Stories of joy and hope. A collection to celebrate community.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Happy (Belated) Release Day!
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, May 06, 2020 at 10:00:21 AM
I was so busy reading May the Fourth memes, I forgot to post this update!
[And on a personal note, Emily has been struggling with some mental health issues lately, so our posts and updates have been less frequent. Emily is extremely grateful for all of the words of support you've sent.]
Yes, Community of Magic Pens is out there for the world to enjoy! It should be up for sale at all major retailers, can be ordered by small indie bookstores, and, of course, can be purchased directly on our website. And if you backed for the Limited-Edition Hardcover, they are going out this week. Here they are, ready to be signed and numbered:
Community of Magic Pens Hardcover Edition
We Need Reviews
Reviews drive sales, it's that simple. If you read and enjoyed Community of Magic Pens, we'd really appreciate it if you would leave a short review on your favorite book or retail site. Reviews on Amazon will cause the super-secret magic algorithms to start recommending the book to more readers. It doesn't need to be long or fancy, just a quick note that you liked and would recommend the book is fine (of course, noting your favorite stories and authors is also fun and appreciated). If you go to our website, you can follow the links to the common retailers to leave a review. Goodreads is also a great place to leave a review.
What we'll be watching tonight:
Tonight (Wednesday), we get to learn if our 2019 title, The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus by Alanna McFall (whose "Start Again" was the opening story in our first anthology, As Told by Things) will be a gold medal winner at the 2019 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards for Best New Voice: Fiction. If you'd like to watch the ceremony with us, it will be streamed online (click the link above for details). The acceptance speeches are pre-recorded, ala RuPaul's Drag Race (where each contestant is filmed winning so that the actual decision can be broadcast live).
If you haven't read Triple-C, we really are proud of this title and glad that it is getting some of the attention it deserves.
And one final note: you might have seen that we needed to update our website. This was due to (a) our old one crashed :), and (b) we needed to make all of our titles available for direct sale in light of all events that we would be selling at this season being cancelled due to COVID-19. If you are subscribed to our e-mail list, you should have received a promo code off your next purchase on our website. This would be a great time to pick up a copy of the Triple-C, or to try of our previous anthologies, check out the best-selling Anna's Nightmare series (if you are up for a mildly-scary paranormal thriller), jump into some of E.D.E. Bell's epic fantasy, give a younger reader the gift of some unique middle-grade fiction, or try a little of everything!
If you did not sign up for our email list and would like to, there is a sign up on our website (on the left side of any page other than the homepage). As everyone here can tell you, we don't spam.
I hope everyone is safe and well. Please take care!
Chris
E-books available now
about 4 years ago
– Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 09:35:25 AM
To our dear supporters,
We hope you and yours are well. We have news! The e-book for Community of Magic Pens is complete, and should be available to all backers now. (Check your email for a BackerKit link.) I'm sorry that print copies won't be available yet, but we're doing our best to get them out before the 04 May release.
We hope you love these stories as much as we do. And as I often say at events, if you really love a story and are comfortable doing so, consider tweeting or messaging the author - they love that feedback! (They love to bring you joy.)
Also, if you know anyone who would like to read it now, all BackerKit orders, print or e-book, through 03 April only, will allow the purchasers to read the e-book immediately. (After that, they'll need to wait until the 04 May release.) The link to share is atthisarts.com/magicpens
And certainly, if you know someone who'd love to read it but finances are an issue, please contact me.
Warmest wishes from our team - Emily.
On Reddit / Fantasy Today! (And status of the book.)
about 4 years ago
– Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 10:18:08 AM
Hi, everyone. Forgive me if I sound scattered. I am scattered, and have been having a little difficulty getting the words out lately. I know a lot of us are feeling that.
Things are actually going wonderfully with the book. We are pushing through it, our proofreaders were very thorough!, and I really think the end product is wonderful and I hope it will bring you joy. Release date is 04 May. E-books will be posted to your BackerKit in early April. (I hope you love it!) Since we'll be printing directly, I can't promise what day you'll get paperback copies. I'll let you know when we have a clearer picture.
A few links to let you know about:
Our new website is online at atthisarts.com - really appreciating you letting people know that our books are available.
If you want to spread the word about this book specifically, use the hashtag #MagicPens and direct people to atthisarts.com/magicpens - Magic Pens author Ava Kelly designed a free poster for us to help promote the book, and I really love it: it features the title in languages spoken by the book's authors!
We have a COVID-impact GoFundMe set up - we're not asking our supporters for donations; you've done so much for us already. But if you know anyone who has the means and would like to help a small business stay in business, there is a $500 grant that will be added if we can raise at least $500. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-atthis-arts-indie-press
Also wanted to let you know that our team - along with many friends from the Atthis Arts community, will be on Reddit Fantasy. It starts about Noon EDT. I hope you'll swing by. (A great thing about Reddit is you don't have to stay the whole time. You can pop in when you have a minute.) Hope to see you there - I think it's going to be really positive. Here's the link: reddit.com/r/fantasy/
And if you have any questions about logging in or what to do, I'll be in my Discord: https://discord.gg/Mjbvkcp
I want to say one really important thing. The amount of support for this book has been inspiring, and I am so grateful to every single person that is making it happen. Being honest, I was kind of burned out before this (taking no breaks, finishing Diamondsong while volunteering for ConFusion and also doing this book) and was just trying to get through the tunnel to the sunlight. And now with all this, it's a lot, and I'm not feeling I'm doing a good enough job thanking all of you. But I see you, I love you, and the sun will rise and we will be here together. Because of your support.
Thinking of all of you. My best ♥ - Emily.
Story List and Cover!
about 4 years ago
– Wed, Feb 26, 2020 at 09:26:29 AM
Magic Pens Updates!
I know I'm overdue for an update, but it's because my energy has been fully funneled into the book. Which I hope to be a good thing.
Here's the bottom line: I'm thrilled with this collection. Just thrilled. And I hope that you will be too. The stories are so good; I'm so happy. And the editing process has been all-consuming but has gone really smoothly and I feel like everything is polished so shiny - yet with tons of character. I just hope people love this book as much as I do! Or even some portion of that - I mean, I really think it's special.
With that, I'm going to keep the update here simple, so please let me know if you have any questions:
First, the author and story list is now online. Again, I am so thrilled about it. So thrilled. (And I will also note that the quality of stories we didn't include was exceptional. Please know that all your submissions, were read, loved, and appreciated! The decisions were very hard, as evidenced by how long it took me to make them.) I will say again: I love the final story list. I wanted the voices to reflect the writing community, and I believe that they do.
Second, as you know, I wanted this campaign to exceed $10,000 and we got to $2,500 here. I am immensely grateful for your support (so much!), but there were a lot of factors to not getting that support from a larger audience. I won't get into all the reasons, but being where we are, there are a few things you can do in the short term to help us make up that difference. (We do not have this money sitting around. We have to find it. And if we are spending our meager freelance income on Magic Pens, then it's money we're not using to support our family. I'm not complaining; I just need you to know this situation is very real.) I am so hopeful that people will notice this book and see how great it is. We'll see. In the meantime, you can help:
Let people know about the pre-orders, which will stay up at least through March: https://magicpens.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders - and note that limited editions will only be available as long as this link is up.
Help spread the word of a quick campaign we'll be running soon (we'll announce it here) - I'm calling it Pins for Pens! We'll be selling enamel pins of our logo to help bring in some needed money. Every little bit helps! More on that soon.
Please let people know that I'm available for freelancing. I try to help writers as much as I can, but I have to start making some income. It's actually really rough, but I believe. (And if you're here, you believe with me, which is super and gives me superpowers too.) Here is a summary of what I can provide, to peruse and share: edebell.com/freelancing
Also, we have a cover! Thanks to Detroit artist Journey for these lovely, vibrant illustrations and to my partner-in-all, Chris for his help with the design and layout. Ta-da:
Community of Magic Pens
Thanks again for your support - and please let me know if you have any questions. - Cheers from almost spring in Detroit except today there's a snowstorm, Emily.
Invisible Threads
One more very important thing: Our friends at Apex Book Company have a new collection up. The campaign seems to be running a little slow given their reach, so I hope you’ll give it a look and help them fund! They have an awesome theme and an awesome author list. One content note: this is a dark fiction collection. So if you’re like me and don’t read dark/horror, this won’t be for you. Unless you want to support anyway or grab one of the other unique rewards like baby blankets and writing critiques! But if you’re up for it, it’s guaranteed to be good, and they have lots of fun rewards. (Including mystery boxes! Check it out!)
Submissions End Soon (but there's totally still time - get writing!)
over 4 years ago
– Sun, Jan 05, 2020 at 03:21:38 PM
Hello, just a reminder that submissions for Community of Magic Pens are still open through the 15th. There's no minimum length, and I really want to feature the beautiful diversity of the writing community. So please pass people the link who might be interested: atthisarts.com/magicpens
I've learned everything I say influences the submissions. (It's so strange when you see how that actually works.) So I've been communicating a point with a bit of a fine line: I am encouraging people to be creative with the theme. The pens don't have to be pens (i.e. ink pens). The magic doesn't have to be magic (i.e. fantasy magic). Technology, inspiration, romance, psychology - there are many types of magic. The story just has to evoke the theme of magic pens in a meaningful way. That said, if you are writing a more literal take: fantasy, whimsy, gold glowing pens - please keep writing those stories too. I love them and want them. I'm just making sure people know there is (and was intended to be!) a lot of flexibility with this theme.
Also, many genres are welcome. Romance, fantasy, sci-fi, literary, historical, futurism, satire, comedy, inspiration, storytelling, mystery, adventure, any mix or mash up - like, go for it! (Just please avoid dark, tragic, horror, and overt erotica partially because I'm not a good editor for those genres and partially because of the reader base that we have.)
Thanks! - Emily.
P.S. My own short fiction was featured in two collections this year. I'm really proud of these stories - if you can, please support these great indie editors and pick up a copy.
Optimization, a space opera tale of a little computer who feels something isn't right, is featured in Space Opera Libretti, edited by Jennifer Lee Rossman and Brian McNett
