Announcing the latest anthology released by Ps and Qs Publishing! Wyrd Wytchy West!

What I'm Looking For: Wyrd West stories, modern day or historical, it's completely up to you. Just write a great story that hooks the reader fast and reels them in hard. Kinda like a cowboy catching a steer. Feel free to include cryptids, magic, or even just a wyrd feeling. Good vibes are optional. Witches are optional.

Story length will be between 5,000 and 10,000 words.

Dates: Open immediately with the final entry being accepted Jan 31st, 2025. The contracts will be sent out Feb 28thst, 2025. The anthology will be published March 28th. If there are enough awesome stories for more anthologies, you will be informed as to which one you will be included in and when it will be published. 

Payment: Payment will be done through Pubshare and will be royalty based. 

Rights: I will require the English text exclusivity for one year. You will be paid past the first year, but you can then publish it on your own at that point. 

Please send all stories to wyrdwytchywest@gmail.com

Small details:

Please use .docx or .doc to save your file. 

Save the file as StoryName-Yourname.docs

12 Times New Roman, double spaced. If you are unsure as to how to format a short story, please refer to https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/ . 

Thank you and happy writing!! 

For me, writing is the easiest, funnest, and best thing in the world. There are very few things that I enjoy more than writing, not even reading, if that sounds possible. I love telling stories, and having total strangers enjoy them. I feel validated and seen every time I sign a contract or someone buys a book that I have written or contributed in. I love it with all of my soul. 

The only problem with writing and having people buy my books is that they have to know about them. That means...advertising. **cue the shutters** There are a lot of forms of advertising: blogs, Facebook ads, Amazon ads, email lists like this one, and videos. I have done them all, so let's discuss them.

If you're reading this on my website, then you know I run a blog there. This blog is identical to the Substack email list, except that it hits different people and is approached differently on the final end. To see it on my website means you looked me up, or if you're a co-worker of mine, were told to do it and not given much of a choice. Sorry...totally not sorry. I have no idea how many people come to my website at any given time. I'm sure there is a way to find out, I just don't know it. 

Substack is nice because it tells me exactly how many people have subscribed to my blog and it lets people better interact with me. It is also helpful that it sends what I'm writing directly to my subscribers' email accounts. That means they never miss a message, note, or restack that I send out. It's free, and I maintain a free account for my subscribers. I want people to read my postings and I don't plan on doing exclusive, paid content. (Plans can change though, who knows.)

Facebook ads and Amazon ads are garbage for most people. I know of exactly one person who has had success with those and that person dumps A LOT of money into it. I don't have that big of an advertising budget. The Facebook ad I ran got hit with every spammer in the known universe it seemed like and that ate up the budget significantly. I don't think I made a single sale on the whole campaign. The Amazon ads I used where for the Kindle start-up page and that had maybe three clicks in the month long promotion. It had a lot of impressions, but not a lot of action and zero turn around on investment. Every author, except one, that I've talked to had the same results. 

Videos seem to be where I get the most impressions. I love making videos on Tiktok about books I've read and books I've written or been featured in. I LOVE it. I get, on average, 600 views per video. That's way more impressions than I had on Facebook and Amazon ads combined. Plus it's free. The downside is that I don't know how many books have been sold per impression or what my turnaround ratio is, especially since not all of my videos are related to books I'm trying to promote. Some of them are about books I've read or are reading and I want to share. Some rare ones are about the local zoo and music venues.

If you do start promoting your works, be aware, there are a lot of scammers out there who are simply looking for ways to part you with your money. Always make sure you are working with a legitimate company or a vetted individual. If they look sketchy or approach you on a social media platform to "help you" strike it rich, use common sense. Look for references and proof of success. If they are guaranteeing to make you a top selling author, know that they are lying to you. Avoid. The same goes for guaranteed reviews. 

I'd say that there aren't many things that get me excited. That'd be an absolute lie. I get excited easily. That being said, being told that Contested Landing Volume 1 is now on Audible is something worth getting excited about. Yep, you read that right, one of my stories is now available to listen to. This is a FIRST for me! Winning! 

My story is What's Down There?! and it is a Marines vs. Zombies story. Yep, zombies. Not just any zombies, either. These are intelligent animal zombies who are dead set on getting retribution on the people who created them. It is an S. K. Arnette story all the way. It is also the third to last one in the anthology. I hope you give it a listen and let me know what you think! 

Three Ravens Publishing

More importantly, where will you hear it? On Audible, of course! Contested Landing, a military sci-fi anthology edited by J.R. Handley and including such talents as Mark Wandrey and William Frisbee (and many more!) is now available in audio form. For those of you waiting to give this a listen, wait no more! Buckle up for an explosive ride into the heart of battle with…...

https://www.audible.com/pd/Contested-Landing-Volume-1-Audiobook/B0DL7MCDRM

Just in time for Halloween -- my favorite holiday, by the way -- is my latest release, Cluck Cluck Boom. In this short novella, I answer the question of what happens if Giant Alien Chickens were to attack a trailer park. The answer, insanity, of course. After all, rednecks are the kings and queens of invention, even of things that should never have seen the light of day. Add in that the main characters are marines and a crazy army ranger, you should expect nothing short of massive fire power and unhinged adventures. 

In other news, this week is Halloween! (I told you it is my favorite holiday.) That means costumes and trick or treating. I'm going as a sorceress this year. My husband took one look at the costume and sighed. He knows, just KNOWS, it is going to become a part of my every day wardrobe. He might be right. Ok- I'll admit it- he will be right. After all, I am the crazy woman who writes her stories while wearing a crown. (No, there are no pictures.)

Lastly, a quick reminder that It Came from the Trailer Park Volume 4 comes out on Halloween. That will have part two of the Cluck Cluck Boom story, although you will not have needed to read that one to understand FBI Chicken. Although, I'd appreciate it if you did though. 

Lastly, I have to sharpen the saw a bit. What does that mean? It means I have to go experience something new, fun, and relaxing. It has been a crazy week, and it's time to unwind. While some people do this with wine, or some other spirit, or a good smoke, I like to go to the zoo. Tonight is Zoo Boo at my local zoo. This means I'll get to watch the animals at night with a million screaming children all clamering for candy. Lucky, none of them are mine, so I can ignore them and just look at the animals when they're most active, which is sunset or shortly there after. Winning. 

October is flying by this year. Not that it doesn't every year since Halloween is my number one favorite holiday. Nothing like a day where people give out candy and no one looks at me weird because I decided to dress like a skeleton that day. This year I think I might be a ghost, or a princess. I'm not sure yet. Either way, I'm sure that someone will mistake me as a kid and give me candy like they did last year. After all, my ten year old niece now stands taller than me. 

Thinking about Halloween... It Came From the Trailer Park Volume 4 is being released that day. This anthology is published through Three Ravens Publishing and promises laughs and horror in equal measure. I should know, one of those stories is mine. :) I have the story, FBI Chicken in the anthology. The downside about this anthology though is that I published it under the wrong name. I published it under the Sarah Arnette name instead of the S. K. Arnette name. I'm listing it here on the right page, and I'm working on getting it on the S. K. Arnette Author Page on Amazon. For some reason neither of my names showed up as an author on Amazon, even though my name is on the cover. 

FBI Chicken is the sequel to Cluck Cluck Boom.

You don't know about Cluck Cluck Boom? Yeah, that's not surprising since I wasn't sure what I was doing with it for a while. Should I wait to have it traditionally published, self-publish it on my own through my imprint, or publish it on my writing team's imprint. I decided on the last option and am publishing the novella through AlphaMercs Press. That should be ready immediately before It Came from the Trailer Park Volume 4 is released. 

Cluck Cluck Boom tackles the question, "What would happen if giant alien chickens were to try to invade a trailer park?" Yeah, it's a bit of a specific question. The answer shouldn't be too surprising, but just how everyone gets to the conclusion is hilariously funny and exciting. There will be chase scenes, guns, horses, and chickens, not to mention a John Deere lawn mower on steroids. I hope you guys come and enjoy the ride. 

Yesterday was crazy busy. It was the good type of crazy though, so I am glad for the insanity. The first thing on the docket was the release of Raconteur's Road Trippin'. I'm not actually in this anthology, and the fault is all mine. I didn't get my story done in time to send it in. It's not like they didn't give us months' worth of warning about when it was due. I simply couldn't figure out what characters I wanted my story to be about. Andy Spurgle taking over the Fae court or Moggie taking the Gummie Bears to Earth for the first time. Instead of writing them both like I should have, I froze. Anyway...since they did a release, I stretched my TikTok skills and made them a little trailer for the release. I hope it gets them more sales. Every good release they have increases the sales in their back catalog and I have stories there. 

Then came the clean-up for my Hairballs, Hiccups, and Boo-boos charity submission. I dusted off one of my favorite Andy Spurgle stories and sent it in. In this story, Andy gets selected to be a guest in a Man Vs Man Wrestling show. If you have read any of my Andy Spurgle stories, you know that chaos was soon to follow. I hope that they pick it. I'll know (checks the post below) on November 8th. 

This was immediately followed by my forgetting what day it was and panicking over the idea that I was going to miss a deadline for one of Raconteur Press's open calls. This one was for the Space Cowboy anthology. For this anthology, I released a whole new character into the world, Chance Palmer. He is an Australian cattle dog simply trying to do a good job herding cattle. The fact that these cattle are being loaded onto space ships and sent to new worlds is just part of the fun. Oh, and did Cow 404, otherwise known as Marshmallow, escape...again?

Now it is today and the insanity is simply going to continue.

Up next is part three of the Controlled Nightmare saga. I have to get these Super Villains out of their prison and into the world. I am certain that there will be blood, guts, and maybe even some gore to follow. Once that's done, I'll switch from S. K. Arnette to Sarah and write a charming story of Moggie and Clover helping in their special ways to support the fighting men and women on their space ship during the start of the intergalactic war for Raconteur Press's Pogue One. Once that is off to the beta readers (Alpha Mercs), it is onto my latest kid's story, The Great Escape. Today's gonna be busy, too. :) 

Well, I've gotta go. I have music to listen to and stories to write. :) 

Hairballs, Hiccups, & Boo-boos (charity anthology) 

Lori Janeski, author & wife of fellow author and editor, Matthew Bowman, was in a serious auto accident on September 4th that broke her back. Matthew has some mobility challenges & the two have three small children. While she is doing well after surgery, Lori & the family have a long recovery ahead. In keeping with the spirit of “a rising tide lifts all boats,” several individuals are donating their time & talents to put together an anthology that will be published by Raconteur Press on November 15, 2024. We are asking the writers to donate a story to the anthology. 

The only theme is that the stories have to be uplifting & hopeful. The story can be SF, fantasy, sword & sorcery, urban fantasy, contemporary, romance, comedy, etc. The only requirement is it HAS to be uplifting & hopeful. If the story doesn’t have good triumphing over evil, or at least winning the battle, then this is not the anthology for it. Again: this is a charity anthology! You will not get paid for your story – all proceeds will be going to Lori Janeski & her family. 

GUIDELINES: • Standard Manuscript Format • 8,000-10,000 words (shorter is absolutely fine) • Times New Roman, 12pt font, double spaced, with your name, story title, & email on it! Name the file: [STORY TITLE]-[YOUR LAST NAME]-[ANTHOLOGY TITLE] & send it in a .docx format as an ATTACHMENT. • Raconteur Press will hold the rights for one year after publication. After that year, the rights will revert to the author. • No simultaneous submissions. • We will accept reprints so long as rights have reverted to the author. • Keep with the theme of “uplifting, hopeful, inspiring, encouraging” tales to cure what ails you! Laughter is the best medicine! • Stories must be PG-13 & must not have any sexual content • 

Send submissions to: hairballscharityantho at gmail.com 

Opens: 9/29/2024 

Closes: 10/26/2024 

Contracts: 11/08/2024 

Publication:11/15/2024

What in the heavens am I thinking, developing a new website and combining all of my activities into one location? Yeah, this was a lot of work, but it was a long time needed. So, let's discuss what you see on this website and how to properly use it. I know, it's pretty self explanatory, but, I need words for the SEO ratings, so...bear with me.
The first page is the obviously the home page. It shows you everything, minus the blog, that I have on the site. You will see both of the names that I write under, Sarah Arnette and S.K. Arnette. You will also see a sign for my PangoBooks store. 

If you click on the Sarah Arnette Image, which at the time of writing this is a picture of my dog in a crown, it will take you to the appropriate page. That page, which has my image and my bio, also has images of my books and anthologies that I have either written or that I have been featured in. All of the stories that I have written under this name are kid friendly, maybe not baby kid friendly, but definitely eight-year-olds and up friendly. They are also enjoyable by adults. 

If you click on the S. K. Arnette image, with the bad-butt image of a hell-hound reading a book, you get to go to that page. This is where you will find my darker things. These are NOT necessarily appropriate for kids. They don't contain sex, but they do sometimes have swear words and tend to be a bit more graphic in nature. One of the future books I have coming up features a giant alien chicken getting run over by a suped-up lawnmower. Those are the stories to be a bit more conscience about. 

The next link down is my PangoBooks image. This is my online used books store. There are NO NEW RELEASES for sale on my page, unless it is one that I bought and didn't care for. These books range from science fiction to fantasy, from thrillers to self-help. I even have some psychology text books from my sibling. I ship out next day in most cases, although later if there are holidays involved. 

Well, thanks for sitting through the explanation of the website. I hope you find something that you are interested in reading. 

Have a great day!