#self-publish

[belindaamelia]

'serendipity' (happy accident) Illustration Zine by Belindaaam Year: 2024 Project type: Self-project

[komatsuyuko]

"Home" is written in 2023 winter. What is home meaning to you? Interpret the meaning of "home" to me from a different perspective.  I think that where happy is, there is my home.

size: 9x7 pages in 36 publish in 2023 First edtion in 100pic

[junipercalle]

ISMENE AND THE VOICE

A frustrated bookseller escapes her disintegrating society to attempt becoming one with a sentient library, and maybe do what she can for her country too.

I am going to start putting my novel Ismene and the Voice up on Royal Road, and selling the complete text as an ebook. I think I may start in December.

I figure, why not. I can share it with the world. Maybe. It's a weird world out there. I'm drafting Quin's book, which is a somewhat spicy mage-meets-prince with ~ skeletons ~, and I'll eventually fix up stories set in Armor Pilot Vier (you know; giant robots and the space war; sentient nonhuman life; post-rebuilding after the corporate hegemony). But Ismene has been done for a while, and querying got me nowhere, and creation is a beautiful thing and why not share it. Even now.

I will post some excerpts soon. I have a question.

(you mean I have to vote to check poll results before it's over? Tumblr.)

[screamingatanemptyroom]

I love all of your writing! I for one am so glad you started on AO3 because it makes it easier to come back to/find the stories I love rereading (in other words everything you write). I saw you are apparently self-publishing maybe/physical copies?! I would love to be on a notification list when/if this happens. Thank you for writing!!!

Aww thanks! I'll try to remember to keep that one updated! if there's ever anything on my tumblr you want posted on there, don't hesitate to ask!

I'll add you to the tag list when self-publish updates happen! Thank you for reading!

[rubyjones]

Too many writers are using generative 'AI' to make their book covers, so I've written a guide on how to make your own cover for free or cheap without turning to a machine.

If you can't afford to pay an artist, you CAN make your own!

I hope this is a helpful overview that covers the basics and points to some free resources.

[Edit:] this is getting well outside this account's usual reach and a few people in the notes are making not so great comments about the fact I write weird erotica. So, for full disclosure: yes, I am an erotica writer. And the book covers include those for tentacle erotica and robot erotic romance. But you cannot see anything NSFW. All of these covers were approved by Amazon. Frankly, the cover of the most NSFW story, Oviposition, is downright tame! And to those complaining about the word 'Oviposition', that is a scientific word for a naturally occurring phenomenon - it's only naughty if you know the content of the story, which is only alluded to as 'sexy'.

I also do not believe that shirtless men require a warning, but yeah, two of the covers have shirtless men. The cover with a tasteful nude drawing (showing a bum, but not a weenor) has already been censored.

I can't do anything about the version of this post that got rb'd by a popular person, but for those who are concerned, consider this your content warning.

[idlelitany]

Cut Snippet (Heartstone)

The pain of dealing with endless paperwork, stiff shoulders, and subordinates with too much ego and not enough skill—all of it—was so easily smoothed by this: his head on her lap, while she stroked his hair and occupied herself with some practitioner’s petition. Silent, save for the cicadas humming in the distance.

[kwmccabe]

Heart Child

It is now 9.4.24, but I wrote this Aug. 18, 2024. It is the first poem I have written in more than, I think, a decade. And It came into my heart because I was missing my grown child. All women who become mothers will experience this, hope to experience this and, yet, when the time arrives – are never really ready. I call it Heart…

[almondcroissantsandink]

and then jayce rode that high and was floating on air for an entire week :)

[the88oneanthology]

ELYON

There is, differences between;

1. Role

2. Responsibility

3. Job

4. Duty

1. To support is a ROLE

2. To educate is RESPONSIBILITIES

3. To DICTATE is a JOB

4. To dictate to STUDY is a DUTY

ELYON Is A JUDGE!

[elletromil]

So I do a lot of book suggestion with my public libraries because, well, I'm a big reader and I can't buy all of the books, no matter how much i might want to.

Anyway, it always completely baffles me when, with series - especially when its in ebook form where you can see fairly easily on Libby whether or not there is another installment after the one you're currently reading - *I* have to suggest the next book for it to be picked up.

And not in a 'why is the librarian not buying it' way, but rather in a 'why are people not asking for it????'

For exemple, I've been reading a series of like 5-6 books total. I suggested my library get the first ebook, suggestion got accepted, i read the book and liked it well enough. About 10-ish people were in the hold queue. Of course that doesn't mean they actually liked it but whatever.

I suggested the second book, and because of the nature of ebooks reservation, some people got to read it before me. Ok fine. I read it, about 6-7 people are on the hold queue when i finish it.

Guess what? No one asked for the third book.

For EVERY book in the series, i had to ask for the next one and i'm just...

For people to read it before me, they had to have an alert on the book so they would know when it becomes available at once. Cuz obviously I have those alerts, but even just checking 5 minutes after the notification, there would be at least 2-3 people with a hold on the book already.

And its not even a 'oh, the library will get the ebooks at a certain time every months/few months so that's why it wasn't available yet'

I finished the second to last book of the series recently. It had been available since like october-ish. I had actually started back then, but since I'm not a fan of reading ebooks, I couldnt finish the book in time, so into the hold queue I went.

I know that public library. I know how often they get their ebook. If anyone had asked for the last book, it would be available already.

It wasn't.

Do people not know they can suggest books? Is the process too obscure for them?

Anyway, there is no point to this post except to say, my good peeps, you can make books (or dvds or games or whatever kind of item your public library offer) suggestion! You usually can do it online!

If you can't find where exactly, usually just googling 'purchase suggestion' or 'reccomand a title' with the name of your public library will get you to the right page

And if you're still not sure, you should ask your librarian, they'll be happy to tell you how!

[pangur-and-grim]

I spent all of yesterday formatting a 28 page risograph zine! it's got 10 poems with accompanying illustrations + some extra stuff, and goes through Belphie getting sick and then (spoilers!) recovering

[junipercalle]

The gorgeous cover I commissioned for Ismene is here! Art is by Spunky (twt, bluesky)/redinclyn (Instagram) and you can check their work out/contact them there.

I am getting my approval on Royal Road soon, hopefully, and will start posting the story there this December! The eBook will be coming around, too.

[loreeebee]

Stillbirths, Miscarriages, and Healthy Pregnancies: G9P3A3

Daily writing promptHow has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?View all responses I wrote this story years after my three stillbirths, three miscarriages, and three healthy pregnancies (AKA as G9P3A3) with humor, candor, wisdom, and hindsight, all things I did not have much of at the time.   Hopefully, my story will provide inspiration and comfort to others that have or…

[malcolmschmitz]

So, there's a dirty little secret in indie publishing a lot of people won't tell you, and if you aren't aware of it, self-publishing feels even scarier than it actually is.

There's a subset of self-published indie authors who write a ludicrous number of books a year, we're talking double digit releases of full novels, and these folks make a lot of money telling you how you can do the same thing. A lot of them feature in breathless puff pieces about how "competitive" self-publishing is as an industry now.

A lot of these authors aren't being completely honest with you, though. They'll give you secrets for time management and plotting and outlining and marketing and what have you. But the way they're able to write, edit, and publish 10+ books a year, by and large, is that they're hiring ghostwriters.

They're using upwork or fiverr to find people to outline, draft, edit, and market their books. Most of them, presumably, do write some of their own stuff! But many "prolific" indie writers are absolutely using ghostwriters to speed up their process, get higher Amazon best-seller ratings, and, bluntly, make more money faster.

When you see some godawful puff piece floating around about how some indie writer is thinking about having to start using AI to "stay competitive in self-publishing", the part the journalist isn't telling you is that the 'indie writer' in question is planning to use AI instead of paying some guy on Upwork to do the drafting.

If you are writing your books the old fashioned way and are trying to build a readerbase who cares about your work, you don't need to use AI to 'stay competitive', because you're not competing with these people. You're playing an entirely different game.

[thewisestdino]

andriel w #7

I don’t believe in God

But I believe that you’re my savior