My Fiction on Substack

Earlier this year I looked around at potential platforms to use for a newsletter. Several authors that I’m acquainted with send these out sporadically and it seems like a good way to build and keep in contact with their readership. So after a bit of deliberation and looking at what other people were using I decided on Substack.

It’s been interesting. There’s a vibrant community on Substack but also a cohort of people who are vehemently against it, although I’ve yet to see any evidence to back up their claims. Personally I’m finding it very friendly and useful. There’s all sorts of publishing insights and interesting people there.

I started my newsletter back in February and slowly started to build traction. Substack has an interesting setup where you can write articles which will be sent out to your subscribers – the newsletter part – and also has notes which are pretty much like all the other social media platforms where you can follow people and they can follow you, separate from actually subscribing to receive your articles by email.

I started with a monthly newsletter but then I noticed that several of the people I was subscribing to were sharing their fiction, some short stories and some serialised novels which they then went on to self publish. In fact the more I looked the more I found.

And so I’ve decided to join in the fun. Let me introduce you to Flashes of Strangeness where I will be sharing a piece of flash fiction or a drabble every few weeks for the foreseeable future. I’ve built up quite a collection of short stories over the years so I can’t wait to share them with you all. 

Here’s the link if you’d like to subscribe. Flashes of Strangeness

And then along came Ficstack. This is a brand new venture – a website that logs and lists Substack fiction. It’s searchable by genre and vibes so you should be able to find exactly what you like to read. Defiantly work taking a look. Here’s the link: Ficstack.

So far this is proving to be a good decision. Subscribers are increasing, which suggests to me that people are actively looking for fiction to read on there. I will keep going and see how it develops. Who knows, I might even serialise one of my own novels at some point in the future.

 

Self Publishing Update (October 2025)

It’s been a while since I did one of these updates but that doesn’t mean I’ve been slacking. Instead I’ve been trying out different ways of finding my readership. And the main one I’m going to talk about here is collaborative book sales.

Setting a book either free or on sale on my own doesn’t tend to gain many sales or downloads, largely because my reach doesn’t extend sufficiently widely to get the attention of people who haven’t yet come across the book. So in order to mitigate this I’ve been taking part in a variety of collaborative events.

The first of these was a Stuff Your Kindle event. In this case the Dark Mode SYK. This had a really good reach and I put in Dragons of Dunmoray and was delighted to get over 4000 downloads from nearly 20 different countries.

However there was a downside. Firstly the books have to be set to be free downloads, so people are inclined to download many more books than they are ever likely to read. There’s no direct financial gain and it’s hard to determine how many of the people who download the book ever actually read it and whether any of these actually translate into reviews.

On the upside I did see an uptick in sales of my other books as well as an increased number of kindle unlimited page reads which coincided with the sale. So it certainly helped gain visibility.

I then had a go at participating in collaborative sales. These can be quite tricky to find – I often learn about them after the event, but I have managed to take part in five so far with varying results. In some sales I shifted zero books while in others I’ve done really well. In the latest sale I took part in, Permafrost ranked in the top 20 out of over 300 books, which was really pleasing.

I think the trick here is to match the right book with the right sale. For example in some sales different genres will outperform others. If your book isn’t a popular genre for that readership then you won’t get much traction. 

It’s all a bit of a learning experience and there are a couple more sales that I have my eye on and will be participating in over the coming months.

So keep an eye out. I’ll post here when they’re live. And grab yourself a bargain!

Let's Get Villainous!

The Bournemouth Festival of Writing has released a whole load of photographs, courtesy of Solid Imagery, and so I have included a selection from my workshop, Let's Get Villainous, which was a huge success. But don't worry if you missed out. I hope to run this one again so watch this space.

Back into the fray

The publishing industry is tough, and since the pandemic it has only got tougher. There was a time when agent submissions were almost guaranteed a reply, if only a form letter, but these day’s you’re lucky to get a reply at all, and that in itself can be so disheartening – it’s like sending your work into a black hole to be swallowed up and never heard from again.

Then if you are lucky enough to get published it’s no guarantee of future success. I’ve now been published twice. Firstly Red Rock with Curious Fox in 2013 and then in 2022 The Sleepers was published by Bloodhound Books.

Yet between these books, and before and after, I’ve never stopped writing. I’ve never stopped sending stuff out. I’ve never stopped receiving rejection after rejection.

So, here I am again. A new novel is complete and winging its way out into the world. I’m back researching agents, looking for publishers with open submission windows, eyeing up competitions that might help me achieve my goal. And maybe, just maybe, this one will be my third time lucky!

Wistman's Wood, Dartmoor

The Bournemouth Festival of Writing

The Bournemouth Festival of Writing took place last weekend with a wide range of events, talks, workshops, an author’s marketplace, book launches, writing on the beach – not to mention the now infamous naked writing workshop hosted by the wonderfully named Jonny Fluffypunk. (I didn’t take part – too much of a coward). 

I was delighted to be part of this event, running a workshop called ‘Let’s Get Villainous’ which was a character workshop with a difference – the aim being for all the participants to take away with them a particularly nasty alter ego, to use in their writing however they liked. I ran the workshop with a series of character prompts followed by various role play activities so that everyone could really get into their character’s heads.

This was my first time at the Bournemouth Writing Festival and I’ve not run a workshop for several years, so naturally my biggest fear was the dreaded empty room. All week I had been seeing events selling out, but really I needn’t have worried – mine wasn’t far off capacity.

And the participants themselves were fantastic. They responded really well to the prompts and as soon as the interactive part began, everyone working together in small groups, the room filled with laughter and energy. There were some wonderful characters and scenarios being explored – I really hope that I will one day see some of them in print.

As for the festival overall, it was a huge success. Dominic (the organiser) is really putting Bournemouth on the map with this, and I look forward to being involved again next year, either as a speaker or a delegate.

Short Story in Leading Edge Magazine

My latest short story, They Meet by Moonlight, has been published in the most recent issue of Leading Edge Magazine.

An alien detective sets out to solve a human murder but learns a few things he hadn't bargained for along the way.

You can find a copy here: Leading Edge Issue 85

Let’s Get Villainous

 

Earlier this month I attended the launch event for the Bournemouth Writing Festival which will be taking place in April in the town. I was there because I will be taking part this year, delivering a writing workshop on the Saturday.

My workshop is called ‘Let’s Get Villainous’ and is a character workshop with a difference. The goal is that at the end each participant will take away with them a thoroughly despicable and villainous character, or maybe an anti-hero, to do with whatever they wish.

We will be using a combination of lucky dip prompts and role play activities to create our characters and then really get into their heads and get to know them. It will be quite interactive and hopefully a lot of fun for all concerned.

Tickets are available here: Why not come along and join us.

The launch event itself was well attended and buzzing with energy. It was great to finally get to network with other local writers and I’m really looking forward to this year’s festival.

I hope to see you there.

A new cover for The Arid Lands

 

Dragons of Dunmoray is published!

 Dragons of Dunmoray is now available on Amazon in both kindle and print formats.

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Self Publishing promotion update: (August 2024)

Here is my latest update on the various promotional activities I have undertaken to try to spread the word about my self-published books, and how successful or otherwise these activities have been.

1. Social Media

I joined a number of reader and author groups on facebook and did my best to contribute as far as possible. Most have very strict ‘no promotion’ rules but some do offer opportunities such a monthly post where people can post kindle sales or new releases. Apparently the way authors game these groups is to team up and then talk about each other’s books. Unfortunately I don’t have a team of author friends willing to big me up, so I just have to play by the rules. Where I was allowed to I advertised the kindle countdown sale for The Arid Lands and my ARC signups for Dragons of Dunmoray. The main benefit from joining these groups was the helpful advice on offer.

Other social media activities continued as normal.

2. ARC Readers

In the run up to self publishing my new book, Dragons of Dunmoray, decided that, rather than approaching review blogs, I would reach out for ARC (Advance Review Copies) readers. I set up an ARC signup form on google forms and included one important question – Why do you want to read Dragons of Dunmoray? This deterred non humans very effectively. I only had one signup who was clearly a bot.

So far I have sent out 20 review copies. Hopefully this will prove to be a better approach than my previous efforts of approaching review blogs directly.

3. Readers Book Club

The Arid Lands was chosen as book club read for April/May and the organiser sent out six free copies to the participants. There was lively discussion but then one of the participants warned everyone than Amazon frowns on authors leaving reviews for other authors’ books and will cancel your KDP account if they catch you. So this immediately killed off anyone leaving reviews for anyone else, which was a shame.

I did ask the participating authors if anyone would be happy to let me have quotes that I could use in my promotion, but nobody responded.

As of now this group appears to have fizzled out.

4. Indieverse awards

This has come to nothing and I won’t be pursuing it any further.

5. SPSFC4

I plan to enter The Arid Lands into SPSFC4. I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in SPSFC3 and although Red Rock didn’t make it past the first round I feel it raised my profile plus I discovered some fantastic new authors and books.

6. Kindle Sale

I ran a two day kindle countdown deal for The Arid Lands in June. Sales had tailed off over the preceding couple of months so I hoped that this would give it a boost. I did my best to promote it wherever I could but only picked up a handful of sales.

So in conclusion the approach I took to find ARC readers has been significantly better than pitching to review sites. Final tallies for how many ARCS I will send out at the proportion that translate into reviews are yet to be determined.

 

 

Building my ARC team

When I was building up to the release of The Arid Lands I looked into how best to obtain reviews. At the time I decided I would try to approach book bloggers directly. I researched (I found a useful list on Reedsy) to identify bloggers who would accept self published books (many don’t) and who were interested in the SF and dystopia genres (again, this whittled them down). I ended up with a shortlist of 20 to approach.

I pitched The Arid Lands to these blog sites but only one requested a review copy and I’m not aware of them ever leaving a review. A couple of others came back to me asking for money which they hadn’t made clear on their websites which was annoying.

All in all this wasn’t a particularly satisfactory approach.

Now that I’m building up to the release of Dragons of Dunmoray in September I’ve decided that I will try a different tactic. I’m trying to build an ARC team (Advance Review Copies).

If you like dragons, Scotland, volcanos and danger, all topped off with a bit of spice, then you can find the link to my ARC signup sheet below. I will send you a free electronic copy in the hope that you will like it enough to leave a review, although there is no obligation to do so.

Dragons of Dunmoray ARC signup form

Cover Reveal: Dragons of Dunmoray

 Today I am delighted to share with you - the cover of Dragons of Dunmoray!

And I am now officially open to ARC (Advanced Review Copy) signups - so if you are interested in joining my review team please signup below.

Dragons of Dunmoray ARC signup form

The Dragons are Coming

 

I have a new novel in the pipeline, a dark fantasy set in Scotland. I'll be telling you more in the coming weeks, so watch out for my cover reveal! Not long to go now!

A New Era for SciFi – the indie scene!

There is a whole new world of excellent SciFi out there – just under the radar. And I would like to draw your attention to it. For this is the indie (self published) Sci Fi scene – and some of the books I’ve read recently are very VERY good!

Unfortunately being self published these books tend not to gain the attention they deserve, and they’ve not been easy to find. Some I encountered through the SPSFC3 contest for self published SciFi, others I found through engaging with other authors.

I’ve always been an avid SciFi fan, ever since I was a child and skipped straight from children’s books into the SciFi world. I’ve read voraciously over the years but recently it’s been getting harder and harder for me to find the sorts of SciFi that I love to read. Mainstream publishing is trying to appeal to new audiences, but in the process the traditional readership is being left behind.

Now that isn’t to say that there’s no good SciFi being published by mainstream publishers. There most certainly is. But the big shift at the moment is towards fantasy and more specifically Romantasy, which isn’t for me. But then I discovered the indie scene and realised that this is where all those Hard SF and military and gritty space operas have gone.

So here I am, rediscovering my love for SciFi. And now I want to shout about some of the wonderful books and authors I have discovered. This is a selection of the best I’ve read so far. If you click on the link it will take you to my review for that book. And if you have any you’d like to recommend to me please leave a comment and I will check them out.

• Arkhangelsk by Elizabeth Bonesteel

• Embargo on Hope by Justin Doyle

• Kenai by Dave Dobson

• The Day the Earth Turned: Book 1. Summer by Chantelle Atkins

• The Prism Effect by J Wint

• Ironheart by Allan Boroughs

• The Girl from a thousand Fathoms by David Gullen

The Arid Lands promotion update: (May 2024)

Here is my latest update on the various promotional activities I have undertaken to try to spread the word about my self-published books, and how successful or otherwise these activities have been.

1. Social Media

I continued to be active on social media promoting my books. I’ve pretty much dropped Twitter/X and increased my engagement on threads. I don’t just promote my books there, I try to interact more but have a pinned post with my book details. My author IG is however nearly all book promotion. Social media doesn’t appear to sell books but is useful for spotting opportunities.

2. Review blogs

The review blogs I approached resulted in one review but that review was posted across many platforms. I had approached 16 review blogs. Two asked for money so I didn’t take things any further. Speaking to other indie authors who have tried this one out of 14 is pretty much to be expected. It’s quite a time-consuming endeavour but will be worth doing again.

3. Indieverse awards

This was an opportunity I spotted on Threads. There were a number of free to enter categories as well as paid categories, but I only entered the free ones as I didn’t want to pay for something which is pretty much an unknown. The awards ended up being massively oversubscribed and the organiser implemented some sort of vetting/screening process which is very opaque. However as organiser it’s up to her how she manages this. Nominations were announced on 18th March and unsurprisingly The Arid Lands didn’t make the cut. She has promised opportunities for vetted authors who were not nominated. It remains to be seen how this pans out.

4. Collaboration with other authors

I started looking for ways to collaborate with other authors. The first was with a group of SF authors I knew through SPSFC3. We set up a discord and looked into ways to try to promote our books. I made some group graphics on Canva which we shared. We discussed various ideas such as group sales and largely decided to share opportunities as these arise. I’m not sure how this will evolve. We shall see.

I also joined a readers/authors group being run by someone on threads and entered The Arid Lands into their database. Again, I’m not sure how this is going to evolve.

So in conclusion, of all the activities so far, it still looks like free deals and participation in SPSFC3 as discussed in my December 2023 update have been the most worthwhile

Review: The Prism Effect by J Wint

 The Book:

Just beyond Earth’s atmosphere, orbiting like a shining beacon of hope, is the celebrated Skylight University and only the brightest students are accepted into its hallowed halls.

Not surprisingly, Jet Stroud can hardly believe it when he receives his acceptance letter. After all, who would want a kid with glowing eyes and a deadly disease called ‘The Youthful Death’ on their campus? Thanks to his rare condition known as ephebus mortem, Jet has always been avoided and feared because of his eyes. When he learns the legend claims he will die before his twenty-fourth birthday, his excitement at being accepted into Skylight University is suddenly crushed.

Determined to find answers, Jet quickly picks himself up. Accompanied by another kid from his hometown, a loner named Cutter Jade, they seek out the other three students with ephebus mortem. Despite their differences, the small group develops a shaky friendship and begins a quest to find a cure.

But not all is as it seems at Skylight University. Mysterious shadows lurk in the hallways and bizarre visions of serpents and prisms haunt Jet’s dreams. While reading the obituary of a former student with ephebus mortem, Jet discovers several clues hidden in a trilogy of old paintings. As the group follows the breadcrumbs left behind by this former student, their quest takes an unexpected and deadly turn.

The pace to find clues quickens when strange voices, ghostly apparitions and bizarre events threaten to splinter the small group apart. With the semester roaring to a close, and tensions running high, Jet fears they may not survive long enough to crack the code.

Could the clues hidden in the paintings hold the cure to the strangest disease ever known to the human race? Can Jet and the others unravel the mysteries of ephebus mortem in time? In the end, Jet discovers something so profound that it will change his life forever.

 

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this story immensely. I found it a very easy read. It’s clearly aimed at a Young Adult audience, with its futuristic university setting, but it is a story with real depth and intrigue.

The characters are immediately engaging and relatable. The story is well written, the worldbuilding excellent, the pacing spot on. One thread I particularly enjoyed was the way the author uses art as a plot device. I won’t say any more about this but I thought it was a fascinating idea.

The only point where I felt things flagged a bit was the scene where it is finally revealed to Jet what exactly is going on. There was a lot to take in, and just like Jet, I found it all a bit overwhelming.

The conclusion was poignant and tied everything up, whilst still leaving the door open for further books in this series. And indeed there are more to come. I look forward to reading on and discovering how this world evolves.

Recommended

Review: The Poison Balance by Lucy Ghose

 The Book:

‘When the rains fell, the world burned…’

After a childhood spent in the foster care system, failed PhD student Amy Weston attracts trouble wherever she goes. Acid rain is destroying London’s trees, brain lesions are turning once-harmless pets into killer dogs, and her new work colleague, Professor Joel Harket, is the most infuriating man she has ever met.

But when the media continue to insist that autumn has simply come early, and humans begin to experience the same symptoms as the killer dogs, Amy must work alongside Joel in order to convince the world of the seriousness of the situation, before it is too late.

From the UN Air Health summit in Beijing to the abandoned tunnels beneath the city of London, Amy and Joel search for answers to prevent the end of the world, and as Nelson’s Column crumbles and zombie-like ‘howlers’ wreak havoc worldwide, they discover that the only way to survive the apocalypse is to set aside their differences… and learn to trust each other.

 

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this book immensely. It was a really good and entertaining romp. The novel starts off very much as a technothriller. We meet Amy and Joel, two very different people who at first appear mis-matched. The concern is the sudden increase in acid rain which is having all sorts of unexpected effects and Amy and Joel team up to try to investigate this phenomenon.

The story thus far feels very much as I would expect from its billed genre of eco thriller and I was quickly hooked as this sort of thing is right up my street.

But things rapidly shift. The acid rain causes anyone it touches to turn into a howler. These are effectively zombies and before long we are caught up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse which Amy and Joel are trying to survive, find a cure and save the world. All the while their feelings for one another are growing and these two polar opposites are inevitable drawn together.

The acid rain is a really original method of zombification and the book is a lot of fun.

If you like a good zombie apocalypse with a good dollop of romance thrown in them this is the book for you.

Recommended.

The Arid Lands themes: Zanclean Flood

About 5.3 million years ago, after years of sustained evaporation had resulted in the landlocked Mediterranean Sea almost completely evaporating, the waters returned when the Straits of Gibraltar was breached. This, possibly the largest flood in known Earth’s history, is known as the Zanclean Flood.

Details of the rapidity and nature of this flood remain up for debate but recent studies of deep gully like incisions in the seabed near the Straits of Gibraltar and extending out into the Mediterranean Sea itself, suggest that this could have been a catastrophic event.

Although initially discharge was low, and this may have continued for thousands of years, about 90% of the water returned in as little as a few months to two years. Such an abrupt flood would have seen sea levels in the Mediterranean rising by as much as 10 metres per day.

So how does this fascinating event influence Inez’s story? You will have to read The Arid Lands to find out.

The Arid Lands is available from Amazon in both kindle and print format.

UK Link

US Link

The Arid Lands themes: A vast engineering project

In the 1920s the German architect Herman Sorgel came up with the concept for a vast Engineering project to build a hydroelectric dam across the Straits of Gibraltar. This project was known as Atlantropa and was promoted by Germany until Sorgel’s death in 1952.

The construction of this dam, along with several others at strategic locations, would have the effect of controlling the inflow into the Mediterranean from the Atlantic. It would have generated vast amounts of electricity as well as causing the Mediterranean Sea level to drop by 200m, so freeing up large areas of land for colonisation.

Sorgel saw this project as a gateway to forming a peaceful Pan-European utopia, although critics found many faults with his proposals, including the detrimental effects on coastal communities who would become stranded as the seas retreated, as well as the problem of finding agreement amongst all the counties which border the Mediterranean.

The project was largely forgotten after Sorgel’s death.

But what if it really had happened? What if the dams really were built? Of course, in The Arid Lands the capacity for generating hydroelectric power was never realised, for reasons you’ll have to read the book to find out. This resulted in the Mediterranean inflow being completely cut off, and as a result, some 600 years of evaporation later, the world of The Arid Lands where Inez and her people struggle to survive, has come into being.

The Arid Lands is available from Amazon in both kindle and print format.

UK Link

US Link

Guest Post by Lydia Baker: Writing an apocalyptic world and the theme of family

 Writing an apocalyptic world and the theme of family

Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Kate. My sci-fi novel, AVA, takes place in a futuristic city that mirrors London but could be any big city. Ava and her fellow humans have been trapped under an electrical barrier that appeared fourteen years ago when Ava was a child visiting the city with her father and brother. As a young adult, her determination to escape the barrier and discover if her family has survived drives her. But the things that wait for her on the outside are beyond anything she could have imagined. The novel follows the themes of family, self-sacrifice and self-discovery. 

One of the beauties of writing an apocalyptic world is that you can create a plethora of problems for your main characters so you can explore many different themes. Ava is separated from her mother and twin sister, something that her father struggles to deal with and eventually the grief of the loss and not knowing overcomes him. The loss of her father is detrimental to Ava. He was her protector and without him, Ava is left with her brother, who was adopted but is resentful of his sisters that are his parent's biological children. This theme of family plays out in the relationship between Ava and her brother with the distrust and betrayal that clouds their friendship and the abuse her brother deals out to her. 

Without giving too much away, Ava faces the ultimate betrayal from her brother when she escapes the barrier. On the other side, she is faced with the family she lost and struggles to work out her place with those she thought she had lost, as it had been fourteen years since they saw each other. 

Growing up inside the barrier, oppressed and hiding her gender to save it, has changed and warped Ava's character. Her loyalty is skewed and she struggles to accept that her family has moved on or to trust others. The family she left behind, that she has risked everything to find, isn't the one she has been imagining. Eventually, she comes to realise that the world is bigger than her, it is more than just her pain and she can make a difference—the most important difference.

Ava grows considerably during the novel. She goes from a somewhat immature young woman, only thinking of herself, to someone who knows that though it means giving up everything she can save those who mean the world to her, those she loves. I wanted to show the development of character through the growth of Ava and the shedding of her naivety. Something we all have to do as we grow and experience the world. I also wanted to explore how the world can shape us through Ava. There are some stark differences between her and the family she finds on the outside, who weren't oppressed by MTech (the controlling government) yet have still had to face equally terrifying dangers. Their attitudes are very different. 

As well as the more serious themes, AVA is full of twists and thrills, fighting and exploring. If you like a fast-paced, dystopian, sci-fi novel with a determined yet flawed female protagonist then please check out AVA! Thanks again, Kate, for having me on your blog. 

Lydia Baker is an author of science-fiction and fantasy, she loves to write novels you can escape into.

Her novel ‘The Return of the Queen’ won the Pink Heart Society Reviewers Choice Award for Best Paranormal/Fantasy Romance in 2019 and ‘Ava’ was Shortlisted for the Agora Books - Work in Progress Prize in 2019. Her short story A.R.C is featured in the Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Alliance Anthology, 2023.

When she’s not writing she loves to read, run and crochet (not all at the same time though!). She lives in Crawley with her husband and four children.

AVA by Lydia Baker:

First, they came for the city, and we allowed it. They put up the Barrier and we stayed quiet, silenced by the fear of what was beyond. Our elderly were next and still, we didn’t cry out; then they came for the women, removed their fertility and stole our future, so I hid. I became Alec and I turned my back on my true self, Ava.

Ava can’t live as Alec any longer, the lie is killing her, destroying all that she is.

The world beyond MTech’s Barrier calls to her and she can’t ignore it. She has to know what, if anything, survived the terrible day that tore her family apart fourteen years ago.

But what if the Outside is far more dangerous than anything Ava has ever faced on the Inside?

Ava is set in a dystopian future, where individual rights are being eroded and the population live under a dome barrier that they have been told is for their protection. But, what is outside? Is escape possible? Even if it is, will it be a death sentence?

Purchase link