Chuck Tingle is the nom de plume of a surrealist satire and erotica writer who has achieved success, notoriety, and two Hugo award nominations. His 'Tinglers' are short stories generally available on Amazon and feature every conceivable element in the entire spectrum of sexuality, to include Space Raptors, Unicorns, Brexit, Tide Pods, the concept of linear time, business strategy and strategic targeted marketing, and leftover chocolate chip cookies. There's an entire series of erotica based on pounding from the physical manifestations of concepts. You get the picture.

Due to his anonymity, it's not easy to judge his success in terms of sales. He's stated $60,000 as his total earnings, but he also claims he's a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has a PhD in holistic massage from DeVry, which doesn't offer such a program. He does, however, regularly break the Amazon top 100 for his Tinglers, and considering that erotica is one of the highest selling categories in self-publishing, he's probably doing all right.

Part of his character as performance art revolves around what we wouldn't call . . . 'good writing,' in that punctuation or capitalization are optional, and much of what he posts on Twitter is a few degrees off of expected so it's sometimes a rough read. He does however offer free downloads of some of his works, and those show a clear, readable prose that may not win stylistic awards on its own but is absolutely serviceable and doesn't get in the way of the story.

Whatever you might think about his public statements and persona, you have to admit that he is a master of creating, producing, and marketing his work. He creates his own covers, has his son as an editor, and self-publishes completely without external assistance. He's found a completely unique niche and filled it, and since we're talking about Chuck Tingle all our minds collectively went into the gutter with that last sentence. Let's move on.

This article lists . . . some advice on writing, and other things, from Chuck Tingle.

1.drink chocolate milk buddy not that sick water throw that out
2.you are important and so is your way. this is already a story that can be told
3.the void is not worth your curiostiy
4.listen to your buds
5.there is something to learn from traditional horseplay and there is something to be learned from modern trots. respect both
6.dont try to tell people what art is you will always be wrong
7.there is not very much that separates you from a big timers sometimes it is hard work and sometimes it is luck but its almost never talent
8.spend time with your family
9.have gratitude if you dont youll look like a goofball and youll feel like one too
10.prove love always

In terms of technical advice on craftsmanship, it's not nearly the list of tips and tricks for streamlined Amazon publishing that I'd hope for, but I suspect that there's something in here that we can all learn from, if we just sit down with a glass of chocolate milk and think it through.

Writer's Thread Question of the week!

What tips and tricks have you learned about publishing lately?

Fark Fiction Anthology Update!
We're live!

Doomscrolling: the 2022 Fark Fiction Anthology is now available on Amazon!



Each year, a team of editors and readers drawn from here on Fark.com assembles the best short fiction that Farkers can come up with, and publishes the best of the best on Amazon! Funnier than the news, more terrifying than watching Elon Musk buy your company, and probably not banned anywhere yet, this collection of fantasy, science fiction, humor, horror, and suspense just might drag you away from scrolling the news in terror! And best of all, all proceeds from the sale of these anthologies are donated to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, so you can support a great cause while enjoying the best writing that this slice of the internet can offer!

"Doomscrolling: The 2022 Fark Fiction Anthology" Trade Paperback Edition
"Doomscrolling: The 2022 Fark Fiction Anthology" Kindle Edition

Announce thread

Huge thanks to everyone who submitted, edited, read, and helped out!

Wenchmaster: Anyone have some advice about self-publishing?

I have twenty short stories I've put together as a 270-page, 127K word collection, but I can't seem to get anyone interested in publishing my writing (except Fark). I need to find a decent editor and someone to do cover art and some way to publish this thing, and I have no idea how to do any of that on my own.

Any advice would be appreciated.

If you're interested, I have the technical know-how to get things up on Amazon, and I have access to a bunch of world class artists who might be willing to do cover art on contract. Considering how reliably you're an anthology submitter I'd be more than happy to do a line edit pass on any manuscript you have and manage the whole KDP stuff if you just want to go on Amazon (although, full disclosure: there are far more knowledgeable people than me even just here on Fark) but sadly I know very little about the promotional or marketing side of things.

Getting a book up for sale on Amazon sounds daunting but it's actually pretty easy. Like a lot of other things, the quality of the end result depends on what you want to put into it. I know the guy who did the cover art for this book, and the guy who did this one, and I bet our resident genius artist who does the Anthology covers now is available too if she has the time. Grab me at e­d­itor­s­no­it­c­i­fkr­afne­t and I'll happily tell you everything I know.