World Building 1

How to Handle World Building

The one element that distinguishes science fiction and fantasy from the other flavors of adventure fiction is world building. If you’re a new SFF writer, learning how to craft vivid secondary worlds is a crucial skill. And mastering it takes finesse as well as creativity. But it’s not as daunting…
April 19, 20245 Comments
King Brandon

Audible Bows the Knee to King Brandon

At the beginning of this year, we covered Brandon Sanderson's dispute with audio book monopolists Audible. The epic fantasy king and neopatronage pioneer announced his intention not to publish the audio versions of his $40 million crowdfunded books through Audible. His stated reason? That the Amazon subsidiary failed to offer…
March 6, 20244 Comments
7 Wonders

Seven Wonders: Now on Audible

William Hastings, author of the highest selling paranormal wrestling novel ever written - and my talented editing client - has some exciting news: Seven Wonders, the larger-than-life sequel to Vatican Championship Wrestling, is now available on Audible! Read by wrestler/commentator/vocalist Matt Rehwoldt (FKA Aiden English) There's never been a better…
March 1, 20241 Comment
Brandon Sanderson

Sanderson Is Not in Audible

Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson has established himself as the king of neopatronage with his record-smashing Kickstarter campaign. And while his secret novels project earned him four times more than his publisher pays him, the oldpub gravy train turned newpub mogul has a beef with an industry player that's not Tor…
January 22, 20247 Comments
2 Adventures Across Eternity

Two Adventures Across Eternity

One of  the biggest hurdles that newpub authors face is a lack of promotional support from influencers who are nominally on our team. That's why I do what I can in my corner of the internet to boost likeminded writers' signals. In that spirit of professional fraternity, it's my pleasure…
January 19, 20242 Comments
Heavenly Light

Heavenly Light Music Video

For those who enjoyed superversive musician Ben Zwycky's rendition of "Silent Night", you'll be delighted to learn that the second - and title - track from his new album Heavenly Light is now live. As promised, here is the second music video from my first album, this time for the…
January 3, 20242 Comments
Foundation Father

Foundation Father

My whirlwind tour of the newpub podcast scene continues as I stop by to chat with M.A. Franklin on his Foundation Father Twitter Space. He's an up-and-coming newpub author who's Kickstarting a children's book, and he's good people. Listen as we discuss newpub, Neopatronage, and the Witch Test. Catch the…
November 15, 2023
Pacing Watch

How to Master Pacing

The Burned Book is now funding. Get the highly anticipated dark fantasy before launch, plus a ton of awesome perks. Pledge now. Writing is an art, and like any form of art, it requires skill, practice, and patience. For aspiring writers, one of the most crucial elements to master is…
November 6, 2023
Authors Outpost

On Author’s Outpost

Take even a passing look into the online newpub scene, and you'll find the X threads, Facebook groups, and YouTube chats abuzz with talk of Neopatronage. It's not hard to understand why. Those who've kept even cursory tabs on the state of publishing are aware of two indisputable facts: Amazon…
November 2, 2023
Fantasy Genre Setting

Genre vs Setting

Friend of the blog author David V. Stewart's recent stream on speculative fiction settings uncovered a curious phenomenon. It seems a lot of people, even some new authors, have trouble telling the difference between genre vs setting in speculative fiction. It's a worthwhile stream, covering a range of topics from…
October 26, 20232 Comments