Welcome to my newsletter about publishing and writing fiction. You’re likely here because you downloaded one of my books in a giveaway or you subscribe to my substack. I’ve had a few issues with substack lately so I decided it was time to finally start my own proper website once more.
Consider this a hub for all my fiction. I’ll continue to keep my substack newsletter for my weekly essays. Updates here will be much less frequent. Probably just once a month.
With that out of the way, I’d like to discuss ways readers can help independent writers.
Reviews
The best way to get the word out about independent artists of any kind is to tell someone about it. Tell a friend or a family member or a coworker. If you read a book you liked, tell someone! Tell someone in your real life. Even if you read a book that you don’t particularly like, it may remind you of someone who you think would like it.
This is tremendously helpful to independent writers. We don’t have a big publishing house behind us to put out ads. We don’t have a marketing department to help organize strategies to get the word out. So if you like a book, tell someone!
The next best way is to write a review online. Ideally on Goodreads or Amazon. Goodreads is one of the biggest communities of readers anywhere on the internet and Amazon is where the vast majority of books are sold. Having reviews on book pages on those sites helps authors get into the algorithm and helps them get additional eyes on their work, who maybe would not have seen them otherwise.
And while I appreciate very much the many emails and texts and DMs I receive from people who enjoy my books, I would really love if the next thing you did was write a review online. Or tell someone else about it.
With that in mind, thousands of people have bought my novel Howl and I would very much appreciate it if you would go give it a review!
While you’re at it, don’t be shy! Check out the rest of the series and consider reviewing those books as well.
Glossolalia could also use some reviews!
Kickstarter
And then I have some big news!
Way back in 2016, I wrote this little sword & sorcery novel about two escaped slaves carving a murderous rampage through a war-torn countryside. Interestingly, I wrote it the same month that I wrote Glossolalia. I handed both to my good friend Kyle Muntz who has been my first reader of everything I’ve written since 2012.
After reading Glossolalia, he was excited for it. Even so, that took me about six years to decide to put out into the world. But after reading The Adventures of Horus & Motherfucker in a single sitting at my house while I did my day job, he told me it was essentially unpublishable. Too dark. Too weird. Too many jokes. Too much cannibalism.
With that kind of feedback, I set it aside. I thought about it often though. I always loved my weird little freak of a novel. Thought it was, in some ways, the best thing I’d ever written. Certainly the funniest, though it’s a pitch black kind of comedy happening here. But I also just loved this journey of discovery and belief following two illiterate escaped slaves full of hate for everyone and everything except one another.
About three years ago, my good friend and fellow Broken River brother David Simmons, the author of The Ghosts of East Baltimore (review it!), got his hands on this and read it twice in the same week. Told me it was the best thing he’d read from me.
With that confidence boost, I decided to finally begin wandering towards publication, though it still took me a bit of convincing.
When my good friend and Broken River brother Kelby Losack, author of God is Wearing Black and Letting out the Devil (review them!), made this cover for The Adventures of Horus & Motherfucker, I instantly knew I wanted the book to be full of art. While Kelby was too busy, I reached out to Tony Tran to do illustrations and he gave me some wild, feral style drawings that so perfectly capture these characters.
Now, with a title like The Adventures of Horus & Motherfucker, this was never going to play well on Amazon or on bookshelves at your local library or store. And with illustrations, I wanted this to be a bit more special than a print on demand title.
Thus and so, I’m going to Kickstarter! The goal is to do a print run in paperback and hardcover, each with illustrations. If we meet some stretch goals, we’ll be deluxifying the hardcover and adding additional illustrations!
So please head over to the Kickstarter right here and click that Notify me on launch! That’ll help drive me up the algorithm and hopefully secure a successful launch!
And since we’re talking about ways to help indie authors, I’d greatly appreciate it if you shared this and spread the word!
Along with that, if you’re a book reviewer, blogger, podcaster, youtuber, let me know! I’d be happy to provide a digital copy in advance of the kickstarter.
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