Alan Lastufka // Shortwave Publishing
@AlanDistro
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Author of FACE THE NIGHT. Editor of OBSOLESCENCE. Founder of small press @ShortwaveBooks . HWA Pro Active + SFWA Full Member. TV/Film Rep: @frankel_alec (IAG).
Portland, OR
Joined May 2008
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My debut novel, FACE THE NIGHT, has been named one of the 100 Best Indie Books of the Year by
@KirkusReviews
!
I'm incredibly honored. After a starred review earlier this year, I knew they liked the book, but this?! This is amazing!
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I'm working on a story set in 1966 and I have one of my characters use the phrase, "he's a friend of Dorothy". With no other context, do you know what that means? Or should I be more explicit? It tripped up one of my early readers.
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Okay, well this week officially can not get any better!
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Shortwave has posted a ton about CANDY CAIN KILLS, but this is our biggest / fastest selling book so far. Candy Cain alone has extended the life of the press by at least a year. That's another 6-10 books we'll get to publish because of this one success. And that's cool as hell.🤍
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Unboxing a £10,000 box set! So excited to share this unique version of
@StevenWilsonHQ
's new album,
#TheFutureBites
, with everyone. (cc:
@sdedition
@musicvenuetrust
)
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I haven't posted publicly about this yet, but I recently started a new part-time gig as the Creative Director for Umbrella Pictures! 🎉
They were impressed with the design and post production work I did on THE FORT and asked if I would work with them on their future titles. 🧵
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Apologies if all the celebratory posts are too much. These last couple weeks have been really, really rough. Maybe the worst of my entire adult life. And I really needed a few wins. This week delivered multiple wins. And celebrating them is keeping me afloat right now.
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I'm going to be editing my first anthology!
Announcing - OBSOLESCENCE: A Dark Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Anthology!
Our early Featured Authors include
@KealanBurke
,
@claymcleod
,
@Gabino_Iglesias
,
@hystericteeth
,
@ChristiNogle
, and
@SaraTantlinger
.
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Probably not getting much sleep tonight. Today has been fucked up in a million different ways. Life is short. Soak up every minute of it. And be kinder to each other. Someone close took their own life this morning and I'm having a hard time processing it.
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Shay was bummed he missed out on a 90s-style Pizza John, so
@bombsfadeaway
and I sent him this from my collection.
A beautiful thing happened in my mailbox this morning!!! Thanks
@hankgreen
@johngreen
@AlanDistro
#DFTBA
#PizzaJohn
http://t.co/MFVONDIx0f
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Shortwave has mostly focused on novellas and novelettes but, 30 mins from now, I'm meeting with the author and agent of our first new horror novel in over two years!
Really looking forward to working on this project, and of course, the upcoming announcements.
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Sent out a new contract today.
Author: "The marketing budget is interesting—never seen that in a deal before, but I like it!"
Every book contract at Shortwave includes marketing $$$ on top of the signing bonus, I want authors to know their work will be supported and promoted.
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We're making a movie!
We received our Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA on Friday! We've agreed to all of their requests (something larger productions are refusing to do) and are so excited to get to work.
Filming begins tomorrow (yes, very close call, almost had to cancel). 😅
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We won! Twice!🎉
• Best First Time Screenwriter (Short)
• Best First Time Director (Short)
Most of the awards "The Fort" has received have been for our fantastic talent in front of the camera. But the
@lafilmawards
took a moment to recognize a few of us behind the camera,
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The coolest award statues ever just arrived for our short film, THE FORT!
We won for BEST ACTOR and BEST DIRECTOR (and were nominated for three additional awards, including Best Film Poster and Best Actress) during our premiere at the Chicago Horror Film Festival!
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I recently had an author tell me that the cover I designed for their Shortwave release is their favorite cover of anything they've published, ever.
And they've published a lot.
I question my work maybe more than any one person should, but I'll be riding this high for a while.
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My small press finally has a website!
I've been working on this site for over a month. No templates, no themes, I designed and built it all from scratch (with Wordpress handling the database).
I'm so happy it's finally finished...
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Oh yeah, did I mention the award statues are freakin' SKULLS?! 👀👀👀
Excited to share "THE FORT" won two of the five awards we were nominated for at our premieres yesterday!
• Best Actor - WINNER!
• Best Actress - Nominated
• Best Director - WINNER!
• Best Psychopath - Nominated
• Best Movie Poster - Nominated
Not bad for our first showing!
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Hire me, other indie pubs! I'm a human who makes rad book covers.
Or reach out to
@MattSeffBarnes
,
@UglyByProxy
,
@MattBlairstone
,
@ReaderNw
,
@CaitlinMarceau
,
@todd_keisling
,
@ravenkult
,
@slimyswampghost
...there are so many real artists doing great work in this space!
Indie Publishers Stop Using Shitty AI Covers Challenge.
There are inexpensive, innovative options to just selling out to straight up artistic theft.
Jesus, y’all, this is embarrassing. We can do many things BETTER than Big Publishing. Having fucking artistic integrity is one.
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Shortwave Magazine is open to submissions for one week only!
For anyone curious what it's like to run an open subs period, here are the short stories that came in just between 5am and 6am on a Saturday morning! 👀
At this rate, we'll receive over 1,000 stories in one week.
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As I've been reading OBSOLESCENCE submissions I've been taking notes on which submissions I want to buy for Shortwave Magazine, if they don't make the final cut for OBSOLESCENCE. So some of y'all will receive a rejection, followed by an immediate offer. :)
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I can't believe I get to break this news...
HALLOWEEN (1978) co-star Nancy (Kyes) Loomis has returned to the big screen after 42 years for our film,
@HauntologyMovie
!
The screenplay (from director
@ParkerBrennon
) and representation in the film really connected personally with
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Got a request for a review copy of FACE THE NIGHT from one of the Executive Producers of Shudder's Creepshow and Hulu's Books of Blood. So, you know, today is going well!
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Today I turned 40! And I don't feel a day over 39. 🥳
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It's disheartening to work so hard on these projects only for the social media algorithm to bury them. Reach & interaction have never been lower while so many of us are out here doing the best work we've done to date. If/when I end up quitting, it'll be because of the algorithm.
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I did the math three times and I still can't believe it...
We sold our 10,000th book last night! 🎉
This is all since publishing our first title, FACE THE NIGHT, on March 8, 2022, so it took us just over 2 years (and that first year, we only had two titles).
Thank you all so much for your early support. We will continue to work hard
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Any time I get a peek behind the curtain of how other small presses are run, I am shocked that so many have SO MANY people working for them for free. Like, I'm not referring to people who didn't get paid (yet), I mean, the sheer volume of editors, designers... 🧵
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We did it! We're funded! 😭 Thank you thank you thank you!
I promise I won't mention "The Fort" again for at least a few days. 😂
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We finally maybe p o s s i b l y have interest from a real distributor!
So, I'm working on a "company overview" packet and, y'all, Shortwave has actually kicked some ass in just 2.5 years?! It's wild seeing it all compiled. This has been a really good, re-energizing assignment.
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That good news I got two days ago?
My tv/film rights are now represented by
@frankel_alec
at IAG, including rights for my Hoffer Award winning debut, FACE THE NIGHT!
I'm very excited for the future of this little story, and how it might translate to the big screen.
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OBSOLESCENCE anthology submissions are open TODAY through Sept 16th! We can't wait to read your stories!
Submission guidelines:
And don't forget to back the Kickstarter... Backers will get the book *three months* before release!
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Excited to share "THE FORT" won two of the five awards we were nominated for at our premieres yesterday!
• Best Actor - WINNER!
• Best Actress - Nominated
• Best Director - WINNER!
• Best Psychopath - Nominated
• Best Movie Poster - Nominated
Not bad for our first showing!
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We are introducing ourselves in the
#WritingCommunity
I am Alan. I write, design, and publish horror & sci-fi books. I wrote FACE THE NIGHT. Co-edited OBSOLESCENCE. And I founded and run
@ShortwaveBooks
!
Here's a very tired photo after a long day of working on books.
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Shortwave's print sales, year to date...
I think this is what they call a "breakout hit".
@claymcleod
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I hired
@AlexWoodroe
to dev/line edit one of my new short stories. She did a fantastic job and I highly recommend hiring her! But this isn't just about her incredible work. It's about her noting that I tend to under describe. Not the first time I've heard this feedback... 🧵
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Out of the Cornfield and into our Anthology! 🤡🌽
The latest Featured Author to join OBSOLESCENCE is
@Adam_Cesare
!
Adam is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Clown in a Cornfield, Video Night, and more.
...I'm biased, but is this maybe going to be the best anthology ever?
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Only five days into Shortwave Magazine's open sub call and we've received 863 stories already. 👀
This is officially our biggest open call, surpassing all previous anthologies.
A huge thank you to our early readers. ❤️ Without them, authors would be waiting years to hear back.
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I don't vague tweet often, but the email I just got from a lit agent... 👀👀👀
Shortwave's 2024 is going to be wild. Can't wait to share.
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I got the opportunity to design the cover for FOUND 2, and it was so much fun working with
@andrewcull
and
@Gabino_Iglesias
on this. Very happy with how it turned out!
˙˙˙uIɐƃɐ ƃuIuǝԀԀɐɥ s,ʇı
@Gabino_Iglesias
and I are absolutely stoked to bring you the artwork for
#FOUND2
!
Created by the awesome
@AlanDistro
📼
█████ ████ ██ ██ ██████ ██ October...
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OBSOLESCENCE was just named a FINALIST for BEST NEW HORROR at the 2024 Next Generation Indie Book Awards!
I met so many fantastic authors through this project... Eleven of which I've already signed additional contracts with!
What fantastic news to wake up to today! 🎉
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OBSOLESCENCE cover reveal time!!
...one of them anyway. ;) More on that next week!
Also,
@KristinaHorner
and I will launch the OBSOLESCENCE Kickstarter on August 8th! Click here for a preview:
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A year ago, while Shortwave was just getting started, a new friend asked what kind of books I was looking for. I threw out an idea and said if he wrote that, I would publish it.
He sent the manuscript a few days ago. And it's fucking incredible.
PM Deal coming soon I guess. 😂
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My grandpa passed away today. He was the last of my surviving grandparents. He was 91. His last few years were rough, I'm comforted by the knowledge he's now at peace. Most of my memories with him were days spent fishing, so I can't think of a better image to remember him by. 🖤
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When a book looks this good, and the stories within are even better, I have a difficult time parsing how bookstores like
@BNBuzz
refuse to even consider carrying it.
Who gives a damn how small the publisher is or how it is printed (POD), isn't the end result more important?
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Surprise New Featured Author (Even a Surprise to Us!)
Please join me in welcoming HAILEY PIPER
@HaileyPiperSays
to the OBSOLESCENCE anthology!
How can we have a Featured Author who is a surprise even to us? Read more here:
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I have some of the biggest personal publishing news thus far in my little journey to post tomorrow. It's been embargoed for months. I cannot wait to share it in the morning.
Will I even be able to sleep tonight? Who's to say...
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As announced earlier today in our newsletter, the latest Featured Author to join our OBSOLESCENCE anthology is... Laurel Hightower!
@HightowerLaurel
Help me welcome her to the project!
And make sure to join our newsletter for more OBSOLESCENCE updates:
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We unlocked our first stretch goal last night! That means we can buy **two additional stories** from open submissions! Thank you all!
And just in time, as the OBSOLESCENCE Kickstarter ends in 3 DAYS!!
Make sure you get the reward you want before then!
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It's been a great year for my small press, and next year is shaping up to be just as exciting.
I know I said it already, but thank you again to all the authors, readers, and reviewers who are helping make this dream come true. ❤️
For a one-person press, Shortwave had a fantastic 2023!
Thank you to all the authors, readers, and reviewers who helped make our first full calendar year in business such a success! 🤎
Not counting our two dozen new magazine stories, we published 14 titles this year. 4
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I don't feel this feeling often, but currently wishing I'd started this whole writing gig a couple decades earlier. I have so much ground to cover to catch up, so many drafts to drafts, and I'm already old™.
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Horror *is* having a moment, and I'm so happy
@ShortwaveBooks
gets to be a (tiny) small part of that conversation!
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I dropped out of college due to my anxiety getting worse and worse while attending. I never finished and have no higher certificate than my high school diploma. Everything I've learned about writing, publishing, design, etc was self-taught/learned by working on various projects.
#WritingCommunity
a question for published authors: do you have a degree or MA in literature, or something completely unrelated to writing?
The scrappy part of me wants to hear from authors who gleaned most of their writing skills on the job 🛠️
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Honestly, between a few good news emails and some recent convos, it really feels like the last 2.5 years of work are finally starting to pay off. So much good stuff to come.
The email that just hit my inbox! 👀👀👀
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As someone who basically lives online... I will still see every post of mine/Shortwave's that you like, and I will still appreciate it, hidden or not.
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Sent some personal news to all Shortwave book authors explaining I may be a bit slower with email for a while. One of the first replies:
"You're already the fastest email responder I know so I'm sure it will be all good :)"
That's one silver lining to living online, I guess. 😂
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Tagging
@IngramSpark
as I don't have a week to wait for customer service.
@Amazon
never received preordered paperbacks of a book you print and distribute for us. You've had the files for months. Amazon is threatening to remove the title in 48 hours due to your negligence... (1/)
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That feeling when you're 100% burnt out but you can't take a break because you owe literally 1,200 people an email that's 11 days late at this point.
I'm trying, y'all.
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You guys should all welcome the awesome
@CarrieHFletcher
to DFTBA Records. We're working on some cool stuff with her. =)
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So, um,
@paulGtremblay
is currently reading and critiquing one of my short stories and I am ! totally !! calm !!! about !!!! that !!!!! fact!!!!!!
See, totally calm.
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HAUNTOLOGY releases tomorrow! 🎉
It's a bit surreal seeing my producer credit on Amaz0n's page for the film.
This was a really fun project to get to work on, and was my introduction to the world of tv/film (which then lead to THE FORT and a few others I can't talk about yet).
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Indie presses and self-published authors, if anyone ever steals your work or tries to claim your work on Amazon or other retailers... this is the only piece of paper they'll accept as proof you own the work. Please remember to register your work!
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Assumed today would be chill, it's a federal holiday, but already I've: signed a new publishing contract 👀, separately made a deal for our first ever reprint title 👀, and have a meeting soon with the crew working on the summer slasher film I'm co-producing 🎉. What a 4th!
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This whole "war on POD titles" is really tiring. Who gives a shit if I have a warehouse with 10,000 copies sitting on a shelf, or if I print one off when you order it?
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Who's ready for a new anthology?! Of Dark Academia?!! Edited by
@AiJiang_
and
@ChristiNogle
?!!!
New Anthology Announcement!
WILTED PAGES: An Anthology of Dark Academia, edited by
@AiJiang_
&
@ChristiNogle
, is set to publish in August 2023!
Open submissions, invited authors, cover reveal, and more are all forthcoming spring 2023!
For more info:
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I'm really proud of this new title design. And excited to release a new edition of this book.
New Title Announcement! 🎉
We're excited to work with
@ScottJ_Moses
on a new edition of his novella, OUR OWN UNIQUE AFFLICTION, for publication this January!
A cover reveal and pre-order options are both coming soon!
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I cleared off a small section of my bookcase exclusively for
@ShortwaveBooks
paperbacks and hardcovers.
This picture both feels like 'so much' and 'just the beginning' at the same time.
Not the worst way to spend 16 months of one's life...
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Doing the "most important" work at Spooktastic this weekend... 😂
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So here's a thing I've noticed. Shortwave is not open to submissions because the last time we opened, we received 1,200 subs in a week. But we are sent pitches via email almost every day anyway.
The thing I've noticed: those unsolicited pitches are almost entirely from men...
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It's wild how much a good dev editor can improve a story. I'm working through the edits and notes I received earlier this week from
@AlexWoodroe
and, my god, this story is starting to sing.
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Today is the first time folks outside of friends and family and investors will get to see our short film, "The Fort". We're premiering at two festivals simultaneously in Seattle and Chicago.
I am equal parts nervous and excited. 🎉👀😅
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The producers and I just registered an LLC for the film adaptation of my story "The Fort".
CELLAR PRODUCTIONS, LLC is now a thing that exists!
Cellar, Ohio is the fictional town/universe in which all of my stories take place. Excited for this new chapter of visual storytelling!
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Is this real life?! Look at all these amazing books I get to publish!
We have NINE new books releasing over the next six months and I couldn't be more excited for every one of them.
From gory Killer VHS titles to literary novellas and illustrated novelettes, to our first single-author collection and nonfiction/screenplay book...what a line up! 👀
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My debut novel, FACE THE NIGHT, just hit 150 ratings! 🎉
Not bad for a little self-pub'ed book I released before knowing anything about how to release a book.
This was also the launching point for Shortwave. I learned so much that I wanted to put to use helping other authors.
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I've finished reading all of the OBSOLESCENCE submissions! And
@KristinaHorner
only has a few left.
We'll make our decisions and send out acceptance emails over the next two weeks, as originally scheduled.
Thank you all for your patience (and for your 600+ great stories!).
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So everyone says small presses are passion projects and don't make any money. Turns out, they aren't lying!
To keep Shortwave's presses running as long as possible, I may start taking on cover art and layout commissions. If I offered this, would there be any interest? (1/2)
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Very happy to share I joined the
@sfwa
as a Full Member today!
I started with a focus on horror (
@HorrorWriters
Active Member), but even my debut novel, FACE THE NIGHT, leaned into dark fantasy and most of my writing since incorporates sci-fi.
Excited for the journey ahead! 🎉
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Had a Zoom meeting with co-editros
@AiJiang_
and
@ChristiNogle
today to talk submission guidelines and fundraising perks for WILTED PAGES: An Anthology of Dark Academia.
This anthology is going to be so great. More details coming early in the new year!
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Itching for
@ShortwaveBooks
to open a call for novellas. But not sure I have the time to read through hundreds of submissions right now. If you're a mutual who has an unpublished novella maybe know I'm primed to be pitched at the moment?
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Just updated my personal publishing award shelf. 😍
"The Fort" (2020), Face the Night (2022), OBSOLESCENCE (2023)... I may be slow with my own work, but I'm happy it's connecting with readers.
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Working with new authors is always so fun.
Them: So who does the artwork for Shortwave's book covers?
Me: This obscure but fantastic artist I know...
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Authors, I'm begging you, please use Word's first-line indent feature. Please stop with tabs and/or a ton of spaces. You can drag over that little tabby thing in the top ruler once before you start typing and then you're golden. Saves you work. Saves me work. Win/win!
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Sending all of the OBSOLESCENCE stories to Naomi Grossman so she can get started on her Foreword for the anthology.
She requested a physical copy so she can make notes in the margins as she reads each piece. I guess that makes this the first official ARC of OBSOLESCENCE?! 👀
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Helping to plan an anthology for a very late 2023 release (I'm not editing this one, I'm publishing it), and it's so different this time around. When I started Obsolescence, I didn't know anyone and no one knew me. Had to fight for most authors. Now, invites are much easier. :)
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JUST ANNOUCNED: "The Fort" is an official selection of the Los Angeles Film Awards! 🎉
LAFA is a film and screenplay competition for filmmakers worldwide, held on October 2nd.
Thank you to the LAFA judges for selecting our little short!
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Update!
THE FORT is no longer just an Official Selection, we've been moved up to a Semi-Finalist!
We're now in the running for three awards:
• Best Narrative Short
• Best First Time Director (Short)
• Best First Time Screenwriter (Short)
Keep your fingers crossed for us!
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New week, new Featured Author to announce!
Joining the OBSOLESCENCE anthology today is Ai Jiang!
@AiJiang_
Ai is the Pushcart Award-nominated author of numerous short stories. Her debut novel, Linghun, will be published in April 2023.
Join me in welcoming Ai to OBSOLESCENCE!
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The custom branded
@ShortwaveBooks
shipping boxes have arrived!
These will be used to ship book orders direct from our shop. Each box fits up to a 400-page 6" x 9" hardcover.
How awesome do these look?! (and how awesome will these be for protecting books during shipping?!)
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More book boxes featuring small/indie press titles would do a lot for this industry after B&N and others blocked our titles from stores.
Forever grateful to
@LittleGhostsBoo
and Night Worms for including our titles in the past! And fingers crossed for other boxes in the future.
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While I'm usually stressed and anxious, and never feel like I'm selling "enough" copies, etc, there is nothing else I'd rather be doing than publishing cool books with cool people. I saved and worked so hard to get to this point, and I am so grateful for the opportunity. 🙏
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If you see me at StokerCon, that is not me, that is an eldritch horror wearing an Alan suit. Be nice to him, he might be a mind flayer or something. 🐙
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It's here! The OBSOLESCENCE Kickstarter is live!
I am co-editing OBSOLESCENCE with
@KristinaHorner
and the anthology will be published by my small press,
@shortwave_media
.
Some rewards are limited in quantity, some as low as ONE, so grab your copy now!
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me: posts about new Shortwave books so often I'm convinced I'm annoying people
people: this author has a new book coming soon from Shortwave? how come no one told me?!
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I can unplug my internet now, I'll never receive a better email than this one from yesterday. 🥰
(shared with the sender's permission)
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@AaronDries
Just waiting on an official release of the series! The bootleg DVDs are all so terrible.
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BIG NEWS! 🎉 We are now one of the 15 Finalists for BEST PICTURE at the Los Angeles Film Awards (
@lafilmawards
)!
What an unbelievable honor. I'm so happy with the response our little short is receiving.
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And the FINAL Featured Author for OBSOLESCENCE is...
YOU! (maybe)
@KristinaHorner
and I want to read your stories for OBSOLESCENCE! Open submissions will be accepted August 15th - September 16th.
Full submission guidelines can be found here:
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It's come up in two conversations already today, so...
I have pretty severe social anxiety. I'm in therapy for it, but it keeps me from leaving the house most days. I don't mean that in a cute "I'm a homebody" type way. I mean, I haven't left the house in a few months... (1/3)
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Does it freak anyone else out knowing that there are roughly 200 new books released every single day? And that's only from the bigger imprints that Edelweiss tracks... "1,362 new releases this week".
Amazing that any of us can break through that noise and sell a few copies.
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