Indie Publisher Notes: Building Up MYTHIC

Back again with another installment of Indie Publisher Notes. If you didn't catch it, I wanted to let everyone know that the ninth issue of MYTHIC: A Quarterly Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine is available. Issue #9 is available in print and eBook editions. You can snag your e-copy from our Payhip store right now and look at some of our other offerings while you're there. It's also on Amazon in print and eBook editions.

On the heels of this release, I've already put together Issue #10, the Spring 2019 issue, and have found a great selection of stories by talented writers. This one will likely be published late next month. I've managed to get caught up, finally! I'm already collecting stories for Issue #11 which will release in the summer.

In the midst of all this editor/publisher activity with MYTHIC, the magazine and I were mentioned in a recent blog post from author John Michael Greer. He has two blogs, actually. His post, titled "Dinosaurs and Mammals in Publishing," is actually a great write up of one dichotomy in the publishing industry right now. Mr. Greer has my eternal thanks for his support and his partnership. He remains the most frequently published author released by Founders House Publishing and I always count my lucky stars that I get the chance to work with him.

Yet, there are so many other writers to thank for their contributions to MYTHIC and to the books I've published through Founders House. I am grateful to work with each and every one of you.

MYTHIC continues to grow and I'm always looking for ways to promote it and connect with a broader and bigger readership. My two priorities for the magazine remain to 1.) provide professional level compensation; and 2) build our foundation of readership and subscribers.

One of the benefits of Greer's post was that I added returning/new subscribers and patrons this month. The work continues though. When you get subscribers you have to find ways to keep them. Sometimes, they just fall off because they don't realize their subscription is over. I am always trying to reconnect or reengage with subscribers to see if they would like to come back aboard.

There are other avenues I've not tried yet to see if it would help me obtain the funding. One is, of course, advertising. So far, I've promoted Founders House books for the most part, with a few other anthologies mentioned in the book reviews that appeared from time to time. I may try advertising. (I'd love feedback from you, dear readers, on that.)

Stay tuned for next week's Indie Publisher Notes. Thanks for reading.

Indie Publisher Notes: Wearer of Many Hats

When you operate your own publishing company you really are wearing many hats. You have to be nimble in your thinking and you have to learn to strike a balance with the time you have available so that each hat gets worn long enough to do all of the necessary work that is on the schedule. In truth, time is not often kind--especially when you're not able to put in at least a full 40 hours on the work of publishing and editing. (I'm lucky to get 20.)

To switch the analogy to another familiar cliché. You do have to get rather skilled at juggling. For me that's been quite a task at times. As the sole 'man behind the curtain' I'm the guy pushing all the buttons and pulling all the levers the majority of the time. If I'm not designing and formatting the books, I'm processing the direct sales we receive. If you write Founders House Publishing, I'm the one most likely to answer all of the customer and author e-mails. I'm spending time on the never-ending task of improving the website. Some days, I'm just trying to find smart ways to promote all of our current titles or I'm considering new projects to development. Or I'm hauling books or magazines to the post office to ship.

Indie Publisher Notes: Intro and Recent Releases

Introduction

Hello everyone. With my decision to re-introduce the Free Fiction Friday feature to the blog to do more to highlight my fiction writing, I starting thinking about writing a regular post about some of the work I'm doing as an independent publisher. Founders House Publishing, which I operate mostly on my own, is just one of the major things in my orbit. The related project, MYTHIC: A Quarterly Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine, is another. Then there is my own fiction writing, which not only feeds into the other two but reaches beyond it at times. Needless to say, having all of that going on, plus the regular job I do to make my personal ends meet, and other responsibilities is challenging. 

These posts will be primarily titled: Indie Publisher Notes. Each one that appears will touch on some aspect of the independent publishing business and my company's latest projects. My hope is that it will give everyone a glimpse 'behind the curtain' to see some of the work I am doing. Founders House is coming up on its tenth anniversary of operations later this year and I'm trying to take everything to a whole new level. 

Writing Again and A Bit About My Magazine

After three days away from the novel, I came back to it again and exceeded my daily target for words. (I did 1,231 words.) Pretty good thing since I was feeling lousy most of the day. I wasn't sure I'd make it back to the book. So, yay!

In other worlds, I'm an editor of a fledgling sci-fi and fantasy short story magazine called MYTHIC: A Quarterly Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine. As of this writing, I'm working on getting out issue #7, the Summer 2018 issue. I'm behind schedule with releases due to the personal situations that occurred earlier in the year.

I enjoy reading the stories but it is tough to put the magazine together and I'm sort of limited with what I can do based on a lack of any real budget. At this point, looking for ways to more fully fund MYTHIC so I can pay authors at professional level rates, the sort that get you noticed by the industry and groups like SFWA.

That's my dream for the magazine anyways.

The magazine was created originally as a print-only venture as I still prefer the physical book to the ebook, but I've had to reassess that decision over time and have added ebook editions of the magazine. Even more recently, I've learned to format the electronic versions myself and now am offering them more directly through an e-commerce service called Payhip. Here's the storefront for my publishing company, Founders House Publishing, which currently has all published issues of MYTHIC plus a 4-issue bundle of the first year's worth of the magazine. (Use the Code: MYTHIC40 to get 40% off!)

That's the thing about all of this, I'm always learning something. In fact, I need to keep learning in this business just so I have a chance of making the sort of progress I want. The next thing I will do with MYTHIC is offer ebook subscriptions using Payhip's subscriber option. Very cool and simple way to deliver subscribers their books once I get it up and running. This will be an incentive for international subscribers to pick it up without paying the hefty costs of shipping print editions. This sort of saddens me because of my love for print, but, at the same time, I want to share these stories with as many people as I can.

I want MYTHIC to thrive and there's lots of work to be done to make the possible.

Thanks for reading. Check out MYTHIC.

The Shape of 2018

Now that it is a few weeks into the new year, I wanted to write something here. Like many of you, I have lots of hopes and maybe a few plans in place for what I'd like to accomplish in a brand new year. That's what resolutions are about after all. A new year. A clean slate.

For me, there were things that were put into motion in 2017 that will be done in the early part of this new year. As a publisher, I have several books already in the pipeline for publication. In fact, that is taking up more of my time than anything else. This isn't new; I've mentioned how writing has taken a backseat. So far, I've completed one short story this year.

Once I get a big chunk of the work I have currently in front of me, I have a writing challenge in mind. As a regular reader of long-time writer Dean Wesley Smith, I've learned a great deal about challenges. All kinds of challenges. One that appeals just now is to commit to writing a short story a week all year long. I'll admit that I tried to jumpstart that challenge at the beginning of the year, but I missed last week. You can refer back to the heavy publishing workload for part of the reason why. There are others.

You see, I have 'a lot of irons in the fire.' Or, I'm wearing a lot of hats.

I consider my role as Publisher at Founders House Publishing my main one. It's swiftly followed by the role I have as Editor of MYTHIC: A Quarterly Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine (A Founders House project nonetheless).

But neither of these focuses is bringing in enough to make them my sole living. For that, I have another job unrelated to either that takes up far more time than I would like at present.

Writing is getting the short end of the stick these days. I'm not happy about it either, but the fun I have with the publishing and book designing and reading story submissions for MYTHIC somewhat makes up for it.

Still, I do plan to make a return to writing. That's why I might try to restart the writing challenge. It may  keep the story-a-week format I started with or it may change over the course of the coming year. Regardless, I will be writing.

I have big ambitions for what I'd like to see happen this year. Honestly, I a big part of the reason why is that this is the year I turn 40 years old. A milestone year...and a wakeup call. There is an urgency to it somehow. Some of my goals are bold. Many of them will require help and support from those who have benefitted or appreciate the work I've been doing in editing and publishing.

There are lot of things in the works. I will try to tell you more about them as we proceed further into 2018.

Once A Month...

I do try to get back here at least once a month and I'm skating at the edge again as we come to the final days of June. The year is almost half over already? How did that happen? I've been getting busier with my publishing work and other work to make the ends meet so that explains some of it. Oh, and it is looking to get busier, as it must as I develop this plan of mine.

Plan, you ask. What plan?

Honestly, it's not such a dark secret. I am just more focused on it than I've been in the past. Basically, I'm trying to fully launch my publishing and writing efforts into the air. They've started hovering just above the ground but haven't yet soared. The point is really to do as much as I can to make all of this work I'm doing the only sort of work I need to making a living. I love publishing. I love writing. I want to be able to do only that and to order my day fully around those sort of activities.

A challenge, to say the least? Yes.

It's a financial challenge, certainly. The company is not currently profitable enough for me to go in full time, so I have to be content to work on the various projects with little or no pay while I work another job that actually pays enough to support me. Don't get me wrong. This has been changing for the better. Revenue is up. I'm inching, closer and closer, to that goal, but who wouldn't like to accelerate that process?

So, I keep at it. I find new ways to promote my own work and the work of the awesome writers who've entrusted me to publish their books. I'm very grateful for them and for the opportunities that they've given me.

I'm already doing some of the things I love to do. I designing and publishing books, I'm editing my own science fiction and fantasy magazine, MYTHIC, and I hope to do more.

If you're following me and haven't bought one of my books or one of the authors' books I've published via Founders House Publishing, consider doing that today. Consider supporting MYTHIC  by become a subscriber.

I want to bring great stories to new readers.

I'll be back later to talk about what's going on with a new update. Thanks.

Updates: The Work Continues

Since I haven't been very active lately as a writer this page hasn't gotten much attention lately. I'm aiming to change that situation but I am doing that in a larger context of my work as both publisher and editor. Writing is still there nipping at my heels so I've taken some small steps at getting back to in a substantive way.

Mostly that means that I've just started working on short stories again, very slowly mind you, but I am doing something again. Hopefully the pace and scope of this will change as I ramp back up over the coming weeks.

This post serves as an update to those who happen to follow my progress creatively and otherwise. With that in mind, I'd like to announce that I have a new book out. In fact it's a little bit of new and old. A few years back I e-published a novella called The Cursed King about a Conan-inspired character I called Fendreg of Senagra. He started out in a pair of short stories first (which also appear in e-single forms) and graduated to novella length. A second longish short story and a shorter than average one followed bringing the total Fendreg stories to five.

With all of that, I decided I wanted the work in print and combined them into a single volume, showcasing the novella. It's called The Cursed King and Other Stories and it is now in print. There will be ebook editions to follow but the trade paperback can be purchased on my publisher website. So, please check it out.

I'd also like to let you know that the sci-fi and fantasy magazine I edit, MYTHIC, has recently released its second issue. It is currently a print-only publication, available through most online retailers and can be purchased directly from the website. As with the previous issue, this one also includes a story by yours truly. (One of the boons of having your own magazine is that you can elect to do such crazy things as being a contributing author too.)

So the work continues...

MYTHIC Magazine Arrives

Check this out folks. My magazine is now available. This is the first of I hope many issues of MYTHIC: A Quarterly Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazine. Yours truly is the editor of this new publication and I also happen to have an original story inside as well.

The project is being published by Founders House Publishing, my company. If you're interested in what we're doing over at MYTHIC go over and take a look. 

For those interested in buying a copy, you can buy one from MYTHIC direct by visiting the ISSUES page on the website or you can buy it from Amazon and other booksellers as the issue continues to go live and spread across the web. 

If you'd like to buy a one-year subscription (4 Issues) to MYTHIC, you can do this at www.mythicmag.com as well. Visit the SUBSCRIBE page.