#all the books should have links to amazon if you want to check them out!!

[avaantares]

Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!

[roguestorm]

How To Start Reading Marvel Comics

Okay, so let's say you're a fan of the Marvel movies or games or you just saw Spider-Verse and you want to know how to start reading comics. Hi, welcome! This is one method of getting into comics; it is not the only one. We're going to be heavily relying on digital comics for this one, so if you prefer reading on paper, this might not be for you.

Step One: Pick a Character

This should be easy! Pick a character whose comics you want to read. It doesn't have to be your favorite character of all time; it just needs to be a character you're interested in getting to know a little better. A character is going to work better for this particular method than a team will, although there are plenty of team reading guides if you really want them.

Let's say, for the sake of example, that you just watched the Moon Knight Disney+ series and you want to read some stuff about Moon Knight.

Step Two: Find a Reading List

The very technically advanced way to do this is to Google "[Character] Reading List" or "[Character] Recommended Reading." For Moon Knight, Marvel has an official one that pops up right away.

The official ones are good places to start, but IMO, the best ones are usually from tumblr or Reddit. Comic fans can be very intense, but we also know more about the material than anyone, including Marvel. :) Here's one for Moon Knight.)

Step Three: Understanding the Reading List

Comic names are formatted one of two ways. You might see someone say Moon Knight (vol 7) or Moon Knight (2014). These refer to the same series of comics. They mean that the title of the series is Moon Knight, that it is the 7th series published under that title, and that it started publication in 2014. Moon Knight (vol 1) is Moon Knight (1980), because it's the first run of comics called Moon Knight and it started publication in 1980.

So, how do you know? That's where the wiki comes in. marvel.fandom.com is my best friend. So, when you type "Moon Knight vol 7" into the search bar, it brings up this page. See how it says (2014-2015) at the top? That's how you know that Moon Knight (vol 7) is Moon Knight (2014).

Step Four: Accessing Comics

Now we have to get the comics. We have a number of options:

For digital comics:

Buying digital comics. You can do this on Amazon or Marvel.com. However, this gets expensive real fast - for example, Moon Knight (1980) has 38 issues, and each of those costs $1.99. That's almost $80, just for volume 1.

Marvel Unlimited subscription. This is not a bad deal TBH. It's $10 a month, and they have quite an extensive catalogue. The only problem is that the site takes forever to load and is not easily searchable. Usually, I'll type into Google the name of the exact comic I want to access (e.g. "Moon Knight (1980) #1") and then click on the marvel.com link that comes up.

Piracy. This is the easiest and cheapest option, and thus the most popular. I'm not going to link any sites, but ask a friend or Google and you'll find one easily enough.

Physical comics are also an option, but they are more complicated. Groups of issues are collected in trade paperback collections, but finding which collections contain which issues can be a bit more of a hassle. And then buying those collections can get pricey very quickly.

If you like physical comics and have a public library card, I'd recommend checking out what they have on their shelves. On a Marvel comic, you want to look at the back cover, usually in the lower right-hand corner, and it will tell you which issues are in the comic (e.g. "Collects Moon Knight (2014) #1-6"). You might find some things that were on your reading list, or you might find some comics you'd never have read otherwise. A lot of public libraries (at least in the US) have a larger comic book collection than you'd expect.

Step Five: Have Fun and Be Yourself!

The most important thing to remember is that you are supposed to be having fun. There might be some frustration if you're not used to reading visual media (I know I wasn't), but it should overall be fun. If a comic feels like a slog, you don't have to read it! Maybe you and the person who made the reading list just have different taste. Try a different comic. Try a different character.

Also, remember that it's okay to be confused. You might be jumping around a little bit and so you might not know everything that's going on. This is kind of the perpetual state of reading comics. If you want to double-check the wiki or ask your friendly neighborhood comics blogger, that's totally fine.

[drrr-emporium]

What to do if Durarara over

I'm going to assume you've finished the anime and have not gone into anything else Naritaverse wise

So! You can read the novels. Since they're officially licensed by yen press, you can buy the soft cover books or get them as an ebook / kindle from barnes and noble or amazon. I don't really endorse this but I'm sure if you do enough digging around you can find old, still available, free translations like anni_fiesta who did a lot of translating back in the day. Here's the link to their Index of Translation. I still use it since it's the only place I know that has the white day story translated and it's one of my favorites (For Kadota Related reasons haha), plus a couple of other side stories.

(I think the internet archives have the novels if you do some poking around but for Narita Please Write SH 5 reasons, I'll ask you to dig those up lmao)

Speaking of Side stories, Kazinha-726 translated a bunch of drrr side stories But since they haven't updated in a while, you need to change the links from kaedesan721 to their new URL kazinha-726. I'll directly link what you need here

Izaya Spin Off Translations I don't think these are officially licensed for translation so it's fine for me to link. This is the story of Izaya now that he's been forced out of Ikebukuro, and there's two books as of writing this.

Durarara Gaidens It's some gaidens, but It's also a handful of translated convos from 3 way stand of alley relay, the links use that kaedesan721 link, so while I won't be fixing all those links for you, I can at least link the tag for all of them here. you can probably find audio for this game on youtube, though I'm not sure anyone's like.... fully translated? perhaps? Which ALSO reminds me of the relay manga

Durarara Epitome of Eighteen Histories Written along side the release of season 2, we've got some stories involving Kazane Kinomiya, who's the half sister of Shinra, and a reporter. They have all 18 listed there nicely EXCEPT the Erika and Walker Link is a little messed up, and if you search through the posts you can get to it but anyway here's the link to that story specifically

DRRR x Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens Actually I haven't seen HTR or read it so I can't really tell you about this one but if you're into that series--

There's ALSO MiniDura which are little gag comics of the durarara cast in chibis! there should be 4 books as of me writing this. Godspeed on finding translations they seem to be around.... but this post is long and I'm scared of losing it so I'll update later on how many chapters there are so you don't miss any, though I'm seeing up to 10 in my cursory search.

Shizuo, Izaya, and Celty are also in uh.... Dengeki Bunko's fighting Climax, which you might be able to find some stuff on on youtube. but since it's Dengeki Bunko you also have other series... I can only remember A Certain Magical Index / A Certain Scientific Railgun / the other titles in this series as being part of it whoops.

So you've done all that, what do you do next?

Well Narita has other series, like Baccano! which had an anime before DRRR did, which is 16 episodes. Since Funimation lost the license back in like... 2012 it's not officially uh licensed for viewing anywhere, so uh. wink wink. message me if you need more help here.

There's ALSO the novels which... there are so many more than there are for drrr, also available to purchase, though these are hardcovers! Last time I checked they had.... around 20 translated? Since I'm more drrr side I'd have to ask about fan translations and if I can still find them around. But again I don't really condone it since we want more written you know?

Narita also has a couple other series, but the one that's my favorite besides DRRR is Etsusa Bridge (It's pronounced Essa Bridge don't make the same mistake I did. )

And i NEED more people to read that one please please please please

Unfortunately, the person who did the fan translation closed their Blogspot to the public so uh. the first 4 books, and really what is the main story, is available on the internet archive here

Though I'm saying thank you to baka-tsuki for my life by having a page of links here, which includes the 5th book, 5656 part two (NARITA..... I NEED 5656 PART 2 PLEASE...... PLEASE)

and Vamp on the internet archive here and baka-tsuki here

I also know about Hariyama-san but i don't actually know... if anyone translated that one..... Narita has also written for Bleach and Fate Strange/ Fake if you're into those. Straight up just linking this wiki page in case you have any interest in other stuff he's written

And finally! Currently, Dead Mount Death Play (often shortened to DMDP) is a manga written (or co written?) by Narita! which is currently getting an anime and all of his attention.

All that being said I've been really into Trigun lately lmao

Anyone else feel free to add on or tell me what I may be missing

[writingonjorvik]

In light of everything going on with Elli and Helena and Christine and the whole publishing department, I wanted to make a post as a published author about how to best support creators, particularly authors, in the digital age. I'm going to say upfront that there will not be links in this initial post, but I'll reblog it with links. I just don't want this post to get suppressed. It's amazing as an author to see all of the love and support going to Elli and Helena right now, because that is so incredibly rare to see for creators and it makes a huge difference. I genuinely think that based on how quickly SSE has responded indicates that they're listening, so keep up the pressure. So lets talk about a few things to help even more.

First and foremost, follow authors' socials! This is the most obvious, but more followers means a bigger reach and on some platforms is required to have access to certain features (like Instagram used to require a certain follower count for links in stories). And engage with their content when they post it! Shares and reblogs have the biggest weight with content interaction, so it is massively important, not just liking posts.

Second, stay up to date on their other projects so in the event of things like what's happened with SSE, the creators are still getting support. Are y'all following Tistow? You should! It's really good. What about Helena's original horror stories? I'm not fluent enough to read Swedish books yet, but I've heard only good things. Creators are rarely just a singular franchise or IP, so if you want to support them, make sure you're checking out their other works.

Third, and this is chiefly for authors, leave reviews!!!!!!!! This is incredibly important. Did you know that Amazon won't recommend a book until it has at least 50 reviews? Not even confirmed buyer reviews, just 50 reviews. Reviews are MASSIVE (and that's not an under-emphasis) for the visibility of creators. Even if it's copy-pasted on multiple platforms, go leave reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N, and whatever retailers you're picking books up from. It makes a serious impact.

Now, I'm not saying that if all of y'all left reviews on mass for the SSO books and comics (where you can) and following these creators on all their socials would fix everything about the situation. To say the least, even if SSE does reestablish their publishing department, this mess happened in the first place. So please expand your support for these creators beyond just their SSO based platforms so that regardless of the outcome, they get back on their feet.

Again, I'll be reblogging this with links and socials, so let me know if you find any I've missed and I'll add them. But genuinely, seeing this for other creators is so inspiring. At least for me, and I can't speak for Elli or Helena or Christine, but this is what so many creators hope for, a community that cares so much about them and their work that they'll speak up about it and loudly. Imposter syndrome has been such a common trait with so many creators I follow or have met, and the visible, tangible proof that people care about you cuts incredibly deeply in such a positive and healing way. It's not just a silly little horse game's books and comics. It matters. And even if it's not for me, thank you for being good to creators because they deeply, deeply deserve all your love and support.

[authorsadiethatcher]

Welcome to March. In the northern hemisphere, where I live, it is the start of meteorological spring. Except the weather didn't switch with the month and things here are starting out wet and cold. But the extra indoor time should be good for writing.

Last month I talked about finally being caught up on writing. I try to maintain pretty strict deadlines, but I fell off at the end of February. Two days behind schedule may not seem like a lot, but it feels like a lot, especially when working on longer books, which I'll talk more about later.

The big news for this month is something I can't actually share yet. But pay attention on March 9 for some cool news from me. I just don't like having to wait, but it's something I'm really excited about.

A quick reminder that you can find my books on Amazon, Smashwords, Google Play Books, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Everand. You can also read everything I’ve published under my Sadie Thatcher name since last May on Ream, which is a subscription platform built specifically for authors. You can check out my Ream page below.

Ream: https://reamstories.com/sadiethatcher

And speaking of Ream, I have a Ream exclusive novel called The Muse (extreme dollification) that is now complete. I've made the first three chapters available for free. All you have to do is sign up as a follower at the link above to get a taste of my first real story that is too extreme for Amazon.

This month I plan to spend some time on my other pen name, Libby Feron. As Libby, I write fantasy romance. I’ll have a free novella available to prepare for a new trilogy that I hope to publish this year. The trilogy will be focused on a previously introduced character as she heads off to a college for magical people. I don’t talk about my fantasy writing often, so checking out https://libbyferon.com/ and signing up for the email newsletter is the best way to stay informed. And that free novella will be exclusive to newsletter subscribers, so you’ll want to sign up for that. However, I'm also considering an entirely different book to clear out the cobwebs in my head. We'll see.

Now to focus on this month’s upcoming books. I have two ongoing series. Bimbo Future will soon be complete with Free to Be releasing in a few days. This will follow a similar pattern of a fairy showing a woman a possible bimbo future and persuading her to choose that over a more conventional life. And then there's Quantum Bimbo. This is a slow burn transformation series following one woman as she encounters a recurring time loop that leads her down a path toward becoming a bimbo. The first book, Déjà Vu, is out now and the rest of the trilogy will be released in the first half of the month. I'm really excited for this series.

Some of the other upcoming books I’ve got in the pipeline for this month is a series based on the concept of a woman's intelligence, or other aspects of her life, being stolen and held for ransom, forcing her to turn toward bimbo jobs to pay the ransom. But once she goes bimbo, it's hard to stop. I've also got a plan for another series that could include societal changes. I'm keeping my cards on this one close to the chest, because I'm not entirely sure what is going to happen in it yet.

Something else I'm considering, but I'm only considering right now, is to write a few flash fiction stories, one or two per month, and put them up on Ream for free for anyone who wants to follow me there. It's time permitting, of course.

So that’s what you can expect in March. It’s a packed month, especially because my schedule will make for 11 published books this month. I average 10 usually with a release every 3 days. There will be a couple months like this in 2024, with 11 releases instead of 10.

Have a sexy and bimbo-filled March and happy spring in the top half of the world!

[the960writers]

Hi! I was recommended your blog as a good place for writing advice. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on using Tumblr blaze to get the word out about a published work? I don't have a ton of followers, nor do I have any other social media. I'd planned trying a couple other 'marketing' methods but just wondering if you think there would be enough positive engagement from a blazed post to even bother?

Take my advice with a massive grain of salt because I pay tumblr to be ad-free and run an ad-blocker, so I haven't ever seen a blazed post.

I would be very careful. Tumblr is notorious for hating on anything "capitalistic", and plenty of people consider authors to be part of the "golden elite" (that's a quote from a post I can't find anymore). If you advertise, people might hate on you because they put you on the same level as Disney advertising on tumblr.

I would probably try to be funny, or make it look like an aesthetic post, and keep the Call To Buy very subtle. You don't want to look like a salesman yelling.

But that's just my gut feeling. I know that Joy Demorra (who already has thousands of followers so it doesn't quite compare) blazed her book:

And Joy consequently got her inbox flooded with people berating her for being on amazon and therefor not deserving any money because she made a deal with the devil or some such nonsense.

What else to do?

I have a few advice posts collected in my #marketing tag, and there's also some good general advice in #being an author.

In general, most indie-authors advertise on facebook (yuck!) and Amazon, and have a newsletter. You should probably focus on these points.

For Email-marketing, check out David Gaughran's blog:

Definitely join his newsletter and check out his free stuff and books.

The other mammoth blog for learning advertising, is Mark Dawson's blog and system:

Look at the free stuff and listen to some episodes of the podcast. He sells famous-among-indies courses to learn advertising on facebook and amazon, they may be worth the money but I have not taken any of them.

Back to tumblr.

Do you have an active blog? Show some stuff from your writing. Do you have a pretty masterpost with pictures and a little description about yourself and what you write and links to samples and places to buy and DID YOU PIN IT?

If you have all that, maybe then I would think about blazing a funny post. But I can't help you with what tumblr would consider funny. That's like those people making 15 seconds videos on tik-tok about their books, and that seems to work and I just don't get this at all! Oh yes, apparently tik-tok sells books? I recently had an ask about that too. Maybe look up tik-tok.

So, yeah, I can't help you with tumblr but hopefully some info in this post is helpful. I wish you luck!

[luninosity]

Whilst I actually remember that I exist here, may I quickly catch you up on some News of various types?

1) the RomPod podcast episode that's got an interview with, er, me, and also the lovely romance scholar Maria Ramos-Garcia, is up now, if you want to hear me ramble about things! We're in episode 2, which you can find here.

2) if you're looking for a good cause to support this month, and some great short stories celebrating queer joy in all sorts of flavors, you might like to check out this anthology kickstarter from Amphibian Press - I've got a story in there! Something brand-new and shiny and exclusive to this collection! (I think we're not supposed to announce the full lineup yet, but there are some lovely author-friends in there too!) Proceeds are going to benefit Club Q!

3) this one’s probably the Big Thing - the Character Bleed box set - with the original three novels, plus new author’s note, and updated cover art - is coming June 10 from JMS Books! Ebook first, then paperback probably in about two months - yes, it’ll be massive! I really want to see it. It’s going to be...wait for it...332,890 words. (Good heavens, did I write that many words?!) It’s actually sort of experimental - JMS said they don’t normally do paperbacks for box sets, but this trilogy has been such a consistent good seller, they’d like to try at least a limited number in print. (So maybe please buy one when that happens? If nothing else you can probably use it as a hammer, or a doorstop, or a weapon.)

This is closer to the way I originally wrote it, as one giant novel - I broke it into a trilogy to, y'know, make it publishable! This volume includes the short stories that came with each book - including the ones that were never on AO3, at least one of those per book. The short stories published separately will get collected into a second volume! (I am STILL working on Leo’s book, which might have to be two books, because it is now 116k and NOT DONE *screams quietly into pillows about not being able to write short things*)

I don’t think the Amazon link is live yet but here’s the JMS Books link!

4) with the Academic Hat on, I am your Fantasy & the Fantastic Area Chair for the Pacific Ancient & Modern Language Association Conference! We've got several great proposals but should have room for 1-2 more - if you are working on some fantasy-adjacent research / creative work with meta-cognitive component, and you want to come to Portland in October, send me an abstract over here! Or, if you are in or near Portland, would you like to hang out, meet up, say hi? Or, any recommendations? I’ve been to Portland once before but also for Academic Conference Reasons, so not lots of tourist time. Awesome Husband might come this time because he’s never been to Portland and he’s got some vacation time. We like history, good craft beer, botanic gardens, water, queerness, and libraries. I think the conference hotel is some sort of Hilton in the downtown area?

5) officially got the rights back from Inkshares* for my first** novel, A Prophecy for Two! (Plus they sent me the last paperbacks they had in inventory, so a- those are I guess rare-ish now, since there'll never be another of those editions - want to buy one for cheap? *laughs* I mean I’m semi- serious; they sent me like 13 paperbacks, and I do not need that many! and b- I think that's it as far as that relationship! *dusts off hands*) Now to give the whole thing a polish and republish it with JMS - we've already had conversations about that, so it’ll happen!

*I’ve got complicated feels about Inkshares. That’s a whole other post. In the short form: did I get a book out of it, when I was an unknown author? Yes. Would I advise someone else to work with them? No.

**first in terms of being completed. A Demon for Midwinter ended up being published first, because of publisher schedules and JMS Books sending me a super-quick offer and having great editorial turnaround.

6) okay, I THINK that’s it! Actually, a totally non-publishing related thing: I just had a student submit - for a 12-page paper requirement - a paper that was 21 pages. Yep.

Honestly, it was kind of lovely - he’s a good student, he’s a good writer, and he already submitted a 14-page version that was excellent, but then he asked if he could send me an updated version “to make it as good as I possibly can,” and I said yes, because he *is* a very good writer, and then. A 21 page paper showed up in my email. Not including his Works Cited section, or the lengthy email in which he told me how much fun he had in my class and getting to write about monsters and monstrosity and ethics and agency. My god, student, I am both impressed and vaguely in shock. I mean, that’s why I do this job, that’s why I love this job, but also - he sent the updated version to me the *day* before final grades were due. (He already had an A.)

[andromedaexists]

Now that the month is winding down, I will finally have time to update the Queer Book Directory! I have found a lot of amazing books to add thanks to a new server I have joined, but I specifically want to yell at you guys about @marsadler's book First Creation that is coming out this week!

First Creation is a love letter to fallen angels, rediscovering religion in a way that works for you, queer rage, and hunger of all kinds.

SUMMARY

Amitiel, an angel of God, and Stolas, a fallen angel-turned-spy, should be enemies. However, after they uncover a shocking secret that drives them to desert, they go on the run together in modern-day America. Both are injured, and it’s only by chance that they stumble upon a long-abandoned church. Ensconced in the alluring, stifling church with a forgotten cemetery and too many peach trees, they finally have time to heal. They also have time to think and plan, which is as much a blessing as it is a curse. Amitiel must come to terms with his strange hunger and forbidden desires, while Stolas plans their next move. They both grapple with the knowledge of where their food rations came from, and that something is very wrong in the heart of Heaven itself. God has vanished, and if he isn't giving the orders, who is condoning the atrocities the angels commit in the name of winning?

TWs (taken straight from mars' site)

death, murder, blood and graphic gore, graphic cannibalism, war, food rationing and mentions of starvation, manipulation, blood drinking (in a sexual situation), explicit sexual content

WHERE TO OBTAIN

Amazon (Kindle Edition)

There will be more, they mentioned uploading it to itchio at one point as well as potentially having paperbacks! So I'll update with those links when they are available

MARS ADLER

mars is an amazing friend and lovely part of the writing community, they have been incredibly supportive of me on discord, twitter, and instagram. it's actually why I'm making this post, their twitter was suspended just a few days before the release of this novella. That's kinda fucked and they deserve to have love showered on their work.

I will be reading this and reviewing it as soon as I can after it is released. Right now, I am reading The Sun & The Star and Junker 7, both of which I need to review and add to the QBD. I also need to move the QBD off of tumblr since there have been rumors of staff removing custom themes (boooo i hate). It will still be the same link and the same way to find it (through my page or at this link), but it will be hosted off site that way we don't loose it.

ANYWAYS, check out this book! I have very high hopes for it, everyone who has beta read it is screaming about how amazing it is. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

[ofsappho]

I hope this isn’t too much to ask, but for someone new studying Hellenic Polytheism, what 1-3 books would you recommend that you don’t think get recommended much OR that you think are good books?

Hi there! First of all, welcome to the community! Even if you don't end up practicing Hellenic polytheism or you just have an academic interest, welcome :)

-

While I do have some book recommendations, I also have a recommendation for you about how to read. Unfortunately, a lot of (if not most/all) of the easily accessible books written recently about practicing Hellenic Polytheism (the guides to worship or how to books you might find on amazon) have various biases that could make them unreliable sources. Whether that's connections to racism/white supremacy/xenophobia/ultra nationalism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia, outright misinformation/lying, cultural appropriation of other, closed religions, crossover with other polytheistic/pagan paths, crossover with Wicca, etc.

While these books might still have useful and relevant information, if you're going to buy/read them, it's worth researching the book, researching the author, messaging someone in the recon community about it, etc before buying it. You don't want to give someone money and support who doesn't deserve it. And if you end up reading it, read carefully and with a close eye for those aforementioned biases.

As far as things to read go, I recommend the following mixture:

you want to read some really good translations of different epics/myths/hymns.

You want to read a good amount of academic scholarship on different aspects of greek religion, on the history of religion and religious practices, as well as on the culture of Ancient Greece, the history of Ancient Greece itself, and comparative mythology. That last one is really important. The Ancient Greeks were not mythic literalists and neither are we, and it's important to understand all the different things myth is used for and how/why myths are created and passed down, so you can look at our myths and understand the religious/historical/cultural information within them.

You should then support all of these base historical knowledge with some modern books of the category I mentioned earlier: written by practitioners as how to manuals, which might not be the most accurate sources, but after learning from the academic perspectives on ancient greek religion, you can sift out the biases and misinformation easier and just focus on the useful info

If this seems intimidating and like a lot, don't worry, that's because it is. I have been a practicing recon Hellenic Polytheist for over a year, and I spent a few years before practicing slowly working my way towards this reconstructionist religious approach. It will take a lot of time for you to build you own practice and household worship, as well as a lot of reading, patience, and research.

You don't need to know everything all at once and you can take your time, maybe you change your mind and you don't end up wanting to practice, whatever it is, that's fine.

As for actual book recommendations: I recommend acquiring translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey, These are fundamentals, I really like/recommend Caroline Alexander's translation of the Iliad and Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey. I've read others, they aren't nearly as good.

I also recommend reading Hesiod's Theogony and (very importantly) the Homeric Hymns. If you don't want to spend money/you want to read everything in one place, theoi.com has it all for free.

As far as comparative mythology goes, I urge you to check out Joseph Campbell's work. The Hero's Journey story format you probably learned about in school comes from Joseph Cambell's work. I specifically recommend Joseph Cambell's Power of Myth, which is both a television series and a book.

Modern how to books:

I'm going to provide some links with background on all the different big modern authors/books. Please read these posts before you decide to purchase anything written by them.

Finally, you should look into the background of Wicca and neo-paganism, and the racist/sexist/appropriative/colonial/homophobic/transphobic/WD/anti-semitic roots within Wicca/neo-paganism/the Westen New Age spirituality movement in general. Once you learn the signs, you'll be able to recognize them within content about Hellenic Polytheism.

-

I apologize for how long this post ended up being. I hope it was helpful and not overwhelming. Feel free to message me with any further questions, concerns, etc! My inbox (both ask and DMs) are always open.

[lollybliz]

I posted 10,204 times in 2022

80 posts created (1%)

10,124 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@maddymayhearts

@calicotomcat

@extreme-technicality

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I tagged 3,047 of my posts in 2022

#laugh rule - 123 posts

#tears of the kingdom - 108 posts

#lemony scented - 72 posts

#bliz spams - 50 posts

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#genshin 2.7 stream spoilers - 14 posts

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Longest Tag: 132 characters

#and this pig just ✨️✨️✨️coincidentally✨️✨️✨️wanders around in the middle of the afternoon on schooldays in the teen and juv sections

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Screaming and ripping and tearing and crying and howling and shredding and scratching and barking and

I get it. I do. And the loss of any safe piracy hosts is always to be grieved because that's access being denied to countless people who never would have had access otherwise. But book piracy specifically is The Only Piracy That Actually Hurts Someone. Please just uSE YOUR LOCAL FUCKING LIBRARY JESUS CHRIST. we're RIGHT HERE. we're FREE. and we don't MAKE THE PUBLISHERS SO MAD THEY CANCEL CONTRACTS WITH THE AUTHORS LEAVING THEM WITH ZERO INCOME. when you pirate books, various publishing companies have ways of keeping an eye on the ratio between purchased and pirated copies of a specific book in question. A lot of the time, if that number goes too high, instead of I don't know ~cracking down on piracy sites~ or ~putting the books on sale~ they blame the author and cut the contract. Meaning the author stops getting paid entirely. And that's the BETTER outcome. That ✨️clever tiktok trick✨️ for renting reading and returning books on amazon? Oho my friend someone still pays for that book! Guess who! THATS RIGHT THE AUTHOR.

I g e t the need for free books. Everything is expensive right now and $20 for a book that will take you a day to read feels obscene. Go to your local library. Don't gimme that 'but they don't have the book I want' shit--have you Asked? Because beloved guess what? When we genuinely don't have a book you want to read we reach out to sister branches in the area until we find a copy for you! It's called an interlibrary loan and it's completely normal! Sometimes there's a shipping fee if it had to come across state borders. Did you know you can also suggest books we add to our catalogue? And I remind you getting a library card is free. And we have half dozen online resources that are also made free by your having a library card. You Do need a piece of mail with 'your' address on it but besties. Y'all. Do you think we have the kind of time to check if you're giving us Your address or your Grandparent's address? No. Just give us the address of some family member in the area, it doesn't really matter much, you can change or update it whenever. Don't tell anyone I suggested that though lol.

On a very selfish level, our counties don't like giving us our yearly budget. The old cis white capitalist men, shockingly, don't seem to like the beacon of socialism that is public libraries. A lot of the time the excuse they use to literally just not pay us is 'the youth of today don't use libraries anymore, they're more interested in *insert 'them video games' schpiel*'

If you came to the library they wouldn't have that excuse anymore. We're not the cardigan wearing shushers in the movies I swear. We've got Mario kart wii in our teen room.

I'm sorry you lost your book piracy website, genuinely I am. You should have been using the library all along though. Pirating books Does hurt the author. And libraries nowadays have massive digital catalogues so even if you aren't physically close to one there is enormous f r e e benefit to getting a library card. Please god go to your local library

29 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

#4

Liking a mutual's vaguely concerning personal post is like I see you I hear you i am bringing you a cup of tea and a weighted blanket I am holding you i am holding you i am holding you

39 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

#3

If I had to see this so do you

102 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

#2

No you don't understand your honor I love him

137 notes - Posted May 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Sorry not sorry for the person im going to be for the next year

I have SO MANY QUESTIONS

See the full post

313 notes - Posted September 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[holofoiltowercard]

The Journey of The Tarot Haiku

XI: Justice - Laws

Today's post will be about the legal aspects of Kindle Direct Publishing, or what I did in the course of signing up and self-publishing my book.

First, I printed out the entire user agreement, which was like seven pages in teeny tiny font. It didn't tell me about every single thing that I needed to know to publish, but it did allow me to ascertain the following:

how massive Amazon's influnce is over the content, which is where Kindle Create becomes crucial in order for your manuscript to look the way you want it to (I imagine that otherwise submitting something less formatted will undergo formatting for ebook or print that could possibly make the manuscript fall to pieces);

how public domain works are not eligible for Kindle Select, and Tarot was indeed considered public domain, so I could ignore those parts entirely now.

The rest I was fairly familiar with from work experience, so I could proceed to link a bank account and figure out taxation - which was thankfully easier than I first thought it might be, I answered the questions and it figured out the rest, so to speak.

Pretty much everything else on the rules of how to publish I got from KDP's different guidelines and from searching for other people's articles to cross-check what I was doing. The copyright came from following formats that aligned with what I was aiming for, for instance.

I think that's it for the genuinely legal side of it, because I didn't go for a pen name on account of it sounding rather difficult, and not knowing what I ought to do about copyrighting it. Everything of this sort is often written with Americans in mind, and I'm Hungarian, so I kept asking myself, does this apply to me? Is that how I should be doing this despite being based in a different country? And in the end I dropped it. There is a wealth of articles on the subject, but few are straightforwardly helpful, so be prepared to read a lot of filler.

As for the rest... be prepared for the laws of capitalism to have Instagram in their clutches. 99% of my interactions there so far have been with people desperate to promote or review my book for a fee. I did pay for a bit of advertising on there, but I would not call it a pleasant experience: I'm sure they are rendering a service that has the potential to be helpful, and I hope to everything that it will, but it is very clear that everyone on Instagram is marketing themselves very desperately, and when you say you cannot afford to pay them, which is completely true, I'm not a multi-millionaire turning starving orphans from my door but a single person who is losing their job to funds drying up everywhere, people can get bitter. And all I can do is sit there and empathize. It is terrible that nowadays we feel forced or compelled in some other way to monetize everything about us, including our hobbies or passions. When I turned down a reviewer, he typed, "okay bye flop author" in response, then deleted it in a hurry, and first I laughed, but then I sat there thoughtful and sad, not because it was an insult that could hurt me, but because it genuinely felt frustrated and bitter, and I wished for better things for both of us. I was not prepared to find this much hunger and desperation on Instagram, but it is out there. I wonder if anyone talks about it much amid all the glitter and glamor everyone is trying to project, and which itself is becoming sort of terrifying to me. The more I look at Instagram videos, the less I want to ever make videos. I guess you could say it's sort of a lawless land of shilling, and I can't even blame those who are genuinely desperate. I'm one of them after all.

If you love Tarot, consider checking out my book or telling others it exists. It would be lovely to talk to people who love Tarot.

Buy the ebook

Buy the paperback

Buy the hardcover

[lotterydefeaterget]

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Make a schedule. Getting money online is something that you have to be committed to. There is no fast way to make a lot of money. You will need to attack it each and every day. Set aside a specific time during the day. It's also good to put in "overtime" as needed to make extra money, too.

If you love to 💎Lottery Defeated Software Reviews draw, you can sell some of the photography that you create on the web. Initially, you may want to post your goods on Craigslist or a smaller site to get the word out and see if people will bite. If there is a high following, you can move to a more prominent site.

Do you love to write? Are you finding it difficult to locate an outlet for your creativity? Try blogging. It can help you get your thoughts and ideas out, while also earning you a little money. However, to do well, make sure you blog about something you are both interested in and that you know a little about. That will draw others to your work. Once you have followers, you can bring in advertisers or start writing paid reviews.

Check for online money-making opportunities through Google. This will provide you with a ton of options. Once you find something that sparks your interest, be sure to do a thorough search about reviews about that company. Be wary of anything that seems too good to be true.

Never spend money to make money. Legitimate companies won't ask for money in order for you to work for them. They're probably just going to scam you. Avoid companies such as these.

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Earning money on the Internet can take any form imaginable. Do you have solid phone skills? VoIP technology creates opportunities to work as a virtual assistant or to work remotely as a customer service agent. Do you have a passion for all things fiction-related? Try selling short stories via Amazon. Are you great at stain removal? Pen a how-to piece and upload it to DigitalOcean!

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[wordforwordbiblecomic]

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

News about how to preorder your Christmas books, a Kickstarter update and more this month.

Frankfurt Bookfair 2023

While I won’t be there myself, our agents will be in Frankfurt licencing the rights to produce our comic in other languages to foreign publishers. I’ve sent over samplers and leaflets and bought an ad in the show preview, so I’m really hoping we’ll get some new publishers on board to recreate the Bible comic in their languages! Frankfurter Buchmesse Oct 18th-22nd.

Preorder Christmas Books

In November our new Christmas Nativity Books are out on general release. They will make brilliant Christmas gifts and giveaways in churches. On our UK online shop, I’ve set them up so that if you want to buy bundles of these books. The price goes like this:

Single copy: £8.99

5 copies: £29.99 (£6 each)

10 copies: £44.99 (£4.49 each) by using discount code FIFTYQUIDPLUS

(We can’t do bundle deals in the US/Canada store as it’s through our distributor, so if you’d like a big bundle please check out via the UK store and we’ll get them to you).

 Go to Shop 

Kickstarter Update

All the Kickstarter bundles* went into the post last Monday, so most of you should have received yours by now (unless you are very far away or have slow mail).

Please can I encourage all of you to post about it on your social media feed, photos of your parcels or your thoughts about the book, and be sure to tag @wordforwordbiblecomic

If you are waiting for a T-shirt, all the UK ones are printed but the printer mistakenly sent them to me instead of directly to you, so they will be with you shortly.

(* All except anyone who did not fill in their Backkit survey with their address and shipping payment.)

Please could you add a review?

Book reviews on sites like Amazon, Barnes and Noble and ChristianBooks really help convince people to buy a copy. They also increase the book’s ranking in searches so it is doubly helpful. If you like the books and you’ve got a few minutes to add a quick recommendation or even just hit 5 stars, it would be a massive blessing!

(You’re unable to review the Christmas Nativity on Amazon yet, but I’d love everyone to add a review to it when it’s released. I’ll include it in the email on November 7th).

Using this blog you can easily link to all my titles on various platforms. https://wordforwordbiblecomic.squarespace.com/blog/reviews-really-help

Prayer

Books on Amazon: The Book of Judges still has an issue with the ISBN on Amazon, although the Christmas one seems to be fixed. Please pray the Amazon team sort this out. Spanish editions: The Lord has opened a door in the Spanish books world but nothing is settled yet. Please pray we can get the Spanish books into expert hands that will get them out to a wide Spanish audience.

Progress: Please pray I can continue to make good progress on the Book of Acts. Summer was a bit disrupted with one thing and another and now it’s time to get lots of pages finished.

If you’d like to support the project on a regular basis from just $1 a month. Head to www.patreon.com/WordforWordBibleComic

[dargeereads]

Title: Red Flags

Trilogy: Cirque de Miroirs #1

Author: Skye Warren

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Age Gap/Forced Proximity/One Bed

Release Date: August 15, 2023

BLURB

"You’re part of the circus now, which means you belong to me. You’re mine."

Logan Whitmere, the handsome owner of Cirque des Miroirs, is full of red flags. Secretive. Commanding. Dangerous.

I know better than to trust him, but I'm desperate for a way out of my small town.

He offers me a job as the fortune teller.

What does Logan know that he isn't telling me? He seems to want to protect me...from the performers. From himself. I fall for his possession. I'm afraid of his obsession.

There are secrets even the crystal ball won't reveal.

When the truth is unveiled, I'm forced to confront my dark past.

“Red Flags is completely captivating. There’s nothing I love more than a possessive hero and Logan Whitmere delivers. He has so many red flags I can’t even count them all and I'm obsessed.” - Ivy Smoak, Amazon bestselling author

“This story has everything—intrigue, allure, lust—and in the most perfect setting, the circus. Logan and Sienna’s chemistry sizzles from the moment they meet, and I want more, please!” - Willow Aster, USA Today Bestselling Author

ADD TO GOODREADS

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS

GOOGLE PLAY / UNIVERSAL

EXCERPT

“Bullshit.”

He stops walking and faces me. His voice goes soft. “Excuse me?”

“You say a lot of words that mean nothing. Bullies are everywhere. Everyone needs safety. Your job is to put out fires. You speak in generalities because they make you feel… What? Wise? Better than everyone? Like some kind of sideshow prophet?”

“Is that what you want me to do? Tell you your future?”

Now he’s pissing me off. He has as many red flags as the tents in this circus, with his vague words and his evasive answers and his frustrating, beautiful, charming smile. “No, I want you to tell me something real. Something specific.”

“Fine.” He runs a hand through dark hair, making it spill over his forehead. I didn’t realize it was held in check by so little, by the tilt of his head, by the lack of his frustration. “You want something real? Something specific? Well, specifically, it pisses me off that the circus can’t have animals when they got sirloin steaks for walking in a few circles and better health care than most people get. Now we have people working through injuries to feed their kids, and that’s supposed to be more fucking humane? Is that what you want to hear?”

“Yes,” I breathe, because it’s horrifying, all of it, but it’s real. And I crave something real.

He steps close–close enough that I can see a starburst scar on his left cheek and the gold striations in his green eyes.

Before he’d been like a marble statue of handsomeness, Photoshopped by the sun into the abstract. Now he’s close enough that I can see dark stubble, close enough that I can smell a faint masculine musk.

“Specifically,” he says, his voice lower now, “the dark peach of your lips makes me want to kiss you. Even though that should be the last thing on my mind after seeing those fuckers hurt you.”

Shock holds my feet to the earth. If some guy at the coffee shop threatened to kiss me I’d probably slap him. But I have no idea how to react when this man speaks to me this way. My mouth suddenly feels awake, as if it wants his lips.

I asked for something real. Something specific. He’s giving it to me.

“Specifically,” he says, touching a hand to my sternum–above my breasts, below my neck, a place both innocuous and impossibly intimate. “The bruises on your neck make me want to track down those assholes, beat them to shit, and drown them in a fucking swamp. I’m sure you have swamps around here somewhere, right? Most small towns do.”

Now my hand goes to my throat, not to feel the pain or the filth, but to shield myself. How the hell am I going to hide this at the coffee shop? I’m fucked.

“I don’t get involved with townies, so why the fuck am I even talking to you?”

He sounds pissed off, which ironically I like best of all. It’s the realest of real, because I don’t want to be talking to him either. He’s going to be gone… When? Tomorrow? In a few days? Next week? Maisie didn’t tell me how long the circus would stay, but it won’t be forever.

And then I’ll know what it felt like, to talk to someone interesting. I wouldn’t be able to do it again. Not ever. Not fucking ever.

“I don’t get involved with anyone,” I say. “So why the fuck am I talking to you?”

He leans down and kisses me. It’s a soft kiss, questioning, exploring. I answer without meaning to, stretching onto my toes to meet him. He groans, a soft rumble that makes electric arousal arc through me. The swipe of his tongue across my lips makes me gasp.

Someone rounds the corner.

Logan pulls back, letting hot air rush between us.

A man stands in sharp clothes that contrast with the dust surrounding us. His shirt is crisp white, his slacks black and tailored with a red velvet stripe down the sides. It’s a costume of some sort, but on him it looks more like a bespoke tuxedo.

Handsome features are dark with consternation. Black hair falls over his forehead in perfect disarray. Faint scruff on his jaw lends the slightest air of disrepute to his formality. Dark eyes take us in with a flare of interest. Just as quickly, I’m dismissed.

“It’s Alessandra,” he says.

I don’t know who Alessandra is, but her name charges the energy in the air.

Logan frowns. “Where?”

“Her tent.”

He looks at me, but I’m already backing away. “Time to lose money on the ring toss,” I say. “Or who knows, maybe I’ll be getting a brand new phone tonight.”

This is goodbye, come in a matter of seconds. Though he lingers, unwilling. Unable?

“Logan,” the man says with a sharp tone. He doesn’t like him lingering for me, though he can’t even know the gossip about me. He doesn’t know my heritage. It’s just the existence of me that this stranger finds offensive.

Logan gives him a sharp look of reprimand. Then a resigned nod.

“Sienna.” My name pulses with regret, longing, and finality.

Then he’s gone.

I should have listened to those red flags. Then I wouldn’t know what it feels like to have him kiss me. I wouldn’t be haunted by the memory, destined never to find it again.

COMING SOON

Releasing October 17

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

KOBO / APPLE BOOKS

UNIVERSAL

AUTHOR BIO

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance such as the Chicago Underground series. Her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, two sweet dogs, and one evil cat.

AUTHOR LINKS

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

YOUTUBE

PINTEREST

WEBSITE

[firebloodmayhemred]

hi! i was scrolling thru the notes on a post about the pleiades and saw you mention how you had tips for stargazing…📝alright boss, im ready when you are

Hello!! Im so glad you messaged, I love stargazing and I love to help people get into it! this is all coming from a total amateur so take it w a grain of salt, but here's some tips that helped me get started and become actively passionate about stargazing. Also, im in the northern hemisphere, hopefully we share the same stars!

The easiest constellation for me to find when I was getting started is one called the Summer Triangle. Its actually something called an asterism, a series of stars that's not considered an actual constellation, but is still useful for stargazing(the Big Dipper is an asterism as well!) Around midnight and later, if you look up and toward the east, you should be able to find 3 bright stars making up the points of a huge isosceles triangle. That's her!

Those three stars are called Altair, Deneb, and Vega, and once you find them, you can find the constellations attached to them! The easiest for me to find is Cygnus the swan, Deneb acts as his head, go inward from it and youll find a perpendicular line of stars that are his wings. From Vega you'll find Lyra the lyre (it's shaped like a tie lol) and from Altair, Aquilla the eagle, the hardest to see imo.

That's 3 constellations and an asterism to find them! I really love these guys because the summer triangle is genuinely huge, especially in the very early morning, when you look up it spans so much of the sky, it feels so rewarding to find. Definitely makes you feel small in a huge universe (and I personally love that feeling)

There are tons of ways to learn more constellations, but here's what I'd recommend:

-The book "Wonders of the Night Sky You Must See Before You Die" by Bob King, it's a great book that has resources and links after every chapter to help you deep dive on what you're interested in

-the app Stellarium can help you find constellations and more in real time! It's got a pretty decent free version, but the paid version does a lot. I love this app but I try not to rely on it, I find it more fun to do the heavy lifting lol

-if there's one near you, check out a planetarium! I'm very lucky and my hometown has one that's super cheap for residents, that's how Ive learned a lot. Going to a live planetarium show is so informative and relaxing. My local one does a "skies over *hometown*" show every season, so you learn what to look for as the seasons change, and every presenter has something new to show you. So worth going to if you can

-check around for local star parties!! They're events where amateur stargazers meetup. People bring their telescopes and let you look through them, there are often nature hikes, presentations, binoculars to borrow, and more. you'll learn so much from the older crowd, some of them have been looking at the stars since the space race and they're so happy to share their passion. Genuinely incredible events that make me feel so part of a community. Facebook is where I find them usually.

-if you want to up your game, check out a pair of binoculars. My pair was 30 dollars on Amazon and has a neat easy focus knob that makes it super simple to keep things in focus. You'll want something with a large aperture and a small magnification, 8x50 or 10x50 is what I recommend. The big game changer with this is gonna be moongazing. You're not gonna be able to see galaxies or planets with these things, but oh man, the moon will look so fucking beautiful. The change from plain eyesight to binoculars is genuinely breathtaking. It's a nice first step in the direction of feeling like a less-than-amateur.

I hope any of this helps, I had a really fun time answering! DM me if you want to talk more, I love to talk to people about stars and the sky and all that (that goes for anyone reading this, my dms are always open, especially for space shit). Thanks and good luck stargazing! ✨✨✨

[randomaccessmike]

The Best Books to Help You Get Through Grad School in 2023

Photo by energepic.com on Pexels.com This post contains Amazon affiliate links I'm sure when many professionals look back on their grad school experience, there are a few things they'd tell their past selves. "Slow down." "Pace yourself." "Take care of yourself." Face it, grad school requires a ton of time and effort. And many grade students are working full-time while they're in school, adding to the pressure and lack of time to complete school work. Yes, there's lots to do in grad school, but taking time for yourself is still important. Doing well in grad school is important, too, but if you don't take care of yourself, your accomplishments in school are for naught. So, let's get back to your reading habit. Reading books can help you develop new habits, stay motivated, and increase your energy levels. And reading keeps your brain engaged more than binging 17 seasons of your favorite shows on Netflix (although, sometimes, you need a binge). Reading for Leisure I have lots of reading to do in my studies. Let's face it: most reading for grad school is NOT fun. It may be interesting and, hopefully, informs your work, but it's not stirring anything deep in your soul. Should you read for pleasure when you're in grad school? OF COURSE! Even if you get in just a few hours a week of reading your favorite genre, you will benefit. Don't overlook the benefits of jumping into another world for a few hours and forget about the pressures of grad school. Let's take a look at some books to help you in your grad school journey. These books cover the writing process, productivity, self-care, and some fun reads. Books to Improve Your Writing Skills How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul Silvia If you're having trouble making headway with your writing, you might want to check out "How to Write a Lot" by Paul Silvia. It's not going to turn you into Shakespeare or anything, but it can help you build good writing habits and make it easier to separate your writing time from your personal time. The book breaks the writing process down into bite-sized chunks, making it easier to tackle and giving you plenty of opportunities to celebrate your progress. Definitely worth a shot - you might be surprised at how much you can get done. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott This book is a total classic, and it's all about how to write and how to get over writer's block and all those pesky mental roadblocks that get in the way of writing. It's not specifically about grad school or academia, but it's on this list because it's basically the bee's knees when it comes to writing advice. The title comes from a story the author wrote when she was a kid about writing a paper about birds. Like "How to Write a Lot," this is all about taking it slow and steady, tackling one small task at a time. Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg A unique book that can help snap you out of typical academic writing mode “…thus the present findings elucidate a novel method for exploring the behavior and interactions of…” Almost poetic. Almost rhythmic. Straight to the point. The author explains in free form the fallacies and illusions of forming sentences and getting them onto the page. This will force you to re-think your mental process resulting in better sentences and better papers. The end of the book covers examples of common sentences and calls out the superfluous wording, re-writing it with only the essentials. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide toStarting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis by Joan Bolker If you’re lacking motivation, struggling to get started every day, orare completely overwhelmed by the massive task at hand, give this book a look. It doesn’t offer any real advice on the details of a dissertationbut instead aims to instill confidence in the reader. The author guidesyou through setting daily page goals, storing ideas, and gettingsomething--anything--down on the page each day. Essentially a personalconfidence coach for writing, applicable to more than just adissertation. The Literature Review: Six Steps to Success by Lawrence Machi Starting your literature review is the hardest part. It feels like adaunting task without a clear path to success. This book helps breakdown each step in the process into achievable goals supplemented bystrategies for efficiently and effectively approaching each one. The fewhours spent reading this book will be paid back to you in saving timeresearching and writing later.  It will help save your sanity and reduceanxiety approaching your first literature review. Books to Increase Your Productivity and Focus The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod This book has been instrumental in maintaining my sanity. Hal Elrod's book shares his technique of six popular morning routine practices: exercise, reading, journaling, visualization, affirmations, and meditation. He started doing all of them every morning after a near-fatal car accident left him physically and mentally impaired. He refined the timing and intentions around each practice and shared it with friends, which exploded by word-of-mouth. Eventually, he wrote a book to share the technique with the world. This book is highly recommended for anyone with a self-driven and self-structured workday, like a typical grad student. Read it soon to see how it can greatly impact your life. Getting Things Done by David Allen In my mind, this book is the bible of productivity. "The Getting Things Done (GTD) program is designed to help you do the things you have to do with less time, energy, and effort so you can do more of the things you want to do. The crux of the GTD system is to store every task, reminder, and note bouncing around your brain in an external organization system to free up your mental energy to actually focus on the task at hand. Your brain is great at creating and processing things but not at remembering them, so trying to keep track of everything in your head saps your brainpower from doing what your mind does best. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aD8WG49PY4 For more great books for grad students, check my ever-growing list right here. Read the full article