• Tag Archives book
  • Going Out of Print – Getting Down and Digital: How to Self-publish Your Book

    My how-to book on self-publishing, Getting Down and Digital: How to Self-publish Your Book, is going out of print in a week. That means you have one week to get your copies before I pull the plug. Why am I pulling the book? Because it is dated. The how-tos on formatting and design are all still relevant and important, as is the information on self-publishing in general, but the sections on uploading to the different interfaces are now out of date because the platforms featured changed how they do things. I don’t want someone getting the book then hitting the part about uploading and what they see in the book doesn’t match what’s on their screen.

    The book, for those still interested, will be available for direct order only going forward until I’ve depleted my stock here at the Central, but the distribution access is being stopped in 7 days.

    If you’re looking for general self-publishing information, my weekly newsletter, The Canister X Transmission, usually has something in it likewise with its collected counterparts. My other book, Canadian Scribbler: Collect Letters of an Underground Writer, also contains lots of self-publishing information in the correspondence.

    Thank you to everyone who supported Getting Down and Digital: How to Self-publish Your Book over the years. Hope you found it helpful.


  • Canister X Mailbag – Hilda and Richie Unboxing – May152021

    hilda and richie kickstarter reward unboxing thumbnail

    Canister X Mailbag – Hilda and Richie Unboxing – May152021:

    Come join me as I unbox the first children’s picture book by Sunnyville Stories creator Max West.

    This book looks like a lot of fun and, knowing Max, I’m in for a real treat.

    For more on Hilda and Richie, please go here.

    For more on Sunnyville Stories, please go here.

    Here’s the video. Enjoy!

    Don’t forget to subscribe to stay up to date on all the latest videos.

    Feel free to drop me an email with any comments by going here.


  • Newsletter Delay; The Canister X Transmission Issue 252

    Just a note to inform you there is a newsletter delay this week due to TinyLetter’s site glitching. Until it’s resolved, I am unable to send out the most recent issue so I’ve blogged it here in the interim and will send it out proper once I am able to, which might mean this week you’ll be getting two editions of The Canister X Transmission close together. If the problem persists due to possible staffing shortages on their end, then we’ll just air the newsletter here until things get back to normal.

    There’s a first time for everything.

    Here is the latest edition. It is dated yesterday.

    Newsletter:

    Issue Two Hundred-fifty-two – April 18, 2020

    Hello and welcome to the 252nd issue of THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION, a weekly newsletter from a schlub up north who offers you strange ramblings every week.

    How is everyone?

    It has been a busy week. Lots of tasks. Lots of work. Lots of prep. Lots of thinking. Lots of stress. Lots of accomplishment. Lots of, well, lots.

    And here we are.

    Oh, and I made bread.

    Work log:

    PROJECT JACKASS (title reveal below); uploaded a sneak peek to the Behind-the-Scenes tier on Patreon showcasing one of the opening pages of PROJECT JACKASS in full color (link below); shot and uploaded a new video to YouTube, which announces PROJECT JACKASS’s real title and quickly takes a glimpse at the artwork and offers a brief premise (link below); blogging; and administration.

    Quick note regarding this newsletter: Issue 260 is the final issue of The Long Year Five. We will do something special at that time. As always, the invite is there if you want to see something particular in that double issue. Just shoot me an email and I’ll see what I can do.

    In blog headline news—and once information known only to my patrons on Patreon—the title of PROJECT JACKASS was revealed! PROJECT JACKASS was a place-holder name for an upcoming webcomic from me called FREDRIKUS, which is about an anthropomorphic dog in a dystopic sc-fi world. Phew. Now I can finally refer to it as an actual thing and not some project document (which is actually a combination of multiple documents including a notebook for the stories).

    Blog headlines:

    Various Bits from the Net – 041220

    Status Report – 041420

    Project Jackass Title Revealed: Fredrikus

    Fredrikus Social Media

    New Fredrikus Behind-the-Scenes Post on Patreon!

    On Art and Never Arriving

    Fredrikus Webcomic Announcement

    Status Report – 041720

    As you can see from the above headline, you are invited to like and follow FREDRIKUS on social media so you can be notified when the strip airs. Please do so. More details about the webcomic to be revealed in due time. Watch the blog to stay current. I will admit, it’s high time new things started to roll out from me and warming up the machine for FREDRIKUS is part of that journey.

    I’m thinking that the next thing to roll out from me is the Inktober 2019 sketchbook I mentioned in a previous issue. PROJECT REBUILD is taking some time due to elements beyond my control and I don’t want to leave you hanging.

    Side note: As much as my blog has been retooled on the back end, sometimes the theme acts up and reverts to black text on white rather than white text on black. If you come across this, don’t worry. I’m still troubleshooting the issue with the hope of taking care of it once and for all in the near future. Just check the blog as per usual and you’ll be fine.

    We’re also gearing up for the new serial novel to air on Patreon because GIGANTIGATOR DEATH MACHINE is almost complete. Watch the blog for the announcement and be sure to get in on the ground floor by becoming a patron today for just a buck. The entirety of GIGANTIGATOR DEATH MACHINE will remain on the site so come time for the new serial novel, you’ll have two novels to read for the price of one. Awesome deal. Please take advantage (it also helps keep me fed). Link below to subscribe to what is essentially the Netflix of literary entertainment from a book and comic guy like me. Thank you in advance for your support.

    Also going on, but not worked on this week, is PROJECT COBALT. This is a big one and an important one, and a lot of thought, trial and error, and work has already been put into it. I’m suspecting a latter 2020 rollout, but keep that fluid for the moment. The world is in upheaval on multiple levels and things are in constant flux as we combat this invisible enemy (amongst other things). But yeah, PROJECT COBALT, man. Onward.

    For a good while I’ve had the marketing materials for a YouTube subscription drive, but we’re not quite there yet in terms of the channel’s relationship to other things. However, I’m a firm believer in groundwork and foundation and I’d like you to be a part of all that’s planned for the channel plus what’s already there. Please use the link below and subscribe. Your subscription will eventually lead to me monetizing the channel, which in turn will fund more comics and books and the stuff I put online for free. But it all takes time and time, in order to do this job full time, requires money. The subscription costs you nothing other than 5 seconds—which I recognize is your valuable time hence why I try and create interesting content in the vein of Heroes and Monsters—and will go a long way toward keeping the media machine running. Thank you in advance again for your support.

    With Year Six of this newsletter fast approaching, I’m getting eager to see how the new format will work, how it will flow, and, ultimately, what it will do for you as my reader. I hope you enjoy the new format in 8 issues.

    In other newsletter news, Year Four was obviously completed a long time ago but was never published. It is still the plan to release it along with The Long Year Five. Also soon, my how-to book, GETTING DOWN AND DIGITAL: HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH YOUR BOOK, will be going out of print. Please grab your copy now. The principles and methods apply to both books and comics. It is also ideal for creators on a budget who are unable to afford fancy formatting programs. It walks you through formatting in MSWord for both print and electronic editions in a tried-and-tested procedure that is quite simple to follow.

    We’re also noodling with the social media broadcaster for FREDRIKUS because I’ve never run a broadcaster for anyone but myself and since good ol’ Fred can’t work the thing himself due to his paws, I’m stuck with the job. Hopefully it all works out. Speaking of which, the broadcaster has run out of broadcasts from that time I loaded ’er up good so that will have to be addressed in the coming week or two as well, but I’m toying with some new ideas. Not that the old ones were bad, but as it is with this game, doesn’t hurt to try new things.

    Okay, I think the above about covers it for this week. Lots of commercials, I know, but we’re at that stage in the grand plan.

    Rollout soon.

    We’re finally getting there. Isn’t that a thing?

    Take care of yourselves and each other. In the end, it’s on us about how we treat people.

    Have a good weekend. Make bread. Send me some.

    – A.P. Fuchs

    All the New Things, MB

    As usual:

    Patreon – Where I post an ongoing serial novel, essays on the creative life, behind-the-scenes secrets, and general jackassery.

    Canister X – Where I’m blogging during the week.

    YouTube – My channel that needs your subscription and views to help it grow.

    Ko-fi – A Tip Jar designed to cover the costs of the free stuff I put on the Web (daily blogging, this newsletter, YouTube videos, and artwork).

    End transmission


  • On Juggling Multiple Projects

    I used to work on one novel, one short story, and a poem at the same time. Then I switched to working on one book and/or item at a time. Now I’m back to working on multiple things at once. It’s a stretch of the mind, to be sure, but also a method of getting a lot done because you are multitasking. These days I usually have one personal project, something freelance, and something art-related all happening at the same time. Thus far, things are working out okay. This will probably change in the future as the project schedule changes, but until then, I’ll stick with this method of working.

    On a personal note, I am looking forward to things slowing down a bit. Can only go hard for so long until you burn out and, frankly, that’s already happened several times over. Gonna need time to recuperate but this going hard is all part of my masterplan so you gotta do what you gotta do.

    Onward.


  • Remote Update

    This update is coming to you from the middle of the bush where the fish-flies are dreadful. However, it won’t be posted until I return to the city where there’s an Internet connection.

    It is Saturday, July 15, 2017.

    Hope I remember I have this entry on my smartphone otherwise I’m writing it for nothing.

    This post is to notify you I’m still working and, as of this writing, have completed two penciled images for a client, with the third page needing the finishing pencils. All three will then be inked and the job will be complete.

    AXIOM-MAN/AURORAMAN: FROZEN STORM is also in progress, and I’m aiming for a mid-September release so the book can go out to the Kickstarter backers.

    Also in progress are a plethora of small art pieces which will eventually show up on my Instagram account. Search “#apfuchs” to be connected for when the viewing takes place.

    Reminder: Continuous weekly mayhem can be found via my newsletter, THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION, at www.tinyletter.com/apfuchs

    Still running on fumes, but am getting things done.

    Remote update concluded.


  • Coming Up for Air – Work Updates

    This week’s newsletter, first draft.

    Writing this to “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult. A classic song with profound meaning.

    The last book I published was the tenth-anniversary edition of Axiom-man. That was way back in October of 2016. Unless you’re a subscriber to my newsletter, The Canister X Transmission, then it might seem like I haven’t done anything since.

    The opposite is true. It’s just that nothing’s out yet. However, 2017 will see an avalanche of releases because the following are written and are awaiting production. I just need to write one more book, then away we go.

    1) Secret Project No. 1 (Newsletter readers know the title)
    2) Secret Project No. 2 (Newsletter readers know the title)
    3) Flash Attack: Thrilling Stories of Terror, Adventure, and Intrigue
    4) The Canister X Transmission: Year Three

    The publishing order has yet to be determined, but I’m pretty sure I know what I’m going to do.

    Also written is Secret Project No. 3, a prestige-format comic book, and the graphic novel Fox, which has been in the thumbnailing stage since time immemorial.

    There are a couple of more projects close to completion, but I’ll save those for another time. Point is, 2017 is going to be a big year and it’s going to start happening soon.

    Okay, that’s enough for now. Heading back down into the mines. I’ve found a tunnel I wasn’t expecting and need to explore it.


  • What is Coming Up in 2017

    A.P. Fuchs 2017

    I commit to nothing.

    Bwahahaha.

    Post over.

    Kidding.

    However, I meant the above: I commit to nothing.

    Instead of doing the usual writer shtick of announcing what projects are coming out and when, I’m simply going to announce them as I complete them.

    There are only three confirmed titles coming from me in 2017 thus far. They have already been announced on this blog, but I will mention them again and mention why I know they are guaranteed to be released.

    The Canister X Transmission: Year Three – This is being written week-to-week and, like Years One and Two, the collections have been published within a couple of months of that newsletter’s year having ended.

    Untitled Flash Fiction Collection – This is part of the Year Three experience, so each week a new piece of flash fiction is sent out to readers. A total of 60 pieces of flash fiction will comprise this collection–52 from the weekly newsletter, a 53rd from the collected edition of the newsletter–and the remainder to be written afterward.

    Axiom-man and Auroraman: Frozen Storm – This is a novel I will be writing for a kickstarter project that begins in March. Since it’s being kickstarted, and assuming Auroraman creator Jeff Burton and I hit our goal, this book will be published on time for backers.

    Regarding Secret Project No. 1 and Secret Project No. 3–projects mentioned in my newsletter–they will be announced upon completion. What about Secret Project No. 2, you ask? Since it ties directly into Secret Project No. 1, I can’t say anything about it just yet.

    As for other works in various stages of finishing, same deal: they will be announced upon completion.

    Commit to nothing.

    I have also restructured my 2017 on-line marketing efforts and just today finished automating the whole year. There will be some manual posts but the rest will be the social media bots doing my bidding.

    Your best bet in keeping up-to-date on things is by regularly checking this blog or subscribing to my newsletter.

    Have a safe and Happy New Year.

    See you in 2017.


  • Canister X Book Review #16: The Hospital Suite by John Porcellino

    The Hospital Suite by John Porcellino
    Click Here to Order from Amazon.com

    The Hospital Suite
    by John Porcellino
    5 out of 5

    This book is, quite simply, amazing. I’ve been a fan of John Porcellino’s work for several years and when this book arrived in the mail, I got to reading it as soon as I could. John’s honest portrayal of working through his illness and the aftermath that followed struck a chord with me on several levels. In fact, I just sent an email to John going into those things more in depth.

    On the cartooning front, John is a masterful cartoonist and storyteller. This book kept me gripped from beginning to end and the art within complimented the story John was telling.

    This book is highly recommended. Do yourself a favor: read it. John Porcellino has earned himself the spot of an excellent cartoonist.


  • A Note on Facebook Pages

    Presently I’m running two Facebook pages, one a fan page, the other a personal page. They each have their purpose and there is minimal overlap of content.

    The fan page – presently, it’s straight-up broadcast. This is where I share only writing/book-related items pertaining to my career.

    The personal page – this gives you the broadcasted items plus me making comments about whatever and being an idiot on a daily basis. I also interact the most here.

    Depending on your cup of java, either of the above might work for you, or even both if you want to show extra support.

    Hook up:

    Fan page
    Personal page

    See you there.

    Thanks.