Hello from London, where the the only constants are erratic weather and endless headlines about Brexit...

Actually that's not true. I live here, at least in part, because I like it. London is (in my view) the most cosmoplitan city in the world. The breathtaking diversity of nationalities, ethnic backgrounds, languages and cultures all present in one city makes this a very unique place to live.

Unfortunately, for the time being, all that diversity is hidden indoors, behind masks or self-isolating, so all we're left with in the meantime is the onset of a grey autumn and relentless bickering about Brexit.

So jumping back into imaginary worlds...

Traditional vs Indie Publishing

In case this is not something you know about, there are two paths to being a published author. The traditional route and the independent route.

The traditional path to publication involves getting an agent and then a publisher to take on your work. Getting published in this way is hard. It takes a lot of tries to find an agent willing to represent you, and that agent will need a lot of luck and effort to find you a publishing house willing to take you on board as an author. Then your journey has only just begun, because it'll be over a year before your book is seen by a single reader, and that's if you've already finished writing it.

At least that's what I'm told, because I've never tried to go down that route. I've just read a lot about it.

'Indie', or independent publishing, is the route where you do it all yourself. You edit and review your own books, then pay others to check them again, just to make sure. You pay someone else to design a cover, then pay three more people because the first cover wasn't good. You publish it through different platforms, from Kobo to Amazon to Apple to Google. Reaching out to readers is also entirely your job. Marketing, advertising, communication. It's all effort and money up front in the hopes that what you're writing is good enough for people to want to pay for it later.

Getting your writing in front of people who might, just maybe, have a taste for your style and genre, is a job unto itself.

I'm on my journey down this 'indie' path. You are one of the people who somehow found my work. Something I wrote convinced you to click "subscribe", and has so far convinced you not to click "unsubscribe".

So that long preamble, just to say... thank you for your support, and your tacit vote in favour of the words I write and the stories I tell. If you'd like to make that vote less tacit, more concrete, there's a Facebook page you can like. If you think what I do is worthy of your financial support, you can do that for the price of a coffee per month over on Patreon.

And while we're talking about what I write...

A Free Short Story

A lot of common horror tropes have been abducted and adapted into a bubbling pot of brooding hormone-infused teenage angst. Of course I blame the success of the Twilight franchise for this. Werewolves, vampires and shifters aren't scary, because there's romance just a few pages away.

I challenged myself to write a slightly more 'adult' version of one of these genre stories, including the romance angle, but avoiding the teenage angst. Spoiler alert: It came out quite dark.

As always, let me know what you think (hit reply). I read and respond to everything I get. You can download the story for free by clicking on the image or the button.

Download "Rare Gifts"

Also, in case you haven't read the first part of my Emily Voss series, the next two parts of which will be available on Amazon in a few weeks, you can download that by clicking here.

Author Spotlight, Part 1 of 2

Let me introduce you to Erynn Lehtonen, who writes young adult fantasy with a well-informed Japanese undercurrent.

She, like me, is giving away the first book in a series, so you can tell if you like it before deciding to jump in. Giving away a book is no small thing, given the amount of time it takes to write it, so please give it a try if it sounds like something you might like.

SOME DREAMS ARE MEANT TO DIE.

An engineer craving to become a warrior. A majyu with his future bound in filial piety… and a dark sorcerer who steals women into the night.

A young adult epic fantasy adventure ins pired by selections of Japanese mythology and folklore.

Click to Download "Spirit of the Dragon"

Author Spotlight, Part 2 of 2

The second author and novel I'd like to mention this week is Deanna Browne, and her trilogy, Dark Rising. The second book is pictured to the right and is called Unholy Sundering.

Years ago, dark magicians opened a dimension to another world and unleashed a new power on the earth. Governments toppled, millions died, and magicians became earth’s most feared predator. After rescuing her younger sister from the clutches of the coven, twenty-four-year-old Becca discovers her enemies have left an unholy gift behind−a demon bound to her sister’s soul. On the run from Ryma and his twisted coven, Becca joins forces with her best friend, Caleb, and a pyromancer who tempts her untrusting heart. Desperate to protect her sister and her friends, Becca finds temporary safety with a rogue faction she’s not sure she can trust. As war looms on the horizon, Becca is forced to pick sides in a game where survival isn’t guaranteed.

View "Unholy Sundering" on Amazon

That's all for this time.

As always, thank you for reading and see you next week!

Nick.