Transforming a serial story into a book

I’m generally a one project-at-a-time person. It’s the only way I can make progress on anything.¹ Hence, this newsletter and my ongoing fiction serial.

Back in 2022 I actually did have a side project burbling away, which was to convert an earlier serial project into book form. That emerged as the paperback and ebook edition of No Adults Allowed.

I’ve not talked about the book in much detail here, as I’m always so focused on the current project. A weeks back I was invited to talk about the book at a local library, which turned out to be a very rewarding experience. It seems I still have things to say about No Adults Allowed.

And, so, the newsletter today is that talk retold in video form. I cover the origins of the story, the process of its initial serialisation in 2020, and then the subsequent journey towards self-publishing. I think it’ll be of interest to anyone thinking of a similar route, or indeed anyone interested in post-apocalyptic fiction.

If you’d like to read No Adults Allowed, you can find it on Amazon.

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Thanks for watching.

Amanda B. Hinton

got in touch about a survey she’s running to find out more about Substack reading habits. If you have a moment, the anonymous survey is here and it’ open until the end of the month. I’m looking forward to perusing the results.

Meanwhile!

Courtesy of

Dave Cook

I have now discovered the existence of Bitmap Books, and my wallet is now quivering in fear. They publish fancy coffee table books covering video game history. Look at this stuff. Especially if you were bornin the late-70s/early-80s, every single image in these books is pure nostalgia. This instantly transports me back to my childhood:

I’d entirely forgotten about Sabre Wulf, but that palette resurfaced the memories. Not to mention this:

I could go on. Dave is the writer of two of the books, Run ‘N’ Gun and Go Straight, so maybe I should start with them, especially as he’s covered two genres that I’m only vaguely familiar with.

On that nerdy note, I’ll sign off. Have a great week, everyone.

1. I did not used to be this way. Go back 20 years and I would have a comic, a game, a short film, a novel and just about anything else you could think of, all spinning up at the same time. Most of them would never be finished, and none of them would be to the quality I wanted. I shifted to serial writing in 2015, focusing on a single project, and haven’t looked back.