Can You Hear Me Now?

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Just a reminder: It's okay to leave comments!

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Every now and then I check my author ranking on Amazon. Here's what it looks like for the past six months:


My author ranking

You'll probably have to click on the picture to see any detail, but it's been reasonably steady for the previous 365 days with numbers between about 30,000 (best) to 300,000 (worst). Not a bad showing for a writer that doesn't even have a book published under his own name. Everything I've done has gone into an anthology of some sort.

Most of the anthologies to which I've contributed continue to sell at a steady, though dreadfully slow, pace. These are not the ones keeping my author ranking as high as it is. Most all of it is due to one book: In Creeps the Night.

This book is a Halloween-themed horror anthology, so I was wondering why it sells at such a consistent rate, especially since it is a couple of years old now. I contributed a small story to the effort: Little Monsters. It's an okay story, but I doubt it is the major draw for this work. There are maybe 30-40 authors who have stories in this book.

While the Kindle version sells well, what appears to be the major force behind the rankings is the audio version. It is narrated by Elizabeth Phillips.

Audiobook sales for In Creeps the Night

The audiobook sales are really something special for a book with no real advertising behind it. Almost everything driving my Amazon author ranking is from this audiobook. I am very grateful for being included! Here are the current rankings for the audio version of In Creeps the Night on the US Amazon page.

US amazon rankings for In Creeps the Night

I don't know if other audiobooks are having the same success (please feel free to chime in on that), but it seems adding one to your publishing options might be wise.

That's all I have at the moment. Anyway, an hour has passed, so I have to go check my rankings again. I did say now and then...

P. S. Sadly, I make no money on the book. It is a charity anthology. But I'm okay with that.

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© 2017 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Coming Soon: Human 76

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Coming soon! Human 76

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You may have noticed the hints on this blog that Human 76 is coming. It's also likely you have no idea what I'm talking about. It's a post-apocalyptic anthology I was invited to participate in by Lisa Shambrook. I haven't seen a cover yet, but I do have the story line-up (with my contribution conveniently in bold letters):

1. Leaving the Nest by Lisa Shambrook
2. Follow the Leader by M. S. Manz
3. Where the Wild Things Are by Nick Johns
4. Glint by Michael Wombat
5. Behind These Walls by Alex Brightsmith
6. Hiero Worship by Jeffrey Hollar
7. Human X by Michelle Fox
8. The Hunted by Steven Paul Watson
9. What You Put In by Julia Rios
10. Underneath by Denise Callaway
11. The Song of Aiden by K. R. Smith
12. Sand by Michael Wombat
13. The Oasis by Rebecca Fyfe
14. Sheshwatay by K. J. Collard
15. The Ballad of Ash and Hum by Alison Deluca
16. We Make The Future by (unknown at this time)

Sorry I don't have links for all of the authors. Or even all of the authors. I'll add them in as I get them.

Scene from Human 76
featuring Bekah Shambrook
as Ghabrie

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Coming soon! Human 76

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...with my story, The Sword of Hexworthy Manor!

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© 2016 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Publishing Update: No Good News

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Just a reminder: It's okay to leave comments!

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This is going to start just like several other posts I've made on this subject. I used copy and paste for most of this post. It ends about the same, too.

If you've read my previous blog post you know I've been waiting for some time for Fringeworks to publish the Dead Men's Tales anthology. It (should) include my story, Skarett's Treasure. Their last blog post hinted that it might be out by late September. I'll have to check my calendar, but I think September has already passed.

Now on to Horrified Press...

I submitted a story back in February 2015, to an anthology listed on the Horrified Press site. Never received any reply from the editor. So I posted a note at the bottom of their submissions page. Got a reply saying they'd contact the editor and let me know.

I finally received an answer.

Hey,
Apologies for the late reply, but we have been unable to contact this editor. If this project doesn’t move forward by November end then I will be putting out the call for those already accepted to re-forward their contracts and pieces directly to me, so that the book can be completed for an Xmas release. It wouldn’t be an ideal scenario, but I would like to see this book completed for all concerned. 

Best
 Nathan J.D.L. Rowark
 Editor-in-chief
 Horrified Press

As I've never received an acceptance (or rejection) letter, I can assume I won't be in the book. That's OK. At least I can move forward and submit elsewhere.

And I don't blame Mr. Rowark for this, either. If an editor disappears there's not to much more he can do other than what he has suggested. I can imagine he's not too pleased with the situation. And I hope there isn't some horrible reason for Mr. McLean's failure to communicate. I like horror in stories, not real life.

So, I still have the story and I can find another market for submission. That's what writers do.

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© 2012-2015 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Update On The Poetry Submission

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I've received an auto-response to my poetry submission, so I know that it was delivered somewhere... 

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Thank you for your submission, inquiry, or response to Scarlett River Press.
It has been received, and we will get back to you as soon as we can. Please allow up to eight weeks for a response depending on volume of submissions. Our website is up but currently under construction, so wear a hardhat. You can check it out here: http://www.scarlett-river-press.ca.

Scarlett River Press
 Fuelling the Fire of Fear

Publisher
 Jo-Anne Russell

Editor
 Allen Jacoby

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I hope there's a human being (or zombie, vampire, spiritual entity) checking this at some point - and that it doesn't really take 8 weeks!

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For those with a compulsive spelling disorder, fuelling can apparently be spelled as "fuelling" or "fueling."

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© 2012-2013 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

A Poem Submitted

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I've submitted a short poem, Among the Stones, to Scarlett River Press in hopes it will be accepted into their poetry anthology (?), In Darkness Dwells ~ A Macabre Collection of Poetry. 

Scarlett River Press seems to be a small outfit up in Canada, just starting off, so I don't have great expectations (no pun intended) for this, but you have to start somewhere. It would be nice to say I've had a short story and a poem published.

The poem itself is a bit on the dark side, and not lengthy at all, with 18 short lines.

Now, more waiting - no word on my other story to Fringeworks yet.

But there's more to do - I still have to finish that mummy story for The Were-Traveler...  (but I have until February 15th). Until then, you'll just have to read my werewolf story there (shameless plug).

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© 2012-2013 K. R. Smith All rights reserved

Projects Update

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I have three short-term projects going right now - well, maybe two and a half...

I'm about 90% done my "Werewolves In Space" short story, so it won't be too much longer before it is submitted. In truth, the story only has one werewolf, so I guess I should change this to "Werewolf In Space." In any event, the real title will be "Going Home". I still can't believe I'm writing this. I was just reading an article, however, that says writing outside you're comfort zone keeps you fresh. After this, I couldn't get much fresher.

My second project, to be submitted for Tales of the Undead - Suffer Eternal at Horrified Press, still has a way to go. It may be 50% complete. But the deadline is in February 2013, so not to worry. My submission will be called "Final Judgment". I did notice that they are posting an advance acceptance list that has five entries already - they didn't say how many they want, or even if they have a limit.

I'm not sure about my last project. I've emailed Scarlett River Press asking them what rights they are "purchasing," but I haven't received a reply. I'm not sure I want to proceed if they don't. Not that what I submit would be so earth-shattering, but I like to do business with people that state exactly what the details of the transaction are to be.

I also need to do some reviews on Goodreads. I haven't updated those as quickly as I'd like.

Another task I have in mind is to set up a Google Docs spreadsheet to track submissions and have it be accessible from this blog. We'll see.

Yes, I have some work to do...

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© 2012 K. R. Smith

September 2012: New Projects

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It's been a while since I've put anything out here, so I thought I should make some sort of update to the blog. And although I've been quite busy, most of it hasn't been with writing.

But I've found a couple of projects that interest me by checking out the Horror Tree web site.

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#1 The Were-Traveler       "Don't be afraid, dearie, it's just a story."

When I first saw this, I thought, "Werewolves in space? They've got to be joking." Then I re-read the request, thought about it some more, and said, "They've really got to be joking."

At that point, of course, it became a challenge. So I have a story started, even though I don't really care for werewolf stories, and will submit it for publication. We'll see what happens...

Please don't laugh.

From the Were-Traveler web site:

The Were-Traveler: Big Bad Wolf in a Big Bad Universe

Drabble, Micro, Flash and Short (up to 2000 words). Deadline December 20ish. Where the crazy idea for this e-zine originally came from: a story in my head that is yet to be written. We’ll see what you can do with it. Accepting submissions for drabbles, micro, flash and short stories 2K or less on the following themes:

Lone Werewolf traveling. On the road. The man-beast (or woman-beast) with an itinerary. Werewolf or werewolves in space. I would LOVE a science fiction/horror werewolf story.

Their Duotrope page

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#2 Tales of the Undead

Suffer Eternal, is open for submissions

From the Horrified Press website (WordPress Blog):

Eternal life, what does it mean to live forever? What is the cost of such a prize, and is it worth the price?

The scope of such a topic brings forth boundless notions for the budding author. Tales of the undead, and those who cheat the reaper give hope to a readership, or can just as easily take it away.

I want stories of Eternal life. Give me deals with the devil, illegal experiments, and mysterious miracles. Zombies, Vampires, and Spirits are welcome. Make them dark, make them decadent, make them scary – these should be the kind of stories that wouldn’t usually see daylight.

No taboos, just let your imagination run wild.

Dark fairy tales, bizarre, horror, surrealism, dark science-fiction are all cool here.

Submission guidelines:

Deadline for submissions  February 20, 2013.

Word Count: 1,000  3,000 words.

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Just to let you know, there isn't any money involved here, just glory. And, no, I won't be writing any zombie stories. I'll keep you posted.

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© 2012 K. R. Smith