#is traditional publishing worth it

[ranjith11]

Truth about Traditional Publishing | SummitPressPublishers

Traditional publishing refers to the conventional model of publishing books, where authors submit their manuscripts to established publishing houses for consideration and potential publication. In this process, the publishing house takes care of various aspects, including editing, cover design, printing, distribution, and marketing of the book.

[damonp304]

Truth about Traditional Publishing | SummitPressPublishers

Traditional publishing refers to the conventional model of publishing books, where authors submit their manuscripts to established publishing houses for consideration and potential publication. In this process, the publishing house takes care of various aspects, including editing, cover design, printing, distribution, and marketing of the book.

[monicascot]

Truth about Traditional Publishing | SummitPressPublishers

Traditional publishing refers to the conventional model of publishing books, where authors submit their manuscripts to established publishing houses for consideration and potential publication. In this process, the publishing house takes care of various aspects, including editing, cover design, printing, distribution, and marketing of the book.

[fictionadventurer]

"If the structure of your world ever evaporates, I will still be here."

I think The Q might contain one of the greatest declarations of friendship/love ever.

[mothalaalee]

writing a critical analysis on your rival's paper publication: this is a direct attack. take it personal.

[ot3]

heartbreaking news. between this, tougher crackdown on illegal tv streaming sites (kimcartoon has just permanently gone down), coming after scanlation sites, and the general moral panic around AI having people actually root for wider nets and stricter enforcement of copyright/ip law, i have a feeling the state of art and media online is going to get much much worse.

the precedent this sets for what people are allowed to do with physical print books they own is absolutely horrible, since there is nothing the Internet Archive loaned out that they didn't have a 1:1 legally acquired physical copy of before digitizing.

“This appeal presents the following question: Is it ‘fair use’ for a nonprofit organization to scan copyright-protected print books in their entirety, and distribute those digital copies online, in full, for free, subject to a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio between its print copies and the digital copies it makes available at any given time, all without authorization from the copyright-holding publishers or authors? Applying the relevant provisions of the Copyright Act as well as binding Supreme Court and Second Circuit precedent, we conclude the answer is no,” the decision states. [...] “This characterization confuses IA’s practices with traditional library lending of print books. IA does not perform the traditional functions of a library; it prepares derivatives of Publishers’ Works and delivers those derivatives to its users in full,” the court held. “Whether it delivers the copies on a one-to-one owned-to-loaned basis or not, IA’s recasting of the Works as digital books is not transformative.”

i hope all of the authors who went to bat for taking books away from the public don't know a moment of peace for the rest of their careers lol. i hope it was worth solidifying the publishing industry's grip on the entire sphere of literature just to get a few extra royalty pennies in your pockets.

[cjgladback]

My mom requested fridge art from her daughters. And I'd already sketched one siren a bit after first seeing that one post, but that composition definitely will require the layers afforded by digital painting. So behold! A fire engine and its siren. Not too shabby for both my yellow and red markers giving up the ghost while I wasn't paying attention the last few years.

(This is the first time I've really seen how Tumblr size compression can murder a gif, but it wasn't at all helpful at the 540px width so click for quality.)

I did color in the wipers I'd forgotten and make the emblem on the door slightly more legible while editing my phone pic.

Image descriptions under the cut:

[ID: First image is a colorful drawing of a fire engine seen in three-quarters profile, driving toward camera left. On the roof of the truck's cab is a rough rock formation with a large mermaid lying on it, her tail draped down between the cab and trailer of the truck, her left arm pressing against the rocks, and her head held high while she speaks into a megaphone in her right hand. Her hair streams behind her toward a spiky word bubble with a zigzagged electronic tail that reads, "Get out th'way!" in all-caps. The headlights and amber light bar above the truck windshield are all on and the pavement and traffic lines below are represented with horizontal slashes of marker. The drawing is inked with even, thin black lines (a micron pen size 02) and colored with varied hatching with non-blending markers. On close inspection, the emblem on the fire engine's door reads "escucha las sirenas" in all-caps, Spanish for both "listen to the sirens" and "listen to the mermaids."

Second image is a gif of phone camera pictures showing six stages of the fire engine siren process and the final digital edit. First pencil sketch; second all but the lettering inked; third all but the lettering pencil marks erased; fourth inked word bubble with more emphatic italicized lettering; fifth the beginning layers of marker where the artist took a break with some yellow-orange, light red-orange, light blue, and periwinkle mostly over the truck cab; sixth the fully colored phone picture; and finally the edited shot with the white of the page and vibrancy of the colors restored as well as a coloring in the space around the door emblem with a brighter red for readable contrast. End ID]

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #13

April 5-12 2024

President Biden announced the cancellation of a student loan debt for a further 277,000 Americans. This brings the number of a Americans who had their debt canceled by the Biden administration through different means since the Supreme Court struck down Biden's first place in 2023 to 4.3 million and a total of $153 billion of debt canceled so far. Most of these borrowers were a part of the President's SAVE Plan, a debt repayment program with 8 million enrollees, over 4 million of whom don't have to make monthly repayments and are still on the path to debt forgiveness.

President Biden announced a plan that would cancel student loan debt for 4 million borrowers and bring debt relief to 30 million Americans The plan takes steps like making automatic debt forgiveness through the public service forgiveness so qualified borrowers who don't know to apply will have their debts forgiven. The plan will wipe out the interest on the debt of 23 million Americans. President Biden touted how the plan will help black and Latino borrowers the most who carry the heavily debt burdens. The plan is expected to go into effect this fall ahead of the election.

President Biden and Vice-President Harris announced the closing of the so-called gun show loophole. For years people selling guns outside of traditional stores, such as at gun shows and in the 21st century over the internet have not been required to preform a background check to see if buyers are legally allowed to own a fire arm. Now all sellers of guns, even over the internet, are required to be licensed and preform a background check. This is the largest single expansion of the background check system since its creation.

The EPA published the first ever regulations on PFAS, known as forever chemicals, in drinking water. The new rules would reduce PFAS exposure for 100 million people according to the EPA. The Biden Administration announced along side the EPA regulations it would make available $1 billion dollars for state and local water treatment to help test for and filter out PFAS in line with the new rule. This marks the first time since 1996 that the EPA has passed a drinking water rule for new contaminants.

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with microchip giant TSMC to bring billions in investment and manufacturing to Arizona. The US makes only about 10% of the world's microchips and none of the most advanced chips. Under the CHIPS and Science Act the Biden Administration hopes to expand America's high-tech manufacturing so that 20% of advanced chips are made in America. TSMC makes about 90% of the world's advanced chips. The deal which sees a $6.6 billion dollar grant from the US government in exchange for $65 billion worth of investment by TSMC in 3 high tech manufacturing facilities in Arizona, the first of which will open next year. This represents the single largest foreign investment in Arizona's history and will bring thousands of new jobs to the state and boost America's microchip manufacturing.

The EPA finalized rules strengthening clean air standards around chemical plants. The new rule will lower the risk of cancer in communities near chemical plants by 96% and eliminate 6,200 tons of toxic air pollution each year. The rules target two dangerous cancer causing chemicals, ethylene oxide and chloroprene, the rule will reduce emissions of these chemicals by 80%.

the Department of the Interior announced it had beaten the Biden Administration goals when it comes to new clean energy projects. The Department has now permitted more than 25 gigawatts of clean energy projects on public lands, surpass the Administrations goal for 2025 already. These solar, wind, and hydro projects will power 12 million American homes with totally green power. Currently 10 gigawatts of clean energy are currently being generated on public lands, powering more than 5 million homes across the West. 

The Department of Transportation announced $830 million to support local communities in becoming more climate resilient. The money will go to 80 projects across 37 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands The projects will help local Infrastructure better stand up to extreme weather causes by climate change.

The Senate confirmed Susan Bazis, Robert White, and Ann Marie McIff Allen to lifetime federal judgeships in Nebraska, Michigan, and Utah respectively. This brings the total number of judges appointed by President Biden to 193

[koioll]

i dunno but it feels like animal abuse to have the penguins publishing all these books ??

can they read ?

do they enjoy it? or is it against their will ?

i don’t think their flippers really can handle the work of publishing BUT how DO THEY DO IT ???

how did they enter this industry ???

[teaandspite]

The Great Goodreads Diss List (Part 1)

Context: For many years now, I have been collecting funny lines from Goodreads reviews to share with my coworkers. (I do collection development, reader's advisory, and weeding at a public library, so I read a LOT of reviews)

Are some of these, perhaps, rather mean? Yes, but they are also very funny, and come from a place of honest frustration. In the tradition of Bargepole threads and lists everywhere, names and titles have been censored.

"First, I want to say that I understand how hard it is to write a book and how amazing it is when it is actually published. Congrats to the author for that accomplishment. That said--"

"Warning: This review will be lengthy due to pure hatred."

"I found myself feeling really, really annoyed with the world that this book is allowed to exist. We live in a universe where the passenger pigeon is extinct but this book goes along merrily being read by unsuspecting lovers of words and ideas and stories? It just seems like too much, you know?"

"Don't do it. Don't spring the cash for the hardcover. Instead, eat an entire bag of Twizzlers, spend some money you don't have at a high-end department store, look up on Facebook the shady college boyfriend that made you cry, research the current value of your home or 401K and then read all about how the big hedge fund managers are faring during the economic crisis. You'll feel about the same stomach pain if you waste your time reading this book."

"This wretched novel begins with the mugging of an old lady and it appears I may be in the process of repeating that loathsome crime as [author] was 78 when she wrote it. It is not nice to put the boot into such a poor defenseless old creature lying there with only a damehood, a Booker Prize and a few million quid. It’s a nasty job but somebody has to do it."

"I think this is the way dead people would write, if they could."

"I am considering setting up SPABB: Society for the Protection of Accurate Book Blurb. This blurb appears to have been written by someone from the publishers who met [the author] the night before, got very drunk, lost his notes and then constructed something in a fug of hangover the next morning."

"I congratulate [the author] on the early half of his book, which was thoroughly fun and made me laugh and think. I congratulate [the author] on the second half of his book, for finishing it. It reads like that was difficult."

"…a woman whose taste in contemporary literature has roughly the same batting average as a pitcher in the National League."

"The author is a pompous windbag."

"Recommends it for: No one. Recommended to me by: A friend who apparently wished to cause me great suffering."

"Makes me wonder: is it possible to obtain similes at a volume discount?"

"The repeated phrases made me want to mail a thesaurus to the author."

"I'm disappointed in myself for finishing this book."

"if the author described [character's] eyes as "obsidian" one more time I was tempted to write her and ask if her thesaurus broke."

"They say that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters would, if given infinite time, eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. [This book], on the other hand, would probably take the average monkey just under two hours."

"I can't imagine what the author had to do to get this nadir of Western literature printed on innocent trees, but he does seem to know a LOT about being well-connected in New York."

"This book is so bad it is almost worth reading just to make you appreciate the other books you are reading."

"Reads like it was written by a brilliant author, the night before it was due."

"raises interesting questions, like: can a book be so bad as to constitute an act of terrorism"

"has this author ever spoken to a human woman"

"This acorn has fallen so far from the tree that it can’t even see the forest."

"I’m guessing they are touted as ‘beach reads’ because no one will care if they get dropped into the ocean."

"This book begins with all the energy of a hand vacuum near the end of its battery life, and the pace doesn't quicken much from there."

"At least everybody’s eyes stayed the same color this time around.”

Part 2

Part 3

[writingwithfolklore]

It's Okay Your Writing Isn't Like So-and-So's

Here's five reasons why:

1. Published work has teams of people behind it

Traditional (and even lots of indie) published work has not just the writer’s drafts behind it, but drafts that have been through professional editors, agents, beta readers, etc. etc. etc. They say writing is a solitary career, but there are tons of people behind every published work to make it better.

2. Every style is different and valid

Yours might not look exactly like other people’s work. That’s because everyone has their own voice in writing, and that’s what makes every writer individual, and every story worth reading.

3. You’re the only person who can write your story

Style, your ideas, your characters, and every other detail in your story is built off your all your little life experiences and interests. It will look different for every person even if you all tried writing the same idea.

4. Everyone has different skills and experience levels

You may be really great at dialogue, while someone else may be really good at action. Everyone has different skills and areas they’re better or worse at. It’s okay.

5. People will love it anyway

You’ve probably heard of the cake saying? Someone else makes a beautiful cake, you make a just okay cake, but the person that comes along to eat them is just excited there’s two cakes.

                People just want more content. They will read the same content over and over again. They will love it anyway.

Anyone have anything to add?

[ranjith11]

Truth about Traditional Publishing | SummitPressPublishers

Traditional publishing refers to the conventional model of publishing books, where authors submit their manuscripts to established publishing houses for consideration and potential publication. In this process, the publishing house takes care of various aspects, including editing, cover design, printing, distribution, and marketing of the book.

[reasonsforhope]

Scientists have developed a new solar-powered system to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water which they say could help reduce dangerous the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera.

Via tests in rural communities, they showed that the process is more than 20% cheaper than traditional methods and can be deployed in rural locations around the globe.

Building on existing processes that convert saline groundwater to freshwater, the researchers from King’s College London, in collaboration with MIT and the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energy Systems, created a new system that produced consistent levels of water using solar power, and reported it in a paper published recently in Nature Water.

It works through a process called electrodialysis which separates the salt using a set of specialized membranes that channel salt ions into a stream of brine, leaving the water fresh and drinkable. By flexibly adjusting the voltage and the rate at which salt water flowed through the system, the researchers developed a system that adjusts to variable sunshine while not compromising on the amount of fresh drinking water produced.

Using data first gathered in the village of Chelleru near Hyderabad in India, and then recreating these conditions of the village in New Mexico, the team successfully converted up to 10 cubic meters, or several bathtubs worth of fresh drinking water. This was enough for 3,000 people a day with the process continuing to run regardless of variable solar power caused by cloud coverage and rain.

[Note: Not sure what metric they're using to calculate daily water needs here. Presumably this is drinking water only.]

Dr. Wei He from the Department of Engineering at King’s College London believes the new technology could bring massive benefits to rural communities, not only increasing the supply of drinking water but also bringing health benefits.

“By offering a cheap, eco-friendly alternative that can be operated off the grid, our technology enables communities to tap into alternative water sources (such as deep aquifers or saline water) to address water scarcity and contamination in traditional water supplies,” said He.

“This technology can expand water sources available to communities beyond traditional ones and by providing water from uncontaminated saline sources, may help combat water scarcity or unexpected emergencies when conventional water supplies are disrupted, for example like the recent cholera outbreaks in Zambia.”

In the global rural population, 1.6 billion people face water scarcity, many of whom are reliant on stressed reserves of groundwater lying beneath the Earth’s surface.

However, worldwide 56% of groundwater is saline and unsuitable for consumption. This issue is particularly prevalent in India, where 60% of the land harbors undrinkable saline water. Consequently, there is a pressing need for efficient desalination methods to create fresh drinking water cheaply, and at scale.

Traditional desalination technology has relied either on costly batteries in off-grid systems or a grid system to supply the energy necessary to remove salt from the water. In developing countries’ rural areas, however, grid infrastructure can be unreliable and is largely reliant on fossil fuels...

“By removing the need for a grid system entirely and cutting reliance on battery tech by 92%, our system can provide reliable access to safe drinking water, entirely emission-free, onsite, and at a discount of roughly 22% to the people who need it compared to traditional methods,” He said.

The system also has the potential to be used outside of developing areas, particularly in agriculture where climate change is leading to unstable reserves of fresh water for irrigation.

The team plans to scale up the availability of the technology across India through collaboration with local partners. Beyond this, a team from MIT also plans to create a start-up to commercialize and fund the technology.

“While the US and UK have more stable, diversified grids than most countries, they still rely on fossil fuels. By removing fossil fuels from the equation for energy-hungry sectors like agriculture, we can help accelerate the transition to Net Zero,” He said.

-via Good News Network, April 2, 2024

[monicascot]

Truth about Traditional Publishing | SummitPressPublishers

Traditional publishing refers to the conventional model of publishing books, where authors submit their manuscripts to established publishing houses for consideration and potential publication. In this process, the publishing house takes care of various aspects, including editing, cover design, printing, distribution, and marketing of the book.

[derinwrites]

How can I make money writing fiction?

I'm gonna be straight with you. There is no guarantee that you'll make enough as an independent writer to make it worth your time. You very well might -- I make a liveable wage as an independent writer -- but many don't. Most writers I know also have a job. And luck plays a big part in it.

If you're interested in going forward in spite of this, you have two main options for monetisation open to you, and you are going to have to pick one. I call them the sales model and the sponsorship model, and you are going to have to pick one.

The sales model involves writing stories and selling them to readers. You can put books up on Amazon or Smashwords, sell them direct from your own website, enlist the help of a traditional publisher to handle that for you and let them decide where to sell, whatever -- the point is that your money is made from the sale of books to readers. If you go with a traditional publisher, you're using this model (though they will give you some of the money ahead of time in the form of an advance). Most indie authors also use this model, publishing through draft2digital, Ingram Spark, direct through Amazon, whatever. I've never relied on the sales model and can't give you any advice on how to do this, but Tumblr is full of indie authors who probably can.

The sponsorship model involves soliciting small amounts of money from various readers over time. This is ideal for web serials, and it's what I use. I use Patreon, which is designed specifically for this purpose, but you can use other sites such as ko-fi. This model involves providing regular content for free, with bonuses for those who support you.

"Can't I do both? Sell books and have a Patreon?" You absolutely can! I know several indie authors with a Patreon. I sell my completed books as ebooks and will eventually sell them as paperbacks. But your time and attention is limited, and so is your audience's, and you're going to have to half-arse one of these in order to have enough arse to whole-arse the other. You're going to make a lo of decisions that benefit either the sponsorship model or the sales model, not both. So pick your primary income source early and commit.

I can only advise on writing web serials and using the sponsorship model, so I'll go ahead with that assumption. If you want to make a liveable wage doing this, not only will you need luck, you'll also need patience. This is not a fast way to build a career. at the end of my first year of doing this, I had one single patron, and they were a real-life friend of mine. When I reached an income of $100/month, I threw a little party for myself, I was so happy. It had taken such a long time and was so much work. I reached enough to cover rent/mortgage after I'd been doing this for more than four years. It's a long term sort of career.

Here are some general tips for succeeding in this industry, given by me, someone with no formal training in any of this who only vaguely knows what they're talking about:

Have a consistent update schedule and STICK TO IT

The #1 indicator for stable success in this industry (aside from luck, which we're discounting because you can't do much about that) is having a consistent update schedule. Your readers need to know when the next chapter is coming out, and it should be coming out regularly. Ideally, you should have no breaks or hiatuses -- if you're in a bus crash or something, that might be unavoidable, and your readers will understand if you tell them, but if you're stopping and starting a lot for trivial reasons, they WILL abandon you. You can't get away with that shit if you're not Andrew Hussie, and I'm pretty sure Andrew Hussie doesn't message me for career advice on Tumblr. If you find you need a lot of hiatuses to write fast enough then you're updating too often; change your schedule. A regular schedule is more important than a fast one (ideally it should be both, but if you have to pick between the two, pick regular).

2. Pay attention to your readership, listen to what they want from you

Your income is based on a pretty complicated support structure when you're using the sponsorship model. this model relies on people finding your story, liking your story, and continuing to find it valuable enough to keep paying you month after month. This means that your rewards for your sponsors should be things that they value and will continue to pay for ('knowing I'm supporting an artist whose work I enjoy' counts as a thing that they value, to my great surprise; there's a lot of people giving me money just for the sake of giving me money, so I can pay my mortgage and keep writing for them without needing a second job), but it also means supporting the entire network that attracts readers and keeps them having the best time they can with your story -- being part of a rewarding community. Because this is advice on making money, I'm going to roughly divide your readership into groups based on how they affect your bottom line:

sponsors. People giving you money directly. The importance of keeping this group happy should be obvious.

administration and community helpers -- discord moderators, IT people, guys who set up fan wikis, whoever's handling your mailing list if you have a mailing list. You can do this stuff yourself, or you can hire someone to do it, but if you're incredibly lucky and people enjoy being a part of your reader community, people will sometimes volunteer to do the work for free. If you are lucky enough to get such people, respect them. They are doing you a massive favour, and they're not doing it for you, but to maintain a place that they value, and you have to respect both of those things. My discord has just shy of 1,300 members and is moderated by volunteers. I'd peel my own face off if I had to moderate a community that large. If you've got people stepping up to do work for you, you need to respect them and you need to make sure that they continue to find that rewarding by doing what you can to make sure that the community they're maintaining is rewarding. Sometimes this means taking actions and sometimes this means staying the fuck out of the way. Depending on the circumstances.

fan artists. Once you have people drawing your characters, writing fanfic of your stories, whatever, treat these like fucking gold. Give them a space to do this, and more importantly, give them a space to do this without you in it. Fanworks are a symptom of engagement with your work, which is massively important. They are also a component of a healthy community, an avenue for readers to talk to each other and express themselves creatively to each other. Third, fanworks act as a bridge for new readers. When readers share their art on, say, Tumblr, it can intrigue new people and get them into the story. Your job in all of this is to give them the space to work, encourage them as required or invited (I reblog most TTOU fanart that I'm tagged in on Tumblr, for instance), and other than that, stay the fuck out of their way. These people are vital to the liveblood of your community, the continued engagement of your audience, and the interest of your sponsors. Some of the fan artists will be sponsors themselves; some won't be. Those who aren't sponsors are still massively valuable for their art.

speculators, conversers, theorists, livebloggers, and That Guy Who's Just Really Jazzed For The Next Chapter. Some people don't make art but just like to chat about your story. These people are a bedrock of the community that's supporting your sponsors and increasing your readership, and therefore are critical to your income stream. Give them a place to talk. Be nice to them when they talk to you. Sometimes, they'll ask you questions about the story, which you can choose to answer or not, however you feel is appropriate. They'll also want to chat about non-story-related stuff with each other, so make sure they have a place to do that, too.

that guy who never talks to you or comments on anything but linked your story to ten guys in his office who all read it now. Some of your supporters are completely invisible to you. You can't do anything for these people except continue to release the story and have a forum they can silently lurk on if they want to. But, y'know, they exist.

If you want to focus on income then these are, roughly, the groups of people that you will need to listen to and accommodate for. You can generally just make sure they have space to do their thing, and if they want anything else, they'll tell you (yes, guys, paperbacks will be coming eventually). Many people will fit into multiple groups -- I have some sponsors that are in every single one of these groups except the last. Some will only be in one group. A healthy income rests on a healthy community which rests on accommodating these needs.

3. If you can manage it, try to make your story good.

It's also helpful for your story to be good. Economically, this is far less important than you'd think -- there are some people out there writing utter garbage and making a living doing it. Garbage by what standards? By whatever your standards are. Just think of the absolute laziest, emptiest, hackiest waste-of-bandwidth story you can imagine -- some guy is half-arsing that exact story and making three times what you'll ever make on Patreon doing it. And honestly? Good for him. If he's making that much then his readers are enjoying it, and that's what matters. Still, one critical component of making money as a writer is writing something that people actually want to read. And you can't trick them with web serials, because they don't pay in advance -- if they're bored, they'll just stop. So you have to make it worth their time, money and attention, and the simplest way to do that is to write a good story.

This hardly seems mentioning, since you were presumably planning to do that anyway. It's basic respect for your audience to give them something worth their time. Besides, if we're not interested in improving our craft and striving for our best, what are we even writing for? I'm sure I don't need to tell you to try to write a good story. The reason I list this is in fact the opposite -- don't let "I'm not a good enough writer" paralyse you. The world is full of someday-writers who endlessly fuss over and revise a single story because it's not good enough, it's not perfect, they're not Terry Pratchett yet. Neither was Terry Pratchett when his first books were published. If you're waiting to be good enough, you won't start. I didn't think Curse Words was good enough when I started releasing it -- I still don't. I started putting it out because I knew it was the only way I'd get myself to actually finish something. I don't think it's all that great, but you know what? An awful lot of people read it and really enjoyed it. And if I hadn't released it, I'd have been doing those people a disservice.

Also, it taught me a lot, and based on what I learned, Time to Orbit: Unknown is much better. If I'd never released Curse Words, if I hadn't seen how people read it and reacted to it and seen what worked and what didn't, then Time to Orbit: Unknown wouldn't be very good. And it certainly wouldn't be making me a living wage, because it was the years writing Curse Words that started building the momentum I have today.

And Time to Orbit: Unknown as it is today has some serious problems. Problems that I'm learning from. And the next book will be a lot better.

So that's basically my advice for making money in this industry. Be patient, be lucky, be consistent. Value your community; it's your lifeline, even the parts of it that don't directly pay you. And try to make your story as good as you can, but make that an activity you do, not a barrier to prevent you from starting.

Good luck.

[ammoniteblue]

Not a Hero, Just an Author (p.3)

kenji sato x reader

Her latest novel a flop, Y/N is starting to worry she wasn’t meant to be an author. She’s 24, lives alone and most of her college friends are either married or in more traditional jobs. she feels like she’s being left behind. That is until a charming baseball player finds his way into her life and shows Y/N that it takes more than talent to be a star.

tagline: @aise-30 @spencerrxids @scarasw1f3 @m3lodyxo @no-lessthan3 @ladyaaliy

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Not even a week had gone by since you were last caught in an attack, and yet here you were. Frozen stiff. Surrounded by crowds of screaming fleeing people. Unable to look away from another beast that looked like it had been pulled from the deepest darkest nightmares.

It was massive. Scaled with eyes the colour of poison.

As if swatting flies, the dragon-like monster had knocked down two helicopters. They fell through the sky, weightless, hitting the ground in loud fiery explosions.

People had been in there. Pilots. Men and women. Was there anyway that theyd survived a fall from hundreds of feet in the air ?

Chaos had erupted around you.

People were pushing and shoving to get through the exits. The wails of small children filled the stadium. The little girl next to you, who’d stared at Kenji with wide adoring eyes, cheering and laughing, was now sobbing her eyes out, cradled in her mum's arms.

All the players had cleared the field. All but Kenji.

He was still there, stood by the home plate. Like you he was frozen still, eyes locked on the Kaiju as it flew over the stadium.

So often in life you felt small. you felt it at conventions, watching fans crowd around their favourite authors. somehow your table always seemed empty. You felt it at Q&As, when you’d only be asked maybe one or two questions and always about the same thing:

“what’s it like being a young author in the publishing industry ?”

You felt it in the streets, watching hundreds of people live their lives always seemingly with more conviction and direction than you.

But stood there, under the towering shadow of a beast, that must’ve crawled out of the deep bowels of hell, you realised for the first time what it felt like to be truly small.

an ant to a snake. a man to a god.

The last time this had happened, only a week ago, it had been your drive to save the old lady that had saved you. Seeing her, keeled over on the street, had pushed you into action. but here there wasn’t anybody to save. No. It was just you, alone, still and unable to look away as the beast opened its mouth and roared.

Orange lit up the sky. it bathed the darkness in a hellish light. flames licked up the sides of the stadium. they caught fire to treetops and burned them to ash.

If you stayed there would that be you too ? a pile of ash on the floor ?

Move damnnit. You could save the old lady but you couldn’t save yourself ? how did that work ? save a stranger but not yourself ? why?

did you maybe, somewhere deep down, not think you were worth saving…..

“You need to move !” Hands fell onto your shoulders, clutching so tight you could feel nails dig into your skin.

Something tugged at your right hand. Warmth slipped into your palm. Skin against skin. Then you felt yourself be pulled away, away from the pitch and towards the exits.

Only a few people were still scurrying to leave, and with ease Kenji dragged you out of the stadium, over the ticket barriers and into the car park.

It was chaos outside too. Sirens wailed in the distance. Some people had stayed, transfixed by the burning red sky. Others rushed to their cars, the squeal of tires grinding against tarmac making you wince.

Your chest heaved. Breaths came out in short sharp gasps. An iron taste filled your mouth, a burn punctured your lungs. Smoke was thick in the air. It burned your eyes and scratched the back of your throat.

“Y/N ! Y/N !” Kenji waved a hand in front of your eyes, calling out to you.

You blinked and realised he’d been talking to you. You watched his lips move, parting and closing so slowly. His voice sounded distant like he was screaming at you over a great distance. Everything felt slow. From the way he shook a hand in front of you face to the people running past you.

What was going on ?

“Y/N you need to take a deep breath.” Kenji turned you around, so you were facing with your back to the flames.

You couldn’t see the Kaiju anymore but you could hear it. It’s furious roars, the tremors of its steps. The earth shattering under a giants feet.

“Look at me,” Kenji demanded, “Y/N damnit look at me.”

Finally, you did. Your eyes drifted to his and only then did you realise that the Kenji Sato, a legend, an untouchable god, was scared. Something fragile settled in his dark blue eyes, giving them a glassy quality. The hand holding yours trembled. it was ever so slight but it was still there.

The Kenji Sato, scared just as shitless as you.

“How did you get here ?” His voice is firm but the shake in his hands, the look in his eyes, it betrays him.

When you speak it’s not you. It’s automatic. The noise is foreign to your ears.

“Car.” that’s all you can say.

Your mouth feels numb. Everything feels numb. If you ran would your legs even work ?

“Right,” this time you hear the panic in Kenji’s voice, “fuck you can’t drive. you can barely stand. fuck. fuck ! what am i gonna do ?”

He runs his free hand through his hair, tugging anxiously at the roots. The helmet he’d been wearing has long since been discarded, stranded on an empty pitch. a burning blackened pitch.

you want to reach out, to pull his hand from his hair, to tell him not to hurt himself. you want to do so much more. anything that would get rid of that terrified look in his eyes. it doesn’t look right, not on him, not on Kenji Sato.

“Please.” You’re just able to whisper, gently tugging his hand away from his hair.

Now both your hands are in his. Theyre warm. So warm. you can feel the hard edge of callouses, built up from years and years of throwing and batting and training. Along one finger you’re sure you feel the thin jutting line of a scar. you want to ask how he got it. you want to ask so many things.

were you about to die ?

your gazes are locked. despite the crowds fleeing, the sky burning and a monster stalking towards you, you both stand there.

For a moment you think he might kiss you. you realise you want him to. but instead you watch as something shifts in his eyes, a look of….resolution ? the fear is still there but now it’s diluted by something like determination but also resignation. as if he knows he has to do something but he really doesn’t want to.

You open your mouth to ask what’s wrong. But you don’t get the chance. Not when Kenji suddenly darts forwards and places a kiss on your forehead. it’s startlingly intimate, and even in your current situation you can’t fight the blush from your cheeks. It feels like the kind of the gesture a soldier makes to his lover before he goes off to war.

It’s so eerily similar and then you realise why.

Kenji Sato. baseball player. international heartthrob. a living legend.

......Ultraman.

He steps away from you and with your gazes locked, you watch as his body is engulfed in a ray of bright light. It's unearthly, the way it shoots out of seemingly nowhere, swallowing Kenji whole. It burns to look at but you cant look away. You're sure you hear yourself scream his name, feel the shape of it on your tongue.

There’s a rush of heat, of something electric and when you turn back Kenji is gone, in his place a being several metres tall, taller than the stadium, taller than skyscrapers.

Kenji Sato is Ultraman.

It doesn't register at first. It doesnt matter that you just saw Kenji be surrounded by a light that could only have appeared from something not of this world, to find Ultraman in his place. Your mind refuses to make the connection. It cant. Because eveyrhting would change. Something that had onyl just started, was meant to start today and it would be gone.....ruined.

A strangled gasp passes through your lips as you watch him turn and charge towards the Kaiju. They collide with a bang so loud you have to cover your ears. It takes all your strength not to fall to your knees.

Ken- Ultraman whichever, threw the first punch, bringing a fist into the Kaiju’s stomach. The beast roared, a pained cry that shook the ground. Kenji went for another hit, but he wasn't quick enough.

“Kenji !” You screamed as the Kaiju opened its mouth and engulfed him in fire.

Thankfully nobody else was around to hear you so carelessly scream out his identity. everybody else had the common sense to flee the scene. but you couldn’t. not when Kenji was there, a hundred meters tall, in red and white and silver.

Kenji. Kenji was Ultraman. Ultraman was Kenji.

How ? How was that possible ? How was any of this possible ?

“Ma’am you need to come with us.” A paramedic finds you, trembling among the smoke and flames, terrified as you watch the Kaiju wrestle Kenji to the ground.

“N-No !” You cry out, trying to resist as another paramedic comes up to you.

Together the pair drag you away from the scene. It doesn’t matter that you beg them, plead with them to let you stay. that you have to stay. They don’t care. they don’t listen.

Youre piled into an ambulance and can only watch through a window as kenji becomes smaller and smaller in the distance. eventually the fire becomes nothing but a candle flame in the distance and even the smell of smoke fades.

Perhaps from exhaustion or perhaps from sheer shock, whatever the reason, you find it hard to keep your eyes open. An unnatural heaviness settles over them and with every attempt at keeping them open they become even heavier.

When you fall into the darkness you see flames and smoke and amongst it all him. His navy eyes, his cloud white jersey.

“Kenji.”

When you awake it isn’t too fire and debris and pillars of smoke. The sterile smell is what hits you first. the scent of chlorine, of cleanliness and bleach. it’s bright. oh so bright. you wince as you blink, eyes slowly adjusting to the light.

There’s a pounding in your head like nothing you’ve ever felt. Worse than any hangover. the beeping of something robotic, a monitor maybe, in the background only amplifies the pain.

“Auntie !” A high pitched voice cries.

You grimace, a hand coming to your head as if cradling it will make the pain go away.

“Chiho this is a hospital. indoor voices.”

A hospital. You were in a hospital. But why ?

A small figure, no taller than knee height clambers up to your side. you peered down from the bed to see your niece's smiling face blinking back at you.

Chiho…..which meant Ami wasn’t far behind.

Speak of the devil. In through the doorway she came, her usually smooth hair frizzy and unkempt. She was wearing pyjamas, the set you got her for christmas two years ago. a coat was hazardously thrown on over top. And you realised after glancing at Chiho again, that she was also in her pyjamas. Had they just woken up ? What was going on ?

“Oh thank god you’re awake.” Ami cries, rushing to your side.

you startle when she flings her arms around you. It’s not like you guys weren’t close but she rarely showed this amount of affection. Ami was like that, headstrong, all business. Hugs from her were rare and savoured moments. she had the ability to make you feel like everything was going to be okay with just a hand on the shoulder.

“Ami,” you were startled at how hoarse you voice was, “what’s going on ?”

Her face paled. She quickly glanced at Chiho, who was distracted by a magazine left on one of the tables, before speaking.

“there was an….incident. A kaiju, it attacked the stadium. I-I didn’t know you were there. I would never have left-t I can’t believe i didn’t see you.” She’s close to tears as she speaks.

your big sister, the ice queen, nearly crying because of you.

“I’m sorry.” it’s all you can say.

This time you reach out to her and she settles into you like two halves of the same shape, of the same coin. Your big sister.

When, after several exams at your sisters insistence, you're finally discharged Ami refuses to let you go home. There’s no argument. She shoves you into the backseat, among piles of stuffed toys and picture books, even putting the seat belt on for you.

Your mum was at her house and when you came in it was Ami all over again. She wept, clinging to you, kissing your sore forehead, pushing you into a bed. Who’s you didn’t know. The three of them stood around you, like you’d disappear if they looked away even for a second. It was only after Chiho yawned that Ami relented and took her daughter to bed. Your mum though seemed to make her sleep perfectly comfortable in the chair by your bed.

When you asked if she intended to stay there all night she merely shrugged and told you to shut your eyes.

Who were you to argue ?

Sleep sounded so good. It was just a shame that even in your dreams all you could see was Kenji in his shining red and silver suit, towering over the world.

It wasn’t just that night Ami made you stay at her place. She kept making excuses.

“You might be concussed !”

“Umm okay then why did you let me sleep ?”

“….don’t talk back to your older sister.”

“I need someone to babysit Chiho.”

“Yah babysit me auntie ! We can play ultraman and Kaiju.”

You didn’t miss the way Ami glanced at you, her usually cool eyes soft, as if worried the mere sound of his name would send you bawling. She didn’t know, of course she didn’t. You hadn’t been able to say the words aloud let alone tell someone. But any mention of Kaiju or fires or Ultraman had sort of been prohibited.

She, your mum, they were worried. You weren't doing good before. Maybe they thought the smallest thing would be enough to push you over some imaginary edge. maybe they were right.

So you hunkered down in her house for a few days, allowing Chiho to braid your hair in a hundred different styles, or paint your face with makeup that definitely wasn't stolen from Ami's dresser. You chopped up vegetables while your mum roasted meat, listening to her rant about this or that. Just like Ami she was full of opinions and observations. You joked that’s where she got her natural born journalist instincts from.

You, for the first time in forever, let your family take care of you. it was nice. you’d forgotten what it felt like.

Of course you couldn’t hide from it forever. whether you liked it or not, the truth was there. Hiding behind doors, peeking out from the closet. A metaphorical boogie man.

Kenji Sato was Ultraman, and to save your life, to save the city he'd revealed this information to you.

You hadn't dared reach for your phone since that day. It was in your purse, sat atop Ami's dresser. Undoubtedly, it would be teeming with missed calls and messages from your editor Sana. Would Kenji have called you ? Texted you ?

You didn't even know if he was okay....

The last time you saw him, the Kaiju had him pinned to the ground, and you just left him there. Like a coward. You should've fought the paramedics harder. You should've stayed.

It was only once you knew everybody else was asleep that you slipped out of Ami's room that night. She was sleeping in Chiho's room, letting you take her big bed. As you crept down the hall you could hear her soft snoring, your mother's garbled words as she mumbled in her sleep. It wasn't till you reached the balcony, sliding the door quietly shut behind you that you let yourself breathe.

With shaking hands, you opened up your phone. It wasn't the 27 missed calls and texts from Sana that worried you.

''we need to talk.''

So he was alright. Tension eased from your shoulders. At least it was one worry put to bed. But now you had to face the fact that Kenji had let slip a secret that could shock a nation, maybe the world even. This was beyond anything you'd ever dealt with before.

You didn't know what to do, so you swiped on his contact and pressed call.

It rang. once, twice. your heart constricted in your chest.

''I was hoping you would call.'' He's there, same smooth voice, same teasing lilt to his words.

you aren't sure if you want to cry or scream.

''You're okay.'' Its all you can say.

He laughs, its a tired sound.

''Yeah, I'm okay,'' a pause and then, ''are you ?''

You look out onto the dark streets of Tokyo. in the distance the Tokyo tower peeks out, a bolt of red against the navy sky. Are you okay ? Your life, which was already tearing at the seams, had somehow taken a massive 180 in the last two weeks, and it had all started with him. him in that damn ramen shop, a baseball card and smile that made your heart float.

''Yeah, I....I'm okay.'' To tell the truth would be too hard, too long.

Even though you cant see him you know he's tired. you can hear it in his voice. he sounds like hes aged fifty years in just three days.

''Y/N...'' Why did he always have to say your name like that ?

''Yes ?''

You know where this is going, you both do. the question is who will admit it out loud first.

''I'm Ultraman.'' He says it clear, direct, voice exhausted.

its not how you imagined someone would admit to being a beloved hero, an icon of the city. he says it like its a burden, a mantle thrusted onto him without a choice. it makes your heart squeeze.

''I know Kenji,'' you suck in a deep breath, ''I'm not going to tell anyone. I promise.''

There's silence from his end. For a moment you think the call has disconnected, until finally you hear him sigh.

''Do you want to come over ?''

That's how, an hour later, you find yourself sat outside in your car, in front of a mansion that belongs inside the pages of Architectural Digest.

The front door slides open and Kenji, in flesh and blood, stands in front of you. He's alive, he's okay and when he sees you he smiles.

stay tuned for part four, there's a little surprising twist. It's cute though, very wholesome. thank you to all who've kept up with the story so far. i hope you're enjoying it <33