"The Weight of the World" is now available!
Purchase a physical or digital copy on Amazon, or become an XPress member
It’s finally here
After nearly two years of publishing on Substack, my first short fiction and poetry collection is now in print. I don’t want to bore you with the details of late nights fumbling with formatting software and cover art shenanigans, but I will say that it was far more involved than I had anticipated. For example, I was shooting to have this book out by the end of March.
I’ve learned so much from you all, and I would not have this book out if it weren’t for the community here on Substack and local folks in Utah that have guided me on my publishing journey. The instruction, motivation, inspiration, and daily support have been pivotal for me as an indie writer. And for that, I want to say thank you.
XPress membership now includes books
I am thrilled to announce that readers can get my first book, “The Weight of the World,” by becoming a paid subscriber to Storyletter XPress Publishing. This is an initiative to provide complete books to paying subscribers as they become available.
Last month, I shared an early edition with members. Since then, it’s been further edited and revised with all-new formatting. This latest version is also available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.
Becoming an XPress member gives you additional perks unavailable with the physical or eBook edition. Again, thank you for joining me on this journey. Your support lifts the weight of the world from my shoulders. ~ WM
The 34 stories and poems within vary in genre and style, ranging from medieval comedy to dystopian feel-good to cosmic horror, all revised with never-before-seen prefaces that detail the stories' origins.
The collection includes fan favorites, such as "My Dog Barks at Ghosts in the Park," "Raptor," "Nudging the Apocalypse Just a Tad to the Right," "The Weight of the World," "The Last Laugh," and "If You Only Knew What Lived in Your Shoe."
Exclusive to this edition are three newly-revised short stories: "The Spire," written in 2018; "Conduit," first published online in 2012; and "Mimicry," re-written in 2023 and unpublished. In addition to the unreleased chapter in the Raptorverse poem series, "Raptor 4", a sci-fi horror poem, will conclude the experimental, narrative poetry series that birthed the bio-engineered, artificially-intelligent dinosaur known as Raptor.
Or, if you prefer Amazon or Kindle: