What Is an "Altrix"?

Names always come from somewhere (unless they don't... but that's a very in-depth discussion for another day). When we decided we were going to have our own publishing imprint, we gave it the name Altrix Books. Readers of The Chronosmith Chronicles and its predecessor will know why — but if you're new, you might not.

So, what is an "altrix"?

Well, there are two answers.

One of those answers is: it's a book. A very specific book, and a very very big book. Tor Fasa, one of the four primary players in The Chronosmith Chronicles, compiled that book — with a little bit of outside help. Essentially it's a book that, ideally, contains everything: everything that was, is, and will be. Such things take time, of course, so there are a few corners yet unfilled-out.

There are also a few sections that are completely wrong.

When the Chronosmiths rode the Time Winds into their new universe — our universe — a lot of the Altrix was no longer accurate. That sort of thing will happen across universes. As the Chronosmiths explore these new worlds, they'll cross-reference it against Fasa's Altrix, digging out the erased truths of history and amending their own records as they go.

You can learn more about the Altrix from our blog post on Tor Fasa, and see it in action in After Vincent, the first book of The Chronosmith Chronicles.

The altrix is also, it happens, a type of sea snail. This wasn't something we thought especially hard about, but it did come in handy when it came time to design a logo. Note the design you see on our books and social media by Ginger Hoesly — do you see it now?

Altrix Books will probably never hold as much as the Altrix itself (we're only a small publisher, after all!), but we're looking forward to bringing you fact and fiction from all across the galaxy. 

Read More

Altrix Q&A: Where Are Our Books Available?

One of the main questions we're asked — especially when a new book is out — is where our books are available... that is, by nation. We're currently not available in your local bookshop, but that's for another day.

In particular, we're asked: are our books available in the US and the UK? The answer is yes... and anywhere else Amazon serves!

As a team working on opposite sides of the Atlantic, we're understandably both keen to have our work easily accessible to people near us. And considering the state of shipping (and the fact that we have lost our share of packages over the ocean), we wanted to make sure that there were as few issues with getting books to you as possible.

In short, yes, we are available to ship within your country. The longer answer is that we don't actually do anything special to make that happen — we just change the sales links to "amazon.com" for the US, and "amazon.co.uk" for the UK. Which means that if you're not in either of those places, you can alter the URL to match your country of origin and make your life much easier.

What about digital copies? Well, those go everywhere, obviously: no shipping and instant gratification! However, the system is slightly different for our charity anthologies. If you're picking up one of our limited-run charity books, like the previously-published Unearthed or Master Pieces, the ebook edition will come to you from us. That means rather than an instant download, you'll get it from us in an email. If it's been more than a couple days if you've heard nothing, please get in touch to make sure you've not slipped through the cracks. But if it's only been an hour or two, we're on our way to you!

Speaking of charity publications: we do not keep charity books available beyond a certain specified date. This is both so we can have a final tally of funds for the charity in question, and out of respect to both copyright holders and writers who gave of their work freely. Once a charity book goes out of print, the stories revert to their respective authors; and it's their decision from there what happens to them. Some may share them freely, others may adapt and re-publish them elsewhere, and others still may opt to keep them special to the anthology.

The short version is: if an author you like is in one of our charity books, be sure to grab a copy while you can! After that, it is entirely up to them what happens to the story.

If you have any questions you'd like us to answer — serious or frivolous — feel free to tweet us @AltrixBooks or look us up on Facebook. We're always happy to hear from you!

Read More

On the Black Archive

If you've been following Altrix Books for a while, you'll know that both Paul and Kara have had the pleasure of working on Obverse Books's Black Archive line. For those unfamiliar, The Black Archive is a line of scholarly and critical works tackling individual Doctor Who stories from all eras of its run. The series has received praise from Doctor Who Magazine, Sci-Fi Bulletin, and many other places.

We're pleased to announce that our own Paul Driscoll has been brought on as an editor for the line! What that means for Altrix is... that we're very proud and looking forward to his work on it. While it's a big undertaking, it's not one that's going to upset the Altrix flow.

When The Black Archive started out, the intent was to have a book come out every few months. Philip Purser-Hallard headed up the line solo, in addition to putting out some installments of his own. Paul Simpson was brought on board to assist, and in turn the publishing schedule ramped up considerably. There are now nearly 40 titles out, with 50 and beyond already planned out into 2021.

Paul Driscoll has contributed Black Archives on The God Complex and the 1996 TV Movie, as well as a take on Stranger Things season 1 for the Black Archive's sister line. Readers following the beginning of The Chronosmith Chronicles won't be surprised to hear that, in addition to his new editorial status, Paul will be contributing another installment on Vincent and the Doctor in future.

If somehow our readers haven't delved into The Black Archive (and something tells us it would be of interest to you), now is a good time! Check out their back catalogue and pick something out to enjoy!

Read More

2020 from the Altrix Side

2019 was an amazing year for Altrix — one of accomplishments, learning, and planning for what's to come. While not everything came out in the time frame we hoped for, we have a lot of things loaded in that are ready to go at last.

We released our first two anthologies this year: Unearthed (edited by Kara Dennison) and Master Pieces (edited by Paul Driscoll and currently on sale). Through them, we found a lot of fantastic new talent, and re-discovered many writers and artists we already knew we loved working with. We're hoping we helped you discover a few new favorites, too!

We also finally got to unveil the first year of The Chronosmith Chronicles, which is heading steadily toward the first of its six book releases. After Vincent is in its final stages, with Eleanor's Tears nearly set to fly off for editing. We're also excited to be bringing you new work from Jon Arnold (in his first novel) and M.H. Norris (with lots of work under her belt, but her first for Altrix).

Plus, we've opened calls for Master Switches, the sequel anthology to Master Pieces. We're looking forward to raising as much as possible for the Stroke Association, and discovering more great writers along the way!

Obviously, we're not tipping our entire hand for 2020. If you want to know what we're up to at any given time, keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter. That's also a great way to stay in touch with us!

We hope you all have a wonderful end of year, and look forward to bringing you more stories in the new year and decade to come.

Read More

Statement on SEASONS OF WAR and the publication of GALLIFREY

Altrix Books is saddened to learn that the official Seasons of War page will be closing down soon. This is due to, according to new project manager Martin Meades, "a copyright and intellectual property request." They will be handling refunds and distribution of their own undistributed projects.

Seasons of War: Gallifrey, is different. Though commissioned by Declan May (the originator of Seasons of War), Gallifrey was published under the banner of Altrix Books, and at this time we have received no indication (from Seasons of War or anywhere else) that we must cease distribution of the book any earlier than we had planned to. Should we get this alert, of course, we will honor it. However, at present, we are keeping orders open until we have sold the last of our print run.

At the time of this writing, we have raised £1,000 for Caudwell Children with your generous help. We look forward to increasing that number before the final donation is sent off. To that end, you may still purchase copies from our website while supplies last.

It is also worth noting at this point that neither Paul Driscoll nor Kara Dennison works in any official capacity with the Seasons of War brand beyond the writing and publishing of Gallifrey, nor do they have information or access that will enable them in any way to help with claims, refunds, or distribution of materials. Any information to the contrary, no matter where it may be printed, is erroneous.

If you would like to continue to follow our activity on social media after the closing of the Seasons of War page, you can find us on Facebook as Altrix Books and on Twitter @altrixbooks.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to presenting our next books in the coming months.

Read More

On pitching.

Once again, we'd like to thank everyone who pitched a story to Unearthed! There were so many amazing ideas sent our way, and while we had to turn away some to keep the book from being a brick, every concept was a joy to read.

In the future, we will be accepting more pitches — both for anthologies and for stand-alone books. We look forward to hearing new ideas from more of you in future. In the meantime, we thought we'd talk a little bit about what makes a good pitch to us.

Paul and Kara are both writers, and Kara is an editor by day, so we've been on both sides of the process. We also know that every editor is different, so what we say may not apply to another publisher. But if you're looking to warm up to one of our next calls, a few things to bear in mind:

Include the ending of the story in your pitch.

There's nothing like a good cliffhanger, and we're always told to "leave them wanting more." And in some cases, that's a good thing to do. But when pitching stories to us, please including the ending. This is for a few reasons.

1. We need to know you know it. We're both writers, and we know how it is to get a good idea and not quite have the ending stuck yet. So we want to know, if you're offering us an idea, you know where you're going to go with it.

2. The ending is essential to knowing if we want the story. We love twists-in-the-tale and surprise endings, but we need to know what we're in for. The upshot of your story may help us decide it doesn't fit into what we're doing; conversely, it may be what gets you accepted. (There are at least two cases in Unearthed of the story's ending being the prime reason it was picked.)

3. We don't want no funny business. We don't want to end up getting to the end of a finished product and discovering that it contains content or sentiments we cannot or do not want to publish.

Follow the directions.

We're not putting up an overall "How to pitch" page yet because we have a few things we're still working out, and because it will likely vary from project to project (and depending on whether Kara, Paul, or both are at the forefront of it). So we'll convene on an overall Altrix Pitching System.

But for the short term, just know that the more closely you follow the directions laid out, the more likely you are to get accepted. Sticking to what we've laid out shows us that you're easy to work with, and is reassurance that if we have to send out emails with new info on a deadline, you'll be able to cope with it.

Make sure you enjoy what you're pitching.

This may seem like an odd request, but seriously. Make sure what you're sending us is something that interests you, and something you'd want to do if we said "yes." It's very easy to tell when someone is sending us an idea they're enthusiastic about as opposed to something they're rolling out just to get another pitch in. Again, we know. We're writers, and we've done both.

If the call we've got open at the moment doesn't interest you, don't worry. We have plenty of plans for the future. It's okay to wait on something that grabs your attention.

At the moment, we aren't accepting submissions for anything, as we're working away on two charity anthologies and gearing up for a series. But in the near future, keep your eyes open for more opportunities!

Read More