BY DIANE JORTNER
In addition to reading manuscripts during open submission season at Xchyler Publishing, the X-team is busy with several book release parties and a convention appearance.
Tonight we celebrate the launch of THE ACCIDENTAL APPRENTICE with Anika Arrington on a Facebook release party. If you have never been to an Xchyler release party, you have really missed out. You will get meet the author and participate in the fantastic lineup of games and prizes scheduled for the evening. The excitement is set to start at 6:00 PM PDT, but you can check here to find out what time, it is scheduled for your neighborhood.
This party also marks the end of our blog tour and Rafflecopter giveaway. We will announce the winners during the party. If you haven’t had a chance to participate, please hurry and like a few pages, or write a quick review!
Tomorrow also marks the final day of our sale for Mechanized Masterpieces: A Steampunk Anthology for only $0.99 on Amazon Kindle. Anika’s “Sense and Cyborgs” appears in this collection of Steampunk short stories inspired by great literature.
Two weeks from tonight, The X team will be partying again for the launch of Legends and Lore: An Anthology of Mythic Proportions. The Legends and Lore authors: R. M Ridley, Alyson Grauer, Sarah Hunter Hyatt, Lance Schonberg, M. K. Wiseman, Danielle E. Shipley, Sarah E. Seeley, A. F. Stewart, and Emma Michaels for games and individual prizes selected by each author.
The nine stories in this paranormal anthology were selected from a pool of dozens of submissions. The writers were asked to expound on the theme of “Mr. and Mrs. Myth.” The entries varied from urban re-writes, new and imaginary gods, and otherworldly legends. Please join us for the launch party for this release on Oct 22 on Facebook.
Our next event is one we have been anticipating all year! We are gathering our costumes, hats and google and traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, for TESLACON! Our plans for TeslaCon include VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY: From Inception to Published Work, a multimedia presentation and panel discussion, including authors Alyson Grauer, Scott E. Tarbet, and Megan Wiseman. We’re excited to meet steampunk enthusiasts from all over the world, attend workshops and events ,and connect with other Steampunk authors and readers.
As a special TeslaCon bonus, Xchyler will be offering a sneak peek and pre-sale of On the Isle of Sound and Wonder, by Alyson Grauer In addition to presenting her own workshops, she will be available at our Xchyler table to sign copies and meet her readers. Get to TeslaCon, and stop by and check out this and our other convention specials.
The official launch party for On the Isle of Sound and Wonder is scheduled for November 21, where again Alyson and the X-team will play games (for wonderful prizes) and introduce the rest of the world to her Shakespeare-inspired Steampunk novel.
To close out the year, we are having one more short story competition. We will accept submissions between November 30th and December 31st for a Steampunk short story between 5000 and 10,000 with the theme of “On the strange Island of . . .” Our competitions are a fun way for you to stretch your writing skills, and a great way for us to meet talented authors. Winners be published in our Spring Steampunk anthology.
For a full schedule of all our upcoming events and the latest development in author appearances, visit our events page.
Social Media Specialist Diane Lee Jortner fell in love with the media as a high school newspaper editor. With BA in Journalism/Public Relations from Bowling Green State University and a MALS in English from Valparaiso University, she brings her fifteen years’ experience teaching English Composition and her extensive personal social networking experience to The X Team.
In the past year, Diane launched Kids #5 and #6 who graduated from college, #6, the youngest from high school, written a YA mystery novel, and started to blog. In her free time, besides reading almost all types of fiction, she likes to travel with her husband and children.