Last Chance to Get Some Xchyler Anthologies…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 28, 2018

My first published short story (as an adult, at least) was “Dots, Dashes, and Deceit,” found in the Terra Mechanica steampunk anthology. The way Xchyler handled things, I had a lot of editorial assistance on that story, and learned a lot. My fellow author Scott Tarbet and I frequently joked that getting published in a Xchyler anthology was kind of like attending a master class on short story writing, only they paid you.

Not that they paid a lot, mind you. Long tail notwithstanding, Xchyler really didn’t make money on most of their anthologies. That is why we’re now in an interesting predicament. Due to the nature of the contracts, Terra Mechanica and Beyond the Wail (the paranormal anthology I am in) are being taken off the market at the end of the month (yes, in three days) unless all involved authors can sign a new agreement at the eleventh hour… which is possible, but not very likely.

Mechanized Masterpieces 2, containing my story “The Van Tassel Legacy,” will remain available in eBook and paperback for the time being.

If this had happened two years ago (and it nearly did), it would have been a bigger issue for me. I’ve been kind of busy since then on the fiction front, and I’m sure I can find a new home for the story–and I have tentative plans of my own for it. I don’t have plans yet for “Cold Spot,” my story from Beyond the Wail, but I doubt it will disappear forever. My interest in the original anthology is mostly driven by nostalgia. Well, that, and my digital-age bias that believes nothing should go out-of-print! Ever!

On the assumption that the eleventh-hour saves won’t happen, I wanted to make sure you were aware that the books are going off the market at the end of the week. If you are interested in Terra Mechanica or Beyond the Wail, this is probably your last chance to grab them. If you buy the eBooks, they’ll remain available to you. The files will remain available to owners, it’s just that they won’t be sold anymore.

Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology at Amazon

Beyond the Wail: 12 Grave Stories of Love and Loss at Amazon

The books are also currently available from other locations too. Terra Mechanica is also at Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, etc., although I am not sure of the availability of paperback versions from B&N. Other Xchyler anthologies will also probably go out-of-print over the weekend, too, in case you really wanted to make sure you have ’em.  The only ones that I know for sure that are sticking around for a little while longer are the two Mechanized Masterpieces volumes.

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