Self Publishing, the Start of an Odyssey

I don't really know where to start with this, to be honest. The short version of what I want to post is that I've decided to self publish my work for a while, in order to build a market for my books and get it out there, hopefully earning some money in the process. That feels like an awfully mercenary thing to write, but sadly money is necessary to live, and I think my work is good enough to be paid for (you may disagree).

So, I've decided to publish two large pieces, Forest Brides and A Strange and Sudden Fury in the near future. One, Forest Brides, is a book of short stories all about a magical group of women who dwell in a bonafide old forest and who share the energy of that place. The world thinks they're dead, and so they can come and go as they please and be whoever they want, free of the constraints that might be placed on them otherwise. Their world is a Bronze Age one, with large empires and tribes. I've tried hard to keep the stories focused on women and upon nature, and the world steps away from traditional fantasy in that regard. Join Noora, Tola, Teya, Eskylla and Ehla in their adventures, and discover the true identity of the mysterious Thornchild.

Later this year, I'll be trying to turn another Forest Brides piece, Daughters of the Moon, into a novel so I hope that will be published early next year. That's going to be an Arabian Nights inspired piece, in the Inner Sea. There'll be pirates, puzzles, sorcery and terrible secrets. Oh,and Nephilim, can't forget those. It'll also delve into the idea that the Forest Brides world has had a number of ages and doesn't really work like ours, once only the moon shone in the sky because the sun hadn't been born yet.

A Strange and Sudden Fury, in contrast, is an Urban Fantasy novel set in a divided occult Birmingham. It's the first in what I hope will be a series of books about 'Gutter Magi', wizards who use the magic they find on the streets, in hidden places, at markets and so on. When a spirit of rage and fury enters the city, a group of these outcasts mystics must find it, destroy it, and start to at least try to heal the city's wounds. My Birmingham is one of secrets, mysteries, and divisions. The city wants to rush into the future but under the chrome and glass, the bright shopping districts and consumer goods lurks something else. A city obsessed with keeping its mouth shut about so much of what's going on. Divided into Courts, the Magi carry their craft traditions through a world with no more use for them. As their magic shrivels, another power, one with a self declared crusade to transform Birmingham into Heaven on Earth, rises and they will follow their dream, no matter who it hurts.

Join Armitage, Spencer, Emily and Victoria as they try to beard the spirit in its den. We have such sights to show you.

I'm currently writing the second book, though I haven't finalised the title yet - at present I'm calling it Season of Fear, but that's going to change. It's about drugs, Faerie, fear (obviously), and how that shapes us as people, with a slight detour down into what we used to think about Faeries before the Victorians got their grubby mitts on them. They will do thee mischief in the woods.

In addition, I've decided to publish some shorter pieces for free, to give readers a taster of the kind of thing I write, as well as a poetry folio, Under the Trees. This is as well as setting up on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/stevecotterill, which I'm slowly figuring my way around. I do want to stress that Patreon will have a hodgepodge of writing, gaming pieces, op ed and other bits and pieces while Amazon (for that is who I am publishing through) will only have fiction and poetry. You can find my Author Page on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Steve-Cotterill/e/B01IT18AR6.

At the moment I'm just waiting for my tax to be sorted out, and my lovely cover artist to get those sorted... and then we're go! I hope you'll come along with me on this journey and enjoy what I create.
You can follow me on Twitter, too, if that's your bag.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll stop by again.