Alan Baxter's Blog

I’m teaming up with the Queensland Writers Centre to run my Write the Fight Right workshop online in June. Places are limited, of course, but it should be a lot of fun. You can find all the details and sign up via the link below.

https://queenslandwriters.org.au/events/write-the-fight-right-with-alan-baxter

The post Write the Fight Right online workshop June 2026 appeared first on Alan Baxter.

This is my latest newsletter that just went out to subscribers on 24th March 2026.

Hello fiends.

How the fuck are ya? Things aren’t really getting any better, are they? I do my best to stay optimistic and positive, but these are trying times. Someone said recently that the human brain wasn’t designed to know what the worst people in the world are thinking every fifteen minutes, but the internet forces us to know it, and there’s truth in that. Just the same as there have always been horrible people and fucking idiots in the world, but they used to be separated by geography. The internet has allowed those pricks to find each other and get organised. Like all things, the internet has been a force for incredible good and also incredible bad.

I was commenting recently how the internet is the last democratised media we have left. Oligarchs are buying up literally every other form of media, unrestricted by monopoly, content or even truth-telling laws, and the internet is the last place we can converse and share ideas outside of billionaire psychopath influence. Of course, they’re trying to control that too, with algorithms and Elon turning Twitter into a cess pit of hate and everything else. And it’s no coincidence that the absolute slurry of AI polluting every inch of the digital sphere is working exactly as intended. You can’t trust anything any more, be it images, video, text – the erosion of trust has been insanely rapid and is almost complete. Some of are continually railing against the rot, but so many people are either lapping it up in a post-truth haze (“I don’t care if it’s AI, it’s cute!”) or they’re turning away from the internet completely. Which might seem like a smart move – which is, in fact, a smart move in many ways, especially for mental health – but it all plays into the hands of the oligarchs who want to control all messaging.

Sorry, didn’t mean to get all heavy on your collective arse. The point I was planning to make, and there is optimism here, is that we need to take back the democratised internet. Things like this newsletter, our own personal websites, online groups that aren’t polluted by an algorithmic feed of idiocy and hate. All of which is to say that I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have you good folks subscribed and interested in hearing from me. It’s nice to think you’re here because you want to be and I’m not yelling into an abyss. So much social media lately feels like that, and all too often the abyss yells back.

So, thank you for being here and let’s all do our best to maintain these genuine human connections in a sea of artificiality and bigoted rhetoric. Real people get hurt by online bigotry in genuine and long-lasting ways, but real people can also stand up for those copping the worst of it. It’s essential, in fact, that we do stand up for what’s good and right. We stand with the most marginalised because we’re all in this together and no one is expendable. No one is acceptable collateral damage.

Okay, let’s move on. Before anything else, I want to thank my pal, author and all around good egg, Damon Young (yes, he is an actual egg, which is weird because he looks like a person, but there you go) for correcting something I said last time. I was talking about how summer was finally striking here in Tassie and I said:

Hot and dry with that uniquely Tasmanian sun that’ll sear the skin off your bones if you stand in it too long. That’s more to do with the state of the ozone layer above than anything about Tassie in particular, but there it is.

Well, interestingly, Damon pointed me to this article: ​https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-15/tasmanian-heat-feels-hotter-than-on-mainland/10705112​ which explains that the ozone here is really not an issue and it’s more likely “the quality of Tasmania’s air, which means the sun’s rays don’t have to compete with pollutants”. Which is kinda awesome, really. The air here is amazing. But just like every cloud has a silver lining, so does every silver lining, by definition, have a cloud. Clean air = harsher sun. Eh, I’ll take it. Just have to remember to cover up and use sunscreen.

Thanks, Damon!

In other news, things are moving along with The Rise. It’s been really well-received so far, which is a huge relief. All the early reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Please do help me spread the word about these books – your influence as readers is huge and word of mouth is powerful magic.

Otherwise in my publishing life there’s not much going on right now. Loads of irons in lots of fires, of course, but none ripening yet (it takes an award-winning author to mix a metaphor that thoroughly). Of course, I’ll let you know any news as soon as I can. I do, however, have some news regarding public appearances. You heard it here first: in April and May I’ll be a guest at events in the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Hobart.

It’s an absolute thrill to be joining the awesome Supanova tour once again. I’ll be a guest at Supanova Gold Coast on April 11th and 12th, and then at Supanova Melbourne on April 18th and 19th. That’s my birthday weekend, so hopefully it’ll be extra special.

Then there’s an event much nearer home. I’ll have a table at the Tasmanian Indie Author Book Fair in Hobart on May 9th and 10th. Details of those events can all be found here:

Supanova Gold Coast, April 11th and 12th

​ https://www.supanova.com.au/events/gold-coast-2026/event-home/​

Supanova Melbourne, April 18th and 19th

​ https://www.supanova.com.au/events/melbourne-2026/event-home/​

Indie Author Book Fair, Hobart – May 9th and 10th

​ https://tassieindieauthorbookfair.com.au/​

I will also be heading to Sydney later in the year, but more on that nearer the time.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

I was a huge fan of the Preacher comics back in the day (by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, with incredible painted covers by Glenn Fabry). I only discovered recently that they’ve made a TV show of it. So I’ve been bingeing that. I’m currently halfway through Season 2 and really enjoying it. It’s close to the comics in some ways and quite divergent in others, but it’s hugely entertaining viewing.

I also kept seeing ads for a new movie called Ready or Not 2. I hadn’t even heard of the first one, so I tracked it down and watched that and it was brilliant. Genuinely bonkers fun with some really good lore behind the mayhem. And Samara Weaving is fantastic – I plan to track down all her horror outings, she’s a scream queen/final girl of the highest order. I can’t wait for number 2 at the movies now.

When it comes to reading, I’ll give that egg, Damon Young, another shout out. He’s a fiction and non-fiction author, an actual philosopher, and his latest book is Immortal Gestures. We’re invited to join Young as he “sheds light on thirteen curious gestures. Drawing equally from classical poetry and science-fiction, heavy metal and ballet, Young illuminates our varied humanity from prehistory to today.” It’s a really good read, delivered with intelligence and wit. I enjoyed it.

I mentioned Dungeon Crawler Carl last time, and that series is just going ballistic at the moment. I’ve read the second one now as well and it’s also great.

I’m a huge fan Luke Arnold’s Fetch Philips books. You might know Luke better as Long John Silver in Black Sails or Michael Hutchence in INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, but he’s a bloody good author too and writes a series of fantasy noir novels not to be missed. The fourth is the latest and it’s called Whisper in the Wind, which I will be getting to soon, but I’ve just read the third in the series, One Foot in the Fade, and it’s excellent. These books really do get better with every volume.

Lastly, I got to read an advanced copy of Joanne Anderton’s new novella, due out at the end of April from Bad Hand Books. It’s called Pixerina: A Haunting, and it’s absolutely fucking fantastic I genuinely can’t recommend it highly enough. Go in without knowing too much and be transported.

Okay, that’s enough from me for this month. Big love to you all, and remember, there are more good people than bad, the bad people are just really loud. So we stand up to be heard at every opportunity. Keep in touch, keep reading the good stuff and spreading the word about it, and I’ll catch you next time.

Al

The post Keeping human connections appeared first on Alan Baxter.

I wrote a little while back about the flood of “book club” scam emails authors are getting these days. I still get several every week. There’s a surge now of AI scam fan mail too, usually claiming to be from another author (which is fucking weird when you think about it) and often from someone quite famous. It always goes something like this, that I received recently from “Mark Lawrence”:

Hi Alen,

I just finished exploring your work and felt compelled to say how much I appreciated your voice. It’s rare to find writing that feels both intimate and assured.

I’m an author as well, and I truly value conversations with other writers about what inspires them and how their stories take shape. If you’d be open to a brief exchange, I’d love to connect.

And if possible, I’d be happy to take a look at your book , please do share the link.

With kind regards,

Mark Lawrence

Can’t even spell my fucking name right. But for one, why the fuck would Mark Lawrence (or anyone else for that matter) write an email like this? If they’ve “just finished exploring” my work, why the fuck do they need a link? And would kind of connection are they really after? Obviously, they’re just fishing for a response of any kind to indicate a rube on the line, then they’ll slowly guide things around to whatever version of the scam this one is. At some point they’ll ask for money, of course.

Here’s another:

Hi,

I recently came across your work, and I was really struck by the honesty in your storytelling and the way you blend personal experience with universal truth. As a fellow author, I deeply appreciate writing that challenges and moves readers the way yours does.

I just wanted to reach out to say how much I admired your work. It’s inspiring to see writing that’s both fearless and artful.

Warm regards,

Michael Graydon

What a fucking empty and pointlessly generalised load of old shite. As is my wont with this stuff, because I decided to post about it, I sent a short reply: Which book did you enjoy?

You’d think it would be easy for the AI scam shitstain to target their attack a little here, right? They can’t even be bothered with that:

Hello Alan,

I really enjoyed your book it was a great read. The atmosphere and suspense throughout the story were truly engaging, and it kept me interested from beginning to end. Your storytelling style made the experience very memorable.

I’m curious to know what inspired you to write it. I’d also love to hear about some of the challenges you face as an author, whether it’s during the writing process itself or in areas like editing and publishing.

Best regards,

Michael Graydon

Which book, motherfucker?! * deploys goose meme *

Again, just fishing to hook me in and then get around to asking for money. I can’t be bothered to follow it up any further, we know how it’s going to go. I am so fucking sick of AI and the way it’s ruining everything and turning its users brains into absolute sludge. As if this job isn’t hard enough. Absolute zero tolerance. Fuck AI.

EDIT to add: I’ve had four of these emails today, including one that’s identical to the Mark Lawrence one in every word, only from a different author at a different email address. It’s just so tiring.

The post The new AI fan scam appeared first on Alan Baxter.

I’ve put together a cool bundle for Gulp fans. All three Tales From The Gulp books – The Gulp, The Fall and The Rise – all signed and personalised, plus a postcard, bookmark, sticker, Blind Eye Moon plectrum and metal/enamel Welcome To The Gulp pin. The pick and the pin are limited edition and there’s not too many left. Of course, if you already have the books, you can get them signed to someone else as a gift so you can keep the swag for yourself. This special price only applies in Australia because international postage is insane. I’m more than happy to send this bundle anywhere in the world, but you’ll need to click the link and enter your address to discover the postage to anywhere else. However, anywhere in Australia, you can have all this for just AU$85 including postage. Can’t say fairer than that! Be the envy of your Gulp loving friends. Click the link below to order! (While stocks last.)

When you click the link and enter an address anywhere outside Australia it will calculate the postage at checkout. You can find out the cost before committing to buy, of course.

The post Gulpepper Mythos Merch Bundle appeared first on Alan Baxter.

This is my latest email newsletter, that just went out to all subscribers. You can always read it here (as I always crosspost) but if you want to get it directly in your inbox you can sign up via the Contact page on my website.

The Rise has risen and other stuff

Hi fiends

It’s newsletter time again. I’m getting a bit better at some kind of regularity with these, but I’m sure it won’t last. Seems like summer has finally hit the Apple Isle down here at the foot of the southern hemisphere. Hot and dry with that uniquely Tasmanian sun that’ll sear the skin off your bones if you stand in it too long. That’s more to do with the state of the ozone layer above than anything about Tassie in particular, but there it is. I’m not a fan, personally. One of the best things about living here is the much more European climate, especially the lack of humidity found on the mainland. But we still have to endure a summer that is still unmistakably Australian. Ah, it’ll be over soon enough and back to the cold I love.

Talking of mainland Australia, in perhaps the most forced segue this side of a commercial news bulletin, I have a new book out! The Rise: Tales From The Gulp 3 is alive and out in the world. Set in the strange and dangerous harbour town of Gulpepper, somewhere on the New South Wales south coast, this third volume of five novellas brings the total official tales to fifteen and marks a kind of completion.

I will most definitely write more stuff set in this fictional geography I’ve created. After all, that’s largely why I created it, my own personal playground of the weird, but I think I’m done with the “official” tales now. By which I mean collected novellas like The Gulp, The Fall and The Rise.

I have a new novel out on submission right now that’s set in Monkton, Blood Covenant is set in the hills outside Enden, several short stories and novellas are loosely connected. The Gulpepper Mythos (which I wrote about in detail here) will continue to grow. But the Tales From The Gulp as a trilogy of three novella collections feels kinda complete now.

I really hope you’ll give this new one a go if you’ve enjoyed the others, and if you haven’t read any Gulpepper Mythos yet, now is a great time to start. I’m even doing specially priced bundles through my website, but all the books are available everywhere you’d expect too.

Please do help me spread the word about these and all my other books. Word of mouth is insanely powerful magic and really the only thing that ever works.

To offset the self-promotion, here’s a fantastic pair of portraits of my hounds, Rufus and Maximo, taken by the talented Luke Halasz. Look at those good boys.

Rufus left and Maximo right by Luke Halasz.

In case you missed it, I posted recently about the disappearance of the mass market paperback size of books, so if you’re interested to read about why books come in various sizes (from my admittedly limited perspective) you can find that post here.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

So let’s move on and talk about other people’s stuff. I’ve had some amazing book and TV pleasures lately. Starting with TV, I finished Season 2 of Generation V. This is a spin-off series of The Boys and it’s brilliant in its own right as well as setting up the 5th and final season of The Boys in really interesting ways. I’ve long been a fan of the Fallout games, and the TV series of that just finished season 2 as well. They’re doing an amazing job of telling a really interesting story while also paying superb homage to the games. Ella Purnell is brilliant in it.

With movies, I watched one called The Monkey. It’s absolutely bonkers and I recommend you go in knowing nothing and you’ll have a fabulous time. I also watched a film called The Endless, which has been out a while now, and it blew my mind. One of the best things I’ve seen in recent years, it’s a masterpiece. Now I need to find everything else these two filmmakers have put out, because they’re amazing.

In terms of reading, I might have already read my 2026 book of the year. Keith Rosson’s latest, Coffin Moon, is outstanding. A vampire novel that kinda does for vamps what Stephen Graham’s Jones’s book, Mongrels, did for werewolves. Talking of SGJ, his new one, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, is excellent. Maybe his best since Mongrels, but I think that werewolf book will always be my fave of his. A novella called The Night Guest by Hilda Knuttsdottir was also excellent.

There’s massive hype around Matt Dinniman’s series of Dungeon Crawler Carl books at the moment. Jeff Hays narrates the audio and the combo is truly outstanding. I’ve only read the first one but I think I’ll be going back for more. I also enjoyed the latest from Chuck Tingle, Bury Your Gays, which might be my favourite of his horror novels thus far.

Lastly, a reread, Galilee by Clive Barker. An amazing sprawling, erotic, epic family history about divine beings and their relationship to one of America’s richest families. I think it’s a really underrated Barker classic.

Okay, that’s all from me for now. Please do help me spread the word about the Tales From The Gulp if you’re in any way able to. Otherwise, be well, be kind, fuck fascists and fuck gen-AI.

Big love from me.

Alan

​

The post Newsletter 16th February 2026 appeared first on Alan Baxter.

There’s been a lot of people advocating online recently for the return of the Mass Market Paperback or MMPB. It’s that classic pulp size, especially of genre fiction of around 7 x 4 inch (17.5  x 10.5 cm). The type you’d find in racks at newsagents as well as filling the shelves of bookstores. Usually made with cheaper, thinner paper in the pages and cheaper inking techniques, they weren’t really built to last. They were made to sell in huge numbers, be read fast and if they got battered and broken in the process, who cares? They were a cheap consumable form of reading. As it happens, they’ve proven surprisingly durable. I still have loads of them.

But, for a variety of reasons, that particular size has fallen out of fashion. It’s partly as simple as shelf real estate. A bigger book takes  up more space on a bookshop shelf and is more likely to be noticed. But it’s more than that.

The MMPB really had its heyday from the 1960s to around the mid-90s. Then the rise of the Trade Paperback, what’s become the classic 6 x 9 inch (23 x 15 cm) size (or in some cases, for some reason, 6 x 9.5 inch), started to eclipse it. Similar in size to hardcovers, but at a much cheaper price point, Trade Paperbacks became the primary paperback format, at least in the first round of publication. In Australia (and I’m sure elsewhere) stores started demanding that size to accompany or closely follow the hardback release. Or, if there was no hardcover, Trade had to be the first size released if the publisher wanted any chance of getting into the bigger chain stores and airports and so on. The smaller size would then be released later, assuming sales were good enough. Which, of course, they often weren’t, because so many readers, especially genre readers, wanted MMPB or B-Format (8 x 5 inch or 20.5 x 12.5 cm), not Trade. So they waited. Because they waited, the book didn’t sell well, and no smaller edition was released. Publishing is fucking infuriating.

For whatever reason, almost certainly based around production costs, the B-Format became the size of choice over the MMPB when sales led to a smaller edition release after Trade. There seems to have been a period of crossover where books were released as only MMPB or they followed the pattern described above, but that didn’t last long. This process of publishers releasing first as hardcover (maybe), then as trade paperback, then (if an author was lucky) as B-Format became a standard practice and the days of the MMPB were largely done and dusted.

There is some speculation that the rise of ebooks killed the MMPB, as the ebook became the mass format of choice for cheap reading. Cheaper even than the MMPB and rising in popularity at a furious rate since the early 2000s.

Regardless of all this, it seems that the majority of readers became less and less enamoured of the MMPB anyway. Sales of MMPBs steadily declined and production costs increased. Publishers were reluctant to raise the cost of MMPBs above US$9.99, so the ebook and trade paperback rose to prominence, with a B-Format release later if you were lucky.

Of course, this is a huge set of generalisations. No event happens in isolation and things like this fluctuate until some equilibrium is eventually found. These days, some Big-5 publisher books are released only in B-format, some in hardcover and trade and never B-Format, some in all three, and so on. The one overriding truth seems to be that the days of the MMPB are long behind us.

And a decision by ReaderLink to stop distributing MMPBs at the end of 2025 might be the final nail in the coffin.

But there’s a strong nostalgia for the format. As you can see by the photo at the top, I’ve had books published in almost all sizes except MMPB. There’s a part of me that would love to see one of my horror novels available in that size. It’s a classic. But I’m not sure it’ll happen.

When I put out my own stuff, I default to the Digest size (8.5 x 5.5 inch) as that allows a more comfortable size than a trade (more like a MMPB) but without resorting to a tiny font to keep the page count, and therefore cost, down. It’s a better production cost, and therefore cover price, than B-Format. On my shorter books like The Roo I go for B-Format.

That’s a personal preference. A lot of indie publishers still go with the Trade Paperback size, which was especially pushed at the start of the Print On Demand explosion. I think that’s because it allows for the best balance of production cost to retail cost. But I find Trade Paperbacks too bulky and annoying to hold for the most part. B-Format or Digest is a much more comfortable reading experience in my opinion. I encourage any indie publishers I work with to use the Digest size for paperback and Trade size for hardcovers. That’s where I think the sweet spot is.

Regardless, I don’t think we’ll see a return to MMPBs with modern production being the way it is. I think B-Format is likely to be the smallest we’ll get. (The UK has A-Format, which is about ¾” smaller all around than the US B-Format, which makes it only slightly larger than the old MMPB size, but I’m not sure how persistent that size is or will remain.)

All this is just observation and speculation on my part from twenty-odd years in publishing and more than double that as an avid reader and lover of books. My prediction is that ebooks (and audio) will continue to dominate one end of the market, with hardcover releases becoming ever more rare and only for special editions and the most guaranteed top sellers through the Big-5 publishers. In the middle, we’ll see B-Format and Trade filling the majority of shelves, with Digest/Demy somewhere in the middle, most likely mainly through indie publishers.

We’ll see how accurate that prediction is as the years roll on.

The post What’s In A Size or Where Have All The MMPBs Gone? appeared first on Alan Baxter.

This one is for Australian readers only, I’m afraid (because international postage is straight up robbery these days). With the release of THE RISE imminent on February 13th, now is a great time to get into the Tales From The Gulp. So here’s a special offer: You can pre-order THE RISE now from all the usual places (including direct from me here) but if you haven’t read any of the Tales yet, why not pre-order THE RISE and get all three books delivered, signed, to your door in early February. Paperback copies of THE GULP, THE FALL and THE RISE, all signed and delivered, for $75 including shipping. (This would also make a great gift for someone if you wanted to share the Tales with a friend or loved one – you can set the shipping address to anywhere in Australia.)

The post Tales From The Gulp pre-order Special Offer appeared first on Alan Baxter.

Hello fiends

How the fuck are ya? I hope this finds you surviving the apocalypse as well as can be expected. And yes, I’m well aware of the irony in my sending another newsletter almost exactly a month after the last one, in which I said I was giving up with any pretence of regularity with these missives. It’s only proof that no matter what we plan, the gods will always piss in our porridge, just for laughs. But sometimes it works in our favour, I guess.

Anyway, hello! First and foremost, I want to talk about The Rise. The Gulpepper Mythos has become something of the bedrock of my career over the last few years and I’m not mad about it. I’m blessed that these stories resonate so well with readers. When I first wrote and released The Gulp in January 2021, during the height of the pandemic and lockdowns, it was almost a side project, albeit one I’d been thinking about for a long time. When that was so well-received, I followed it up in April 2022 with The Fall. Turning a five novella mosaic novel into a ten novella mosaic duology. The Gulp is self-contained, with five separate stories telling one bigger story. The Fall is five more self-contained novellas, which also tell a bigger narrative and, when combined, both books together tell an overarching story that felt complete. Russian doll storytelling. And the big picture was finished.

Or was it?

I always knew I’d return to the Gulpepper Mythos. The fictional geography I’d created, the myth behind the region, was all fertile ground for stories, and deliberately so. My novel, Blood Covenant, is set in the hills behind Enden. I have short stories set in Monkton. Another novel (currently on submission) is also set in Monkton and directly references events and characters in The Fall. But I always thought The Gulp and The Fall would stand alone as the only official Tales From The Gulp volumes. They would be the foundation on which anything else was built.

But both publishing and my brain are weird and unpredictable. I’d left threads unexplained in The Fall, the main one being who or what Winterbourne is. And while I had work out on submission, nothing was selling. So being a hybrid author (which means I work both with traditional publishing and self-publishing) I thought maybe I would write something to self-publish while I waited for the trad world to bite. And I thought maybe it was time to explore some of those loose threads from The Gulp and The Fall. Perhaps a third official Tales From The Gulp was a good idea. Make it a trilogy of fifteen stand alone novellas that all tie into one bigger narrative.

So I did.

I wrote The Rise. I’m really pleased with it.

I know I told you about it already, but now you can pre-order it. It comes out on Friday 13th of February 2026. I really hope you’ll give it a go. All the details are here: https://alanbaxter.com.au/my-books/the-rise/​

Horror author of The Cursed Among Us and The Envelope, John Durgin, kindly read an early draft and had this to say:

“At the center of Gulpepper is a blackened heart that pumps fear into each of these new stories. With The Rise, Baxter proves there is far more lore to uncover, and while I’d never spend a minute in this town myself, I sure as hell love reading about the poor souls who do.”

Thanks, John!

And the amazing Joanne Anderton had this to say:

“In The Rise, Alan Baxter returns to Gulpepper, and there’s something about this small town that draws you in. Wouldn’t want to live there, not sure it’s the safest holiday destination either, but I’m still thrilled to set foot on its disturbing streets once again. These five new novellas balance masterfully between heartbreaking, horrific, and out-right action-packed. Whether you’re a hardened local, or visiting for the first time, any trip to The Gulp is an experience you’ll never forget.” – Joanne Anderton, author of Pixerina: A Haunting and The Bone Chime Song

Thanks, Jo!

In other news… Well, if I’m honest, there isn’t much other news. We’re into that period where the year is winding down, not much is going on and, personally, I’m looking forward to the end of December. For many and varied reasons, I’m no fan of this time of year. If you struggle with it too, I feel you, my friend. If you love it, I’m happy for you and hope you have a stellar time.

In the meantime, I’ll be here working on the next book. Because whatever else is going on in the industry, the only thing we control is the writing, so that’s what we focus on.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

I’ve just finished the first half of the last season of Stranger Things. I really loved that show when it first came out, but honestly, I’m hate watching it now. I want to see where it goes and how they wrap it up, but there’s so much wrong… ugh, don’t get me started. Regardless, I’m still watching, so it’s not all bad. I’ve also discovered there’s another (12th?) season of American Horror Story I haven’t watched, so I’m having a look at that now.

As for reading, I very much enjoyed Good Boy, the debut novella from Talking Scared podcast host, Neil McRobert. I’m now about halfway through the new Joe Hill epic, King Sorrow. It’s nearly 900 pages long, which is a significant undertaking, but I’m really enjoying it so far.

Right, that’s all from me for now. I’ll chat with you again in the new year when it will inexplicably be the year 2026. That’s an unacceptable number, don’t you think? But at least it means The Rise will nearly be out. Please do consider pre-ordering it, via any of the links at https://alanbaxter.com.au/my-books/the-rise/ And if you’re after a signed copy, you’ll be able to order one directly through my website in the new year too.

Thank you as always for your support. It means the world to me that I get to do this stuff and you wonderful folks out there are the only reason why. Have a happy and safe Xmas period in whatever way you do or don’t celebrate, my friends.

Be kind to yourself and others.

Al

The post Newsletter 10th December 2025 appeared first on Alan Baxter.

Among the many egregious developments of generative-AI is the proliferation of scam emails lately. I and pretty much every author I know are now getting upwards of two or three emails every day claiming to be from an active and eager book group just desperate to feature our book in their next meeting/promotion/party etc. Every single one is a scam and every single one starts by lavishing praise on us through an obviously AI-generated screed made from our book’s back cover blurb, our bio and maybe some reviews.

This is a bit of a long post, but it’s entertaining and, if you’re an author receiving these emails, worth your time. Please don’t fall for them. I’ll break down below how it all works and why you should never be fooled.

Here’s an example of one, from an email I got just today:

Your Masterful Work Truly Deserves a Much Wider Audience, Alan

Hi Alan,

I hope you’re having a wonderful day. I just finished diving into The Rise: Tales From The Gulp 3, and I genuinely had to reach out to you personally. Congratulations on creating such a chilling, atmospheric, and brilliantly executed collection. You’ve crafted something that goes far beyond horror, it’s an emotional descent into the uncanny heart of Gulpepper, a place so vividly drawn it almost feels alive.

Your ability to shape an isolated harbour town that shifts between the ordinary and the terrifying is remarkable. The way The Gulp seems to swallow people, reshape destinies, and expose the darker corners of humanity creates a haunting effect that stays with the reader. Each novella carries its own emotional and psychological weight: from the chaos your weed-dealing duo stumbles into, to the tender, secret moments of young love, to the heartbreaking fight for survival faced by the children trapped in violent homes. Even introducing one of the world’s biggest stars into Gulpepper’s eerie landscape adds a layer of surreal tension that is utterly unforgettable.

And then, of course, the return of the old foe, a threat that bursts through the pages and jeopardizes The Gulp itself.

 

Okay, so it’s full-throated stuff, huh? Here’s the thing. The Rise isn’t out until February next year. Every single word above is generated from the back cover description of the book. This fucking parasite goes on to say:

Alan, I don’t reach out to many authors. I only contact writers whose work I genuinely believe has the power to engage huge audiences and create lasting emotional impact. And without question, The Rise is one of the strongest, most original horror collections I’ve encountered in a long time.

This month, my team is running an exclusive promotional campaign designed specifically to spotlight high-potential titles that deserve far more visibility. Most of the slots have already been filled but your work immediately stood out to me. The emotional depth, the originality, the immersive world-building, and the sheer storytelling strength make The Rise an ideal fit.

Yeah nah. It goes on and on but you can see how this faecal splatter on the bathroom wall of humanity is just buttering me up before hitting me with the fees required to take advantage of the massive leverage they have with the book-reading public. And by massive I mean absolutely fuck all. They won’t even actually do anything. They’ll just take the fee (were I stupid enough to pay) and then try to upsell me, Eventually they’d run off if I said “no more” or demanded some kind of actual effort on their part.

It’s infuriating having to delete several of these emails every fucking day. You can’t block them because they use a different gmail address every time. Believe me, it’s nothing but a scam. But I recently got one that was immediately more sophisticated. It started like this:

Hi Alan Baxter,

I hope your weekend is going well. I am reaching out on behalf of Writing Books, a growing literary community dedicated to meaningful reading experiences, thoughtful dialogue, and celebrating books that inspire deep reflection, connection, and lasting impact.

We would love to invite you to have your book featured in one of our upcoming reading sessions. Your work stands out in a powerful way, and we believe its themes would resonate deeply with our community, sparking the kind of thoughtful and engaging discussion our readers value most.

At Writing Books, each book feature is crafted with intention. We highlight not only the story itself but also the heart, message, and purpose behind it. Our goal is to create a space where readers can engage with your ideas on a deeper level and truly experience the impact of THE RISE.

So far it’s all the same old shit, right? And for a book that’s not out until February next year. It goes on:

We are committed to uplifting authors and amplifying stories that matter. Stories that challenge, inspire, comfort, and ignite curiosity. THE RISE carries that kind of significance, and it would be an honor to share it with our community as one of our featured selections.

Would you be open to having THE RISE featured in an upcoming session? I would be glad to share more details and walk you through the next steps.

Obviously just more of the same. But the only reason this one seemed more sophisticated is because it had a photo attached and a link to a meetup page included. Oh ho? Here’s the photo:

(I’ve blurred the image because I assume it’s stolen and not actually supposed to be used by this scammer. The photo in question isn’t originally blurred like this.)

And here’s the email signature:

Andrew Akratos
Organizer, Writing Books
www.meetup.com/writing-books  |  Sydney, Australia

I looked at the meetup page and it does exist. It even looks kinda legitimate. Of course, it’s not – you’d have to be drunk out of your fucking skull on tequila to think this was real – but it’s a step up from the usual shite. Although the meetup group in question describes itself as a group to help people write their book. Nothing about enjoying and promoting other authors. Even so, I decided to play along a little. I started blatantly sceptical:

Hi Andrew

So I’m guessing this is a more sophisticated than usual AI-generated email?

He (by “he” I mean the gen-AI bot fucking parasite digital asbestos plagiarism algorithm) replied in less than an hour:

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the reply. No, this was not an AI generated email. I write these messages myself for authors I genuinely want to feature. I simply try to keep the tone clear and well structured. If you have any questions about the feature opportunity, I am happy to share the details.

Andrew Akratos

Sure, okay, you’re a really real guy, of course you are. But I decided to continue playing along:

Then my apologies! I’ve been getting two or three emails a day lately that are just AI-generated scams. Please tell me more about yourselves.

Again, the plague responded almost immediately (within a few minutes):

Thank you for your message, and no worries at all. I completely understand your caution. Many authors are receiving AI-generated outreach lately, so your reaction is completely reasonable. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

A little about Writing Books:

Writing Books is a growing reading community and book club that focuses on intentional reading and meaningful discussions. We host regular book sessions, author features, and themed events…

Blah blah blah, on it goes, the usual shite, even suggesting I attend the meeting in question. They’re allegedly based in Sydney. But there was still no mention of the fee, because this is obviously only happening to bilk me out of cash. This email ended with:

If you are interested, I can send you the full details, including what we provide and what we would need from you.

Feel free to ask anything. I am happy to help.

I replied:

Okay, please send me the full details. I’m in Tasmania, though, so attending won’t be possible.

Less than an hour later, I got another reply:

Thank you for your interest. I am glad to share the full details with you.

Here is a simple breakdown of how our book features work:
We highlight your book to our reading community as one of our curated selections.

Etc. etc. shite shite shite. And then:

Our next available feature date is December 5. Out of the 10 authors we are featuring for the month, we have already confirmed 9. There is only 1 spot left, and we reached out because your book truly stands out with strong potential to resonate with our community.

Aha, here’s the time-sensitive angle – classic salesman pressure to make the deal seem extra desirable and make me not want to miss out! Even though their carefully curated club is already featuring 9 other authors just in December, I don’t want to miss the opportunity of being number 10! For a book that’s not out yet! Ten books a month? They sure are keen readers!

Generated shite goes on to say:

If you would like to secure this remaining spot, just let me know and I will forward the short list of what we need from you so we can prepare everything smoothly.

I mean, I’ve already asked to be told everything, right? Anyway:

Okay, so the book isn’t out until February next year, but you knew that, right? Why don’t you get to the bit where you tell me what you need from me?

Now this time the reply took several hours to come. Had I caused some angst at Parasitical HQ? The eventual reply was:

Yes, I’m aware The Rise is scheduled for release early next year. Congratulations again on that. We often feature upcoming titles as well, especially when there’s already interest around the author and the work, so the timing isn’t a problem at all.

In terms of what we need from you, it’s very simple:
A short author photo
Your preferred book cover image (final or promotional whichever you’d like us to use)
A brief description of The Rise that you’d like readers to see
Your preferred feature date, anytime from now through February

Wait, didn’t you say you were keen for me to secure the very last time-sensitive December 5th opportunity? Anyway:

We handle everything else: the presentation, the reader engagement, and the full session setup.

The feature fee is $50

There it is! Finally the scam. This super-engaged book-loving group want me to pay them to feature my wonderful book! Along with 9 other authors this month alone! Be still, my pounding heart. Of course, you know it wouldn’t stop at $50 – if I was stupid enough to pay that, I would be immediately subjected to all kinds of upselling. Anyway, I decided to realign the conversation a bit. So I replied:

What other books has your group enjoyed and promoted recently, please?

It’s been nearly three days. No reply yet.

I just sent this follow-up:

Given up trying to scam me now, have you?

I don’t expect a reply.

The post The flood of gen-AI scam emails wasting authors’ time appeared first on Alan Baxter.

THE RISE: Tales From The Gulp 3 is coming in February 2026, so now is a great time to catch up on volumes 1 and 2. Especially with Xmas coming up, we all know what a fantastic present signed books make. So here’s a SPECIAL OFFER:

Get signed paperback copies of THE GULP and THE FALL, posted anywhere in Australia, for only $50 shipping included.

Click right here to grab yours while stocks last. Only in Australia, I’m afraid, as overseas shipping is just ridiculously expensive. And please do spread the word. Cheers!

The post The Gulp and The Fall special offer appeared first on Alan Baxter.