Short Stories Now Available, Matt's For Hire, Other Stuff!

[Matthew Wayne Selznick]

Hello everyone!

Time from first message to second message: ten months.

Time from second message to third message: four months.

Don't worry, this isn't a trend leading inexorably to a post every six
minutes from me to you. It's always been my goal to bug you folks
when there's something worth bugging you about, not before. Over the
last month, several things have happened to make a new missive to the
masses appropriate.

First thing, best thing:

*****SHORT STORIES*****

I've long wanted to offer short stories for sale on my web site.
These tales will be old and new, but most are previously unpublished
or appeared in small or limited markets.

I'm happy to say I've launched the first one!

"Reggie vs. Kaiju Storm Chimera Wolf" is a giant monster /
forgiveness / love story mash-up set in a small coastal town in
Southern California. It's my first time playing in my own Daikaiju
Universe setting, but it won't be the last.

As with all the short stories to come, "Reggie vs. Kaiju Storm Chimera
Wolf" is available in several formats. The first three are
electronic:

1) A zipped bundle of five e-book formats with no DRM restrictions for
$0.99

2) An Amazon Kindle e-book edition for $0.99

3) iPhone / iPod Touch editions (coming soon!) for $0.99

The fourth format is, I think, something special:

4) A signed and numbered hand-made chapbook edition limited to 100
copies. Each short story chapbook will include bonus material not
available in the e-book editions, and "Reggie..." is no different.
I've written an essay about the story, "Beach Cities and Giant
Monsters: The Path to Reggie," specifically for the chapbook. The
chapbooks sell for $10.00, which includes shipping to anywhere in the
United States. Shipping outside of the United States is extra.

I'm excited about this project -- I have a number of previously
written short stories I'll be dusting off and unveiling in the months
to come, plus some fun ideas for some new ones, too! I hope you enjoy
them, and I appreciate your support, whether it's a dollar for the e-
book editions or ten for the limited edition chapbooks.

Check out "Reggie vs. Kaiju Storm Chimera Wolf" right here:
http://www.mattselznick.com/writing/fiction/short-fiction/reggie/

*****FOR HIRE*****

Many of you know that since April of 2007, I worked building the
freelance community over at Mahalo.com. Some of you may not know that
at the end this past October, half the editorial staff and some of the
developer staff was laid off from that company, and I was among those
let go.

So I've gone from recruiting, developing and training freelancers...
to being one. While the kind state of California provides a not-quite-
satisfactory portion of my former salary for a limited time, I'm
actively pursuing freelance and contract work as well as seeking
permanent full-time employment.

I'm especially interested in work that lets me exercise and challenge
my expertise in the new media and social networking fields. I'm also
open to writing, editing and other creative work. So far, I've had a
few nibbles and landed two short-term gigs... and I'm looking for
more!

So I stand before the three hundred of you and ask you -- if you don't
have any work for a recognized authority in podcasting and new media,
an author with a world-wide following in the tens of thousands, a fan-
favorite and in-demand dramatic reader and voice actor... pass my
resume on to someone who might, with my thanks.

You can download both my tech / creative resume and my retail
management resume from the Google Group that hosts this newsletter.
Here are handy links to the PDF files:

Creative Resume:
http://mattselznicknews.googlegroups.com/web/selznick_matthew_creative_resume_102008.pdf

Retail Resume:
http://mattselznicknews.googlegroups.com/web/selznick_matthew_retail_resume_102008.pdf

*****WHAT ABOUT PILGRIMAGE?*****

You may be wondering about the status of the next book in the
Sovereign Era Cycle, the follow-up to "Brave Men Run -- A Novel of the
Sovereign Era," called "Pilgrimage."

In fact, work on that book was delayed for two reasons:

The first: I was in talks and *this close* to signing a contract to
write and podcast a different book. Since I would have been paid for
this work, I turned my primary writing energies to it for several
weeks in the late summer / early fall. Recently I learned the deal
was not to be -- lay the blame squarely on the state of the economy,
specifically the shaky economic state of the publishing industry.
I'll still be working with that publisher for a short time in another,
non-writing capacity -- that's one of the gigs I mentioned above.

The second: I gotta say, it's hard to write an unsold book when every
time I sit down at the computer I feel like I should be looking for
work or doing something else to put money in the bank. While I can't
deny enjoying the degree of freedom I'm experiencing lately, and while
my wife is digging my being home to watch the dogs and cook her
dinner... unemployment is stressful.

All the same, I'm diving back into "Pilgrimage." All looking-for-work
and no play makes Matt a basket case, after all. Isn't that how that
saying goes..?

So if you've been holding your breath, please, let it out. And in
again, of course. "Pilgrimage" is not dead.

*****MUSIC?*****

Thanks to writer and podcaster Jonathan Schiefer, who had a guitar to
lend, I have an acoustic guitar in ready reach for the first time in
over a year. I'm playing it. I'm out of practice. So I'm
practicing. There will be new music. That is all about that... for
now.

Thanks very much for reading this -- and for caring enough about my
goings-on to be on this newsletter list. I do hope you'll visit
http://www.mattselznick.com, check out "Reggie vs. Kaiju Storm Chimera
Wolf," and pick up whichever edition best suits your reading habits.

Also, please don't forget to subscribe to my blog, Scribtotum, and my
semi-regular personal podcast, Sonitotum, to stay in touch with me in
a more real-time fashion:

Scribtotum RSS subscription link:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/scribtotum
Scribtotum blog link:
http://www.mattselznick.com/scribtotum/

Sonitotum RSS subscription link:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/sonitotum
Sonitotum in iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=163235499
Sonitotum web link:
http://www.mattselznick.com/podcasts/sonitotum/

Keep on keepin' on!

Matthew Wayne Selznick
Author, Podcaster
http://www.mattselznick.com