WBTH got into SPSFC3!!!

+ Three Free Fiction Friday Bookshelf Things (try saying that three times)

Big news.

WBTH got into SPSFC3!!!

What is WBTH, you ask?

WHO BUILT THE HUMANS?

My debut novelthology of 11 universes, ranging from Sci-Fi to Comedy, split across 47 intersecting chapters that mesh like meticulously placed gears in a ridiculous and mind-bending story machine.

That’s not a bad synopsis. I might use that for the Amazon page…

Here’s a new cover I’ve been working on. Very pleased to finally put the skull back in (it is a reference to both the amount of silly apocalypses within, and the very first book cover I designed back in 2008, in which some spaceships flew out of a skull’s eye sockets as a giant floating hand vomited out a new universe from a clockwork hole in its palm.

Yes, you read that right, I designed my first book cover when I was 16, if we discount the sonic comics I drew earlier). I’ll post the picture sometime, I still keep it in my desk, to remind me of how far I’ve ventured.

Anyway, my plan was to release this reskin of WBTH if I got into the SPSFC, and to align with the special edition Hardback I’m working on, but I admit I underestimated how long it would take me to get used to my new printer’s formatting options. Bookstores don’t stock paperbacks from Amazon, so I am making a new, slightly different-sized WBTH specifically to be on the Gardners system, which bookstores do stock from.

Because I do better with in-person sales and I’m missing out right now. I actually have two physical bookstores who want WBTH, but can’t have it because the new paperback isn’t made yet… weird situation to be in.

It’s delayed because I do all the clever formatting stuff myself, so I have to take time to learn it first. Can’t just pay someone to do it for me. That would be faster, but I’m too stubborn. I like the learning and I have a very specific vision for each version of each book.

Anyway.

WBTH is in the SPSFC.

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What is the SPSFC, you ask?

SELF-PUBLISHED SCIENCE FICTION COMPETITION

I missed the window in 2022 for life-related reasons, but I’m in it now, and very pleased to see some friends there too.

The SPSFC is a competition for self-published writers to celebrate the creativity made possible with self-pub. Essentially, it feels to me like one of precious few places where I can actually be myself, rather than pretending to be someone else.

I’m a comedian and author.

A lot of times in the past I felt I had to submerge one personality to benefit the other, but that existential crisis is gone now. I’m going to be me from now on.

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I’m glad things like this exist for self-pub authors.

In a world where (at least in my experience) readers are turning away from traditionally published writing out of boredom, hunting for increasingly strange stories (hence the old name for my comedy podcast) I found self-publishing to be the obvious choice for me.

It’s the harder choice in many ways, sure, but I would consider being rejected by agents over and over again until I get to sign a contract, hard. Whereas I would consider teaching myself cover design and marketing, fun.

(I don’t actually enjoy the marketing part, unless it’s in person, in which case it’s basically improv comedy practice and the occassional book sale).

It’s all about what suits your personality. Trad-pub and self-pub are just different ways of doing things. I wanted full control over my book (down to the cover design and formatting, which most publishers don’t let you manage) so self-pub made sense. I wanted to mix long-winded, dark slam poetry with existentialist science fiction and jokes about every single thing humans hold precious.

It is too ambitious for trad.

I tried pitching THE STEPHANIE GLITCH back in 2015 and the general feedback was that publishers want something less weird.

WBTH is a lot weirder, so it made sense not to bother querying it and just teach myself everything. Helps that I was setting up Halfplanet Press too, so I could use WBTH as my experiment. If I screwed up, there was a close-to-zero chance I would sue myself for the money I owed myself.

But, you know me and time travel. It could happen.

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So I went self-pub, and as a result I eventually got in the SPSFC!

It feels this is a huge milestone in my career. With WBTH2 now in development, and Stephanie being serialised (as chapters on Royalroad, and later as Amazon novellas, which I’ll talk about soon) I feel increasingly I am finally being recognised as a decent voice in the Science Fiction world.

And I’m being recognised for my comedy too, which is brilliant.

It’s all coming together.

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How should I celebrate?

I don’t know yet. I’ve been more motivated to get involved in those free Sci-Fi bookshelves recently, and have become more picky about them as well. We’ve got action adventure, genetic engineering, and delirious comedy.

Everything I ask for in the average day.

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So that’s it for today. I hope you like the free stories, and I’ll see you sometime soon, with a new story of my own. I’m still working on the group one, which some of you contributed ideas to.