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@disgruntledpeony 

Unfortunately, now it is looking like I will not have time to get a story done. I have a decent idea but only a few brain dumps. Work has been CRAZY busy. On a good note, I have a book signing tomorrow 4/30 here locally. A comic store that stocks my book can and has offered to host! He has sold about 10 copies in 2 months. Says that is better than most trade paperbacks do! 

Wish me luck! It is my 3rd one but I always get nervous as I can be quite awkward towards people I don't know

Posted by: @zappey1

@disgruntledpeony 

Wish me luck! It is my 3rd one but I always get nervous as I can be quite awkward towards people I don't know

May the Swartz be with you.

Got done with the book signing. It went well. 22 copies sold in 3 hours. The store owner takes a decent cut but I still make a little more than when amazon sells a copy.

Lots of fans came out and I got to talk to them. I really need to work on making a website. On top of being socially awkward, I'm also not very computer literate. A website is on my list of things to work on this summer. 

@disgruntledpeony 

The word count for the Dark Matter contest is only 5k words? I don't have anything ready that is that short. I wonder if I could type something up tomorrow that would work?

Deadline is l Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. CST. They don't play with submission windows. 

Posted by: @zappey1

@disgruntledpeony 

 

The word count for the Dark Matter contest is only 5k words? I don't have anything ready that is that short. I wonder if I could type something up tomorrow that would work?

Deadline is l Sunday, May 1, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. CST. They don't play with submission windows. 

Minimum wordcount is 1k, so you could arguably swing a flash if life permits! (No worries either way. Just trying to encourage you if you've got the time and energy for it.)

Posted by: @zappey1

Got done with the book signing. It went well. 22 copies sold in 3 hours. The store owner takes a decent cut but I still make a little more than when amazon sells a copy.

 

Lots of fans came out and I got to talk to them. I really need to work on making a website. On top of being socially awkward, I'm also not very computer literate. A website is on my list of things to work on this summer. 

That’s exceptional. Well done, Jacob!

@wulfmoon 

Thanks for the support. It is hard to sell books this way for me. It has seemed to get progressively easier but it is still hard to talk to people and explain things/ answer questions. I can handle about a signing every other month.

It is cool feeling to have some actual fans though ? 

Posted by: @zappey1

@wulfmoon 

Thanks for the support. It is hard to sell books this way for me. It has seemed to get progressively easier but it is still hard to talk to people and explain things/ answer questions. I can handle about a signing every other month.

 

It is cool feeling to have some actual fans though ? 

It's a very nice feeling indeed.

What are some things you or the bookstore owner does to get a group together for you? Do you do a reading? Are you set up at the entrance, catching people as they come in? Do you hand bookmarks to the interested? Have you tried capturing emails to add them to your mailing list? 

How do you create the connection between author and reader? This would be helpful info for the Forumites as they contemplate their own future signings. 

Cheers!

@wulfmoon Well the Comic Store Owner printed out a bunch of fliers we posted around town. He and my wife also posted on local social media. I have read stories out load at other readings I have done but not this one.

This one I did not read as there was not a place for people to sit. My table was set up near the door and the signing time was set up in conjunction with another event going on downtown. Best reading/ signing I had was at a local pub!

I do have my email in the back of the book. If they reach out I email them back. It is still pretty small time so I have not gotten overwhelmed by responding to individual emails. I also encourage readers to send me ideas on places for future stories. 

I have not made bookmarks or other merch. It has been suggested and as I make more money I will start reinvesting in picture prints and bookmarks. Maybe even shirts? I did over half the art so Copy rite on my images should not be an issue. Not sure about the other artist work? I did pay them but I am not sure I own the image.

Uncanny Magazine is open for short-story submissions until May 30. Stories up to 6k words. They pay 10c a word for fiction.

Submissions - Uncanny Magazine is open to submissions for the rest of May for short stories, poems, and novellas.

Send some krakens their way.

@storysinger They're closed to novellas and poems!

Thanks for letting me know Alex. I was trying for poetry and a short story. Now it should be a little easier.

Not that I really want the competition but this one is open to the end of May https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market/Index?id=14085

6 cents per word

@czing Is this really six cents a word? The official guidelines say "$0.06/word".

Same thing. Right?

I'd assume they put it that way because it is easy to type a $ but a cents symbol requires the ansi code I assume and so that is likely difficult to figure out for some web authoring tools. I know I'm too lazy to look for how to put it into this reply so..........

@czing Thanks for posting this. I don't usually write ghost stories and thought, no way I'll write one in time, but I just did. I pantsed it and wrote the whole lot in one go. I just need to give it a quick clean and edit and get it sent out, probably Sunday. My daughter is getting married tomorrow so I won't get chance until Sunday, but I will get it out.

ETA: as this weekend is going to be so busy I've gone and edited this, got number one (and only) son to give it the once over (he's a fidgeting teenager and it made him sit still for a while), and submitted it. So conceived, written, edited and subbed all in one day. Never done that before. Whew!

Posted by: @disgruntledpeony

Air and Nothingness Press will be taking subs for a new anthology called The Librarian from May 1st to June 30th. 8 cents/word (plus a copy of the book and 40% off the purchase price of any extra copies), 1k to 3k words. AaNP makes beautiful books, folks. Definitely worth trying for, if you're interested in the theme.

Anybody submitting to this anthology and open to a critique exchange with a competitor? PM me if so. Thanks.

@czing Yeah, it's the same thing. Nevermind what I said. I got the math wrong ? ?  Exact sciences aren't my forte!

@alexvss LOL no problem. After you asked it I swished it around in my head quite a few times to make sure before I replied.

@pdblake Here's to good luck for both of us! Hope your daughter's wedding is wonderful and nary a ghost in sight.

@czing thanks. It's been a good day. Best we've had in a while. 

@pdblake Hope you have better luck than me - got what I think is probably a form rejection today.

@czing me too lol. It's already out somewhere else. 

Does anyone know when Galaxy's Edge really open their submissions?

Every Tuesday I sit there waiting at the right time, again today, and that submission portal never opens up.

I know they're there, they update the guidelines, often to close their submissions. I get that the editor is ill, I do, but really, I've been trying to submit there for two months now and they never, ever open for subs when they say they do.

@pdblake I was hoping that they would open today (there's a note stating that in their guidelines), so I kept refreshing the page... to no avail. 

Unless you have inside information, the only thing you can do is wait for next tuesday and pray.

@alexvss tbh I'm about ready to give up on them.

@pdblake I wouldn't give up on them. I managed to submit four times since they came back some months ago. I got three very useful personal rejections, and I have a story under consideration right now. I think it's worthy. You don't have anything to lose but some of your attention every tuesday noon.

@alexvss I'll try not to. I'm just not going to wait for them. If they're not open I'll send things elsewhere. I did manage to submit back in January I think. 

Posted by: @pdblake

@alexvss I'll try not to. I'm just not going to wait for them. If they're not open I'll send things elsewhere. I did manage to submit back in January I think. 

I've done the same, but it does seem like their current troubles may be illness-related, so I have my fingers crossed for things to settle down. There was a long spell (some time ago) when the editor of Stupefying Stories was having a hell of a time because his wife had gotten very seriously ill--I had a story get accepted there, but because of the disruption caused, it took four or five years for it to actually be published.

It seems like illness has been the cause of more than one market either being disrupted or shutting down entirely.