News from the Spire

Volume 1, Issue 5

Hi, folks. This is more of a life/Spire update than anything else, so if you’re primarily interested in my fiction, feel free to check out now. If you’d like to know what’s up in my world, keep reading.

Life Updates

Things, they are a-changin’.

1. After 18 years of being a freelancer/subcontractor, I’m stepping into the role of business owner. I’m still doing the same thing, just not as a subcontractor. That means a bigger cut of the pie, but all the admin headaches are now mine, too. This is definitely going to affect my fiction writing, primarily in the realm of time available to get words on the page. I’m hoping that it only means that I don’t participate in as many collaborative projects, but we’ll see how things go.

2. Because of AI, my industry has changed a TON in recent years. Even as a business owner, I can’t count on that as being my sole source of income. So, I’m going to also focus on building my Substack presence. I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again: paid subs start December 1. That’ll be optional. All my fiction will still be free to read, but paid subscribers will get perks that others don’t. I’m thinking about the following, but if you’d like to sub but don’t see anything appealing, let me know what you might want:

   1. Behind-the-scenes posts

   2. Discounts on my books

   3. 1 free ePUB per sub per year

3. I STILL haven’t managed to finish Assassin’s Apprentice. Yeah, I know. Time’s short, and between work, writing, and reading other Substacks, it just gets pushed to the bottom of the list. Sigh. Fingers crossed, I’ll get it wrapped here soon, because I really want to get into some of the indie authors I’ve collected.

Plans for the Spire

I’ve got a few ideas to help build Blackspire while also keeping with my desire to make as much of my fiction available without everyone having to pay for it.

One of those ideas is to collect different storylines/themes into ebooks (print books where it would work). So, I’d publish a collection of historical fiction as an ebook, and then Mac and the gang’s backstories as another, etc.

I think that The Ashes of Rome would make a great novella since it’ll end up between 18,000 and 24,000 words in the end.

What would you like to see in that vein?

Thanks for Reading

As always, I’m grateful that you’re here. Until next time.

Walt

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