#Are Newsletters Really Important for Authors

[jolenes-book-journey]

Are Newsletters Really Important for Authors

In the fast-paced world of publishing, authors are always on the lookout for effective ways to connect with their readers. Amidst social media trends and ever-changing algorithms, one tool remains a steadfast ally: newsletters. This often-overlooked gem offers authors a direct line to their audience, free from the noise of crowded platforms. Whether you’re an emerging writer or a seasoned author,…

[moosha-mushroom]

Media I imagine different fiction podcasts in instead of the media of being a podcast.

TMA: A selection of volumes, relating to the fears, each with those removable covers. Those covers has a victim or two, and then underneath the cover is a really detailed cover. The paper is decoratively ripped, with a kind of scraggly font, and each has a foreword and ‘author’s note’ from Jonathan Sims.

Malevolent: A really gritty graphic novel with deadly detail in each panel, and very little color. Maybe a trinket on each important character has a color? Like Arthur’s eyes being yellow or Oscar’s collar having a blue sheen to it. The novels are long, dramatic, and intimate in a visceral way.

Welcome to Night Vale: Local 58 bullshit. A broadcast on television with low quality images and audio, tacky music, and a kind of 80’s aesthetic. Each episode the words WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE zoom onto the screen, the purple eye behind them. And each weather segment is an animated short by a different artist.

The Penumbra(Juno Steel): A webcomic. Hours spent scrolling downward a comic that has so much color and GEOMETRIC design. Juno and his curvy jaw, brown pie slice eyes, a cartoonishly high collar for his investigator jacket. Nureyev and his sharp square jaw, shimmering jewelry, and stick legs. Characters sticking out of the panels, fonts changing constantly, a little blue Juno that does his narration and *guitar theme plays* each time he appears.

Wolf 359: A classic comic. Issues month by month. Different special covers of the characters in extra dramatic poses or scenes. Even MORE panel breaking than Juno Steel. So MUCH onomatopoeia, even for small things like the clink of a panel or the disapproving hiss of Hilbert in the background. Geometric designs like Juno Steel, but less colorful. Like the superhero art style mixed with a more stylized look.

Midnight Burger: You pull up the Midnight Burger website. They have a hidden page that has a sort of script-comic thing going on, where the art is next to the writing. Small coded in notes from Leif sometimes pop up if you hold your arrow over the art. Links are attached to the parts where Effie and Zebulon play music, linking you to the music so you can listen to it while you read.

Desert Skies: An animated show. Indie, something you’d find on YouTube. The animation is bouncy and incorporates 3D animation alongside the 2D. Maybe the Sphere Movers have 3D models and the staff don’t? The credits are short because it was made by one guy. People are complaining about it on Twitter /j. People are making content farms about it. Everyone is pissed at Corson like they’re pissed at Jax.

The Amelia Project: A sort of simulation video game. You play as Arthur. You listen to their stories and draw pieces of the tale to invent their death. Every once in a while the game transitions to a point and click suspense game where you solve puzzles as Cole and Haines. Maybe there should even be an Operation-esque part of it where you work as Kozlowski.

Ghost Wax: A novel with a lot of pictures spliced in it. The stories are all in a single book, though the book is through Luca’s perspective— so he picks up on the ghost’s body language and Voncid’s reactions. The pictures are tarot cards with each victim as a card. Some are repeat cards— Lorem does not have a card at the end of the story. Nor does Our Home or Evening at the Ardent. The pictures are only white with black line art. No color whatsoever.

Kakos Industries: A company newsletter. Not a broadcast. A newspaper that arrives at your door and has big bold letters with the main story and pictures of the events that happen in the story as it goes. And the Sunday Comic page is full of employee shenanigans. Some innocent… some not.

I am losing my mind.

[artisimpossible]

Look, I'm gonna be real with y'all. If there is a trans creator you really like--an author, an artist, a film maker, whatever--you need to find ways to stay aware of them that is not controlled by fascists. It doesn't matter if you subscribe to their newsletter or just write down their website with pen and paper to remind yourself to check it once a month. What *does* matter is taking the threat of fascism seriously and acknowledging that people are working *very* hard to censor trans people right now. It is important to follow trans creators on your/their terms and NOT at the whims of tech overlords. If you DON'T have a way to follow your favorite trans creators right now, you will likely slowly find that you never see them again. This is devastating for the creators, but it's also devastating for *you*. Please do not find yourself cut off from your favorite creators when the social media sites start deleting trans accounts, when Google starts burying trans search results, and all outlets you use to discover new trans media start pretending trans people don't exist. Build yourself a strong network of trans creatives you enjoy so you can continue to hear from them but also find new trans creatives in the future through the networks that those trans people have built.

Please do not let trans artistry die in silence because you didn't think it would actually happen. It's *already* happening.

[drdemonprince]

In a series of three studies, psychologists Lukas Wolf & Paul Hanel surveyed over 2,000 American Republicans & Democrats about their ‘fundamental values,’ and concluded that adherents to each party actually have a lot more in common with one another than they do sources of disagreement.

This lack of a meaningful difference between the two parties is, somehow, taken by the authors to be a positive and “hopeful” finding. Bizarrely, within a political paradigm in which over five million immigrants have been deported in the past four years, trans healthcare and abortion access are increasingly restricted, and $17.9 billion has been dispatched to Israel in the past year to support bombings in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, what many liberal political analysts consider to be most important is that members of the two parties don’t disagree with one another too much.

It seems to completely elude the authors’ grasp that it’s not necessarily a positive sign for a nation’s only major parties to be in lock step with one another on virtually all substantive issues. To really determine whether “polarization” is a threat to progress or a sign of necessary rebellion, you must consider what that polarized disagreement is even about.

This is a fact that liberal commentators always ignore when they fret about the distance between conservative and liberal voters, which has supposedly been widening for the last several decades. They presume that when two groups stake out strongly opposing positions, it must inherently be a negative thing. Disagreement, after all, leads to conflict, and conflict slows down production, and so it must be bad. But if one of the leading political factions in a country is arguing for the complete eradication of transgender people from public life, for example, it is a good thing for there to be intense polarization against it.

I wrote about bad social psychology research and why "political polarization" is not the problem that liberals make it out to be in my latest newsletter! It's free to read or have narrated to you by the Substack app at this link.

[dduane]

Hi Diane, I really want to sell my writing independently, rather than through Amazon, and you're one of the only writers I know who does. Do you have any advice for setting up something like ebooksdirect, or is that something that requires specialised knowledge and an existing readerbase to be feasible? (no worries if you can't get to this question, I know you get a lot)

Off hand I'd say that Ebooks Direct would not work at all if I didn't already have a readerbase* that knows what I do. So if you don't already have that, I'm not at all sure I can recommend this particular style of going indie (or hybrid-indie).

It's also a lot of work running your own online sales space. And in terms of server space, website management, and so forth, it runs into pretty serious money, over time. Which (from month to month, freelancing being what it is) you can't always be sure you'll have. Plus it takes up valuable time that you could also be using to write, and which you will always grudge having to spend. Around here that means "On average, an hour or two a day..." —and then to the people who say "That doesn't sound like much," one adds "... for fifteen years." ...Those hours pile up.

If you're just getting started, what I would strongly recommend is that you build your sales as best you can on one or more of the online platforms—obviously choosing the one(s) least objectionable to you—and at the same time work to build a mailing list to whom you can regularly market your work via newsletter. Much further down the line would be the time for you to think about a bookstore of your own... by which time (who knows?) the independent publishing field may have done what it loves to do, and changed shape once again into something none of us could have predicted. (Insert eyeroll here.)

In any case: good luck with your marketing... but much more importantly, with your writing! Because an online bookstore has to have something in it... and something that people like to read. Let creating that writing be by far your first and most important concern. :)

*I should really correct that to say "a number of readerbases", as due to the no-internet state of the world prevailing during my first couple decades' work, most of my readerships are very "siloed" and tend to know me for only one thing. The Star Trek readers tend not to know about the LGBTQ adult fantasy: the Young Wizards readers tend not to know about the very assorted MCU and DCU fiction, and so on, among all the possible permutations of I-never-knew-she-wrote-any-of-THAT!. It's almost as if nobody ever goes to one's website to find out whether their favorite [insert genre here] author does something else besides what one already knows them for.

Meanwhile, I'm just grateful for the many who remember my name, :)

[darlingillustrations]

How To Know If Someone Is In Love With You

Ever since I was a kid, I was notorious for being gullible. Context clues were often lost on me, and I’d launch forward into social interactions, taking people at their word.

When I was in 9th grade, I’d just returned to the states from living in Bulgaria. I’d spent the last 4 years away from American pop culture and was clueless about a lot of things. While riding the bus home from school, the other kids told me that Tommy Hilfinger had a crush on me. They were laughing at me. I did not know who that was.

In college, I went on a study abroad program to London and struck up an easy friendship with one of the guys there. We bought a literary tour guide to the city and spent our free time visiting obscure locales important to different authors. While we were busy walking through Virginia Wolfe’s park and standing outside Rudyard Kipling’s old house, the girls in the program were taking bets on whether or not we would end up dating. I didn’t even realize the guy was into me until I’d unwittingly rejected him. After that, we didn’t hang out as friends any more.

The summer after I graduated college, I worked at a coffee shop, and I fell for one of my co-workers, a wiry Italian who invited me to her feminist book club and would drive me home from work when our shift ended after my last bus. When she invited me to her birthday party downtown, I hitchhiked to make it there (even though I was two hours late). To me, she was brilliant, and her moments of raw honesty felt real in ways that many other relationships were lacking. I could never figure out if she liked me romantically or not.

Relationships are complicated, and people are confusing.

I used to play D&D with a family who hosted in their special D&D room at their home. Above the D&D room, there was a loft with a bed, and the couple talked about how they had guests stay over often. The husband used to go out of his way to touch my shoulder as he walked around the table, but I just thought that he was clumsy. The wife would needle me, teasing me about liking David Bowie. It didn’t occur to me until years later that this couple were swingers and that they had likely been trying to see if I would swing with them.

I don’t know how to read people. If you tell me you want to see the original manuscript of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, I will pack snacks for the tube. If you say you want to watch the Labyrinth, I will grab a blanket and curl up on the couch. If you say you have a friend who wants to date me, I will ask you questions about their interests and values, even if their name is Calvin Klein. I don’t know the difference between interactions that are flirty, friendly or making fun of me, but if I’ve learned anything in life it’s this:

I will live brilliantly. I will live my life as in love with myself as possible. If someone is in love with me or not really isn’t my business, at the end of the day. Each person is entitled to their own feelings. But I treat each interaction as genuine, and I live like everyone loves me for who I am.

And, if I want a relationship with someone along the way, I will tell them, point blank, and let the chips fall where they may.

This writing originally appeared in my newsletter. If you want to read more of my creative writing and get updates on my art, you can sign up here.

[haridraws]

I have... NEWS!!!

I’m genuinely so excited there's going to be UK and translated versions of my big trans historical rom-com(ic).

It was honestly WILD to have so much interest on home ground and very surreal to talk to all these important people. Growing up I had a lot of people (including tutors...) tell me there were no careers in comics and I should stop making them. I was also a huge book nerd kid who (a) really wanted to be an author and (b) knew I was queer from a very young age, and I was so desperate for any crumbs of queer or trans characters. Back then I never found them them outside absolute tragedy / total villains, and never thought queer main storylines OR graphic novels would ever make it to mainstream UK publishing, let alone that I would get to do one.

Feeling relieved and grateful it’s been possible, and excited the book will be able to get to more people - and to show you all the story.

(Tag here with mini previews Newsletter here if you want to hear when the book comes out!)

[911coded]

Wednesday WIP

Is that what you call it? 🫣 Anyway, for those that asked or interacted with my recent crazy, here’s the first, very rough part of what I’m tentatively calling “Buck And Tommy Go To The Pegasus Galaxy” @setmeatopthepyre inspired me with this:

First and foremost, some background:

1. David Parrish and Evan Lorne (Stargate: Atlantis) meet Buck as the puca shell wearing, frat boy version of himself (Buck 0.5?) in Peru. Parrish is a botanist working for the US government and Lorne is a USAF Major. Their cover is that they are on leave but Lorne is actually Parrish’s boyfriend/bodyguard while trying to find a Very Important Plant that may or may not be explained later. 😁 They tell Buck that they work for a classified program out of McMurdo, which is common on the show/in fanfic. That’s all Buck knows because Classified. What they don’t say anything about is how much Lorne’s LSD (life signs detector) really likes Buck. (ifykyk)

Buck and Parrish keep in touch by email about each other’s lives and Parrish is the only friend outside of the “firefam” that Buck still has. They often gossip with each about their crazy coworkers but Buck has never mentioned Parrish to anyone from the show, he likes having someone that is only his.

2. I do have a Stargate primer with photos for anyone who hasn’t seen any of the shows which I will put up when I finish it.

3. My fic will be set in current time, so most of the Stargate characters will be aged up from the end of Stargate:Atlantis in 2009 to 2024(why I am adding current photos of most of the actors)

Now, on with the show…

Evan.Buckley13@gmail.com

To: David.Parrish.civ@mail.mil

Dave,

This is going to sound crazy but I just found out that Tommy has taken an assignment to Antarctica for the next six months! Antarctica, David! I can’t let him just leave, right? Fuck. I think I understand now why he ran but I’m at the end of my patience here now and I need to chase him before he somehow figures out how to leave the planet! Lol 😆

The LAFD bulletin says he’s stationed at McMurdo. Isn’t that where you and Lorne were based when we met in Mancora? Are you still in contact with someone there? I know you can’t say much, believe me, I understand classified, but I’m desperate man! I just need a contact in SAR and I’m sure with my certs and experience I can convince them I’d be an asset. I’ve been keeping up with all my training just in case so all I need to do is sublet my loft and I’m all set to go. Anyway, hopefully you’ll have some news for me in thurdays email. 🙏🏻

P.S. Sorry this is not like our usual emails, my head’s just a mess as you can probably tell. 😳

Talk soon,

Buck

Parrish pushed his desk chair back and turned to the wall of windows and the sea glittering in the sun while trying to decide how he wanted to handle this situation. He smirked as he imagined the chaos Buck would bring to Atlantis. And maybe another pilot for Sheppard to play with. Of course, that’s a big if, it’s getting less and less common to find someone with the gene the last few years and Carson has been scratching his head over the why of it. With a sigh, he got to his feet and waved their suite door open. “Now to find someone with some actual authority,” he muttered to himself as he turned the corner to the nearest transporter.

Tagging for fun… @eliotwaughdeservesbetter @chococara25 @iphyslitterator @sunsetandevingstar

And the one to blame @setmeatopthepyre

[literaticat]

Since I’m hearing that most author marketing doesn’t significantly move the needle on book sales - is it ok then for an author to not market their book?

I don’t mean not talk about it; I mean skipping out on doing book tours, launches, interviews, presentations, cringe videos with one’s pet to try to game the algo…

Authors "not significantly moving the needle on book sales" all on their own is probably true in most cases. However, authors WITH PUBLISHER SUPPORT can for sure move the needle.

I would suggest that you do everything the publisher wants you to do in terms of marketing, etc. That IS them trying to move the needle, and you need to help as much as you can.

Beyond that, on your own, it's nice for you to do what is in your power to boost your own work without sinking a ton of money or all your energy into it. Your being game and positive may well inspire the publisher to give you more support, and look, there goes that needle again.

Appearances: If your publisher is sending you to a conference, book festival, on a book tour or similar (ie, paying for the travel, setting it up, etc) - DO IT! This is marketing that not every book automatically gets, your publisher WANTS you to do this, they are PAYING for you to do this, yes, you should absolutely do this.

If you're talking about setting up your OWN book tour, or paying to travel out of state to some conference on your OWN dime -- well, if you really want to do that and can afford to do that, sure, but I wouldn't go out of my way to pay for that kind of thing.

School Visits - if it is something where the publisher is setting it up and they are considering it part of a tour or a marketing opportunity - DO IT! IF you want to do your own as a money-making venture (where you charge the schools) -- by all means! It's a good source of income for a lot of kid's authors! But if that's just not something you enjoy or have the bandwidth for, you can skip it.

Interviews and whatnot -- again, if it is something that the publisher is setting up, with a well-regarded magazine, review outlet, blogger with big reach, online influencer, fancy TV show or big podcast or something like that where it's not easy to get that kind of coverage -- DO IT! Do you need to hustle all over NYC to try and set up your own Vanity Fair article or Good Morning America appearance or whatever? Absolutely not.

Social Media -- THIS IS IN YOUR POWER, and is free. Yes, please. You don't have to GO OFF or anything - but some social media presence, ONE platform at least, would be helpful. I have written extensively about how to start social media stuff if you don't feel adept at it, look at the FAQ. No, you don't have to make "cringe videos with your pet" -- but yeah, you should do *something* if at all possible, if only so that librarians and whatnot can write to you and you can post starred reviews of your books or whatever.

Website -- This is in your power, and costs little, and is important. YES PLEASE. Keep it updated. Have a press kit on there. PLEASE.

Other things you can and should absolutely do: Have a local launch party to celebrate with your friends and family -- introduce yourself to local booksellers and offer to sign stock -- direct people to that bookstore to buy autographed books via your social media, website and/or newsletter. Be nice to people. ETC.

Anything beyond that is gravy -- fine if you want gravy, but if you don't like it, and it costs $$ -- it is not necessary.

[betterthanburrow]

Miss CEO - Instagram AU

(Bengals Quarterback! Joe Burrow x Beauty Influencer OC)

liked by yourinstagram, and 270,155 more users

MISHTIMAKEUP: introducing “Mishti Makeup” a new make-up brand created by @.yourinstagram.

after many years of hard work through cosmetology school, collaborating with other make-up brands, and building up the social media platforms, the day that our Chief Executive Officer has dreaming about since she was a little girl is finally here 🤎✨

it’s important to click the website in our bio to subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on our upcoming make-up collection launches and sales!

view all 95,420 comments

yourinstagram: i’m very excited for this new journey!

↳ MISHTIMAKEUP: we love you! - social media intern.

nikkietutorials: i can’t wait to try out all of the new make-up products!

mamaburrow: i’m so excited to support you!

varijstylez: this was one of the hardest secrets that i have had to keep in my life… i’m so happy that the news of your company is finally out in the world!

joeyb_9: i’m so proud of you princess 💗

↳ yourinstagram: thank you 😽 i’m proud of me too!

liked by joeyb_9, and 300,851 more users

yourinstagram: Miss CEO Of Mishti Makeup.

view all 119,663 comments

yourlittlesister: so… since the CEO of Mishti Makeup is a my big sister, does this mean i get free products?!

↳ yourinstagram: hmm… i don’t know if you deserve those privileges 🤔

↳ yourlittlesister: i’m your little sister that was your makeup model for many years… that means i have automatically earned those privileges of free products.

joeyb_9: it’s more like… Miss CEO Of My Heart.

↳ yourinstagram: stop flirting with me on instagram…

like by 66,925 more users

DailyJLBurrow: Instagram Stories from (12/5/22)

view all 9,616 comments

username1: Joe posting about his girlfriend and Spongebob Squarepants on his IG stories… now all he needs to do is post something related to football and then Joe would’ve posted his holy trinity in one day!

username2: the Bengals beat the Kanas Chiefs yesterday but Joe is making it a priority to post about his girlfriend’s business over the football game win.

↳ username3: Chiefs fans really wanted to get a reaction out of Joe but it’s clear that he’s so unbothered even with the game win!

liked by joeyb_9, and 333,799 more users

yourinstagram: just the two of us @.joeyb_9 🤎

view all 150,001 comments

mamaburrow: the two of you are so cute!

joeyb_9: roses are red, violets are blue… you’ll be the 6 and i’ll be the 9.

↳ yourinstagram: JOSEPH LEE BURROW… THIS IS A PUBLIC COMMENT SECTION!

liked by 99,725 users

BeautyGuru_Updates: Y/N’s instagram story of her and NFL Bengals Quarterback Joe Burrow.

view all 15,019 comments

username1: we really are getting spoiled with Y/N and Joe content today… this is a rare occasion!

↳ username2: and when we do get spoiled of content, it’s just their shadows or blurry photos… it’s never clear pictures, we get spoiled while living off crumbs.

username3: i still can’t believe my favorite beauty guru and my dad’s favorite NFL Quarterback are DATING?!

liked by yourinstagram and 509,917 more users

joeyb_9: Unbothered.

view all 4,183 comments

Bengals: 🔥🔥🔥

yourlittlesister: i have the coolest future brother in law!

yourinstagram: are you a parking ticket… because you’ve got ‘fine’ written all over you 😽

↳ joeyb_9: so you don’t like when i flirt with you in your instagram comments… but here you are, flirting with me in my instagram comments?!

Author’s Note:

if you have a request for an IG AU, please send the Instagram AU request in my inbox and i’ll try to get the IG AU requested published as soon as possible.

thank you all for the love and support! 🤍

[phoebosacerales]

Are there any other astrology books besides the ones you mention in your master list that you would recommend to read?

Oh, I should make a list, thank you for asking. I'll first give you these few ones that I use the most, but I'll try to update it regularly, I have many more recommendations than this. If anyone thinks it's hard to find a good version of any of these you can talk to me through chat and I can send you a link ;)

Beginner's books:

On the heavenly spheres/Tratado das Esferas by Helena Avelar and Luis Ribeiro is the ultimate beginner book, that's used as main bibliography in my school, Saturnália. It covers a bit of everything, except predictive techniques. The authors are also historians who have great academic research on astrology. You should definitely take a look at the Astra Project website and follow their youtube channel. In fact, I met Luis Ribeiro two weeks ago at a conference at my university (coincidentally my university is the only one in Brazil that has a research group that brings together researchers in astrology, called Academia Celeste), where he gave a mini-course and I was impressed above all by his rare way of valuing astrology as an object of academic research, emphasizing the history of its techniques as well, and the ease with which he can teach about its epistemological debates and fundamentals etc.

Deborah Houlding's Houses: Temples of the sky is the best book on the subject of houses. I believe you have to go to a book that's specific about houses, because the topic really deserves the depth and it's probably the most important thing to understand in astrology.

Demetra George's Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice volumes I and II.

Predictive techniques:

The Seven Stars Astrology blog was actually my first source on this subject, it's easy but very well researched and it was very important for me to find. The articles do a pretty good job at gathering the hellenistic sources and explaining what's important to understand about them, it's the best to have someone to hold your hand through things before you dive into the primary sources.

Astrología Hermética by Eduardo Gramaglia. I'm not sure if there's an english translation of this one, it's one of the best introductory books too, complete and concise.

Astrologia Gallica book 23 by Jean-Baptiste Morin, which is about Revolutions. I always go back to chapter 18 as recommended by my teachers, where he gives universal rules for solar returns that you can adopt.

Ancient sources (from I to IV AD):

Marcus Manilius' Astronomica is just beautiful on a lot of points, you should go to it for the poetry, just to have the delight. And his poetry also gives the best and concise insights on the fixed stars and the signs.

Dorotheus of Sidon's Carmen Astrologicum is probably the first most technical book of the ancients that you should go to. It's the most influential and easiest to find. Dorotheus was a contemporary of Manilius, but the versions we have of his book are influenced by later Arabic translations.

Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos. Even though astrologers are right to be ingrates to daddy Ptolemy we should still read him.

Vettius Valens' Anthologies is everybody's favorite hellenistic source.

Firmicus Maternus' Mathesis is a bummer of a book, his delineations are super dramatic, but it's great to read from the beginning to understand Firmicus' logic and you'll be able to get how he thinks and predict what he's going to say next, and this is a testament to how good of a teacher he probably was.

On Mundane Astrology:

The Meio do Céu newsletter is my first and main source. The writer Ísis is one of my teachers. I participate in her workshops, where we contribute collectively to the predictions and learn a lot. It's in portuguese, but it's pretty understandable with the translation option on your browser. It's free with special editions for paying subscribers. I recommend starting with the edition 72 and then edition 101 on the Solar Eclipse in Aries.

Bonatti on Mundane Astrology, by Benjamin Dykes. This is one of our sources with Ísis on the workshops, I've been trying to read it and I'm far enough to say it's a great read.

Tetrabiblos book 2, Ptolemy.

On philosophy, history, important topics etc:

The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influence, by Dorian Greenbaum. This is one of my favorites and I can't recommend it enough, because very few astrologers take much time to understand before talking about the daimon. And it's impossible for you to avoid the daimon in your practice, because it is crucial and predominant in everything in Hellenistic astrology.

On Horary:

William Lilly's Christian Astrology. There's a reason we all go back to him, it's the fact that is such a didactical book, you can always use it as an instruction manual basically. He gives instructions on how to approach any kind of question and gives so many examples, it's a hit.

On the fixed stars:

The Constellations of Words website is still the easiest source for learning about fixed stars, but here are their most cited books:

Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos book I chapter 9-11, of course, because he's the earliest source and it's important to see the difference between how the hellenistics called and understood the fixed stars and how things changed after the arabics.

Vivian E. Robson's The Fixed Stars and Constellations in Astrology (XX AD) is a must have. It's another one that's strictly astrological and plus gives a method on how to interpret fixed stars, though you don't need to follow it necessarily.

Marcus Manilius' Astronomica book 5. I always make sure to read attentively Manilius' poetry about the constellation I'm researching. It's always incredibly useful, never disappointing.

William Tyler Olcott's Star Lore: Myths, Legends and Facts (XIX AD). This is a great one to get a lot of the different stories and histories of the stars. It really helps you to understand the constellations in depth.

[ashen-crest]

Hi RK! I think about you a lot as far as seeing the writer I want to be out in the wild. You self-published, right? Do you have a Guide for those of us wanting to follow your path, or advice on Where to Look for going in the self pub direction?

Hello and thank you so much!! I apologize if this gets rambly- there's a lot to cover, and I hope you stick with me through it.

I am indeed self-published! Everyone's situation and goals are different, but for me, I work full-time, write on the side, and want to push out professional-looking books because...well, because I want to. I currently don't plan to move to writing full-time, and I do have a job that helps cover the costs of an editor, cover designer, etc.

That's all important to establish up front, because that majorly impacts basically everything else about my strategy.

Because I work full-time, I can't write as fast as other folks. I also don't have as much time to spend on marketing. But because I work full-time, I can set aside money for a line editor, a cover designer, a proofreader, and an illustrator if needed, as well as cover a website, pre-order goodies, author copies for giveaways, a BookFunnel subscription, etc.

So, with all that...

Step 1:

Assess your goals, your abilities, your limits, and plan your strategy around that.

I realize that sounds really vague, but there are so many aspects to self-publishing, and so many things that can either cost $0 or $1,000, that it's worth jotting down the following first:

What you are comfortable & proficient with doing yourself (cover design? proofreading? making your own pre-order swag?)

What you have time for (things like social media, newsletters, and designing your own cover all take time)

What you have the money for (if you're going to spend money on anything, the conventional wisdom is cover design + editor)

What you have the energy for (book release speed, marketing, etc)

What your end goal is (publishing for fun? for a career? for something in between?)

Once you have all that jotted down, I'd plan out the following (and this is really starting from square one):

Your Books' Content

What genre do I want to write in? And do I want to put effort into targeting a sub-genre or sub-sub-genre (a successful strategy for career-focused indie authors), or would I prefer to keep myself flexible for creative purposes?

How much research do I want to put into this genre? A lot of intense indie authors will read a ton, research genre expectations, analyze tropes and covers, etc. But if you're just having fun, that's totally cool!

How quickly do I want to write? And the corollaries: do I want to write a bunch at once, then rapid-release? Or write and release one at a time?

What do I want my editing process to look like? I'd consider things like beta readers, sensitivity readers, and professional editors and/or proofreaders. (For later: don't forget about front and back matter, like copyright pages, acknowledgments, "leave a review and sign up for my newsletter!" pages, etc.)

Your Author Presence & Marketing

How do I want to appear as an author? Do you want to go all-out with a website, newsletter with reader magnets, Patreon and/or social media presence? Or pick and choose a few/none of those things? These are major time-sucks, and the conventional wisdom is that you don't want to try everything at once (particularly social media sites). Master one thing first, then move on to the next. (This is a, uh, do as I say and not as I do kinda situation...)

How do I want to handle cover design? Maybe the most important part of marketing besides your blurb. Please please don't skimp on it.

How do I price my books? Check other books in your genre and see what their average cost is.

What do I want my release strategy to look like? Pre-order goodies? ARCs? Giveaways?

Do I want to participate in any promos or paid advertising? The answer is typically 'no' at the beginning, but I've found BookFunnel to be helpful when it comes to distributing reader magnets and joining group promos.

The Technical & Business-y Aspects

(Not things you have to worry about right now, but things to eventually research and keep in mind.)

What format will my books be in? E-books are cheaper to produce than paperback and net you higher profits. But if you really wanna hold your book in your hand (like me) and write in a genre where readers buy paperbacks, then it could be worth planning for that as well.

How do I want to distribute my books? There are a ton of ways to distribute your book. Amazon, IngramSpark, Draft2Digital, Gumroad, Itchio, selling directly on a personal website, etc. If you also want your books in libraries and brick-and-mortar stores, that will impact your distribution strategy.

How will I typeset/format my book? You can do it through Word or Scrivener or even Reedsy's site, but there are also paid programs that make it easier and freelancers who can do it for you.

What sort of licenses do I need to sell books? The really not-fun part. Check your federal, state, county, and city for any required selling permits, business licenses, and tax rules. I'd also look into if you want to set up a DBA ("doing business as") or an EIN (basically a business tax ID number so you don't have to use your personal SSN).

What sort of ID numbers do my books need? For example, in the US, you need ISBN codes sold by Bowker. Not required for ebook, but required for paperback, with a separate code needed for hardcover, translations, or subsequent editions.

How do I copyright my books? For the US, it's the US Copyright Office.

(US Only) Do I want an LCCN (Library of Congress control #) for my book? This helps you get into libraries. If you want a #, you need to fill out a form before your book publishes.

Resources!

I realize this is a LOT to research. Please don't feel like you need to do all the research at once or know everything right away. Put most of your focus into writing and set aside some time to tackle the other topics as you go.

Here are some resources I found to be helpful:

FB Group: Wide for the Win (all about distributing across multiple platforms)

FB Group: 20Booksto50K (very business-focused, almost to a fault, and has some failings, but also has some great advice and detailed insights. I'd recommend using this page only if you're very serious about self-pub)

FB Group: Author Unleashed (great for getting blurb feedback!)

David Gaughran's "Starting from Zero" free online video course, all about marketing when you're totally new to the game

Tammi Lebrecque's Newsletter Ninja books and resources, if you want to delve into newsletters and reader magnets

The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Bucket Siler

The Indie Author's Bible by Christopher D Schmitz

Becca Syme's series for indie authors

A word of warning...

There are a lot of people out there making money off writing resources, aka selling mining equipment to the miners rather than mining themselves. There are thousands of self-publishing gurus with books, consultation packages, sales funnel advice, etc. Before you throw a lot of money at those resources, do some research and take a look at what other indie authors recommend first. (If it helps, I really do trust David Gaughran, Tammi Lebrecque, and Becca Syme for starters.)

Okay that's it!

That was a lot. I'm so sorry. I'm happy to answer any specific questions or concerns you have!

[gothicprep]

even better, re: the cut: the ‘I think my husband is trashing my novel on goodreads’ article is the first of a NEW advice column by the same author of the disastrous ‘lure of divorce’ personal essay from last week.

lol i was debating talking about emily gould when that essay came out, but i figured "nobody cares about your weird interest in gawker media lore" and decided against it. but i'm going to interpret this as permission to just go crazy on main.

context for readers who don't know: emily gould, on valentine's day, published an essay that's ostensively about divorce, but it's actually about a lot of other things. not even *a* divorce, because she decides against getting divorced at the end of the essay. i wouldn't bet on anything that comes after the end of this essay, but that's a separate question.

it's probably important to establish who emily gould is for what i'm about to say to make any sense: she was a media darling in her 20s. she was one of the first people to get Very Famous from blogging, an editor at gawker, and probably the best known writer there during the mid to late 2000s. very american apparel indie hipster sleeze era personality. could probably be described as a "literary sex symbol" insofar as the literary world has those things.

there were two things that she was famous for in this era. one of them was this post she put on gawker about how she had broken up with her boyfriend and it was a massive success. if you comb through old archives, people were talking about this like it was the brangelina split. i want to say this was a dam breaking moment for a particular kind of personal branding/internet personality that involved revealing things about your personal life, which eventually took over more broadly and gave rise to the culture we have now online. the other thing was this very unfortunate appearance she had on larry king live or something after she'd been taken to task for the "gawker stalker" feature on gawker, where people would send in tips about celebrity sightings around the city. someone sent in a tip about jimmy kimmel being drunk and obnoxious in a bar, and because kimmel is the world's biggest baby, he flipped out and went on this whole tirade about how it was a threat to his safety. in reality, he was just mad that someone saw him drunk in public and said something about it. kimmel and a few other guys confronted her about this on larry king. she looked like a deer in headlights and either wasn't prepared/hadn't been prepared for what was coming. like kimmel told her she was going to hell on live television. mess. there was also some really public drama she had with lena dunham but i don't really remember the details.

she never really disappeared between then and now. she's been writing for the cut for a while, which i guess you could say is her aging into a different kind of women's journalism. she's published a few books, but she hasn't really found her footing since her breakout success in her 20s didn't turn her into the established writer she probably hoped she would be. there was a time where it seemed like she was positioned to be this generation's joan didion, but that didn't end up happening.

so that brings us up to this essay, which was preceded by the last little bit of gossip that i need to get out of the way, even though she mentions it in the essay. in her personal newsletter, she made a crowdfunding request for money to "taking an infinite hiatus from hetero marriage and monogamy. they are a trap for women, full stop. sometimes a trap can be cozy. mine was, until it wasn’t." she does mention she's having a manic episode. she's upfront about the fact that something is going on with her.

anybody who's at all familiar with gould and her financial challenges must question the wisdom of giving money to this, but she presents it very much in the spirit of "men are pigs. men are trash. divorce that man now." and as we learn later, gets money from lyz lenz, who has a book out that's basically the feminist case for divorce and being a single mom.

so gould is not just neck deep in this divorce literature, but producing it to some extent. maybe a crowdfunding request isn't truly a literary form, but it's written in a persuasive way that fits with other writing in the liberate yourself through divorce canon. but the valentine's day essay, while i don't think it's great, i do think it's interesting how it breaks from form. it's not an anti-man personal essay, and these always are. so it was nice to read something a bit different. well, maybe not different, but retro.

i've never been a fan of gould's work, but it did get me wondering "what itch are people trying to scratch when they read essays like this?" because it's like the reader wants them to be an explicitly moral fable, but they want it to be racy and spicy. like one of those mid century pulp novels with a painting of a woman on the cover looking kind of slatternly with a lot of makeup on. it'd be called something like "wild trash" and the subtitle would be "she couldn't wait for her divorce". it's smut about a woman who's sinning gratuitously and flouting society's expectations. and usually with these books, there'd be some kind of cosmic comeuppance for her where she'd get syphilis and die in a pauper's prison or whatever.

and i think people come to stories like this because they want to read something like that. you're gonna read about a woman who was debauched and all the naughty behavior in graphic, titillating detail. and at the end, you get served up a nice, neat conclusion. her husband divorces her and finds love with a kindergarten teacher from iowa. so it flouts the "rah rah divorce him" essay and the pulpy personal essay that some people want. if you're going to write a 3,000 word apology, at the very least, it is a novel take on it.

but i think what the problem is with an essay like this is that it's very... dated in its style. the expected thing with personal essays in the 2020s, the thesis of them usually boils down to something about what a great person the essayist is. most of them do this. that's why you get privilege disclaimers in them – the point of the essay is how the essayist is sensitive and kind and wonderful. even when there are flaws, they're overcome, or something systemic lead this to happen. a flawed woman is because patriarchy made her thus.

to give a better example of the kind of thing i'm talking about, you'll see an essay in the atlantic or new york times magazine and it follows the same formula. Woman Has Personal Life Grievance. Step Back. Here's Why This Is A Big Issue In Society, Bolstered With Statistics. Here's Why If This Woman Was Black Or Poor Or Gay Or Trans, It Would Be Even Worse. Back To The Personal Anecdote... you know what i mean? it's a very well established formula, but you can't have that with "also i'm a dirtbag". once you're talking about society and societal issues of which you're just a little representative – because those are the stakes. it has to be universal – you can't just be talking about yourself.

and then there's this question of personal writing more generally. you aren't a fictional character, you're yourself. and whether you want it to be or not, every personal essay is going to function like a cover letter. it's presenting you to the world. and i don't like these, but i don't want gould's style of personal essay to come back either. it straight up ruined a lot of women's lives who wanted to get their foot in the door in media, got $75 from xojane to write something lurid about their personal lives... and their career never took off. so now this is just on the internet forever.

this old piece in slate sheds a light on just how exploitative that whole thing was.

"don't make life decisions based on emily gould's writing" is useful advice for more reasons than one.

[fralexion]

I keep trying to work out the politics of Rogueport in Paper Mario. Who runs it? Is it a kleptocracy? In all the other cities you visit, there's generally a mayor or elder you can meet, but in this hub city the only authority figures you interact with are mob leaders.

But then we also get hints at SOME sort of law, or at least penal code. There are wanted posters plastered everywhere. A chalk outline of a Toad victim in one house. And that big gallows they just... have in the center of town. Is there someone whose job is to handle executions, or is it more of a communal resource for whatever lynch mobs might form?

(Wait, does execution by hanging even work on most of Rogueport's residents? Bandits, Doogans, and Craws all have necks I suppose you could snap, but what about the Piantas? The Bob-Ombs? The Goombas? Do they even have a spinal column!?)

Maybe the wanted posters are just bounties you can collect from the Robbos or the Pianta Syndicate, and the people on them aren't necessarily criminals. But the chalk outline still confuses me. Yes, they removed it from later releases, but it was there at one point so we know it's something considered appropriate to find in Rogueport. That implies someone conducted a criminal investigation there, and I can't imagine who would bother to do that. Was it being done by another country's government? Toads aren't very common in the town, maybe that murdered Toad was a diplomat or some other politically-important person whose death demanded an inquiry. I feel like Rogueport isn't under any larger nation's jurisdiction.

Finally, we have the RDM community newsletter, published by something called the "Rogueport Restoration Committee." I'd love to learn what hapless band of do-gooders is hoping to clean up a city run by thieves, but the really fascinating thing is these e-mails do make mention of "local authorities" on several occasions. Once when Zess T. punched out Flavio, once when a Ratatooey businessman tried to bring a container of hot sauce onto an aircraft, and once when Goomez was caught eating flowers in the park. Who are these authorities? I find it hard to believe a crime syndicate would care much about things like that, but I can't imagine who else it could refer to.

[authorsadiethatcher]

It's time for another State of the Thatcher Address. I tried writing this earlier, but I just ran out of time. But now you get it here, with my latest updates on what's happening in the Thatcherverse.

Last month I talked about being behind on my writing. The good news is I've caught up. And I've got a lot of fun stuff planned for you, which I'll mention specifically below.

This month I need to lead off with the fact I have books up for several awards and you can help me win. The 2023 Golden Pigtails is a series of erotica awards hosted by Alexa Sommers. The categories aren't necessarily great fits for my books, but this is my first time being involved. Check out the awards and you can vote for your favorites. This is the semifinals. Voting in this round goes through February 14.

2023 Golden Pigtails: https://alexasommers.com/the-golden-pigtails-2023-semifinals/

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 approaching completion. I've set new chapters to release twice per week (Tuesdays and Fridays). When not writing new stories, I'm spending my time writing The Muse.

However, as soon as I finish The Muse, I will redirect that free time toward my other pen name, Libby Feron. As Libby, I write modern 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.

Now to focus on this month's upcoming books. In addition to the ending of The Muse, I will be finishing the Protest Babes Series. At the time of this address, the third book hasn't been published yet, but it will be called Vexing the Vixen. I've also just started an auction themed series, understandably titles the Bimbo Auction Series with Ring in the Bimbo. A ring plays an important role. A pair of panties and a hairbrush will be important in the other books in the series.

Some of the other upcoming books I've got in the pipeline for this month is a series based on a future glimpse that will lead women toward bimbodom. And then the one I'm really excited for, which won't see the light until the very end of the month is a series inspired by the time loop in the movie Groundhog Day. I considered moving it up to coincide with the holiday, but I decided against it, because other than the time loop inspiration, the movie and the series will have little in common.

So that's what you can expect in February. It's a packed month, especially because there are only 29 days (yay leap year). My favorite part is how sunset occurs later every day. That's true in January, too, but it's less noticeable.

Have a sexy and bimbo-filled February!

[silvercrane14]

Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War - two students are in love with eachother but refuse to "lose" and admit their feelings. Instead, they have increasingly convoluted plans to get the other to confess.

Okay I will admit. this Is a romance and also ive only seen the anime. So actually this would fall more under anime recs bcs the english dub voice acting is AMAZING. Anyway tho its a comedy that I really enjoy. Its about romance but like. Idk I dont read/watch romance often so I cant say "its not like the standard romance plot". But its less about them Falling In Love and more about them Overthinking Everything And Being Silly. ALSO !! tho it takes a bit, it does go into the characters a lot. Very centred on the characters relationships !! Not just romantically between the main two, but in general.

Why I think you would like it: similar in "vibe" to nozaki-kun. Funny!! But it has its moments of seriousness and it understands its characters well.

Mushishi - Eye Have Not Read This im sorry 🙏 i havent even seen the anime so I dont actually know much about it but ive been recced it so many times I figure I should pass it to you.

If u like Natsume's Book of Friends you'll enjoy this. Genuinely I think this is my strongest rec for you on this list even tho I've never seen it. I really do think u wld enjoy 👍

Insomniacs After School - IM REALLY SORRY I HAVENT READ THIS ONE EITHER. I HAVE IT KN GOOD AUTHORITY U WOULD LIKE IT I JUST CANT GUVE ANY DETAILS. BCS IDK REALLY.

"Two young teens who can't sleep find companionship with each other. They must learn to overcome any challenges and figure out what's important to them."

Why I think you would like it: Ive heard its similar to Skip to Loafer in a way!!

Girls Last Tour - Two young girls explore a post-apocolyptic wasteland. They go through abandoned buildings and old towns in their journey, battling solitude eith only eachother

This one is a little sad. More likeeee. Meloncholy, yk? I dont have much to say about it. Very good manga.

Why I think you would like it: The character relationship between the two girls seems like something you would enjoy.

Look Back - to be super honest its been over a year since I read this I dont fully remember what happens. Theres this girl wjo draws comics for her elementary school newsletter. Shes funny so every1 really likes her and her comics. at some point another comic appears, but its actually just four panels of background art. Its so beautifully drawn that the other students begin to fawn over it. Angry kver her loss of attention, the first girl goes to meet the girl making these new comics (The background girl doesnt go to school, she works at home). Thr end up becoming friends and the story shows how their friendship develops and changes, growing closer and growing further apart.

The manga is p short for. a manga but its actually just a Really Long oneshot. Its rlly good. not much else to say.

Why I think you would like it: Very similar to Blue Period. About art and how it reflects people. Also very strongly driven by the relationship between the two girls.

The Girl From The Other Side - ive been typing so much i really cant give a whole review on this. Similar to WHA. kinda. beautiful art. read it u will enjoy it

Kaguya-sama I watched the first two seasons of! Maybe I should read the manga too, I did think it was fun

Mushishi I watched maybe the first episode of, but I should definitely try again,,, I don't remember anything about it lol

I've read Insomniacs After School!!! I'm definitely not caught up though, and I've been planning on watching the anime,,,

Girls Last Tour I,,, might have seen? At least part of it a long time ago. I'll have to rewatch/read the manga

Look Back sounds really interesting,,, I'll check that one out!!!

I'm actually reading The Girl from the Other Side in Portuguese rn lol I have volumes 1-5 on my shelf