happened. It was – in the chagrined colonel's words – a "thought experiment." In other words, this guy – who is the USAF's Chief of AI Test and Operations – was so excited about his own made up story that he forgot it wasn't true and told a whole conference-room full of people that it had actually happened.

Maybe that's what happened with the George Carlinbot 3000: the Dudesy dudes fell in love with their own vision for a fully automated luxury Carlinbot and forgot that they had made it up, so they just cheated, assuming they would eventually be able to make a fully operational Battle Carlinbot.

That's basically the Theranos story: a teenaged "entrepreneur" was convinced that she was just about to produce a seemingly impossible, revolutionary diagnostic machine, so she faked its results, abetted by investors, customers and others who wanted to believe:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theranos

The thing about stories of AI miracles is that they are peddled by both AI's boosters and its critics. For boosters, the value of these tall tales is obvious: if normies can be convinced that AI is capable of performing miracles, they'll invest in it. They'll even integrate it into their product offerings and then quietly hire legions of humans to pick up the botshit it leaves behind. These abettors can be relied upon to keep the defects in these products a secret, because they'll assume that they've committed an operator error. After all, everyone knows that AI can do anything, so if it's not performing for them, the problem must exist between the keyboard and the chair.

But this would only take AI so far. It's one thing to hear implausible stories of AI's triumph from the people invested in it – but what about when AI's critics repeat those stories? If your boss thinks an AI can do your job, and AI critics are all running around with their hair on fire, shouting about the coming AI jobpocalypse, then maybe the AI really can do your job?

https://locusmag.com/2020/07/cory-doctorow-full-employment/

There's a name for this kind of criticism: "criti-hype," coined by Lee Vinsel, who points to many reasons for its persistence, including the fact that it constitutes an "academic business-model":

https://sts-news.medium.com/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype-18b08b4307e5

That's four reasons for AI hype:

to win investors and customers;

to cover customers' and users' embarrassment when the AI doesn't perform;

AI dreamers so high on their own supply that they can't tell truth from fantasy;

A business-model for doomsayers who form an unholy alliance with AI companies by parroting their silliest hype in warning form.

But there's a fifth motivation for criti-hype: to simplify otherwise tedious and complex situations. As Jamie Zawinski writes, this is the motivation behind the obvious lie that the "autonomous cars" on the streets of San Francisco have no driver:

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/01/driverless-cars-always-have-a-driver/

GM's Cruise division was forced to shutter its SF operations after one of its "self-driving" cars dragged an injured pedestrian for 20 feet:

https://www.wired.com/story/cruise-robotaxi-self-driving-permit-revoked-california/

One of the widely discussed revelations in the wake of the incident was that Cruise employed 1.5 skilled technical remote overseers for every one of its "self-driving" cars. In other words, they had replaced a single low-waged cab driver with 1.5 higher-paid remote operators.

As Zawinski writes, SFPD is well aware that there's a human being (or more than one human being) responsible for every one of these cars – someone who is formally at fault when the cars injure people or damage property. Nevertheless, SFPD and SFMTA maintain that these cars can't be cited for moving violations because "no one is driving them."

But figuring out who which person is responsible for a moving violation is "complicated and annoying to deal with," so the fiction persists.

(Zawinski notes that even when these people are held responsible, they're a "moral crumple zone" for the company that decided to enroll whole cities in nonconsensual murderbot experiments.)

Automation hype has always involved hidden humans. The most famous of these was the "mechanical Turk" hoax: a supposed chess-playing robot that was just a puppet operated by a concealed human operator wedged awkwardly into its carapace.

This pattern repeats itself through the ages. Thomas Jefferson "replaced his slaves" with dumbwaiters – but of course, dumbwaiters don't replace slaves, they hide slaves:

https://www.stuartmcmillen.com/blog/behind-the-dumbwaiter/

The modern Mechanical Turk – a division of Amazon that employs low-waged "clickworkers," many of them overseas – modernizes the dumbwaiter by hiding low-waged workforces behind a veneer of automation. The MTurk is an abstract "cloud" of human intelligence (the tasks MTurks perform are called "HITs," which stands for "Human Intelligence Tasks").

This is such a truism that techies in India joke that "AI" stands for "absent Indians." Or, to use Jathan Sadowski's wonderful term: "Potemkin AI":

https://reallifemag.com/potemkin-ai/

This Potemkin AI is everywhere you look. When Tesla unveiled its humanoid robot Optimus, they made a big flashy show of it, promising a $20,000 automaton was just on the horizon. They failed to mention that Optimus was just a person in a robot suit:

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/elon-musk-tesla-robot-optimus-ai

Likewise with the famous demo of a "full self-driving" Tesla, which turned out to be a canned fake:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-video-promoting-self-driving-was-staged-engineer-testifies-2023-01-17/

The most shocking and terrifying and enraging AI demos keep turning out to be "Just A Guy" (in Molly White's excellent parlance):

https://twitter.com/molly0xFFF/status/1751670561606971895

And yet, we keep falling for it. It's no wonder, really: criti-hype rewards so many different people in so many different ways that it truly offers something for everyone.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/29/pay-no-attention/#to-the-little-man-behind-the-curtain

Back the Kickstarter for the audiobook of The Bezzle here!

Image:

Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

--

Ross Breadmore (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/rossbreadmore/5169298162/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

[shousetsubangbang]

Happy Pride from Shousetsu Bang*Bang!

Hi! We're Shousetsu Bang*Bang, the world's longest-running (that we know of) webzine of original smutty queer fiction and art! For the last twenty years, we've been putting out regular issues full of all kinds of queer romance focusing on sexy scenes and happy endings. Every issue is completely free, whether you're reading it on our website or downloading the ebook versions from Smashwords and Itch.io.

This is an all-volunteer endeavor, so we need your help! Want to do your part to help keep this one-of-a-kind (again, as far as we know) project going? Here's how!

Submit something!

If you're a writer and/or artist who likes creating original steamy queer love stories, we'd love to have your work in our pages. Check out our 2025 Editorial Calendar to see what's coming up, and look at our list of Current and Previous Signups to find out how to participate! (Hint: Turn something in by the deadline! It's so easy!)

Read what we've got already!

We've got a ton of back issues, so the easiest way to start is to pick an issue title that sounds good and just start reading! Issues are carefully curated, so make sure you read them top to bottom (so to speak).

However, if you've got a hankering for something in particular, www.s2b2search.com has you covered. You can sort contents by issue, author, artist, and special collection, or by Events, Pairings, Main Character, Relationship status, Genre, Attributes, Activities, Creatures, Setting, Animals, Kink, Collection, Tropes, and Story Length -- or just click here to get a random story/artwork!

Leave comments!

Remember how I said this was an all-volunteer project? It's true! Our contributors give freely of their time and talents. And the main way to encourage writers and artists whose work you like to write and/or draw more for you is to tell them that you appreciate what they've done already! All our issue contents have comment forms at the bottom so you can let the creators know how much their hard work has meant to you.

Spread the word!

We have no advertising budget. (Did you catch the part where this is an all-free, all-volunteer project?) That means we rely entirely on the kindness of internet strangers and friends to keep talk of Shousetsu Bang*Bang going. Besides Tumblr, you can follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Plurk for other easily shareable social media posts. If you make a post of your own, please tag us appropriately so we can share it ourselves!

Join our Discord!

We have a Discord! It's a pretty low-key place for contributors and readers alike to chat about things and cheer each other on. It's the best place for keeping track of when new signups are posted and new issues drop. If you've got questions about the submissions process, there's no better place to ask -- seasoned veterans of the project are happy to share their wisdom with newcomers!

With your help and support, we can continue being a source of sexy queer art, stories, and joy for many years to come. Thanks from all the editors, contributors, and readers of Shousetsu Bang*Bang!

[drchucktingle]

Where is the best place to preorder Bury Your Gays? What is of most benefit to you?

i know other types of media have given the trot of preorders a bad way, but for publishing books i cannot even begin to tell you buckaroos HOW IMPORTANT PREORDERS ARE WHEN SUPPORTING AUTHORS YOU CARE ABOUT. i mean HECK preorders are so important i even wrote three dang tinglers about it

basically preorders are what publishers use to determine how much financial backing they will give a book for advertising and book tours and all that, but that is only PART of this way. BOOK STORES also use a preorder equation to determine how much shelf space to give a book. your preorder does not just mean YOU get a book for yourself, but basically means you are making room for someone ELSE to get the book in a store by putting another copy on a shelf

that is why it is better to put in a preorder instead of just saying 'oh i will just remember to buy myself a copy on the day it comes out'

LASTLY preorders are how books get onto bestseller lists because all the orders leading up to your book release date COUNT AS FIRST WEEK SALES. something like new york times bestseller list is close to impossible trot without preorders

think of it like a handsome surfing bigfoot trying to ride a wave. it is one thing to actually ride on the wave, but what matters most is that initial moment when you GET UP THERE and actually have the strength to pull yourself up when the wave starts. PREORDERS are the climbing up part

NOW LETS GET DOWN TO YOUR SPECIFIC QUESTION

first of all ANY preorder is great. what matters most as far as bestseller lists is actually FORMAT. the best thing you can order for an author is not ebook or audiobook, it is HARDCOVER. personally i am an audiobook buckaroo myself so please understand you should order whatever format you want, but technically speaking the answer is HARDCOVER

next is WHERE do you order. this answer is pretty dang cool actually. the best place to order for the sake of author is your LOCAL INDIE BOOKSTORE. if you MUST order at a big timer website that is fine, but many bestseller lists are weighted towards indie bookstores

so to sum it up. the technical BEST WAY to support chuck with 'bury your gays' is to PREORDER a HARDCOVER from an INDIE BOOKSTORE.

thank you for your question but before you go trotting along i would like to add one more thing

all art is important. when we create things they serve as stepping stones for us to move along our journey as artists and creators on this timeline. i have so much love for every book i have made, from POUNDED IN THE BUTT BY MY OWN BUTT to CAMP DAMASCUS

but i have to say with deep sincerity in my way, BURY YOUR GAYS is something special. i absolutely believe that if you care about fandom, or creation, or love, or fanfiction, or supernatural, or the future of media, or asexual buckaroos, or gay buckaroos, or bi buckaroos or any queer buckaroos, you will love this book. i promise buckaroo

it is the best thing i have ever written, and i think it is going to bend this timeline in incredible ways. i would like you to trot with me into the future, since we have already trotted this far together. i cannot say this enough: this one is special, and the timelines we create from here are going to make the whole dang world look up in surprise and say 'where the heck did that come from?'

so if you are even CONSIDERING preordering, take a moment a do it.

if you are one of those buckaroos who says 'chuck tingle is my favorite author ive never read' then now is your moment

lets trot buckaroos. thank you for reading and thank you for constantly proving to me that love is real

preorder BURY YOUR GAYS here

[lilyprettyremy]

How to Get Out of a Reading Slump:

Let’s be real—reading slumps happen to the best of us. One day you’re devouring novels like snacks, and the next, the thought of picking up a book feels like climbing a mountain. But don’t worry, this isn’t permanent! Here’s how you can reignite your love for reading with practical advice (and a little personal touch).

1. Start Small and Easy

Sometimes, the thought of diving into a big, heavy novel can feel overwhelming. Instead, reach for something light, fun, or even familiar. What Worked for Me: When I hit a slump, I re-read my favorite childhood book. The nostalgia pulled me in, and before I knew it, I was back in the reading groove.

Try This:

A novella, poetry collection, or short story.

A feel-good romance or an easy thriller that keeps you hooked.

2. Switch Formats

Who says reading has to be on paper? Shake things up with audiobooks, eBooks, or graphic novels. Sometimes, a new format is all you need to make stories exciting again. What I Loved: Listening to an audiobook while walking felt like having a friend tell me a story. It’s low-pressure and immersive.

Try This:

Download an audiobook for your commute or chores.

Explore comics or manga—they’re visually engaging and quick to finish.

3. Create a Cozy Reading Ritual

Make reading feel like a treat, not a task. Set the scene: grab a warm drink, snuggle up in a cozy blanket, and turn reading into a moment of self-care. What Helps Me: I light a candle, sip some tea, and read for just 15 minutes. Even if I don’t feel like continuing, I’ve created a moment of peace for myself.

4. Ditch the Guilt

If a book isn’t grabbing your attention, it’s okay to put it down! Life’s too short to force yourself through something you’re not enjoying. What I Do: I keep a “second chance” stack of books I didn’t finish but might come back to later. It takes the pressure off and lets me move on guilt-free.

Pro Tip: Give yourself permission to stop at any time. The right book will find you when you’re ready.

5. Set the Mood with Your TBR

Sometimes a slump happens because you’re not in the mood for what you’ve been reading. Change it up with books that match your current vibe. My Recent Trick: When I wanted cozy, wintery vibes, I picked up a snow-filled mystery, and it fit the season perfectly. It felt like I was part of the story.

Try This:

If it’s cold, go for a winter romance or mystery.

Feeling adventurous? Pick up a fast-paced fantasy.

6. Buddy Up

Reading doesn’t have to be a solo activity. Share the experience with someone who loves books as much as you do. What Worked for Me: My friend and I read the same book and texted each other our reactions. It made the whole process so much fun, and we got to geek out together.

Pro Tip: Join a book club, even if it’s online! Goodreads or apps like Fable make it easy to connect with other readers.

7. Take the Pressure Off

Sometimes, we fall into slumps because we set unrealistic expectations for ourselves. Forget about reading “x” number of books or finishing by a certain date—just read what you love. My Perspective: I stopped tracking my reading goals for a while and focused on enjoying the stories. That shift in mindset made all the difference.

8. Revisit Your Why

Ask yourself: Why do you love reading? Is it the escape, the knowledge, the way stories make you feel? Reconnecting with that "why" can reignite your passion. 💡 What I Remind Myself: Reading isn’t a chore—it’s a gift. When I focus on that, it stops feeling like something I “should” do and starts feeling like something I want to do.

9. Explore a Different Genre

If you’ve been stuck in the same genre, it might be time for a change. Trying something new can surprise you and pull you right back in. My Experiment: I went from contemporary fiction to fantasy and felt like I’d rediscovered the magic of reading all over again.

Pro Tip: Ask for recommendations in genres you don’t usually explore!

10. Go Easy on Yourself

At the end of the day, slumps happen. Don’t stress about it—it’s just a phase. The books will always be there when you’re ready. My Advice: Take it slow, experiment, and most importantly, enjoy the journey. Sometimes, stepping away from reading for a little while can also recharge your love for it.

Getting out of a reading slump is all about finding what sparks your interest again—whether it’s a cozy atmosphere, a gripping audiobook, or a change of genres. Be patient with yourself, and remember, it’s not about the number of books you read but the joy you find in them. So go ahead, grab that book, and take it one page at a time. You’ve got this!