Canister X – A.P. FuchsWriter, Artist, Creator
This is a notice to inform everyone I have returned to YouTube with a brand new channel, Axiom-man TV. The first video is up. Please click on the graphic below to head to the channel. More video content to come. Don’t forget to like and subscribe.
My name is A.P. Fuchs and I’m a novelist, cartoonist, and freelancer in all things publishing. You are reading my blog, Canister X, my official web presence. I’ve been in this business as a creative professional for sixteen years, been creating for longer than that.
While this is my main home on the Web, I also have a longstanding presence on social media:
Ello
MeWe
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Tumblr
LinkedIn
My new Patreon page can be found here, where I post serial novels, essays on the creative and publishing industries, behind-the-scenes secrets, and more.
Join me.
Last Saturday, my free weekly newsletter, The Canister X Transmission, resumed. After that issue was sent, it was like no time had passed. Earlier this week I wrote the new issue, which will go out Saturday.
To find out what we talk about, archived issues can be found here.
I invite you to join myself and a host of others week after week as we get on with the Long Year Five.
Please use the subscribe box to the right or go here.
See you there.
I’ve been off-line for the most part during the 2019 Broadcast Mode season and have noticed massive improvements in my mood and mental health. The exposure to the toxicity of the mainstream social feeds had brought me low, so much so I was physically not feeling well. Recently, I came across this photo series in which the photographer removed the electronics from our hands to show us the lonely world we’re creating and it further cemented my thinking of us having lost our balance when it comes between living life on-line and off-.
View it here.
Back when I first started in this business, 98% of my computer time was spent writing. The other 2% was periodically updating my website and checking in on a message board called Shocklines. Even if I was following a conversation thread, most often I didn’t keep going back for updates. Those would wait until the next day to see where the conversation went. And people were polite for the most part and keyboard warrioring wasn’t really a thing. It was about lifting each other up instead of whining and complaining and tearing each other down.
We need to get back to that in our on-line behaviors. We also need to find balance.
It’s gone too far.
I’m thrilled about being in Broadcast Mode. Life is so much easier. Work is so much easier. Everything is just, simply, better.
As much as I tout working hard and keeping busy, a person also needs time out now and then to rest and recuperate so they can go back to working hard and keeping busy. Proper rest ensures you do your job well and produce quality work. It also keeps you from falling ill or just plain feeling crappy. I’m personally still working on knowing when to take a break, but the days I do allow myself a breather are treasured and are appreciated after the fact when I feel rested and restored.
It’s all about balance. Too many rest days and you won’t get anywhere. Too little rest days and your work will slide.
Balance. Yep. Still working on that one.
Note: This entry is from that file I found and is a reflection of how I felt at the time I was originally going to post it. I’m entering it here in the interest of archival purposes.
I’ve spent a great deal of my career offering as much advice and knowledge I could about how this business works. I’ve given everything from writing tips to marketing ones to going against the grain in some circles only later to be proven right. Upon reflection, I’ve pretty much said everything I have to say about this business. All of it is chronicled on this website, my newsletter archives (and collected editions), Canadian Scribbler, and social media posts.
I think it’s time to step back and let others discuss those topics and just focus on my own work. See, I love this business so much it upsets me when I see something poorly handled or writers being misled and I’m compelled to say something. I think that season is coming to a close now. Will it be permanent? I don’t know. But will it be for right now? Yeah.
The Canister X Transmission newsletter archives contain info upon info and can be accessed here.
Thanks for listening to me all this time, but it’s time for me to move on. Stories to tell. Pictures to draw. Books to make.
Cheers.
Something that crossed my mind is the idea that what’s considered a superpower can only be limited to a certain species. For example, you and I hear on a certain spectrum and no one would claim we have super hearing. However, a dog can hear things we can’t. They can also smell things we can’t. Does that mean they have special abilities? Or what about birds? They can fly. We can’t. If only a select few of the human race had wings growing out of their bodies, they’d be considered having superpowers.
So that’s my question: is what’s considered a superpower limited to a single species or not?
Sound off in the comment section below.
I have officially joined the world of Patreon!
Lots of planning went into this and now I’m able to finally share my page with the world. I hope you join me.
Here is a rundown of the current offerings and tiers:
Serialized Novels
For $1, you get access to an ongoing serial novel (minimum of one chapter posted every two weeks). Current creature feature playing is GIGANTIGATOR DEATH MACHINE, an homage to classic B-grade monster horror following a group of friends on a cabin getaway only to meet something sinister at the docks.
Patreon-only blog posts.
Essays
For $2, you get complete access to the serial novel.
Patreon-only essay blog posts exploring the ins and outs of publishing and tricks on getting your work done so you can share your craft with the world. (Minimum of one essay per month.)
Regular Patreon-only blog posts.
Behind-the-scenes
For $5, you get access to the serial novel.
Patreon-only essay blog posts.
A look behind-the-scenes (whether text, photo, or video; advanced looks at works in progress).
A nifty A.P. FUCHS/CANISTER X Official Membership Card mailed out to you with your name and membership number.
Gold Standard
For $30, you become a member of the A.P. FUCHS BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB. Each month I will select a book or comic book of mine from my inventory and mail it out to you complete with signature for the duration of your Gold Standard patronage.
You also have access to all other reward tiers, including your membership card.
And there you go. These are the tiers and rewards I’m starting out with. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me. Please consider joining me. Please also tell your friends, share via your social networks, and any other way you can think of to help spread the word.
Thank you.
The official link is www.patreon.com/apfuchs
See you there!
Just trying to help, is all. Lots of creators ask me questions because I’ve been in this business for so long. These little posts I’m broadcasting are meant to answer some and also provide encouragement to those who feel like throwing in the towel. Are they annoying? Maybe. Are they helpful? Maybe, too. Hope they are, anyway.
Time to keep working. If you have questions about any aspect of publishing, send me an email and I’ll do my best to answer in a timely manner.
Very simply, if you want to get anywhere in life, you gotta get things done. Books don’t write themselves. Drawings don’t draw themselves. Work doesn’t work itself, and so on. You want something, earn it. End of story. Discussion over.
