Philip Athans

BE DIFFERENT

Hey, y’all… There are and have been and will be an infinite number of things on earth. Individuals all different, all wanting different things, all knowing different things, all loving different things, all looking different. Everything that has been on earth has been different from…

No one is keeping secrets from you. - Alan Baxter I get one or two emails or private messages a month on average asking some variation of this question, so I thought I might as well write a blog post about it. Then I can reply to those emails with a ...

Indie authors must read:

No one is keeping secrets from you.
"Get good, work hard, get lucky. That’s how it works."

alanbaxter.com.au/no-one-is-ke...

I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 41 #booktube #reading YouTube video by Fantasy Author's Handbook

I WILL JUDGE YOU BY YOUR BOOKSHELF—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 41

A look inside an absolutely adorable book by my favorite cartoonist, Grant Snider.

youtu.be/fQKVO1lOmKc

Definitely trust AI translations. What could possibly go wrong?

Another "win" for AI!

Publishers Charge Anna’s Archive with Copyright Infringement The lawsuit, brought by 13 book and journal publishers and coordinated by the AAP, alleges the pirate website is not only stealing copyrighted materials but also advertising ways for companies, includ...

Publishers Charge Anna’s Archive with Copyright Infringement

www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Completely Broken
amzn.to/44FLDHc

Humans were making fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, study finds LONDON (AP) — Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is ...

Humans were making fire 350,000 years earlier than previously thought, study finds

www.pbs.org/newshour/sci...

A long document: Get to Know Your Bigoted Book Banning Bill

STOP THIS INSANITY!

#BookSky defend yourselves!

DiFATE’S CATALOG OF SCIENCE FICTION HARDWARE—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 40 YouTube video by Fantasy Author's Handbook

DiFATE’S CATALOG OF SCIENCE FICTION HARDWARE—The 100-Book Challenge, Episode 40
youtu.be/N8lrXMLlhtU

Founder Mike Richardson out at Dark Horse after 40 years After 40 years, Dark Horse founder and CEO Mike Richardson has exited the company, reportedly in a move to "modernize and strengthen" the company

This is huge…
Founder Mike Richardson out at Dark Horse after 40 years
…and not necessarily in a good way…

www.comicsbeat.com/founder-mike...

Dan Houser Expands Absurd Ventures Book Imprint The legendary video game developer has expanded his self-publishing venture into a new publishing program that will acquire across numerous genres. The U.K.’s Midas Group will handle submissions.

Dan Houser Expands Absurd Ventures Book Imprint
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Happy birthday to Mark Z. Danielewski, author of the masterpiece House of Leaves. March 5, 1966. fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2016/10/11/b...

Authors Guild Expands ‘Human Authored’ Certification Program The program, which launched in beta for Guild members in 2025 and certifies titles as written by humans and not AI, is now open to any author whose books are published in the United States.

What do we think, #BookSky and #WritingCommunity…?

Too easy to fake…?

Authors Guild Expands ‘Human Authored’ Certification Program
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

The Literary History of the Haunted House. Thematic Essays.

The Literary History of the Haunted House
cmreid1.substack.com/p/the-litera...

THEY’RE NEW, AND I’M SCARED TO DEATH

Let’s start with this passage from the science fiction novel Babel-17  by Samuel R. Delany… She said something unprintable. When she finished there were tears starting on her lower lids. “What I want to say, what I want to express, I just…” Again she shook her…

50 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Works Every Socialist Should Read When I became a socialist I was also studying Sociology and Philosophy academically. I experienced something that seems to be a trend among many (though assuredly not all) folks who delve into these w...

50 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Works Every Socialist Should Read

Author China Mieville lays out a list of 50 science fiction and fantasy works he feels every socialist ought to read.

portside.org/2017-11-18/5...

I'm already seven books behind on my GoodReads challenge.

The negative result of Big Deadline Energy…

And… I'm taking the rest of the day off.

INDEX AN INDEX TO FANTASY AUTHOR’S HANDBOOK   First, chronologically…   June 2009 June 15, 2009 Who is Philip Athans? I should probably update this—my autobiography. * * * July 2009 July…

Your monthly reminder that
FANTASY AUTHOR'S HANDBOOK
comes with a handy index of posts on the art and craft of #writingfantasy #writingsciencefiction #writinghorror and #writing in general!

fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/index/

Amazon Amazon

They say social media doesn't sell books.

I have about 2100 followers… what of only 1% of you bought a copy of…?

The Best of Fantasy Author’s Handbook Vol. 1

One of the gentler voices of the Golden Age This is intended, not just as a tribute to an author whose work I remember fondly, but also as a tribute to a line of single author collections that had a huge impact on me when I was a teenager. Unde...

One of the gentler voices of the Golden Age
The Best of Eric Frank Russell
jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/one-o...

A Nationwide Book Ban Bill Has Been Introduced in the House of Representatives Hours after the State of the Union address, House republicans introduced legislation banning LGBTQ+ books from public schools nationwide.

The Republican Party is a domestic terrorist organization.

bookriot.com/hr7661-book-...

Robert Louis Stevenson’s Art of Living (and Dying) On summer break from his university studies, a young Robert Louis Stevenson worked late into the night. He apprenticed in his family’s lighthouse engineering business but had no interest in the tra…

The Times Literary Supplement argued in 1919 that his emphasis on adventure, courage, and optimism was no longer tenable: “Violence is not the fashion. Nor for that matter is optimism.”

lithub.com/robert-louis...

THE THREE RULES OF GENRE FICTION

I’ve been working hard to stop using the word “rules” when it comes to creative writing—especially fiction, and including genre fiction. I’ve used that word in connection to two things in particular: one scene, one POV and show, don’t tell, but both those things…

Happy 100th birthday to Richard Matheson, February 20, 1926. I keep calling people “one of the all time greats” in these posts, and here’s another one!

FANTASY SUB-GENRES EXPLAINED! Authors and readers alike, hear my words: THERE ARE ONLY THREE SUB-GENRES OF FANTASY! ----- Books mentioned in this video… The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction…

Authors and readers alike, hear my words:

THERE ARE ONLY THREE SUB-GENRES OF FANTASY!

Adapt Balestra's Sixth Edition

You can read my poem
"It's Not That I've Been Hurt"
at Balestra

balestramagazine.substack.com/p/adapt

This publisher enlists 'bookfluencers' to choose its titles. Is it working? At Bindery Books, a publishing startup, online influencers work as acquiring editors. The model offers a new path for surviving the social media era.

Can I say I'm "cautiously optimistic" about this…?

This publisher enlists ‘bookfluencers’ to choose its titles. Is it working?

www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

SUSPENSE VS. EXPLANATION

I’ve been oh so slowly working my way through the old Perry Rhodan books, and made it to #4: Invasion from Space by Walter Ernsting and Kurt Mahr. The quick history of Perry Rhodan: a magazine series of space opera sci-fi stories published in Germany and brought to the…