The code and open-source tools I used to produce a science fiction anthology
4 days ago
- #book-publishing
- #automation
- #science-fiction
- Published 'Think Weirder: The Year's Best Science Fiction Ideas', a 16-story anthology featuring notable authors like Greg Egan and Isabel J. Kim.
- Achieved #1 New Release in Short Stories Anthologies on Amazon, outperforming books from major publishers.
- Managed the entire publishing process as a non-professional publisher with a full-time job and family responsibilities.
- Utilized programming skills to automate and streamline the publishing workflow using Python, YAML, and LaTeX.
- Tracked 391 candidate stories using YAML files for organization, metadata, and version control.
- Developed a Python CLI tool (se.py) to manage story selection, metadata, and anthology compilation statistics.
- Used LaTeX with the memoir document class for professional typesetting, benefiting from reproducible builds and custom fonts.
- Created an EPUB ebook using Pandoc, with post-processing to enhance the table of contents with author bylines.
- Emphasized the importance of organization, reproducible builds, and simple file formats for a smooth publishing process.
- Encouraged others to consider this approach for publishing, highlighting the benefits of understanding every production step.