X. Ho Yen's Author Newsletter (14 Aug 2025)
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Quick Status
* STD stuff - how you can help
Latest substack, on author-targeting scams
Greetings Dear Subscribers,
If you’re here via the web site and would like to subscribe, this link takes you to the subscription box.
OR subscribe to my Substack and you’ll receive newsletter notifications along with my other Substack content.
If you’d like to UNsubscribe, hit reply and say as much. Easy peasy, no judgment, no problem. (Unsubscribing from Substack is separate and is done there.)
IF YOU’RE NEW and want to catch up, after finishing here click on the “Older Posts >” link at bottom (web newsletter only) to read a few newsletters back.
NOTE: Having finally and happily abandoned “social media”, I’ll be sending newsletters slightly more often. But I’ll try to keep them somewhat entertaining.
My substack articles & youtube channel replace social media, and contain fun and/or thoughtful material that would never fit into tiny SM posts. :)
If you like this, or just want to help, please forward/post the link!
https://XHoYenAuthor.com/newsletter
=== Quick Status ===
Poll Results
I received one reply to my polls from the last newsletter, and it supported the status quo.
Therefore, here’s what I’ve decided do. I’ve moved the “Lauds” page in the navigation bar to immediately beside the “About”/landing page to make it more noticeable, I’ll retain my current branding graphic and keywords, and going forward I’ll post an announcement on my Substack channel any time I release a newsletter. Fans can subscribe to my Substack and get both Substack articles and newsletter notifications. The separate newsletter subscription pathway will be retained, and delivery will continue to be on the web site and by email to subscribers.
I also decided to remove my Ditties page.
AotF WIP
Work on AotF continues. I’m up to >15k words of proper manuscript. It has begun to take on a life of its own, which is incredibly fun. And it has enough momentum that I’m able to more easily switch back into AotF writing mode after doing other things, which is also great!
But this project is deeper than CotF was, and the constant gear-switching between my space exploration career and writing work has been a major factor in my slower pace, aside from apocalyptic concerns about ‘Murrica. (e.g. NASA lost 20% of its employees, and Artemis was gutted) Soon I’ll be making a major life change that’ll yield more time and energy for author work, and just might help with my other distractions as well.
CotF Audiobook
The CotF audiobook is on hold until October while my narrators get married and go on a honeymoon. This was not sprung on me. Congrats to Amy and Dan. I wish them all the best.
I Tried to be a Podcast Guest
Recently, we attended another enjoyable meetup with my fellow members of Colorado Authors League, where I learned about PodMatch.com. The next day I had a milestone birthday (60… but don’t worry, 60 is the new 57) which I spent trying to make PodMatch.com work for me. I’ve since sent a systems engineering mentoring missive to a young Nigerian fellow, recent U. of Benin mechanical engineering diploma holder Ezekiel Iferia, who’d just started a podcast 9 days prior. It’s not yet clear whether or not I’ll appear on his podcast, or, if I do, whether or not it would be helpful to me from an author outreach standpoint.
I’m also in the queue for being considered for another podcast… that’s booked until November 2026. PodMatch is a subscription service. As of the release of this newsletter, I’ve already cancelled my subscription. They just added a general search feature for podcasts, and it immediately became apparent to me that my kinds of podcasts aren’t in podmatch’s database. Fortunately, having cancelled that subscription doesn’t preclude the opportunities I just mentioned.
’Puzzling Innerverse’ in the Puzzling Outerverse
In other news, no matter what I do, hands off or hands on, Mindcraft Makerspace simply stopped communicating after saying they wanted to carry “Puzzling Innerverse”. I even dropped off a few copies. Ghosted. My best guess is that the GM visited my web site and found themselves politically incompatible with my progressiveness. If so, that’s a damned shame, and counter to what I would’ve expected from a STEM-oriented company. Regressives are anti-science. But I have no other guesses! My communications were all very professional!
=== Standard Stuff === How to Help ===
Why help? Since I subvert pop genre expectations instead of pandering to them, and because of my autism and other isolating factors, it’s extremely difficult and expensive for me to reach out into the world to find my audience. I don’t have a team helping me. Just writing newsletters like this is an exercise in self-esteem suspension of disbelief (swirly thing alert!).
I truly rely on word of mouth and grassroots support. In case anyone assumes this is some kind of gravy train side hustle, I’m still thousands of dollars in debt on this, and every convention adds more red to my ledger. I’m in this for the long haul, but I must keep reaching out and pushing. This is not “write it and they will come”, that’s the erotic fantasy romance section (which sells itself).
How to help: Reading my books, writing reviews (if you liked them :), and passing the word would be great. If not that, then one could post my one-page ads (see below, or on each book’s page on the web site) on appropriate billboards and tell people about my web site, https://XHoYenAuthor.com .
Please help with discovery by posting this week (or maybe set reminders in your calendar for July and November?) something like the following:
Know someone who likes irreverent, inclusive, hopepunk sci fi? Check out this award-winning author: XHoYenAuthor.com/lauds
But here’s something very nice that anyone can do to help — request that “Minimum Safe Distance” be carried by your local library!
It’s usually as simple as going to your library system’s web site and searching for “suggest a purchase” or “submit a suggestion”. Usually, there’s a special page for that, and often it’s at the front of your dashboard.
They will want information like this:
Title: Minimum Safe Distance
Author: X. Ho Yen [please get the capitalization and spaces right, one after the period, another after ‘Ho’]
Publication year: 2022
Format: Book/Paperback
# of pages: 396
ISBN: 978-0-9766158-1-1
Publisher: Grand Unification Monastery
Audience: Adult
Language: English
Notes:
Good professional editorial reviews, including Kirkus:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/x-ho-yen/minimum-safe-distance/
“…Ho Yen’s descriptions of advanced technologies should please fans of hard SF, but what really makes the book work are the questions it raises about what it means to be a person and a member of a species.” Our verdict: Get It
Carried in Arapahoe County Library System:
https://arapahoelibraries.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S115C2180350
and the Colorado State Library Book Club Resource (https://csl.catalog.aspencat.info/Union/Search?view=list&lookfor=minimum+safe+distance&searchIndex=Title&searchSource=local),
and Biblioboard (https://library.biblioboard.com/content/a3f3fc17-626b-428b-b6a2-5b5a9a44a494).
Author web site: https://XHoYenAuthor.com
This process usually takes only a few moments once you find the book suggestion/recommendation page. Thanks! Put a reminder in your calendar right now!
I haven’t been emphasizing “Custodians of the Future” as much as MSD, but only because MSD has more kudos (which is because I spent a lot more money on MSD, and that’s unsustainable). I’m hoping that interest in MSD will lead to interest in my other stuff.
Space Autistic Author
If you haven’t watched “Space Autistic Author”, Logs 1 to 3, yet, do check them out. They’re only a few minutes long, but they’re fun! Logs 2 and 3 demonstrate how SAA allows cross-promotion with other creatives without requiring anyone to vouch for anyone else’s work. Pass the word!
While you’re there, check out the other videos on my channel, especially the Galacticon ‘23 video (in 4 parts). That one’s longer, but it shows why my pen name is not cultural appropriation, and gives a fun overview of Mars exploration (since the late 1800s) with details of my participation in it, mostly on the Mars Global Surveyor mission.
https://XHoYenAuthor.com/media
Like, subscribe, and share!
All purchase options can be found here: https://XHoYenAuthor.com/books. Both sites include links showing how several of the big vendors allow you to gift eBooks.
Thanks for sticking with me! I hope it’s at least mildly entertaining to watch this author second career thing come together.
Please do share my page with fellow realism-based sci fi fans, especially anyone who enjoys Corey’s The Expanse, Older’s Infomocracy, Card’s Speaker for the Dead, Mandel’s Station Eleven, Suarez’ Delta-V, or movies like “Arrival” and “Don’t Look Up”. I'm convinced my books would appeal to the same audience, because I wrote them for me and I'm in that audience.
Thanks for your support!
XHY
https://XHoYenAuthor.com