Hi! If you enjoy fantasy with snarky humor, I've got some books for you. My newsletter takes you along the creative journey, and keeps you informed of what's brewing.
Hope you had a Happy Halloween
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Halloween season hit full stride here—first with “Scare for a Cure,” our annual messy adventure (this year: mind crawlers!), then a “Trunk or Treat” at my mother-in-law’s nursing home, where the residents—one of them 101!—handed out candy to the little ones. Never fear on that mind crawler issue, our group saved the world. Missed you this year, Sienna! Click here to be removed from family content. It’s been a whirlwind few weeks—edits, algorithms, and endless coffee. But progress is progress, and each chapter feels like another stone laid in the bridge toward the finale. Shepherds sits at about 33k words, and the skeleton of the story is almost complete. I’m polishing what I think will be the last “waypoint” chapter—one that stitches multiple threads together—before sending it to my structural editor. I might clean a bit first; even structural editors struggle when the typos swarm. Of course, 33k is just the skeleton—there’s still plenty of flesh to add. Even if the bones hold, some of it hasn’t learned to move yet. (A lot!) But it helps to know whether I’m missing a rib or three before I build on it. Meanwhile, the publishing gods are tinkering again—Meta rolled out a new AI ad system called Andromeda, while Amazon changed its book-promotion algorithm. The result? Indie authors like me are battling twin dragons: visibility and discoverability. At least they make good sparring partners while I wait for my editor to strike. Indie Author Showcase Previous Newsletters
May you get lost this week in another world. Follow me on Goodreads. |
Steven J Morris
Hi! If you enjoy fantasy with snarky humor, I've got some books for you. My newsletter takes you along the creative journey, and keeps you informed of what's brewing.
I wanted to update folks on my FB Business Account hack. First, they haven't resolved it. It's been super-painful. Happy to tell anyone about the pain if they want to hear, but after a week-and-a-half of crazy stress, I've let it go (mostly). If I get the account back? Okay, I may use it. If not, I may just give up on FB. Here's the weird thing that makes that easier. My sales dropped to about 1/3 to 1/2 of what they were without the FB Ads. But my spend dropped tremendously. The last two...
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving—with family, friends, or a bit of quiet time if that’s what you needed. My heart’s with those who find this season hard, missing faces no longer at their table. We hadn’t planned to host this year, but plans changed (as they do). I ended up smoking a turkey, starting at 4 a.m. It turned out great—despite some new smoker equipment that didn’t want to cooperate. A few changes to the newsletter: I’ve removed the opt-outs for family updates and the Indie...
My youngest landed her layout with a twist this week—that was quite cool to see. She hit it on her first attempt. Just had to overcome the fear of it. Prolly a life lesson there somewhere. I do have a video, if anyone wants to see it. They asked her to move up to the elite level after class--for those few of you in Austin, that's Westlake elite, so moving pretty high up the ladder. Speaking of ladders... here was my fun for the week: a hole in the roof that probably happened last winter…...