Assaph Mehr's Blog, page 44

Jael (of Teliko Mageia, by AJ Carbonell)

Dear readers, tonight we bring you an interview from across dimensions. This interview was conducted by a fellow researcher into the nature of magick. He was fortunate enough to run into a fierce warrior, specialist in fire. Read on to find out a world most of us will only see in Japanese manga and role-playing games.

Hello, Jael. I am Melchior from the kingdom of Anithelis. I am currently travelling around the world studying about the history of Magick. I understand that you are resting af...

The Costs of Self-Publishing – and how to reduce them

The was a recent article on Reedsy, where they analysed data from hundreds of freelancer quotes and arrived at the costs of self-publishing a novel to professional standards. i.e. When you you don’t just upload a just-finished-typing Word file to Amazon, but actually produce a book properly. Instead of having the backing of a publisher that does all this, you handle all aspects yourself.

The article is fascinating, but for a quick review here’s their inforgraphic which summarises...

Clare Rhoades (of Abnormal, by AJ Mullican)

Dear readers, tonight with me is a genetically-gifted young woman. Unfortunately, her socio-economic background is from lower echelons, marking her as an “abnormal”. She is here to tell us about her world, and about her dangerous struggle for survival against the “Gifted”.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I grew up in a poor borough of Heaven’s Light called Undertown. Most of the buildings are older, brick-and-concrete construction, bu...

Rory’s Story Cubes

A review of something other than books (for a change) but that is still intimately related to storytelling and storytellers.

I’ve picked up a set of Rory’s Story Cubes (specifically, the orange “Original” set and the green “Voyages” set) a few years a ago as something to do with my daughters. This was before I started writing, but since I’ve always been a compulsive reader, I thought it would be great. Now that my son is getting to a stage where he c...

Garfield Feldman (of Wolves In The Desert, by Timothy Bateson)

Dear readers, tonight we have a mid-week special column, to celebrate the Friday release of the next volume in the Shadows Over Seattle series.

With me is  a Gunnery Sergeant from the US Marine Corps — the second character we interview from the series (the first was a lupine – a lycanthrope – which you can meet here).

He is here to tell us about his latest snatch-and-grab mission deep in enemy-held territory — and the surprising things he ran into during it.

Tell us a...

Trajan Aurelius (of Druid’s Portal: The First Journey, by Cindy Tomamichel)

Dear readers, tonight with me is a soldier from Ancient Rome, right at the time of Commodus. He’s here to tell us about life in Roman Britain, about civilisation and and blue barbarians, and about surprising love that grew in between.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I lived on the family farm, in the foothills above Rome. Our family have farmed there since before the time of Caesar. Olive trees larger than any I have since seen, and fruits and grains t...

11 (and a half) Tips for Fiction eBook Creation

Do you want professionally looking ebooks to delight your readers? Of course you do!

Following my post about the best tools I found to create and produce books and on how to best use InDesign, here are some 11 specific, highly-useful tips about how to create ebooks to the best effect!

First, let’s be clear that this is a tips column, not an blow-by-blow full guide on creating ebooks. Still, from having produced several books (mine and others’), these are tips that will help prese...

Raphael (of Light’s Rise, by Yvette Bostic)

Dear readers, tonight with me is a man born in the early 17th century — at least the corresponding time of an alternate history.

He is here to tell us about his magical adventures during the Napoleonic Wars.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

My name is Raphael Silva Lopez. I grew up in a small village on the eastern coast of Brazil, in the early 1600’s. My father was a retired Portuguese soldier and my mother was the youngest daughter of a sugar plantati...

Swaggering Scallywags (or, How to Swag: CafePress vs Zazzle vs RedBubble)

I’m chuffed to formally launch the Egretia Swag Store! We bring many of Felix’s best moments from across the gulf of time and space, and ship around the globe. Check it out, and get yourself something nice and fishy for Saturnalia!

For those of you who are about to go swaggering down the swag path (or just curious), I thought I’d summarise my experiences in setting up shop across RedBubble, Zazzle, and CafePress.

It’s a lengthy post, but don’t worry — there...

Alistair Doyle (of The Lost Tayamu, by Ben Cass)

Dear readers, tonight with me is a PE teacher from a small Midwestern town – or at least, that’s what he pretends to be. His past lies in a different, magical, land.

He is here to tell us about his relationship with Jen, and life between worlds.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

I was born and raised in the Lamtu Valley region of Kiamada, in a fairly quiet part of the valley.  There are plenty of mountains and rivers to explore.  There weren’t a w...