Improbable Press Blog

By Atlin Merrick A quick note today and that's this: Know your publisher. I don't mean know the actual people, I don't even mean know all about what they do and when they started, I mean know what sort of publisher they are. I follow and get followed by other publishers and editors on Twitter and I usually follow back, but lately I've stopped doing that automatically, instead seeing who I'm following. This is how I learned that some subsidy presses are calling themselves independent publishers. But they're not. Not in the way that term is traditionally used. Independent Publisher...

By Atlin Merrick I like labels. No, that's wrong, I like labels which help. Lots start out that way, but some labels are turned, used to marginalize, belittle, other. The ones that help though? Oh, the clarity they can bring, the community they can create. This is why I like the #OwnVoices label, a hashtag which popped up on Twitter a few years ago. At its simplest Own Voices means that if your main character identifies as part of a minority group, you the writer are also part of that group. If an author identifies their story as Own Voices,...

By Atlin Merrick Just like 5 Ways for Shy People to Promote Their Book, this title is misleading. These are ways everyone can promote their book, but they do favor the extrovert. If you're shy you can still do any or all of these, only you might start small. Super small. You-and-your-writing-group small. For those more inclined to leap, the following six ideas may be great ways for you to promote your book! Promoting Your Book:Cons/conferences | Book parties | Radio | Contests | Libraries/Bookshops | Collateral Conventions and conferences Wrote a mystery novel? A supernatural tale? A romance? There's...

1 A close encounter with a surface-to-air missile is going to ruin anyone's day. This is especially true when the person involved is strapped into a parachute harness, several thousand feet above enemy terrain, in the middle of the night. For as long as he could remember, Ronan's personal philosophy had been 'you can't plan for everything, but you should still try to plan for anything.' That approach to life had saved his arse more times than he could count. Still, he'd always known the day would come when his plans reached their limit. How unfortunate that he was reaching...

By Atlin Merrick I was editing an anthology some years ago and the book needed one more story to round it out, but needed it fast. I reached out to a writer I knew through their online writing and asked if they wanted to write a short story for us quick. They said yes, so I told them the parameters – theme, length, due date. Then something happened. A rare thing. A good thing. The writer sent us exactly what we asked for. The theme, the length, on the date it was due. The publisher bought the story and do...