I read an article in The Sydney Morning Herald today that talked about a poll conducted by Galaxy. They asked 400 people in Sydney and Melbourne aged over 16 to spell eight commonly mis-spelled words. The words in question were: embarrass accommodation accessory February guarantee opportunity eighth receipt According the article, people should be...
Read More »
Books By Alan
Click on book covers for reviews, previews and purchase options.
RealmShift
A race against time and the Devil
"RealmShift is phenomenal. If it’s not already on your bookshelf it should be."
MageSign
Believe in the blood 
"a gritty tale of blood rituals, mystery, and mysticism… grabs hold of the reader and doesn’t let go"
The Darkest Shade Of Grey
You can tell the story.
"...stunning supernatural noir..."
Ghost Of The Black
"Everything about it is bang on"
Write The Fight Right
“The best way for a writer to learn what’s really involved in brawling, short of going down the pub and starting something.”
Monthly Archives: June 2009
Spelling and the fear of new technology
Editor Unleashed/Smashwords Flash Fiction 40 – I got in
First off, thanks to all of you that took the time to vote for me in the recent Editor Unleashed Flash Fiction 40 competition. I am very pleased to say that I won a place in the top 40. I didn’t win first prize, but out of 280 entries it’s incredibly satisfying to get...
Read More »
“Crossfire” added to the Dark Shorts page
My short story “Crossfire”, which was recently published in The Oddville Press magazine, has been added to the Dark Shorts page here. Rather than reprint the story on my site like I usually do, I’ve made a direct link to the PDF file of the magazine in question. It’s a free publication and it’s...
Read More »
Last chance to vote me into an anthology
You may remember that I entered a flash fiction piece in a competition organised by Editor Unleashed and Smashwords. I asked you to go and have a read and vote for me. Well, my story currently has 65 votes and a rating of 3.12 out of 5. That’s not a bad rating overall and...
Read More »
The power of blogging and social media
I often wonder just how much all my online effort pays off. On the one hand, I see the hits this site gets (over 5,000 a month) and, even though people seem reluctant to comment much, it’s a very well-traversed corner of the interwebz. And I like it here, so I plan to stick...
Read More »
New short story published at The Oddville Press
I’m very pleased to announce that another piece of my short fiction has been published out there in the real world. This particular story is a whimsically existential idea called Crossfire, published by The Oddville Press. Who are they? According to them: The Oddville Press is a downloadable electronic non-profit magazine in PDF format...
Read More »
Ten year 10 book one million quid deal
No, sadly not for me. But whoever said that traditional publishing is dead had better think again. I’ve said myself that traditional publishing is dying. The whole nature of publishing is changing, and changing rapidly. But here’s proof that the old models aren’t going anywhere any time soon. I’ve picked up this news via...
Read More »
Self-Publishing Book Expo 2009
For all you US based indies out there, take a look at this. The first Self-Publishing Book Expo is in New York on November 7th 2009. There are all kinds of things going on, incluing panels like Understanding Distribution, The Rise of eBooks, Buzz Your Book and more to be announced. There are loads...
Read More »
SF/F Writers’ Day 2009
So, for those of you with a fairly short memory, I mentioned back on June 9th that there was a new day to celebrate. It’s Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers’ Day, and it’s today – June 23rd. This post may be dated June 22nd, but that’s what you get when you live Down Under...
Read More »
Automatically update your Facebook page with your blog entries
I found this article over at Publetariat today and thought it was a bloody useful snippet of information. It basically describes how to connect your blog feed to your Facebook page using the Notes application. Once you’ve set it up, any new post to your blog will get found by Facebook and automatically posted...
Read More »
RealmShift for $1 at Smashwords
Just a quick reminder that as part of my first post over at PubRen I made special offer on the ebook edition of RealmShift over at Smashwords. Until June 29th you can get RealmShift in a variety of ebook formats (including Kindle-friendly .mobi) for just US$1. Go to the RealmShift page at Smashwords, click...
Read More »
Great tips to get indie books into bookstores
I came across this post recently at the Publishers Weekly website. It’s written by a lady that owns an independent bookstore and she talks about all the Dos and Don’ts with regard to getting your indie or self-published book into independent brick and mortar bookstores. She gives great advice, so pay close attention. .
Read More »
Editor Unleashed Flash Fiction 40 – I need some help
Editor Unleashed is a great website run by Maria Schneider, a freelance writer and the former editor-in-chief of Writer’s Digest magazine. She recently teamed up with Next Chapter Communications and my favourite ebook site, Smashwords, to bring us a writing competition. The idea is simple, yet excellent. On the Editor Unleashed forums Maria set...
Read More »
This is a little too true
My wife would be the first to nod knowingly when I say this, but today’s strip from XKCD seems to be written about me: *sigh* .
Read More »
Free books and ebooks and promos, Oh my!
My first full post for Publishing Renaissance is up now. It’s all about the nature of ebooks, free books and giving away books for promotional purposes – all good marketing stuff like that. I’ve even cleverly shoehorned in a special two week promo in the post where you can get an ebook version of...
Read More »
The Word
Welcome to the website of author Alan Baxter.
I write dark fantasy, sci fi and horror, ride a motorcycle and love my dog. I also teach Kung Fu, hence the Warrior Scribe tag above. A friend once referred to me that way and I liked it, so it stuck. Learn all about me and my work by clicking About Alan just below the header.
Our world is built on language and storytelling. Without stories, we are nothing.
The Word is a place to learn more about me, my stories and the words of others. Click the links along the top for all kinds of stuff, search the sidebars for loads of other stuff, click on book covers for reviews and previews, enjoy the blog and don't be shy to share your words, in comments or send me an email:
alan [at]alanbaxteronline[dot]com
Click the icon above to add this blog to your feed and never miss a post.
------------------------------
------------------------------
TOP POSTS OF OLD
Stalk Me
Listen to my podcast: 
Myself and fellow Gryphonwood Press author, David Wood, talk about reading, writing and publishing in the thriller, action-adventure and speculative fiction genres.
Thirteen O'Clock Australian Dark Fiction News & Reviews: 
I'm a contributing editor to this site. Go there for all your dark fiction needs - news, reviews, submission calls, op-ed and more.
Subscribe
Receive an email whenever The Word is updated. Enter your email address:
National Archive
This website is archived by the National Library of Australia's Web Archive
Copyright © 2012 The Word. All Rights Reserved.
Magazine Premium created by Themes by bavotasan.com.
Magazine Premium created by Themes by bavotasan.com.