All of these things sound amazing. Do you have links to any of them?
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I’ve self-published a few novels (three) and an anthology of short stories. I’ve got a few other first drafts I need to get around polishing up for self publishing. It won’t stop me writing a new novel this November when I take part in NaNoWriMo again.
I had an, uhm, ‘erotic vampire’ story published in an anthology of, uhm. Yeah. Stories like that. More than a couple of decades ago at this point. But hey, I’m officially published (because self publishing doesn’t quite feel official, you know?) because of that.
If I wasn’t such a George McFly, and if I didn’t like my day job, I’d probably try and sell some stuff or get an agent or whatever, but I’m happy enough to get a handful of readers here and there. I tried to really push my first couple of self published stories but as much as I love writing, I hated being my own publicist.
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Interesting choice. At $20, I would’ve bought a copy. At $55, I have to justify it somehow…
EDIT: Just noticed your nickname. Nice.
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Keep watching for a discount. I wish I could just send you a copy but I have an arrangement with the publisher. If you’d like a different book on roguelikes, I recently published an ebook called We Love Mystery Dungeon, it’s only $6!
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Sort of? Since it’s a table top RPG session I can’t grant you the experience of it, but, like, I can let you (and anyone else interested) read the character sheets, and in a few cases, the adventure notes. Or you could just sign up for them at GenCon. 
But, like, if you wanna read that stuff, PM me and we can work something out.
Heck, for a very minor fee I’d be happy to run any of those games for people.
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Ah, I was hoping they were written out module-style. I’ve put together some weird and fun D&D and Call of Cthulhu stuff myself, but they’re also only in the form of maps and personal notes right now, I’m trying to get something ready for print though.
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Well. One of them is. I wrote out Sailor Goon module style so I could run it over technology, (as Gen Con wasn’t in person due to COVID) so you (and anyone else for that matter) can read that one if you’d like. PM me and I’ll figure out a way to send it.
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I hope to be a published author one day! I haven’t yet developed the attention span to sit and write a full novel, but I’ve written a number of short stories (none of which have been published, although one was the runner-up of a national writing contest and the actual first place winner of my university’s writing contest). My stories are all fiction, and stray at least a little bit from being “realistic.” I like to write things that are as much of a fun escape from realism as they are addressing real issues. Also, almost all of my stories have LGBT representation.
Currently, the one thing I’m writing (and drawing) that people can read online is my original Tumblr webcomic “The Adventures of Softboy Pillowman.” (That’s actually where my profile picture comes from!)
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This is what I get for being distracted by other threads… heh.
Anyway, I expect to go the self-pub route. Friend of mine—in fact, the friend with whom I co-founded our above-mentioned APA—has done several books that way, and while he’s not going to quit his day job, it’s a nice supplement. So I’ll just follow his advice.
And in the meanwhile, there’s a bookbindery on the north end of town that gives lessons, so I want to manually bind a few hardcover editions. Now that is getting in print the hard way! 
(note to self: quit looking at small manual presses and lead type on eBay, I live in a small apartment and don’t have the room)
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Don’t count your work out just because it’s of the erotic vampire genre! I think we’re in an age now where we can laugh at it but also appreciate it too, someone out there really likes it and you’ve done them a service.
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Wow, I love that this thread got so popular!
As I mentioned in my OP, I am trying to write a novel that I hope to turn into a series. It’s in the urban fantasy genre, and involves two FBI agents who get sent to the scene of a gruesome murder, only to find out that the people responsible aren’t your normal perps, and the world they knew gets turned upside down when they find out that creatures of myth and legend secretly exist in the world and are policed by a worldwide agency. There’s more to it, including that one of the pair of agents is fated to potentially become a sort of mystical guardian of the balance between “good” and “evil”, but that’s the general gist. Right now I’ve been stuck for many months on the writing because I’m working on the final major battle scene, and while I want my characters to be able to fight using mystical swords, I’m discovering that I don’t really know how to describe a sword fight adequately. I’m trying to find examples of demonstration swordfighting videos online so I can get an idea of how it will look, but it’s somewhat complicated by the fact that I haven’t fully decided what kind of sword each of my characters will carry. If it turns out I can’t do the sword thing, I’m going to have to rethink this a bit.
At any rate, I’m going to keep plugging away at it; I hope to have something I can get through post-publication review with the government by the end of the year before I start looking into whether I want to try to self-publish, or get an agent and try shopping it around to some of the publishing firms. But it’s getting close and I’m not sure I’m going to meet that goal.
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Can I ask if there’s a reason for them to use archaic weapons? That always throws me off when writers have people use swords in eras where guns exist. I mean, there are guns! Why would you use swords?
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Mainly due to the type of guardian I intend for them to be, plus the beings they’ll be up against when fighting this particular battle (edged weaponry works better against the beings I plan to use than bullets would). I don’t intend for the swords to be their ONLY weapons; most of the time they will use regular guns, but in this particular instance it’s needed, based on the current plot. Again though, I’m willing to modify if I can’t figure out how to properly describe the fight.
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The Three Musketeers had muskets, but the swashbuckling is where the story is.
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It does make sense to use old tech when the new tech is in short supply (muskets were to be used in battle, not in private duels, because they were expensive and belonged to the King), but it in times where guns are common, it doesn’t make sense to go to swords.
Guns get short shrift in scifi/fantasy - it’s all swords or laser blasters.
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It’ll make sense if/when I get it written.
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My biggest question for “Resoldering Your Sinclair Cambridge Programmable Calculator For Bovine Astrology For Dummies” would be, were you using a RoHS-compliant solder or the older and much easier to wet lead-based stuff? Because I hate hand soldering with the RoHS-compliant stuff.
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Wow, you’re gonna wanna keep that kinda talk offa the Mathematical Bovine Astrology boards, because you might as well ask who was a better host: Joel or Picard?
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I used to want to be a Published Author, but nowadays I just really enjoy writing more as a hobby. I write a lot of weird microfiction and some experimental stuff and post it up on a WordPress site I made a few years ago. It’s called Crafty Cryptiscribbles if you want to check it out.
I do have a detailed outline for a potential novel, which has been sitting in my drafts for about a year or two now. I have a hard time writing longer works, which is why I stick to microfic and short stories. I think I might try to write it for NaNoWriMo this year.
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Why, Beakman, of course!
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