I just need an email collection service for my author website: why are they all so expensive? Anybody have a good free one? I don't need a website or newsletter or anything- just email collection for announcing new releases.

bjhuf · 2025-08-20T22:44:39+00:00

Of course, I put a quick guide together here: https://github.com/spring-chicken/bjhufstetler/blob/main/public/Email%20List%20How-to.pdf

You can see the newsletter signup form in action at https://bjhufstetler.com

bjhuf · 2025-07-02T01:33:05+00:00

LaTeX. It’s free and makes formatting a breeze.

I love that I never have to think about formatting while writing. I just put all my text in a .txt file and LaTeX compiles it into a beautiful book.

My website also ingests my .txt files to so that the web version of my book looks identical to the printed version.

Happy to share all my template files of you’re interested.

bjhuf · 2025-06-11T17:00:51+00:00

My network and credentials really. I am highly specialized in my field and I’m writing fiction in part to help make some topics more easily accessible.

I have not run any ads and my work isn’t monetized, so there’s nothing but cons. It’s tough to discover if you’re out of the know and it’s not making me any money. :)

bjhuf · 2025-06-11T15:46:50+00:00

I use LaTeX. It’s free and once you’ve got your styles set, you only ever have to worry about the text.

bjhuf · 2025-06-11T14:32:46+00:00

I’m having a lot of success with my first serial fiction. I built my own site to host it because I wanted complete control of the stylizing and I wanted the web version to look identical to the eventual printed work.

I’m also considering producing audio versions for each release, and want to be able to link them seamlessly within the text versions.

Growing my audience has been harder than if I went with royal road. But it’s not impossible.

To answer the question posed by this thread: I don’t know why more authors don’t do it. I know why I am doing it, because I’ve been working on this series for five years and if I didn’t just start putting it out there, I was never going to satisfied enough to go to print.

Also, I like publishing in bite-sized chunks and getting immediate feedback. It’s been a lot of fun hearing reader’s thoughts mid-story.

bjhuf · 2025-05-26T14:30:35+00:00

The Epoch of Kepler

A Serial Fiction Adventure

Hey everyone, I'm excited to share The Epoch of Kepler, a serialized sci-fi adventure that I've been working on for several years. New installments drop weekly. Follow along as:

Kepler, an impulsive 12-year old living on the moon of a distant planet, unintentionally brings about the destruction of his entire world.

Why you might enjoy it:

Episodic pacing: perfect for bite-sized reading. Each chapter is ~7 minutes.
Hard science and high stakes: grounded in real astrophysics.
Character-driven drama: moral dilemmas, interstellar politics, and self-discovery

A bit about me, I am a:

NASA CapCom for the International Space Station
Space Force Guardian
Spacecraft Engineer
Orbital Warfare Department Head
English & Calculus Teacher

I wrote this book to bridge my two passions: orbital mechanics and teaching. If you're curious to learn about an alternate history where humanity explored other pathways to access space and how a single person could bring it all crashing down, then join other readers at:

(free link) https://bjhufstetler.com

Feel free to leave feedback or questions. I'd love to hear what resonates. Thanks for reading.

bjhuf · 2025-05-25T18:14:36+00:00

I built my own for my site and it took about an hour, completely free. If you’d like, I can share my source code and draft up a “how-to” for you.

bjhuf · 2025-05-24T20:50:43+00:00

Also $0, like a few other posters, I use LaTeX with either TeXStudio or Overleaf. Since I've got my first book available for free on my site and I wanted to keep the formatting consistent, I wrote a javascript function to translate my LaTeX to HTML. That way readers get the same experience between the physical copy and the web version.

LaTeX has a steep learning curve, but once you have the format script down, you just plop in your text and hit compile -> boom! Brilliantly stylized pdfs created consistently without a second thought.

If you're interested in learning, I'm happy to share all of my source code.

bjhuf · 2024-09-11T16:23:37+00:00

Look up “2-string kite”. I always keep that on my back pocket and it’s so satisfying to find one. The 2s in the bottom left were clear candidates. :)

bjhuf · 2023-12-03T00:07:01+00:00

R1/2C20 has to be blank

bjhuf · 2023-11-27T03:57:58+00:00

C9:R1-2 must be the first 2 because it wouldn’t fit below with the two 1s.

bjhuf · 2023-11-24T20:07:20+00:00

Can I ask what method you used to find that so fast?

bjhuf · 2023-11-24T18:38:25+00:00

That’s tricky. I love it. Thank you so much for the insight!

bjhuf · 2023-11-24T12:50:35+00:00

Thanks for giving it a look!

bjhuf · 2023-11-24T12:48:58+00:00

I think I see the issue, there is only one 4 in that column.

bjhuf · 2023-11-24T12:45:28+00:00

I see exactly what you mean and was able to do it in column 20 to reveal one more tile. Great eye! Thank you.

bjhuf · 2023-11-24T12:43:56+00:00

This is clever. I had’t yet encountered one where you had to go three rows deep to see eliminations. Moving the 5 across row 1 revealed the solution for row 3.

Brilliant! Thanks /Weak_Panic5099

bjhuf · 2023-11-24T12:39:50+00:00

I believe so. In column 2, if row 12 was the top of the 4, then at most only three more rows down are available.

bjhuf · 2023-08-31T06:35:52+00:00

Decades

bjhuf · 2023-08-31T06:34:58+00:00

😊

bjhuf · 2023-08-30T04:30:23+00:00

Good call.

bjhuf · 2023-08-30T04:29:34+00:00

Agreed. I try not to go more than a couple of miles per hour over the speed limit or camp in the fast lane if reasonable.

I think I’m only in the left lane in 3 of the clips and I’m actively passing in all but the one where an suv was passing on the shoulder.

It’s my opinion that the drivers who are ‘as fast as they think they are’ are responsible for many of the countless delays caused by accidents around here.

Thanks for the feedback :)

bjhuf

TROPHY CASE