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It’s a Beastie Boys World: I Just Live In It. Free Guide!
Oh man, you found the perfect song for your novel. Only thing is, it’s not your song. What’s an author to do? What Can You Safely Use: Song Titles Book Titles TV Show Titles Titles typically cannot be copyrighted. What Can You Not Use Without Checking Copyright First: Song lyrics Quotations from people (famous or…
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LIVE & LOCAL
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Poetry and Mentorship from Old Scratch Press
Did you know that we also run Old Scratch Press (OSP)? OSP is a group that loves writing and reading short form writing like poetry, flash fiction, and flash memoir. The group formed from the writers who had been published in Instant Noodles Lit Mag. Several times each month writers in the group post articles…
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Do Authors Need a Website? Yes, and Here’s Why It Matters
“Do I need an author website?” Yes, you do. And we build them. You don’t need a big author website, and you don’t need an expensive one. For about $68 a year, you can have a clean, professional home on WordPress, one you actually own. No gatekeepers, no middlemen, no wondering where your content went. If…
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Get to Know World Anvil
World Anvil is an online worldbuilding platform where writers, game masters, and creators organize everything about their fictional universes in one place, from maps and timelines to characters, cultures, and lore. For fantasy readers, it’s like stepping behind the curtain of a novel: you can explore the deeper history of a world, uncover hidden details about…
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Pass the Mic
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We Missed You!
Over 30 people joined us at last weekend’s mixer, and three lucky attendees walked away with signed books or custom art. The room was buzzing with conversation, laughter, and new connections, and we truly wished you could have been there. It was an evening full of energy, creativity, and good company. I love meeting people…
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For a Limited Time: One of Our Boldest Books for 99¢
There are books you read. And then there are books that read you. Hibernaculum by Anthony Doyle is the latter. Set in a near-future world where human hibernation has become a solution to climate strain, illness, and the quiet exhaustion of modern life, Hibernaculum asks a deceptively simple question: what happens when we step out of our lives… and then try…
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Don’t Miss the Mixer!
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This Week’s Hot Take
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We’re Having a Contest and You’re Invited
In anticipation of the upcoming Old Scratch Press poetry collection HOWLING INTO THE VOID by R. David Fulcher, we invite you to take part in a cover reveal guessing contest. Three cover designs are shown on the contest page. One of them has already been selected as the final, official cover. Your task is to…
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Popping the Cork on Champagne, or champagne?
Did you know there is a difference between Champagne and champagne? Well, honestly, there never was in my house growing up. My parents called Asti Spumante, Lancer’s Rose, and cold duck, “Champagne,” because they thought they all were the same. (And I can still remember the oohs and aahs over pink champagne! It was pink!)…
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A New Year “Hello!” from a Very Real Publishing Team
Hi Everyone~Before the year wraps up, we wanted to say hello, and introduce ourselves properly. Yes, that is our dog, Oliver. Yes, that is our Christmas tree behind him. And yes, we are very real people who genuinely care about writers and books. We know the internet can feel crowded with promises, shortcuts, and programs…
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Dan Cohen’s Father’s Dementia Made Dan Into an Author, and One of Our Partners
When did you become a writer? For myself, I had been a writing since elementary school. I began as a playwright. I would write one-act comedy skits I would coerce my friends into performing with me. Fortunately for me, the teachers at Leedom Elementary School were very encouraging, and they always managed to find a…
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In the Spotlight | Ignoring Alva by Emilie Khair
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NOODLES!!!!
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In the Spotlight | A Witch Awakens by Ellis Elliott
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Muting, and How to Prevent it From Happening to You on Facebook—Tips for Authors
Introduction This post is about muting or, rather, how to avoid being muted, by your Facebook audience. Let’s dig in…Every author has seen it—the desperate “Like my page!” posts, the relentless book plugs, the awkward event invites that aren’t really events. Although often well intended, these requests are among the fastest ways to get muted…
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In the Spotlight | Dreams of the Return by Alan Bern
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Principles Authors Should Live By on Facebook
Introduction “Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt Facebook sometimes (or often) feels like shouting into the void, you’re not alone. Many authors struggle with what to post, how often to post, and whether their efforts even matter. The truth is, there’s no single formula. But there are guiding principles that separate…