#support independent authors

[ex35life]

The book I did the cover for is available! It’s the first book in the series. It’s middle grade fiction, and is a fun read. Check it out, and support a great author.

[meramyst18]

Have you ever read a book, or watched a movie and you wondered, how would be the playlist of this character? 'cause I do and that's why I made a playlist with my character's taste of music. It also really helped me to build and be more creative with my beautiful Darcy, so if you're a writer trying to define more of your main character, you should totally do this. I also made Holland's playlist, and I love how different his music taste is compared to Darcy's haha. Anyway, here are the playlists.

Psst, if you want to know more about the characters and their story, you should read my book "They Want Revenge", which is available on kindle and you can read the first six episodes for free ♥

[hellishrebukesystem]

Cards on the Table--to be released Fall 2024!

Here is the mood board for one of my favorite bits of work I have written so far--an experimental novella written in the style of an ongoing documentary script; it has mystery, horror, and fascinating characters all asking themselves the same question--what does it mean to live, to die, to grieve, and to carry on?

I will be posting it on itch.io, ko-fi, and offering it for sale through my P@YP@L link when it finally comes out--this is an entirely independent project and I am so excited to embark on this journey; even though I don't think I am going to release physical copies (at least not at this time--I really would prefer that most of my work be free of amazon; I'll have to find other printers or something...dm me if u know anything about that btws...) I will be glad to be creating on my own terms and to be able to join the leagues of independent artists out there who have made their own name.

Hope to see you as a supporter of my work! Catch you on the flipside my dudes, dudettes, and dods.

[breelandwalker]

Hi Bree!

I wanna buy all three of your books and I wanna know what's gonna be best for you:

Which method of ordering would give you the most direct funds, your Wordpress shop or Amazon? Cuz I wanna make sure you get as much of the profits as possible.

Picture of a silly Goose for you, for answering my silly question 🖤

Oh WELL!!! With a sweet baby fuzzyface like that, I'm happy to! 😁

The best direct-support option is to order from my shop. I can ship signed books and other merch anywhere in the U.S. For my international customers, it's books only (sorry, customs is stupid), but I can ship freshly-printed copies directly to you pretty much anywhere there's a KDP distribution hub nearby.

(To the best of my knowledge, there are hubs in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, India, and Australia. Distributions hubs often ship to more than one country.)

And of course, there are print and ebook copies available on Amazon.

If you're in the Richmond VA area, I also have a regular table at the River City Witch Markets at Diversity Thrift and Triple Crossing Brewery.

Thank you for your support! 💜

[artificelux]

I've said before that I always want Cyber Monday to be cooler than it is, to be neon-soaked and punky...

In short, Cyberpunk Monday.

Well, what's more punk than forgoing the big corpo sites and buying straight from creators and small businesses? Supporting art and artists directly, adding value to the ecosystem of unconventional stories that don't follow the traditional sales model.

So, I'm trying something different this year... I'm going to run a 20% off sale through noon on Dec. 3. It's an automatic discount site-wide on colorofamirror.net (including all versions of the novel, plus the vinyl soundtrack). The only exclusion is the already-better discount of 25% off for the Full Moon Bundle, which doesn't stack with this sale.

This will likely be the only sale I run during the year, so if you've been interested in picking up a copy of the book or you have someone in mind for a holiday gift, this is your chance.

A noir science fiction story, COLOR OF A MIRROR is written, designed, published, and sold by me (and can be found in a couple independent bookstores in the New England area). It has received "Editor's Pick" from BookLife Reviews and a "Get It" verdict from Kirkus Reviews. I don't sell on Amazon/Kindle or B&N, and the e-book is DRM-free so you can read on whatever device you choose, making this a perfect Cyberpunk Monday offering.

--

This weekend, whether you're shopping local bookstores on Small Business Saturday or finally picking up that bespoke item from a favorite creator, let's support those that are making the art we love... not the big businesses trying to turn us into dollar signs.

[duckprintspress]

Help Us Pick the Theme for Our Next Explicit Anthology!

Ever wondered how Duck Prints Press picks our anthology themes? The answer is…we don’t! Our Patrons do! Any backer on our Patreon, from $3/month on up, gets a say – and the current poll to pick our next theme is running right now!

Our twelfth anthology will be the second erotica collection. Our first, Many Hands: An Anthology of Polyamorous Erotica, crowdfunded over the summer and we will be completing campaign fulfillment within the next week, with the book to become available to the general public in mid-fall.

For this new set of short stories, we first chatted with folks on our private Press Discord, then the Press staff narrowed that down to a few specific ideas, and now we’re at the last step – where everyone who supports us gets a say!

No matter the outcome of the vote, our next anthology will feature…

stories about explicit sex with non-human creatures, monsters, and the like;

fully consensual liaisons;

unconventional genitalia (not required by highly encouraged);

happy endings; and

queerness!

But that’s not narrow enough to make an interesting thematic collection of stories, so that’s where our backers (and, perhaps, you!) come in. What are the choices for specific themes that are being voted on?

cottagecore (but explicit and with monsters!)

courtship and mating rituals (“how to woo your human”)

underwater settings and underwater creatures

your friendly neighborhood cryptid

ye older high fantasy monsterloving (fairytale/folklore/mythology-inspired encouraged!)

Honestly, I’m glad I don’t have to pick, because it’s a damn tough choice – they all sound awesome. But pick we must, and one will become the theme for our next anthology.

Already a backer? Don’t forget to vote! Not yet a backer? Become one today!

[night-market-if]

I was like two chapters behind and I just finally caught up and OH MY GODS. You are easily in the top of my list for authors. I would read anything you wrote ily

Ahhhhhh! Thank you!!!! I have so many stories I want to tell. I cannot wait to share them all with everyone! Thank you so much for the support!

[uranusguided]

Hey my publisher finally got my book series, The Silent Trilogy, up on Apple Books! Check it out!!!

My publisher calls Silent Trilogy 'X-Men meets Good Omens'. That's not wrong but it is a series about abuse, colonialism and the importance of love in ways those aren't.

In more detail: the Silent Trilogy is an urban fantasy series set primarily in Hobart, Australia. It tells the story of the dainisa, a not-so-hidden magical community, focused primarily on their non-binary Princess, Torao Yamaguchi.

Desperate for her child to have a better life than she did, the leader of dainisa Amaya Yamaguchi sparks a revolution to claim Australia as a magical continent where dainisa can live in accordance with their own laws, not those of humans. However fighting power is a complex thing in a world built to function on injustice, and a pretty siren desperate for revenge could ruin it all…

Narrated through the eyes of a human who doesn’t quite get it, the Silent Trilogy is about the narratives we build of history. It's an exploration of trauma, the ways people learn to live with it, and how bigotry works. Also there's angels and demons messing things up. More info on the website!

I finished this series a long time ago but I'm still very proud of it!! It's a niche story I had a lot of fun with. I wrote this NB protag before I even came out myself so that's always cool. And every time I have to reread a part of the series I have a really hard time stopping cos I enjoy my own work so much lmao. So hopefully you'll enjoy it too!!

(it's also on Amazon if you prefer kindle, and if you don't wanna support either, well, chuck me a couple dollars on Patreon)

[valengory1234]

I think sometimes we need to remember a books context

[tinylittledeergirl]

My wonderful Joseph Livingston.

I’ve been meaning to make a post where I deconstruct this guy but he’s kind of just a good man.

He grew up in New Orleans with his incredibly wealthy but awful family. He has a really complicated relationship with his father that I wont get into now, but they make me insane.

Also he has autism. It’s the 1920’s, so they don’t really know all about that yet, but he does. Just for the record.

Anyways he does escape his terrible home in the end and he has a beautiful wife who has also been through the ringer, so they spend the rest of their days just resting together and healing and just generally being happy together.

Some details to note in this piece-

He has veins visible in certain areas because hes kind of unhealthy at this point in time. He’s not sickly or anything he’s kind of just built like that.(I’m lying. There is a reason, but it’d be way too much to type here)

His fingernails are a little torn up because he chews and picks at them. Just a bad habit of his.

[livingloved007]

Cash App Me#

[meramyst18]

Hey, so I made a book about a girl named Darcy that can communicate with ghosts and these ghosts are part of the "Death Millionaires Club", a group of people that were murdered or disappeared by a serial killer that was after their money.

The plot thickens when she finds out these ghosts that have been tormenting her are looking for a way to take revenge, and because Darcy is somehow related to all these crimes, the ghosts will try to hurt her and her family. Now Darcy will have to find a way to stop them and discover the identity of the murderer.

If you got interested, you can get my book on Amazon Kindle, the first six episodes are free :D

Please support an independent author, here is the link:

[hellishrebukesystem]

KO-FI UPDATE 06/19/24

Check out my latest update for my KO-FI! Just general life stuff and chatting in blog form, plus some teasers for things I want to work on this weekend. I haven't written much more--life has been getting in the way, as it sometimes does, but I did want to update anyone who is interested in my plans for rest of the year in regard to my writing and publishing schedule!

Talk to you soon!

[inkandpaperqwerty]

My book isn't being published until tomorrow, but my sister went to this retreat run by Horizons (local) and they let me put my stickers and proof on display! I'm so excited!!

[author-a-holmes]

Nanowrimo Check In Day #5

Day Five Target: 12,500 Words

Actual Word Count: 12,728 Words (And counting)

The problem with these check in's is that I've still got several hours of writing left to go! But I guess that's the nature of the beast.

I feel like all I keep saying is "So far, so good", but it's a good metric for this Nanowrimo. I was hoping to have a day or two's buffer at this point, but my daily target of 2,500 words is on the upper end of what I can consistently write day after day, so I'll take what I can get.

Right now I'm sitting at 12,728 words, and my goal for day five was 12,500, so I'm on par and I'm happpy with that. Especially considering, at the time of posting, I still have about three hours left to write today.

The next check in is on day ten, and if I'm lucky I'll have a dragged the manuscript a little ahead of target, but day ten is also breaking into Hell Week, otherwise known as Nanowrimo week two, so I guess we'll see where the journey takes us.

Wish me luck, I think I'm going to need it! <3 If you're taking part in Nanowrimo, how are your words coming so far this month? Let me know by commenting or reblogging...

[swordandboardllc]

Expeditionary Force: A Lesson in Inclusivity

Speculative fiction struggles with how to handle disabilities, which is reflective of our society at large. Whether due to age, health, accidents, or other life happenstance, almost everyone will end up struggling with disability at some point in their life (or see it happen in someone they care about). The absence of this within our media only creates stigma around disabilities and chronic illness. Removing disabilities and chronic illness through handwaving, “superior technology” or magic, creates an unrealistic emphasis on wholeness as a moral or correct way of living/existing. Disabilities change as societies evolve, which means they’ll never be gotten rid of. Same with chronic illnesses. DNA will never replicate perfectly. Genetic disorders will always exist without eugenic interference.

Within the universe of the Expeditionary Force series, written by Craig Alanson, genetic superiority is discussed a great deal. Each of the alien races have been genetically modified for war by their patron species, all the way up to the top level races. It’s heavily implied that consent was not a factor in whether or not these races were modified. While these modifications are shown as improvements (better hearing, better vision, faster healing, etc), it’s also shown that these adaptations aren’t inherently morally superior or better. The humans can still keep up with their genetically modified alien counterparts, even if they have to be a little smarter about how they do things. That in and of itself is an important aspect to note: adversity pushes our collective boundaries. When we see problems, we as humans find incredible ways to overcome them.

One of the main characters in ExForce loses his legs. It’s a traumatic experience, as he’s a SpecOps soldier. And this is where Craig Alanson subverted my expectations. The medical technology they have on board their ship allows for limb regrowth/regeneration, and I wholeheartedly expected for this character to simply have his legs regrown. Then undergo physical therapy for a few months, then be back to normal/good as new (more or less). I was absolutely pleasantly surprised when the character pushed back on limb regrowth. He wanted prosthetic legs. He demanded them.

"...seeing myself in a character, whether it’s this person...in ExForce, or the lawyer in My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, proper representation matters."  -- L.J. Stanton