All posts tagged: short stories

The Paperbook Collective ~ 2014.

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Hello Paperbook people around the globe! I hope you all had a sensational Christmas and New Year, and that you took plenty of time out to relax and read. I certainly did. But now I am slowly getting back in the Paperbook groove, which is just as well because there is a lot of exciting things coming up in Paperbook Land over the next few weeks! Firstly, Issue Six is set to be released on the 7th of January, in two days time (or three, depending upon where you are in the world). I am very impressed with the submissions I have received, bearing in mind that we have just had the biggest festive period of the year to contend with. I am thrilled to see some old friends and new faces amongst the January contributors. Every month we seem to receive around 50% of submissions from regular contributors, and 50% of submissions from first time contributors. I think this is the perfect mix, keeping the magazine fresh and original while still ensuring that reader’s …

The Beginning of the End…

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It is the beginning of the end of 2013. This has been, without exception, one of the greatest years of my life. I quit hospitality, overloaded university, started a blog, met incredible people, spoke on ABC radio, started a magazine, met more incredible people, created a zine, got in touch with old friends, took up photography again, reviewed new novella’s by the son of my homeboy, got involved in local initiatives, remembered how to draw, took pride in my dream and met even more incredible people. Every single one of you reading this, and plenty of you who aren’t, have been a huge part of my 2013 journey. Thank you all so much for supporting The Paperbook Collective in all its manifestations throughout this year. Here’s hoping that it will continue to grow and prosper in 2014! As for me, I am planning on spending the entire day tomorrow, New Years Eve, doing absolutely nothing but relaxing, pottering around and reading. Every year since I turned eighteen, and probably a few years before that, New …

The 2013 Honour Role.

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So, as you are all probably aware by now, the final Issue of The Paperbook Collective for 2013 has been published. It’s been quite a journey! Despite a few hurdles we have managed to put together five issues of this creative, collaborative magazine. Suffice to say it has far exceeded the humble expectations I had for it back in July. I honestly envisioned a magazine of perhaps five pages, mostly my work with perhaps one or two articles contributed by other bloggers. The response I have had to this magazine has been overwhelming, it has achieved exactly what I hoped to design: a magazine that showcases creative talent from across the globe. Yesterday I spent several wonderful hours visiting as many contributor blogs as I could to write a little personal note of thanks for being a part of The Paperbook Collective in 2013. But there are several contributors who do not have blogs, and several that I couldn’t seem to find anywhere in the depths of the Internet. I guess blogs and domain names …

Keep an eye on it.

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There is all sorts of cool shit happening out in the blogosphere. You only need to log onto your WordPress Reader in the morning to be inundated with endless amounts of wonderful new ideas and initiatives. I thought I would take a moment to share with you the ones I know about, and hopefully you will do the same. So here is what I have been keeping an eye on, in between university and publishing new issues of The Paperbook Collective.  ________________________________________ wePoets Show It. Who: wePoets Show It. Where: WordPress ~ wePoets Show It.                Facebook ~ We Poets Show It. What: An interactive online community designed to showcase writers, poets, artists, published books and photography. They have a really cool rotation of themes and posts on their blog, make sure you swing by and take a look. ________________________________________ First Round’s On Us.  Who: Sahm King (and contributors). Where: WordPress ~ Books by Sahm King et al.               Smashwords ~ First Round’s On Us.       …

Spotlight On…Princess Del oso.

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How are your submissions going Paperbook people? Are you going to be a part of the final issue of The Paperbook Collective for 2013? It’s going to be spectacular, it’s going to be The Culture Issue, it’s going to be a celebration of all the parts of the world that our fabulous magazine is downloaded, read and enjoyed. Trust me, you don’t want to miss out. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Someone who I’m certain will not be missing out is one of our loyal contributors, Princess del Oso. She has submitted to almost every issue so far, but I thought I would shine the spotlight on her very first submission,  Crossroads, which was published in Issue One.  ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ To read the rest of Princesses story, check out Issue One. PDF ~ The Paperbook Collective_Issue One2013 ISSUU ~  The Paperbook Collective Issue One 2013 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Five minutes with Princess ~  1.  What is your creative outlet, and how did you first get into it? I have always had an over-active imagination.  As a young child I would make up …

The Paperbook Collective | Issue Four

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Good afternoon Paperbook People! As always, I am pleased and proud to announce the arrival of yet another issue of The Paperbook Collective… The November Issue! I’m sure that everyone is feeling a bit fragile from last nights various Halloween shenanigans. So stop whatever you’re doing, sit down, pour yourself a bit fat drink of your choice, and curl up with the November Issue of The Paperbook Collective. As always, it’s available in two very easy versions for you to peruse, a PDF version and an online version. Here are the links for you: PDF ~ The Paperbook Collective Issue Four 2013 ISSUU ~ The Paperbook Collective Issue Four 2013 It’s quite convenient, isn’t it, arriving at the start of the weekend like this. Take some time out to explore Paperbook Land with our insanely creative contributors. Have a fabulous weekend. Enjoy. Cheers,

Spotlight On…AR Neal.

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This week on The Paperbook Blog, I am shining a spotlight on some of the fabulous contributors who make The Paperbook Collective what it is each month. Yesterday I shone the spotlight on one of our fabulous contributors, Alicia Austen of A Small Press Life. See her five minute interview here: Spotlight On…Alicia Austen. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Today, the spotlight moves over towards Southern California, to land on the always entertaining AR Neal, author of the fabulous flash fiction piece  The Melting, published in Issue Two of The Paperbook Collective.  ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ To read the rest of AR Neal’s story, check out Issue Two. PDF ~  The Paperbook Collective-Issue Two_2013 ISSUU ~  The Paperbook Collective Issue Two 2013 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Five minutes with AR Neal ~            1. What is your creative outlet, and how did you first get into it?  I have two creative outlets: writing and tech-tinkering. The first began when I wrote a story in response to an electric company contest about a space toaster while in elementary school which got published (I won an …

A Tentative Theme…And Other Announcements.

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So, last night I rolled out the idea of having themes for future issues of The Paperbook Collective. I received some excellent feedback! The reason that I like to put forth these ideas for your consideration, instead of simply inputting them, is that we are a Collective. This means your opinion is just as important as mine. There were some strong opinions for and against – check out those responses here: Team with the Theme. Please feel free to share your opinion, the more information I have, the easier it is to make a decision. So I figure, in the interest of fairness, I will put forth a compromise. Not every future issue will have a theme, or, rather, the theme for those issues would be RANDOM or MASH UP or ECLECTIC…and so on. There will be plenty of issues like this so please don’t feel worried that your work won’t ‘fit’ with The Paperbook Collective any more. Everything fits here, this magazine is one size fits all. I promise. I have decided to trial a …

A Step-By-Step Guide.

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Yesterday, a lovely young woman asked me on Facebook where I get The Paperbook Collective printed, as she thought it looked really good. This was very exciting and flattering, because as most of you know, it is a completely D.I.Y. affair. So I thought, for interest’s sake, I would demonstrate the process for you, from start to finish. This is as grass-roots as it gets in terms of printing and publishing, so perhaps I might inspire someone to have a go for themselves! I think all too often we are guilty of thinking that things are best left to the professionals, somewhere along the line society has encouraged us to pay others to do what we could do ourselves.  This is why I decided to get back to basics with The Paperbook Collective, get out the glue stick and scissors and give it a go. Step 1. Compile the magazine. This means physically cutting out each individual item of work and gluing it into place, so it all fits together as a physical magazine. This …

It’s that way.

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I have a confession to make. I totally judge a book by its cover. I mean that literally, not metaphorically, although I’m sure I am guilty of that far too often as well. But whenever I am in a book store, or in a library, or at a friend’s house, or even scrolling through the WordPress Reader, I am far more likely to be drawn to a book whose cover instantly appeals to me. Similarly, I am likely to skip over a book whose cover I hate, despite the possibility that I might enjoy the book itself. Disgusting, isn’t it. I do the same with book titles. If the title is catchy and clever, I’ll immediately give the book a chance. With me, it’s all about first impressions. I like strong, simple, straightforward book covers. Not too many swirls, not too many flourishes, and preferably no picture, if I’m honest. Hence why I love orange Penguins so much. I like poetic and intriguing book titles, titles that draw you in but don’t give away too …