It's only been 4 days, and we're already at 60% of our goal! If you're into friendship-centered science-fiction and fantasy, be sure you grab this 37-book itchio bundle. You only got *checks watch* 10 more days to go! ...I guess you've got time.

Unprompted bookshelf reveal (or at least a fraction of a fraction of a bookshelf reveal). As you can see, nothing but classics here.

Amen, Mr. Dickinson.

New communiqué from the actual president of the United States of actual America just dropped.

I'm not guilty of this (I'm not! Really!), but it is a timely reminder for me (and maybe others) to go through your con loot and follow up on those impulse snatches - and the more talented and eye-catching the promo material, the harder you should follow up on it because creatives deserve it.

Discord wants to know how you feel about AI. Go tell them: discord.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

How I resolve to half-arsedly market my book(s) in 2026

We were in first place in this film award voting. A film made purely with AI just netted over 150 votes in 12 hours. Now it's personal. Please. Help us kick this THING's ass fair and square. ART FOR ARTISTS. Reshare? VOTE! www.shortoftheyear.com/audience-cho...

And the hero who disarmed one of the Bondi gun men is Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit shop owner, who took two bullets in the arm for his trouble. Absolute legend. Glad I got to see that at the end of a rough night. Tomorrow's going to be a tough one in Australia.

I mean on the one hand, I wish people were buying my e-books and asking questions about them. But on the other hand, now I'm kind of glad nobody is? Sweet obscurity, just let me write things in peace you ghoulish technocratic clown parade.

In the original story, Santa Claus had eight reindeer. There was Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen. But they were all of them deceived.

"I can't afford to support my favorite author right now, I—" Reviews. Reviews are free AND they are a gift to authors that can keep on giving (i.e., exposure, marketing, algo boosts, etc.) Please, give the gift of reviews to your authors this holiday season. It really can make a difference!

I can't recommend Joonatan's takes enough. Even when we disagree, it's awesome because he makes me think about things in a different way and absorb just a little of his apparently infinite love of movies, shows, games and tech.

Thank you, autocorrect. While I did in fact mean to write "brutish" (and actually did write it), the comedic value of the monster in my story suddenly having a certain *British* look to its face cannot be overstated.

We've now entered December, which means A Month of Rain and Reads has come to an end. Thank you to everyone that took part in the month by submitting a post, taking part in the challenges, or sharing our content! Here's our final wrap up and thank you post: www.readindiefantasy.com/a-month-of-r...

That's a good haul just for dropping your favourite rec! Even if one of them is pretty sketchy (it's mine, my book is weird).

My Crowdfunding Project is on Backerkit and already funded, but we still have a long way to go and more goals to meet! Back if you can, but keep sharing. Let's get those stretch goals and more character art! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s... #queerwriters #booksky #writingcommunity #readers

If you’re an early Christmas shopper, don’t forget to support small businesses! Like self-published authors! Everyone likes getting books for Christmas, especially books they’ve never heard of that are right up their alley! Also you can gift copies on itch and elsewhere & send them on Xmas Eve 🎄

From the people who brought me my favourite shopping bag! I can attest to the quality, this is worth a look 🖤

Thanks @blog.readindiefantasy.com for this nice promotion and giving me a chance to jabber on at great length about an assortment of things. The indie community thanks you for making this effort to boost our voices! #AMoRaR #BookSky

I will never not recommend this book / series / adorable man.

We've got another review for you today, and this is a fun one by @edpool.bsky.social as he reviews Shadecursed: The Bestiary Book One by @chaoskirin.art! www.readindiefantasy.com/amorar-book-... #AMoRaR

The *vast* majority of sales come through Amazon. And when readers boycott Amazon, they don't in general shift to buying indie books elsewhere. They simply stop buying indie books. I detest Amazon, but as a self-published author, I simply cannot have a career without publishing there. 2/2

I'm morbidly curious as to whether there's anyone else in the centre of the Ted Lasso / Sonic the Hedgehog Venn diagram with me.

I recently read "The Elitist Supremacy" by @ormakal.bsky.social, and there was a whole lot going on in there and my review ended up being about twice the length of my usual efforts. hatboy.blog/2025/10/09/t...

With the fifth Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) taking book entries next month, we're looking for a few good volunteers to join us as judges: spsfc.space/2025/09/19/j... More than a few, actually. #SPSFC

Arts and crafts time! #AI #GenAI #HumanMade #SayNoToSlop

When people complain that The Lord of the Rings is just people walking across a country and telling random stories about its prehistory, I’m usually the one who’s like, “yeah! I know! …why are you making that face?” Check out @chaoskirin.art's "Shadecursed" today! hatboy.blog/2025/09/18/s...

Drop some eyes.

Yuuuuup. Also, I don't give a shit if some of the worst people in the world think I am being performative or am virtue signaling. Fuck 'em. They don't get to tell me how to be. Anyway, trans rights are human rights, y'all. It's not complicated.

I'm weirdly close to 600 followers suddenly (hi! Who are you?), so how about an ad-libbed promotion? I just published a colo(u)ring book. It's only available on Amazon right now but ... I don't know, share some art here and I'll send a copy to an arbitrary mutual? www.amazon.com/colouring-co...

Today while writing, I accidentally left the "m" out of the word "discomfort" and I feel like in doing so I created an even better word for discomfort.

I just hit @drewmelbourne.com's lil shop at drewmelbourne.printify.me to grab a hilariously obscure piece of merchandise that I can't wait to wear to a con and feel all smug and underground and stuff.

No, authors aren't burnt out because "writing without AI is slow" We're burnt out because we're paid dirt so we need day jobs to survive

BUT HOLD ON I THOUGHT bluesky was meant to be a safe space where I wouldn't get attacked, what the Hell

Ampersand was my first exposure to this genre and I was sceptical, but damn if it's not a good time. Do yourself a favour and pick these up!

Very excited to see how you handle this crazy collection of stories! Here's a picture of me cosplaying as Tabo Norid to celebrate. It's easy to make a fun cosplay when you make up the character, but it also means I have no excuse for putting him in a big coat.

Ooh, I actually have a #WIPSnip from my actual #WIP this time! This one's from my in-progress highdark fantasy (don't know if I coined that or not, probably not).

I filled this in. If you're a writer, or you just like people being literate and the planet being human-life-supporting, you might want to as well.

Let's hear from you writers, tell us a little bit about yourself, what projects you've on the go, what you've written, any events in the near future, or just drop your bio and links and follow and support each other #WritersLiftWednesday #Writers #Authors #WritersLift #BookSky 💙📚 alt text please

Slightly diminish a band: The Okay Okay Bosstones

The #WIPSnips word for August 12th is "split" - I'm late to the party because of time zones and such, and it's not a #WIP except insofar as my entire collection of published works are connected, but I always liked this little passage from "Eejit". #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Slightly diminish a band: Nirminivana

Next up on my review roster is the ARC I received for the third book in @geoffjones.bsky.social's brilliant post-apocalyptic alien-dinosaur-human menagerie sci-fi, "Beasts of Prey". Loved this entire trilogy and will officially read anything this guy publishes. hatboy.blog/2025/08/11/b...

Recently I read a very special book from an author I've come to consider a genuine favourite, although I like to hope we're just starting on our author-reader journey and there will be much more to come. I can't recommend #SPSFC veteran @drewmelbourne.com's work enough. hatboy.blog/2025/08/07/a...

Well-earned close-second! Highly recommended series, grab this book and check out its sequel too!

The winner of the fourth #SPSFC is Saint Elspeth by @wickwelker.bsky.social, a tightly crafted tale of a doctor who survived first contact and nuclear apocalypse. "They just arrived, inadvertently triggered humanity to tear itself to pieces, landed, and vanished." www.amazon.com/Saint-Elspet...

For anyone who's curious, windmills killing birds is a complete non-issue. FAR more birds are killed by running into windows or powerlines, and being disoriented while flying at night because of artificial lighting. The number one killer of birds, though? Feral cats.

I just finished reading @drewmelbourne.com's latest book, "A Dark Hole Darkly" (on sale August 25th). Review coming soon(ish) but wow. I'm gonna have to sit with this one a spell. It was beautiful. bookshop.org/a/113448/978...

In this snippet, the loyal family butler Jarvis encounters the Archangel Gabriel. Who was made into an Angel at least hundreds of thousands of years ago, if not more. Also contains a pop culture reference from the late 22nd Century. www.amazon.com/Bad-Cow-Or%C...