• Tag Archives Books
  • Patron-exclusive Essays and Articles Index

    It’s important to me to share information with fellow writers and artists whenever I can. I have a free section here for it on this site, but I also have a special section on Patreon for creators as well. The below essays and articles are only available on Patreon but they share over 20 years of knowledge of the self-publishing business and how it works.

    Patreon essays collection

    Click the image above to be taken to the page.

    The Secret to Social Media Success Part 1

    The Secret to Social Media Success Part 2

    The Secret to Social Media Success Part 3

    How to Write Well Every Time: Proper Writing

    The Road Back: How to Create Again After a Hiatus

    Spontaneous Book or Comic Marketing

    How to Maintain a Blogging Schedule

    How to Overcome Writer’s Block

    What to Do If You Think Your Arts Career Is Sinking Part 1

    What to Do If You Think Your Arts Career Is Sinking Part 2

    Should you Maintain a Creative Schedule?

    The One Marketing Trick Hiding in Plain Sight

    Creating: Time Allocation

    Business Card Division

    Project Cash Flow

    All of the above writing and self-publishing essays and articles are designed to help the creator, give insight, and, ideally, give their career a boost. I know the above has worked for me.


  • Patreon Invite

    Patreon Invite

    A.P. Fuchs-Patreon-Logo

    A ton of cool stuff has been happening over at the Patreon page. It serves as a special place to hold all that I share in public plus a pile of stuff for patrons only. Right now we’re airing two serial books, behind the scenes stuff, special articles, blog posts, videos, and more.

    The patron-only video this month asks the all-important question: Does God Speak German? And before you berate me, there’s a reason for the video.

    It’s amusing items like the above that keep the page fresh, educational, and also entertaining.

    I’m having a lot of fun with Patreon 2.0 and I invite you to join me there for the same.

    Here’s the trailer:

    Realm of Heroes and Monsters Patreon Page Trailer

    See you there. Oh, don’t forget about the books and comics here on this blog, too.


  • Status Report – 021324

    status-report-021324

    Status Report – 021324:

    All right, so things are starting to come together. Just over the weekend I received back the edits for AXIOM-MAN/CRIMSON CLOAK: SCARLET SYNERGY, which means that after I go over the edits (which is me doing just that: looking at the edits only prior to a final pass), the book goes into the production machine, gets a final look-over, then off to you, dear reader.

    I’m really excited to release this book. It’s not your usual Axiom-man story and it was a chance for me to start a mythology that may or may not be true. I’ll leave that to you to decide for when the book comes out.

    Also, I got the final piece I needed for my Writing 101 series I’m bringing to YouTube. There’s a method to the madness here and a bit of scheduling. It’ll all make sense as the episodes come out.

    Lastly, this week is also a major work week with a ton of hours needing to be put in so if I’m a bit silent on the social feeds, that is why.

    This has been your Status Report for 021324.


  • Station Ident – 020824

    Station Ident – 020824

    station ident 020824

    Station Ident – 020824

    This is your station identification for 020824.

    I am . . .

    . . . A.P. Fuchs and welcome to my blog where I have all sorts of things going on. I’m an independent writer, cartoonist, and freelancer in the worlds of books and comics. This is Canister X, my official web site and the Realm of Heroes and Monsters, where we attempt to entertain and inform you on a regular basis. (We blog 6 days a week, sometimes 7 so be sure to bookmark this site.)

    I’ve been at this publishing thing for over 20 years and I still have lots to do. Presently, we’re big on video content—both longer videos and shorts and reels—and podcasts, so be sure you’re hooked up at the appropriate links below (podcast on YouTube).

    My, perhaps, too many social media presences are:

    MeWe

    Twitter

    Facebook

    Instagram

    Pinterest

    Tumblr

    LinkedIn

    WT.Social

    YouTube

    Ko-fi

    TikTok

    LinkTree

    Spotify

    YouTube Music

    My Patreon page is here. It’s a very special place where I post serial novels, serial comics, essays and articles on the creative arts business, behind-the-scenes secrets, artwork, photography, and more. Join me and my other patrons and be a part of something entertaining and interesting with consistent content. Check out the wicked trailer for the page.

    I’m also the writer/artist behind the webcomic, Fredrikus, which you can read from the beginning here.

    On Saturdays, I send out my newsletter, The Canister X Transmission. It’s a weekly newsletter where we all come together after a busy week, unwind, regroup, and kick off the weekend. Presently we are in The Very Long Year Six. Join us.

    End station identification.


  • How to Budget as an Author or Artist

    How to Budget as an Author or Artist

    A.P. Fuchs-Patreon-Logo

    Last Friday, I released an important essay to my patrons on how an author or artist can managing funding their current and future projects while still reaping the reward. How to budget as an author or artist is huge right now in this digital do-it-yourself era.

    I cover a solid tip here on this site but the real meat and potatoes is below.

    Excerpt:

    “Money management can be the bane of many creators. It can be difficult to juggle funds for your project as well as keeping the financial reward from that project while also ensuring funds are available for the next project (never mind juggling the costs of life on top of this, especially in this era of inflation).

    Here’s a solid approach:

    First, understand the moment you decide to take your creation public and start charging money for it, you’re a business not a person. That’s how businesses work: They make something and sell it. No different here.”

    Please visit here for the rest of the essay. Its intent is to save creators headaches regarding funding their work.


  • 2024 Studio Changes

    2024 Studio Changes

    vLog - 2023 studio tour thumbnail

    Well, I’ve been working in the same space for almost five years. This is the only room in the house that accomodates my desks and equipment to bring you books and comics and a pile of other stuff.

    However, it’s time to change the decor and shuffle things around. Depending what Melinda says, I might even be able to free up an additional 2′ x 6′ area that’s presently occupied within the studio. As well, with a new studio layout comes new decorations so I’d like to showcase the studio as it is right now one more time before we say farewell to this version and change things up for 2024 and beyond.

    Here’s the teaser I shot to hint at the tour:

    The Phantom’s Door. A.P. Fuchs Studio Tour coming soon to YouTube

    And here is the tour itself. Hope you tune in when the 2024 studio changes kick in and all is complete and a tour is given.

    See you inside.

    A.P. Fuchs 2023 Studio Tour

  • Some Thoughts on Blogging

    Some Thoughts on Blogging

    station ident apr2420

    Just sitting here thinking about blogging. It’s considered a great sin in the blogging world for a blogger to blog about blogging. But, every now and then should be okay, right?

    To be honest, I don’t have much to add to the idea of blogging or what a blog is. I mean, what is a blog anymore? A long, long time ago in an Internet far, far away, blogs were basically public journals where writers–pro or hobby–could express thoughts and opinions on whatever topic, post it up for the world to see, then hope someone out there agrees with them.

    I’ve been thinking about this blog here at Canister X, the Realm of Heroes and Monsters. It’s not really a blog, is it? I mean, kind of. It’s runs on a WordPress engine so thus a blogging platform. The site’s divided into sections and pages, I have the main window of this place to share whatever I want on any given day, and I try and encourage you to explore the site because there’s lots here from articles, to comics, to artwork, to videos, to podcasts–I mean, we’re not really blogging anymore per se. We’re not journaling or running a series of articles on a topic as our main thing either. We’re just sharing art and writing and hoping to entertain and inform you. That’s it.

    This site–this place–is more a multimedia hub than a blog-blog. And that’s how I’ve been viewing it for a while: A place of free entertainment and a celebration of pop culture, superheroes, and monsters.

    Just some random thoughts this early Sunday afternoon (the time I’m writing this).

    Well, let’s just go forward step by step and take it from there.

    “Every day’s a brand new deal, right? Just keep on working and something’s bound to turn up.” – Harvey Pekar, AMERICAN SPLENDOR

    Peace.

    – APF


  • Canister X Mailbag – Scott A. Story’s Aorlis Fantasy Art Book Unboxing – 01242024

    Canister X Mailbag – Scott A. Story’s Aorlis Fantasy Art Book Unboxing – 01242024

    Canister X Mailbag - Scott A Story's Aorlis Fantasy Art Book Unboxing - 01242024 thumbnail

    Fellow writer/artist Scott A. Story sent me a copy of his latest book because he blames me for having put it together. Haha. Funny guy. Thank you, Scott, for the kind gift.

    Check out the artwork showcased in this video, folks, never mind more art in the art book itself. This is fantastic stuff and I can’t wait to dive in and go page-by-page through each piece.

    Support Scott by picking up your own copy of the AORLIS fantasy art book at Amazon here.

    And check out Scott’s main hub on the Web at here.

    Support independent art!

    Canister X Mailbag – Scott A. Story’s Aorlis Fantasy Art Book Unboxing – 01242024

    Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date on all the latest videos.

    Thank you for watching Axiom-man TV.


  • April: A Love Story Book Spotlight

    April: A Love Story Book Spotlight

    April A Love Story title card thumbnail

    Some moments come along and your world—your life—changes. Something shifts inside and everything’s the same yet somehow different. Sometimes someone comes into your life and helps you to breathe for the first time, to think with clarity and to give you truth and joy.

    Often, we never see it coming. But it also happens when we need it the most and, usually, when we don’t realize we need it.

    For Joseph Bailey, life has come to a standstill; existence, living, call it what you will, have stopped moving, stopped flowing, stopped growing. Those he knew while growing up seemed to have gone down the right path, creating a so-called normal life. He’s not sure if he followed.

    Spending lonely nights writing comic book scripts and hazy afternoons watching cartoons brings him to his knees, and he needs something—maybe even someone—more. One Friday, while at a coffee shop working on a new comic script, Joseph is interrupted when a quirky girl with long black hair and smooth-as-marble gray eyes sits down across from him, seeking sanctuary from her controlling boyfriend, Dan.

    Her name is April.

    All seems under control even when Dan follows her in to the coffee shop, looking to patch things up. At least, that’s what was supposed to have happened. Once Dan leaves, Joseph figures his work is done and April will be on her way, never to be seen again. Instead, she stays, removes her sweater and orders an apple cider. Just then something slips inside Joseph, something good, right and pure.

    Their weekend begins.

    From a quiet night in an old railway car to seeking the undertones of humanity at the art gallery, to bringing to light the tender commonalities that we as humans share, April is a story of how a simple chance meeting can hold you and protect you, and give you what the human heart is continuously after—

    Hope.

    April: A Love Story Book Spotlight

    Grab your copies of APRIL here:

    Available as a paperback at:

    Amazon.com
    Amazon.ca
    Amazon.co.uk
    Barnes and Noble
    Other On-line Retailers

    Available as an eBook at:

    Amazon Kindle
    Drivethru Fiction
    Smashwords

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

    Thank you for watching Axiom-man TV.


  • Blast from the Past: Axiom-man/Auroraman Frozen Storm Lettered Edition Unboxing

    Axiom-man/Auroraman Frozen Storm Lettered Edition Unboxing

    Frozen Storm title card thumbnail

    Let’s travel back in time to my first YouTube video when I relaunched the channel in September of 2019. I had a channel prior to that but had minimal content. Nothing as vast as it is now.

    But hey, we grow and things take time. This unboxing video is special because the box contains the first arrival of the Special Limited Hardcover Edition of AXIOM-MAN/AURORAMAN: FROZEN STORM straight from the printer.

    This book is almost sold out and is the ONLY limited edition (especially lettered) superhero novel on the market.

    Be a part of history. Check out the video then check out the book. Yes, a little pricey, but only 26 copies of these guys exist on Planet Earth. That’s it. Signed by both authors.

    Canister X Mailbag – Axiom-man/Auroraman Frozen Storm Lettered Edition Unboxing – Sept212019