Changing platforms & also yes I can write short stories, so there
I use this newsletter to directly communicate with readers who have signed up to get semi regular news about my work that may be of interest to them. I started using Substack as a platform because of its ease of use (the major factor) and because it offered the possibility of monetizing other forms of writing besides published fiction if I wanted to go down that road.
After much consideration I ultimately chose to keep this newsletter as a free service to my readers and instead launched a Patreon with craft, Finn, and insider commentary about the creative process for those who want to support my work in that fashion. Obviously an excellent way to support my work is to buy my books and convince your friends, family, acquaintances, bystanders, and enemies to buy my books, and I thank every one of you who has purchased a book (or read from the library, which also counts since libraries buy the books for their collections). At this moment in time I am also exceedingly grateful for the Patreon support because it helps to pay for my housing.
I bring this up now because there has been a fair bit of discussion in various venues online about Substack’s business model. While Substack’s ease of use is indeed great, I don’t like their lack of transparency, so I am going to shift my newsletter to a different model.
However, because shifting to a new service takes both time to examine options and energy and time to make the change and sort out snafus, I will not be changing services until after I have finished the first draft of FURIOUS HEAVEN. More news on that front later, when I’ve made a decision about how to proceed. If I can make it happen without too much complex and exhausting work (I don’t have an assistant to sort out the nuts and bolts for me) I would hope to figure out a way to use my WordPress blog as my platform with a plug-in and SMTP, but we shall see. I need to finish this overdue and exceptionally complicated and long novel first and foremost.
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Because I’m not yet finished with FURIOUS HEAVEN, it will not be published in 2021. The story is complicated and it’s long (go figure!), and I want it to be the absolute best I can possibly make it. Thank you for your patience.
Both Tor Books (USA/Canada) and Head of Zeus (UK/Commonwealth) will be bringing out paperback editions of UNCONQUERABLE SUN. The HoZ PB is already available! The Tor Books trade paperback will be available on June 8, 2021 (you can pre order!).
Most of the writing I’m doing in 2021 will be on my Patreon (see link above), either non fiction essays and posts or excerpts from unpublished fiction. By the way, many of the craft posts are “unlocked” (available for anyone to read) because of the generosity of my current patrons, whose support allows me to treat Patreon as the part time job I need to make ends meet and which thus allows me to write more essays.
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All that being said, I can announce that I have sold two short stories which will be published in 2021.
“The Tinder Box” is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Tinder Box.” A story of revolution, it is told from the point of view of the witch. It will be published on December 1, 2021 in a free online version as part of tordotcom’s short fiction program (usually a $0.99 e-version is also made available at that time for those who prefer that format). I’m very excited to share this story with you. I have been sitting on this concept for YEARS, with a first line that I couldn’t quite figure out how to add on to. The fraught period between the 2020 election and the 2021 inauguration kicked loose something in my head, and I wrote the story quickly. Special thanks to Aliette de Bodard and Vida Cruz who read the first draft and gave me exceedingly useful comments.
“Into the Cleft of Bones” is a short story I wrote last year. The anthology it is a part of hasn’t been formally announced yet, and there is no confirmed publication date, so I can’t guarantee the anthology about lost worlds and mythological kingdoms edited by John Joseph Adams will be available in 2021 but so far late Fall 2021 is the general target date. The theme of the anthology is indeed lost worlds and mythological kingdoms and I wrote a story that uses both of those thematic elements to tell a story set in a long ago time of an old woman in an enslaved population whose experience and knowledge allows her to see a threat before her masters do.
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Here is a link to all the Narrative Worlds vidcasts so far, including the February 2021 episode with Ken Liu on technology. Ken has such fascinating insights! The March ‘cast with Rebecca Roanhorse on cosmology and archaeoastronomy should be available soon! Rebecca and I had such a great time geeking out together about this subject dear to our hearts.
Here are links to two recent public posts from my Patreon:
My Idiosyncratic Thoughts About Beta Readers and How to Best Use (or be) Them
The Housewives of Mars (a talk given 20 years ago — how does it hold up today?)
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REVOLUTION’S SHORE (The Highroad Trilogy 2) will be on sale at $1.99 across all ebook platforms in the USA and Canada on March 29, 2021 (one day only).
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Finn is coming, hide your heart, girl.
As always, I could not do this without your support. Thank you.
Kate Elliott
P.S. Next week I’ll finally be able to sign up for an appointment to get the COVID-19 vaccination and I am SUPER EXCITED. Hope you are all as well as possible.