Fred Pierre
@fred-pierre.bsky.social
Author of a new ecological poetry collection called Flywheels of Interdependence and near-future sci-fi short stories Capital Disrupt. Look for my website online.
January 4, 2026 at 8:14 AM
Black Lipstick mag takes risks and represents unique voices, in this case, the voice of an incarcerated mother. #writingcommunity #litmag
blacklipstick.substack.com/p/motherhood...
blacklipstick.substack.com/p/motherhood...
Motherhood, Incarcerated
Lanae Tipton shares what active parenting in prison looks like.
blacklipstick.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Black Lipstick mag takes risks and represents unique voices, in this case, the voice of an incarcerated mother. #writingcommunity #litmag
blacklipstick.substack.com/p/motherhood...
blacklipstick.substack.com/p/motherhood...
This poem demands to be read this time of year and I’ve performed it twice this month. It’s about losing a loved one. I lost my father in December of 1996. This poem is about hope.
It’s called Grief and Rebirth and it’s from my book, Flywheels. #poetry #griefandloss #writingcommunity
It’s called Grief and Rebirth and it’s from my book, Flywheels. #poetry #griefandloss #writingcommunity
December 28, 2025 at 3:59 AM
This poem demands to be read this time of year and I’ve performed it twice this month. It’s about losing a loved one. I lost my father in December of 1996. This poem is about hope.
It’s called Grief and Rebirth and it’s from my book, Flywheels. #poetry #griefandloss #writingcommunity
It’s called Grief and Rebirth and it’s from my book, Flywheels. #poetry #griefandloss #writingcommunity
Merry Christmas to my #writingcommunity
December 25, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Merry Christmas to my #writingcommunity
We are building a ‘zine library at the FJ Kluth Art Gallery in Kent. I’m going to spring for one of these interesting guides to Analog Self-Publishing. Artists are welcome to share their ‘zines in our library. E-mail us at [email protected]
Added alt-text ✨
December 14, 2025 at 8:03 PM
We are building a ‘zine library at the FJ Kluth Art Gallery in Kent. I’m going to spring for one of these interesting guides to Analog Self-Publishing. Artists are welcome to share their ‘zines in our library. E-mail us at [email protected]
Reposted by Fred Pierre
![Abridged for length
2. What to self-publish?
sketchbook pages
comics
poetry
short stories
a novel
dream journal
tiny posters
secret knowledge recipes
magical forumlae
your best tweets
bad art
good art
public domain art
manifesto
jokes
prophecies
memoir
unsent letters
fan art
problematic sex fantasies
thoughts & prayers
PRACTICE SPACE, your name:___________
a 2x2 handdrawn grid
3. This guide will show you how to self-publish a photocopied, saddle-stitched (stapled) 5.5x8.5" book. There are advantages to this format: it doesn't require specialized tools or skills, it's versatile, it's quick to make & cheap to reproduce. It has limitations too: it's not fancy, it's got to be ~40 pages or less and most bookstores won't stock a book without a spine. A book like this is ephemeral in exchange for being accessible. Nobody can stop you from sharing your work in a zine. All you need is [items are illustrated]...
white 8.5x11" paper
pens & pencils
tape or gluestick
white out
copier
long-arm stapler (copy shop will have one you can use)
scissors](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:u6y5bonxjtg5tqc7dqu3jx24/bafkreihiupajmfzfjscgrscgu66pf4ghi76grnwy4qrwyvw2bsejnrk3ne@jpeg)
![Abridged:
4. Prep the content of your book on 5.5"x8.5" pages (standard 8.5x11" sheet folder in half.) The total pages has to be a multiple of four, including the cover.
Ideas to get your page count to a multiple of four: title page, dedication page, bio page, decorative inside covers, big illustration, indicia, epigraph, table of contents. Cut or combine some of them.
Count your pages and % the total by four. This will be the number of fresh 8.5x11" sheets you'll need to produce a dummy book for the next step. For a 12-page book you'll need 3 sheets. Fold each one in half.
[Illustrations of numbered pages]
5. Illustration of template showing page order for printing. Page 12/1 (reversed side of sheet = 11/2); 10/3 (reversed 9/4); 8/5 (reversed /7/6).
Stack pages and number lightly in pencil. Then tape/paste content pages you prepared earlier into your dummy book, trimming them down as necessary.
It's going to be kind of puffy, messy and possibly sticky. Don't try to fold it in half again.
THE COPY MACHINE. By default it will copy 1 -> 1 (single-side to single-side) pages. Adjust the settings to 1->2 (single to double-sided).
*Include your name, contact info, date, location, and price (your cost x 3 minimum)*
[Illustration of photocopier with speech bubble: "how do you do"]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:u6y5bonxjtg5tqc7dqu3jx24/bafkreihggho44byj42kqjsshflv7ag6muqd4vnd7ciivwvaquj7jv5hsle@jpeg)
![Abridged
6. 1. Place original on scanner bed. 2. Close lid and scan. 3. Flip original. 4. Scan again and print. 5. Retrieve your double-sided copy. Check to make sure it came out right! 6. Once you have all your copies, touch them up with white-out and give everything a final once-over.
[Illustrations of step by step instructions above]
7. Your beautiful double-sided originals are ready to be dropped off at a local copy shop who can print, collate, fold and staple your books for you for a few cents/page. But if you'd rather do it yourself, place originals in copier feed tray, select 2->2 and hit print. Adjust the long stapler guide to 5.5" and staple twice down the center. Fold in half AFTER stapling.
[Illustrations of zine at different stages of printing. Final zine titled NOW it's a BOOK" resting upright in a cluster of dandelion flowers.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:u6y5bonxjtg5tqc7dqu3jx24/bafkreif36woauhy3gkyzau4y2sdkdlokyqxx3cdxrifsf3gonugffwhcwa@jpeg)
They have “lost the plot.” Good one. Like many of our systems these days, we aren’t creating a ladder of opportunity in publishing, instead we are pulling it up.
As someone who worked in bookstores across the states for about 20 yrs
The recent book drama is fascinating
It’s easier than ever to self-publish
While the big 5 spend more time, money, & effort trying to swallow each other
There are aspects to the book industry that have lost the plot
The recent book drama is fascinating
It’s easier than ever to self-publish
While the big 5 spend more time, money, & effort trying to swallow each other
There are aspects to the book industry that have lost the plot
December 13, 2025 at 9:25 AM
They have “lost the plot.” Good one. Like many of our systems these days, we aren’t creating a ladder of opportunity in publishing, instead we are pulling it up.
I’ve still got these miniatures for sale (9” x 12” framed), just $15-$20 each, message me. Digital collage and composite prints, framed. Available through Kluth Gallery. Venmo payments accepted. Art by me, Fred Pierre.
#giveart #collage #digitalart
#giveart #collage #digitalart
December 13, 2025 at 9:18 AM
I’ve still got these miniatures for sale (9” x 12” framed), just $15-$20 each, message me. Digital collage and composite prints, framed. Available through Kluth Gallery. Venmo payments accepted. Art by me, Fred Pierre.
#giveart #collage #digitalart
#giveart #collage #digitalart
With a little help from your friends in the #writingcommunity, you can publish a book that you own. So why aren’t more publishers assessing already published books for distribution contracts?
They save on type setting and design. Let the author do the work of assembling the book. #selfpublish
They save on type setting and design. Let the author do the work of assembling the book. #selfpublish
Every decision these giant companies have made in the last week have reenforced the same thought in my head:
It's more important now that ever to make new things, things you own, things that are queer, things that express the parts of yourself that are hard to just say out loud.
It's more important now that ever to make new things, things you own, things that are queer, things that express the parts of yourself that are hard to just say out loud.
December 13, 2025 at 9:09 AM
With a little help from your friends in the #writingcommunity, you can publish a book that you own. So why aren’t more publishers assessing already published books for distribution contracts?
They save on type setting and design. Let the author do the work of assembling the book. #selfpublish
They save on type setting and design. Let the author do the work of assembling the book. #selfpublish
Lots of science in this science fiction. #goodstuff
Last night, I hit publish on the final draft of my science fiction that I've been writing for over 2 years. Expect #TheMercuryRelay to hit the market (self published) before Christmas!
📖🎄
#writing #author #booksky
📖🎄
#writing #author #booksky
December 10, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Lots of science in this science fiction. #goodstuff
Used to be that the United States stood up for people’s rights. Now the U.S. is putting people through hell. Prisoners stuck in 2’ x 2’ cages to roast in the sun? It’s cruel and inhumane. Florida is spending disaster relief funds to pay for this: www.amnesty.org/en/documents...
USA: Torture and enforced disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at "Alligator Alcatraz" and Krome in Florida - Amnesty International
This report presents Amnesty International’s findings from a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025, to document the human rights impacts of federal and state migration and asylum policie...
www.amnesty.org
December 6, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Used to be that the United States stood up for people’s rights. Now the U.S. is putting people through hell. Prisoners stuck in 2’ x 2’ cages to roast in the sun? It’s cruel and inhumane. Florida is spending disaster relief funds to pay for this: www.amnesty.org/en/documents...
The solution to healthcare is technological, not ideological. If you start from the assumption that everybody deserves care, then you create a universal #healthcare card accepted at every #doctors office.
Part two is a government portal that processes all claims and routes them to their insurer.
Part two is a government portal that processes all claims and routes them to their insurer.
December 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The solution to healthcare is technological, not ideological. If you start from the assumption that everybody deserves care, then you create a universal #healthcare card accepted at every #doctors office.
Part two is a government portal that processes all claims and routes them to their insurer.
Part two is a government portal that processes all claims and routes them to their insurer.
Reposted by Fred Pierre
Scientific Reports has a ⬆️ Impact Inflation: a very high IF given their citation network (self-citing, citation cartels, etc).
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Scientific Reports has a ⬆️ Impact Inflation: a very high IF given their citation network (self-citing, citation cartels, etc).
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
They'll even typeset & publish AI slop for a fee!
Strain: bit.ly/StrainQSS
Strain explorer β: pagoba.shinyapps.io/strain_explo...
#SciPub #ResearchIntegrity #AcademicSky
Free Flash Fiction is always a great read. Check their contest results for the year’s best flash.
I love writing flash, but mine usually emerge very micro, ironic and funny. If I want to win a prize I may have to take a more literary approach. #writingcommunity #flashfiction #microflash
I love writing flash, but mine usually emerge very micro, ironic and funny. If I want to win a prize I may have to take a more literary approach. #writingcommunity #flashfiction #microflash
ICYMI#6
As chosen by Judge Nish X. Hegde
@nishxhegde.bsky.social
The FFF Competition Thirty Winning Flash Fiction!
After Dinner
by Caroline McKenzie
#FlashFiction #writingcommunity #flashfiction
#shortfiction #fiction #writing #writingcompetitions
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
As chosen by Judge Nish X. Hegde
@nishxhegde.bsky.social
The FFF Competition Thirty Winning Flash Fiction!
After Dinner
by Caroline McKenzie
#FlashFiction #writingcommunity #flashfiction
#shortfiction #fiction #writing #writingcompetitions
freeflashfiction.com/fiction/comp...
Competition Thirty Winning Flash Fiction: After Dinner – Free Flash Fiction
My mother-in-law clears the empty plates. I offer to help, but she doesn’t look up. Her words flutter like napkins; no, thank you, she can manage. I wonder if she would have spoken at all if manners h...
freeflashfiction.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Free Flash Fiction is always a great read. Check their contest results for the year’s best flash.
I love writing flash, but mine usually emerge very micro, ironic and funny. If I want to win a prize I may have to take a more literary approach. #writingcommunity #flashfiction #microflash
I love writing flash, but mine usually emerge very micro, ironic and funny. If I want to win a prize I may have to take a more literary approach. #writingcommunity #flashfiction #microflash
Two years since Capital Disrupt was released and I’m dropping the price from $13 to $9.99.
22 humorous #shortstories set in a near-future mild dystopia, celebrating the everyday heroes who battle faceless bureaucracy to disrupt the system. Celebrating what’s human in an age of technological change.
22 humorous #shortstories set in a near-future mild dystopia, celebrating the everyday heroes who battle faceless bureaucracy to disrupt the system. Celebrating what’s human in an age of technological change.
November 28, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Two years since Capital Disrupt was released and I’m dropping the price from $13 to $9.99.
22 humorous #shortstories set in a near-future mild dystopia, celebrating the everyday heroes who battle faceless bureaucracy to disrupt the system. Celebrating what’s human in an age of technological change.
22 humorous #shortstories set in a near-future mild dystopia, celebrating the everyday heroes who battle faceless bureaucracy to disrupt the system. Celebrating what’s human in an age of technological change.
Free, open and decentralized is the future, including federated social media. @bsky.app #federated #opensource
We're grateful for the @Archive.org and @WikimediaFoundation.org for continuing to demonstrate that the open web is the best web.
November 28, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Free, open and decentralized is the future, including federated social media. @bsky.app #federated #opensource
Sounds intriguing. #poetry
Just starting to ship! Publisher and Editor of Hedgehog Poetry Press, @hedgehogpress.co.uk Mark Davidson, says it is a “gorgeous book, filled with some of the finest poetry I’ve read in years.” Which is so lovely! Order signed copies here: witchbottlepoetry.wordpress.com/2025/11/15/t...
November 28, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Sounds intriguing. #poetry
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen.
The Kinks (Dancehall Days tour)
The Grateful Dead (of course)
Pink Floyd
The Butthole Surfers
Vampire Weekend
The Kinks (Dancehall Days tour)
The Grateful Dead (of course)
Pink Floyd
The Butthole Surfers
Vampire Weekend
Introduce yourself with five concert you’ve seen.
David Bowie
Mudhoney
Public Enemy
Nirvana
White Stripes
David Bowie
Mudhoney
Public Enemy
Nirvana
White Stripes
Introduce yourself with five concert you’ve seen
Catherine Wheel
Ronnie Spector
Libertines
Ministry
Chemical brothers
Catherine Wheel
Ronnie Spector
Libertines
Ministry
Chemical brothers
November 28, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Introduce yourself with five concerts you’ve seen.
The Kinks (Dancehall Days tour)
The Grateful Dead (of course)
Pink Floyd
The Butthole Surfers
Vampire Weekend
The Kinks (Dancehall Days tour)
The Grateful Dead (of course)
Pink Floyd
The Butthole Surfers
Vampire Weekend
We need new models for publishing. Bookshop is the challenger to Amazon. Who is the open source upstart that helps the beginning author? That’s what we need to invent. New authors are usually broke, so it had to be free or low cost, not like all the nonsense sales pitches out there. #selfpublish
No route to stability. No route to a steady income. Just either survive, just about, around the day job and self publish or have everything you built sucked dry for the slightest chance of making real money.
November 26, 2025 at 12:25 PM
We need new models for publishing. Bookshop is the challenger to Amazon. Who is the open source upstart that helps the beginning author? That’s what we need to invent. New authors are usually broke, so it had to be free or low cost, not like all the nonsense sales pitches out there. #selfpublish
Keep pushing. Your creativity has value. Make something that you like and are proud of. Someone else will love it too. Nice thing about books is if 1 million people like it, then you print 1 million copies.
Me, I’ve got five side hustles. Writing isn’t paying my bills…yet!
#writingcommunity #scifi
Me, I’ve got five side hustles. Writing isn’t paying my bills…yet!
#writingcommunity #scifi
November 26, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Keep pushing. Your creativity has value. Make something that you like and are proud of. Someone else will love it too. Nice thing about books is if 1 million people like it, then you print 1 million copies.
Me, I’ve got five side hustles. Writing isn’t paying my bills…yet!
#writingcommunity #scifi
Me, I’ve got five side hustles. Writing isn’t paying my bills…yet!
#writingcommunity #scifi
For those who celebrate with friends or family, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ll be the sous-chef for a family feast and I’ll be selling art over the weekend at the Kluth Gallery in Kent. Wishing y’all love and light! #manythanks #giveart #writingcommunity
November 24, 2025 at 12:39 PM
For those who celebrate with friends or family, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ll be the sous-chef for a family feast and I’ll be selling art over the weekend at the Kluth Gallery in Kent. Wishing y’all love and light! #manythanks #giveart #writingcommunity
Sadly there is no competition in the ISBN market, so pricing is not great. Buy a 10-pack to save money. Bowker is the U.S. source.
First book, I used an Amazon ISBN, found out later you can’t list it through Ingram unless you have your own ISBN. Amazon ISBNs only work on Amazon.
#writingcommunity
First book, I used an Amazon ISBN, found out later you can’t list it through Ingram unless you have your own ISBN. Amazon ISBNs only work on Amazon.
#writingcommunity
If you’re preparing to publish your book, one of the most critical steps is securing your ISBNs. It’s also one of the first steps in book distribution for self-published authors.
#WritingCommunity #AuthorSky
gea.mxz.mybluehost.me/how-to-obtai...
#WritingCommunity #AuthorSky
gea.mxz.mybluehost.me/how-to-obtai...
How to Obtain ISBNs in Canada and the U.S.: A Guide for Indie Authors - Bodacious Copy
If you’re preparing to publish your book, one of the most critical steps is securing your ISBNs.
gea.mxz.mybluehost.me
November 20, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Sadly there is no competition in the ISBN market, so pricing is not great. Buy a 10-pack to save money. Bowker is the U.S. source.
First book, I used an Amazon ISBN, found out later you can’t list it through Ingram unless you have your own ISBN. Amazon ISBNs only work on Amazon.
#writingcommunity
First book, I used an Amazon ISBN, found out later you can’t list it through Ingram unless you have your own ISBN. Amazon ISBNs only work on Amazon.
#writingcommunity
Flywheels of Interdependence makes a great gift and you can buy it through public-benefit corp Bookshop.
It’s 233 pages of poems with illustrations, uplifting nature, the power of love and community building.
#wriringcommunity #author #giftbooks #mythology
bookshop.org/p/books/flyw...
It’s 233 pages of poems with illustrations, uplifting nature, the power of love and community building.
#wriringcommunity #author #giftbooks #mythology
bookshop.org/p/books/flyw...
Flywheels: Of Interdependence
Of Interdependence
bookshop.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Flywheels of Interdependence makes a great gift and you can buy it through public-benefit corp Bookshop.
It’s 233 pages of poems with illustrations, uplifting nature, the power of love and community building.
#wriringcommunity #author #giftbooks #mythology
bookshop.org/p/books/flyw...
It’s 233 pages of poems with illustrations, uplifting nature, the power of love and community building.
#wriringcommunity #author #giftbooks #mythology
bookshop.org/p/books/flyw...
Positive feedback on my book, Capital Disrupt. Mike K says it’s funny, he liked the unique vocabulary and he wondered how true the stories are. I said they all start out true, then I extrapolate and exaggerate (and change the names). Laugh at a near-future mild dystopia #writingcommunity #disrupt.
November 16, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Positive feedback on my book, Capital Disrupt. Mike K says it’s funny, he liked the unique vocabulary and he wondered how true the stories are. I said they all start out true, then I extrapolate and exaggerate (and change the names). Laugh at a near-future mild dystopia #writingcommunity #disrupt.
If everyone shares a common mind and goal, how does work get distributed to the human nodes? Some distributed computing algorithms are needed.
The best portrayal of a universal hive mind I’ve read is Justina Robson’s Theo in Living Next Door to the God of Love. #hivemind #writingcommunity
The best portrayal of a universal hive mind I’ve read is Justina Robson’s Theo in Living Next Door to the God of Love. #hivemind #writingcommunity
Pluribus unfortunately has activated both the 'i want to write about television again' and 'i want to write for television again' parts of my brain
November 14, 2025 at 9:08 PM
If everyone shares a common mind and goal, how does work get distributed to the human nodes? Some distributed computing algorithms are needed.
The best portrayal of a universal hive mind I’ve read is Justina Robson’s Theo in Living Next Door to the God of Love. #hivemind #writingcommunity
The best portrayal of a universal hive mind I’ve read is Justina Robson’s Theo in Living Next Door to the God of Love. #hivemind #writingcommunity