*dons sunglasses* Let's do this!

Whibs123

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
61
Reaction score
2
Location
Canada
To my understanding, the ISBN is mine now, assigned to the book, not connected to them. There really don't seem to be many strings at all to keep me from doing later books with someone else (though I probably won't want to.) Thanks, though!
No, unfortunately it's assigned to them (that's why your publisher is listed as 'bookbaby'). You can't take that ISBN, just like people who use createspace's ISBNs can't use them elsewhere either. But like you say, it might be a non issue if you're having a good experience with them, and they don't show any signs of closing shop anytime soon.
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
*shrug* Oh well, maybe that will be relevant later, but things are fine now.

In other news, I finally posted the cell phone videos of the two public readings I did a while ago (one with Pretty Bad Quality, and the other with Actually Sorta Okay quality).

The first one is from the Author Launch put on by the Redwood Writers. It's a scene from later in the book, with furbirds; it's hard to hear me.

The second is from Hot Summer Nights put on by Copperfield's Books. It's a scene from early in the book, with eavesdropping and magic; better sound.

You'll have to tell me which scene is more interesting. (I'm partial to the first one, but you can't hear it well. Woe!)
 
Last edited:

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
I got a short story in an anthology!

It's titled "Cold Space," and it's on page 182. It's a fun bit of sci-fi.

And I tell you the page number because -- at least right now -- you can actually read the entire book via Amazon's "Look Inside" function. So, if you'd like a free sample before spending your hard-earned $10, check out page 182!
 

ASeiple

Livin' la vida biblia
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
860
Reaction score
93
Location
Dayton, OH
Hey, awesome!

If it's okay to ask, where did you see the notice for the anthology? Did the publisher put out a call?
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
The anthology was actually put together by the local branch of the California Writers Club, and they mentioned it in emails and meetings. Of the 300-plus members, we wound up with 81 entries that made it into the anthology -- short stories and some poems.

I'm always on the lookout for other things I can enter, though I don't have a system for finding them all. I did just hear about this one from a friend that I'm looking into: Farstrider Magazine, and also this one: a 3-theme anthology Kickstarter.

I may end up writing new things to submit, so even if I don't make the cut, I'll have fun new stories to show for it!
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
And, following on the heels of that short story news, a different story won third place in a steampunk contest! :hooray:

This was also through the writing group, Redwood Writers. They even had a photographer on hand. Here's the steampunk-themed meeting when all the entries were due:

steampunk%20day.jpg


And here's when we got our awards:
Steampunk%20award.jpg


(I'm front and center in the first picture, back and center in the second.)

And, if anyone is curious about what sort of story would win such a thing, I just put it up on my website.
("Do I want to read it?" you ask. Of course you do. It has a sky whales and robot named Tankerbelle.) :D
 

ASeiple

Livin' la vida biblia
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
860
Reaction score
93
Location
Dayton, OH
Tankerbelle? Pfffft! Okay, you sold me with that name alone. Imma go check it out.
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
Thanks, I hope you like it! :D

Today's momentous occasion is the stunning addition of an Amazon Author Page. (Somehow I thought I'd already gotten that set up, but not so.)

The photos are the most fun part, I think. They range from Pro Photo Shoot to Maximum Geek. I think it's a decent summary of what I'm about!
 

ASeiple

Livin' la vida biblia
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
860
Reaction score
93
Location
Dayton, OH
Finally got around to reading it. Good story! You've got a knack for action. Now I'm more interested in that setting...
 

AgathaChristieFan

proud writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 20, 2011
Messages
390
Reaction score
34
Location
Martinsburg, WV
I really enjoyed your story and nice set-up with your Amazon author page. I clicked on your video but nothing happened besides a black screen. I don't know if that's an Amazon glitch or something wrong with my laptop...
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
Thanks! I'm not sure what the glitch would be; it seems to work all right on my computer now. I guess they fixed it, or maybe it's a video player update issue. (I just updated my OS and had Funtime Adventures With Freezing. It's better now!)
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
Interesting detail of the self-publishing process: if you make sure that your book has a proper ISBN and is orderable from Ingram so the bookstores can get it on their own terms (they can return what doesn't sell), then that might actually happen.

And you might order a few copies off Amazon so you have enough on hand for a reading, only to discover that they're copies you already signed. With bookmarks still in them and everything.

Sigh.
 

ASeiple

Livin' la vida biblia
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
860
Reaction score
93
Location
Dayton, OH
Whoa, nice!

Did you submit an entry to them, or did they contact you right out of the blue?
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
Things are going pretty well. Sales are poking along, as is the progress on the sequel. And oddly enough, I'm finding more opportunities to publish short stories now than ever before.

Most of this is through the local writer's club, though there are other potential things opening up just because I'm more Active In The Writing World nowadays.

I have one sci-fi short story in an anthology from last year, and it's looking like I'll have a fantasy-themed memoir piece in this year's. Also, the writing group (Redwood Writers, local branch of the California Writers' Club) has been running some very fun writing contests. I won third place in the steampunk one, and now first place in the fanfic contest -- which means that I'll be included in the anthology of contest-winning stories from the last ten years. Can't wait!

And in case you're curious, the fanfic was an alternate Harry Potter story where the main characters are out of the way and the bad guys are coming, and the only person left behind in the evacuated Hogwarts is the American exchange student Kevin McCallister. From "Home Alone." :D
 

ASeiple

Livin' la vida biblia
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
860
Reaction score
93
Location
Dayton, OH
Okay, that sounds pretty glorious. Got a link?
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
Hi, all! It's been a busy few months. Now I finally have time to write again, after a long stint of unfortunate shifts at the day job!

The prize-winning fanfiction is now in a place of honor on my website, and the three anthologies I have work in are linked to as well. That includes:

untold_stories_sm.jpg

Untold Stories: From the Deep Part of the Well

sonoma_sm.jpg

Sonoma: Stories of a region and its people

winners_sm.jpg

No Contest: A Decade of Contest-Winning Stories from Redwood Writers

I'm starting to feel kind of professional here! Now I just have to get the next novel published.

I've set aside work on the sequel for now, in favor of polishing up a science fiction manuscript that I wrote awhile back. This one I considered finished years ago, but couldn't get an agent for it. Now I see what could be better. I've gotten good feedback from other people, and I'm ready to make it shine like the robot main character who was too shiny for the TV cameras until they told him to tone it down a bit. It's a lot of fun.

And it looks like I didn't mention it before, but a prize for that fanfiction contest was half the entrance fees to a writer's conference, which was a BLAST. I met people, learned things, and got to pitch to agents! Their responses were very positive, and I have high hopes for my chances when this book is fully ready to submit. Fingers crossed! I'm editing as fast as I can, and I'll run it by a number of beta readers before I send it out. :D
 
Last edited:

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
I now have poetry published in this anthology:
41402223365_318bc7c2a8_m.jpg


...which was going to be a run-of-the-mill collection before the California Firestorms wiped out a good chunk of the town. Now it's a Before and After arrangement, with my poems in the After section.

They are optimistic, because of course they are. Even with something this dark, I gravitate toward the light.

There will be another anthology with my work in it coming out soon, and that will be entirely different. A short story about the main character of that scifi book I'm working on.

Actually, now that I think about it, there are similarities. A dark moment during the robot civil rights movement, then something overwhelmingly bright.

The story's called Cursebot 9000. :)
 
Last edited:

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
The newest anthology is live, with two short stories of mine! One is the promised "Cursebot 9000," backstory for Hubcap the robot. I can't wait for the book to be out as well, so I can point people to both and go "See, it all makes sense, doesn't it??" I'd also like to make some sort of animated video of it, but that won't be happening anytime soon. Some day.

The second story is "Pieces of Sky," a weirdly poetic thing about surviving a magical apocalypse. It exists because I took a poetry class once and wrote down phrases that I liked in the back of my notebook, then later made a story out of them. It is unlike anything else I've written in terms of writing style. But it's also very on-brand in terms of optimism!

Both can be found here:
 

MarlynnOfMany

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
298
Reaction score
66
Location
California
Website
maralynnjohnstone.com
Hello again! I’ve gotten a few more short stories published in various anthologies, but that’s not the big news. I’ve also quit the day job! It was a long time coming. Now I get to see if I can make the grand writing career sustainable. I have a number of irons in the fire, including a Patreon — I’ll be posting the kind of speculative fiction writing and art that I would be a fan of myself. Time will tell how many people will find it worth paying a tiny bit for. *excited*