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Skullgate's Looking to the Future. Happy Near Year 2021!

Christopher Van Dyke • Jan 05, 2021

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM SKULLGATE MEDIA!

Last week should have been the final newsletter of 2020, but I decided to take the week off. It was Christmas weekend, and I figured an update from Skullgate Media wasn't anyone's top priority. Mine was building LEGOs and eating cookies for breakfast. I hope all of you had a wonderful two weeks, whether Christmas is your thing or not.

Looking Back
I'm going to not really touch on all the ways 2020 was a dumpster-fire of a year. I think we all know. For most of us, the last 10 months have been a massive social and emotional struggle; for many of us, it's entailed personal loss and even death. So I feel a little awkward looking back at 2020 and thinking of it as one of the most positive, productive, and joy-filled years I've had in recent memory. But I can only say that because of Skullgate Media and the dozens of writers who have helped make this last year unforgettable.

2019 was a turning point for my writing. I finished my first novel (yay!), sent out my first query letters (not-yay!), joined Twitter to learn more about publishing, and started collecting rejection notices from agents and publishers of short-fiction.

Then 2020 started--though of course, none of us knew it was going to be TWENTY-TWENTY, writ in all-caps. The pandemic started, schools were closed, the lock-down was in effect, and I was bored and looking for a project. So I somewhat impulsively sent out a tweet asking if anyone would be interested in joining me in an idea I had for an anthology, one where all the writers would first play a game to generate an original world. My concept was very modest--everyone would write something, I'd run it all through Scrivner, export it as a PDF, and then host it on my website as a free download. Basically, the 2020 equivalent of a zine.

Of course, what we ended up with Achten Tan: Land of Dust and Bone, a fully-realized book available as an ebook and paperback (as well as a limited hard-cover edition) that made the "Amazon Hot-New Release" list. During the process I learned how to commission art for a cover, purchase ISBNs, create a professional looking web-site, run pre-sales on Amazon, and ultimately how to register an LLC when Skullgate was born.

Since then I've learned how to draft publishing contracts, sign an author, and run a kick-starter (I haven't learned how to make a podcast, but we have one of those too! I just let Chris and D do the work for that one).

I will be eternally grateful to the 30 authors--most of them complete strangers--who trusted their stories with me and helped start Skullgate on this unexpected journey. And of course. I'm especially thankful that I found C.D. Storiz, Chris Durston, Diana Gagliardi, and Debbie Iancu-Haddad to join me in turning that random tweet into a fledgling publishing enterprise.

So in 2020 we published one fantastic book, but we spent the waning months of the year laying the groundwork for 2021, which is going to be amazing.

Looking Forward
In just four days, Loathsome Voyages will become our second official publication and the first installment in a series of themed anthologies we're calling "Skullgate Media Presents." And about 6 week after that, the second Volume of "Tales From the Year Between" will be out. Under New Suns will be just as fantastic as Achten Tan, with even more jaw-dropping art by Aaron Hockett and some of the most original sci-fi you've read in year. And we're also getting Michael Nadeau's Lythinall books ready to release. Sounds of the Years between, our podcast, will continue giving you a behind the scene's look at our anthology, as well as brining you audio versions of many of our best stories.

So as I type this, Skullgate has published one book. Before the Spring, we'll have at least 3 more. And after that we've got Volume 3 of TFYB on-deck. We've also started tossing about ideas for the next Skullgate Media Presents, as well as publishing stand-alone novels. We haven't exactly solidified all our plans for 2021, but it's going to be an exciting year.

Okay, that's it for now. I'm hoping next week to have some exciting news about the cover for Under New Suns. We're wrapping up editing and onto proofreading, and half a dozen stories are already in layout.

Thanks again for being part of Skullgate's first year, and we are so excited to share all the cool things we're cooking up for 2021.

Chris Van Dyke
Founder and President, Skullgate Media
Editor-in-Chief, Tales From the Year Between

Friends of the Skullgate -- Jayme Bean's "Untouched"

By Christopher Van Dyke • 17 May, 2021
Thrilling Debut Novel by Under New Suns Alumna!

Promos For Under New Suns

By Christopher Van Dyke • 07 Feb, 2021
The First Review of Under New Suns -- Rue Sparks

Friends of the Skullgate -- The New Normal!

By Christopher Van Dyke • 21 Jan, 2021
Zombie Anthology featuring multiple Friends of the Skullgate on Sale Now!

Under New Suns Available For Pre-Order

By Christopher Van Dyke • 15 Jan, 2021
Volume 2 of Tales From the Year Between is prepped for Lift Off!

We've Departed on Loathsome Voyages

By Christopher Van Dyke • 11 Jan, 2021
Loathsome Voyages is Out!

Friends of the Skullgate - "Struggling with the Current"by A.R.K. Horton

By Christopher Van Dyke • 24 Nov, 2020
A new fantasy trilogy from Volume 2 contributor, A.R.K. Horton

New Anthology... and we've signed an author!

By Christopher Van Dyke • 08 Nov, 2020
Skullgate Media is excited to announce two new upcoming publishing projects! While it saddened us with the recent news that Kyanite Publishing is closing their doors—we are thrilled that we will see some of their existing projects through to fruition. The first project is Loathsome Voyages , a collection of fourteen tales of supernatural madness and creeping horror from some of the most talented writers in the field. Edited by CD Storiz and Chris Durston, this creative anthology of weird fiction will release in early January 2020. A cover reveal will be coming soon; so stay tuned! Contains stories by BK Bass, Chris Durston, Gary Fagan, Zach Friday, Anthony Harris, Christopher Harris, Mackenzie Littledale, Tim Mendess, Michael D. Nadeau, Michelle River, JL Royce, Mark J. Schultis, CD Storiz, and Chris Vandyke that will thrill and chill you! Secondly, we are pleased to announce that at the start of next year, Skullgate Media takes over the publication of Michael D. Nadeau’s Lythinall novels. Currently consisting of two books, The Darkness Returns and The Darkness Within (with more on the way!), the world of Lythinall is a world of sweeping fantasy, dark magic, and epic adventure. Ed Greenwood, the creator of The Forgotten Realms (yes, THAT Ed Greenwood!) describes Michael as “a writer to watch” and the Lythinall books as “a fantasy series to fall in love with.” We are excited to have Michael as Skullgate Media’s first signed author for publication. We are preparing a new edition of his books which will be released under the Skullgate name on January 1st, 2021. Shortly, we will have a link available to pre-order copies of his latest works. In the meantime, get to know him at his author website and his page at Goodreads .

We're Funded! On to the Writing!

By Christopher Van Dyke • 03 Nov, 2020
Saturday our Kickstart for Volume 2 wrapped up, and we finished with JUST over $1,700! Since the day our campaign launched we've been blown away by how supportive our friends and fans have been. We can now confidently move forward knowing that we can pay our contributors, commission an amazing cover, and pay for everything associated with producing an awesome book. We've now entered the REAL work -- writing! Twenty-five writers from all around the world are now plotting and planning fantastic tales of sentient space ships, intrepid Space Marines, and deep-space cosmic sharks. How will it all end? Who knows? We don't! That's what makes this so exciting and fun. As the work progresses we'll share teasers, and in a few days we'll start sending out digital rewards to our backers. But for now we're just basking in the glow of a successful campaign. And saying thank you again. In fact, Chris Durston made a video of some of us saying just that.

VOLUME 2 IS UNDERWAY (and we're 200% funded!)

By Christopher Van Dyke • 21 Oct, 2020
Things have been busy at Skullgate Media! But ironically while the news has been coming fast and furious I haven't posted an update for those of you playing along at home. Here's the quick recap: Our Kickstarter is exceeding our wildest expectations! As of 10/22 we have raised $1,642, which is more than TWICE our initial goal! We've meet and exceeded BOTH our stretch goals, so we will be paying all contributors $20 for their stories. We're a paying market! It wraps up on November 1st, so there's still a chance to get in on the Kickstartery Action! Before we closed our submissions deadline, we received 3x more applications than we could accept! On the one hand, this was a problem, as we had to send out a lot of "Thanks for applying but..." emails. On the other hand, we got to be extremely selective and recruit an amazing group of writers. We have a team of 25 writers! We'll be sharing more about the team as the project unfolds, but in the mean time go check out the updated contributor page at YearBetween.com. Damn, thats a good looking group of writers! The (world-building) game is afoot! Even as I type this, our pre-writing game is underway. Using a heavily modified version of Avery Alder's indie game The Quiet Year , 25 writers from India to the West Coast of America are coming up with characters, star-systems, alien species, and more plot-twists than you can shake a stick at! So what's next? Well, the world-building wraps up this week. I and the team at Skullgate will then massage it all into something half-way presentable... then the writing will start on November 1st! Everyone has until December 1st to write a rough draft, then until January 1st to revise a final draft. During that time collaborators will work out canonical issues, Aaron Hockett will start drawing star maps and space-ship schematics, and we'll commission our cover art. After all the stories are finalized... okay, we're getting a head of ourselves. There's a lot to do before then, but we're on track for a mid February 2021 release date. Okay, I'm off to go see what's developed today. Check back here as Volume 2 unfolds, and make sure to stop by YearBetween.com from time to time, as that site will reflect the world as we get to now it. I'll try to update here, but the News From the Skullgate goes out every weekend, so make sure to sign up for the newsletter! In the meantime, Factum Est Bonum!

VOLUME 2 KICKSTARTER IS LIVE (and 75% Funded!)

By Christopher Van Dyke • 25 Sep, 2020
Funny story. My plan was to launch the Kickstarter for Volume 2 the day we announced we had a roster of writers for the book. Figured we'd wrap up the application/selection period, then jump into the Kickstarter. I got an email from Kickstarter saying out campaign was approved, so I went to make sure the URL looked good... aaaaand accidentally launched it instead. Ooops. (That's how WWIII is going to start). To quote Hamilton, "Okay, so we're doing this." But for an accidental launch, we're off to an amazing start! In 12 hours we are at 75% funding! We only need to raise about 200 to meet our goal of $800! The bottom line is -- if you are planning to buy Volume 2, please please please (pretty please!) pre-order it NOW by backing our Kickstarter. It ensures we have the funding we need to pay an artist for the cover, buy more stock art, host the website, buy a ISBN, and all the other things we have to pay for out of pocket up front before the book even goes on sale. Also, by buying the book directly through us, you ensure more of the money goes to us, the creative team at Skullgate, and not to Jeff Bezos (who, let's admit it, seems pretty set on the cash side of things). Anyway, if you're reading this you like what we do, so you should go back us! If you already have, 1,000 thanks and our undying love. We can't wait to get to the book! We're writers, not actuaries, so we want to get this "money stuff" out of the way so we can do what we do best -- tell some amazing stories! CLICK HERE TO GO TO OUR KICKSTARTER PAGE.
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