Check out the new aois21.com !

New site reflects company's shifting focus

After months of work by aois21 Chief Technology Officer Joshua Silberman, the newaois21.com has launched this week. This new site is built around the three parts of aois21 media: audio, video, and publishing.
Right from the front page you'll see our wide-ranging focus in view as the front gallery features the three attributes that make up our company. Under aois21 video, all of aois21 video series now have their own full pages with embedded episodes from YouTube.
Under aois21 audio, all eight of our podcast series are presented in a user-friendly format, allowing easy access to past episodes and ways to reach out. Each page also includes links to the Patreon page for aois21 and our pages on Advertisecast so you can support the network through sponsorship or advertising.
Click on the aois21 publishing image for a gallery of all aois21 titles linked to the aois21 market. The updated Creatives pages also include links to the other places across the web where you can order our titles.
More updates will be made as the site moves along. In the meantime, please take a look and feel free to email outreach@aois21.com if you find any problems!

Presenting the contributors to the 2017 aois21 annual

Thomas P. Athridge - Excerpt
Donny Barilla - Poetry
Mat Byerly - Short Story
Rana Gainer - Art
Daniel Goodman - Short Story
L.S. Engler - Short Story
Michael B. Judkins - Poem
Eftichia Kapardeli - Poetry
James D. King - Excerpt & Short Story
Meghan Mrla - Poetry
Simon Perchik - Poetry
Paul Dickinson Russell - Excerpt
Gerard Sarnat - Poetry
Keith F. Shovlin - Video & Excerpt
Adam Wallick - Photography

Join us at 4 pm ET, at Walls of Books in Washington, DC, for the 2017 aois21 annual release party!

Judkins Launching Crowdfunding Campaign

Interlude to Sentimental Me! Mercury Rising going to stage

After teasing it in last month's edition of the I Stand podcast, we are launching a crowdfunding campaign this Saturday through Indiegogo to help bring Michael B. Judkins' poetry to the stage.
Over the past year since it's release, Judkins has expanded his vision for his second poetry collection, Interlude to Sentimental Me! He hired a scriptwriter and began formulating a plan to bring a section of the book Mercury Rising to a wider audience.
This 60 day crowdfunding campaign hopes to raise $10,000 for a stage performance of the production. The cost would cover the rental of the space, the hiring of cast and crew, costumes, and other incidentals.
As rewards, you can receive producer credit, as well as copies of Interlude to Sentimental Me! and goodie bags from aois21 and Oct14 Publishing and Creative Services, Judkins company.
Judkins will be giving audio updates to the campaign on I Stand as well as progress reports through Facebook and Twitter. The whole campaign wraps just before Christmas, when it will have the possibility for InDemand funding to gain ongoing support.
Check news.aois21.com and Judkins' page on the aois21 website this Saturday for the links, and let's bring this production to life!

aois21 hits the road with charity walk, Fall for the Book festival

See you this weekend!

It's time for us to hit the road once again and we'll be around the DC area. We start first thing Saturday morning with the Walk to End Alzheimer's on the National Mall. Team aois21 will be walking for the second year, and it will be the seventh walk for aois21 Publisher Keith F. Shovlin.
After the walk is complete, we head out to George Mason University for the Fall for the Book Community Day. Join aois21 and several other publishers, booksellers, and authors for a fun event sharing our books, stories, and providing opportunities for aspiring authors and storytellers. Stick around for many of the other great programs being offered as part of this week long event.
For more about this and other upcoming aois21 events, visit events.aois21.com!

annual preorders now open

Save $1 by preordering your copy today

As of this morning, preorders of the 2017 aois21 annual are available on the aois21 market! For a limited time, get the annual for only $5 and be the first to receive your copy ahead of the release event on October 21st.
We'll be announcing the full contributor list next week, but know that this issue is chock full of poetry, short stories, essays, art, as well as great excerpts including the first chapter of the upcoming aois21 title The Will of the Magi, as well as a poignant chapter from our newest release, American Presidents at War!
Preorder your copy today and save!

Athridge's Presidents lead

New eBook release takes command of sales in September

Author Thomas P. Athridge has claimed the top sales for September, the first month his title, American Presidents at War, has come available. The eBook release, on September 12th, followed months of promotion of the scholarly work.
Next up for the title is the paperback release, presently scheduled for October 17th from Lulu.com with the hardcover to follow. A chapter from the book will also appear in the excerpts section of the upcoming aois21 annual.
Get your copy today where eBooks are sold, or preorder the paperback or hardcover from the aois21 market!

Fourth annual to be released October 21st!

The fourth aois21 annual will be released with a live event at Walls of Books in Washington, DC on Saturday, October 21st at 4 pm. The event will feature readings from the annual and other entertainment. You will be able to watch it live on the aois21 Periscope live feed. The video will be released as past of the aois21 live video series the following week.
This is our third year in a row hosting a release party and the second to be held at Walls of Books, our top indie partner in our Nation's Capital.
The digital literary magazine features new pieces by aois21 Creatives James D. King, Michael B Judkins, and Keith F. Shovlin in addition to excerpts from aois21 titles such as the recently released American Presidents at War by Thomas P. Athridge. 
Preorders of the annual will be available soon so check back as we announce the contributors at aois21.com/annual!

New video series launches

Aims to tell stories, provide content, in 21-second spurts

As part of the transition to aois21 media, we have aimed to realign our storytelling beyond the book. On the audio side we have done this by expanding our podcast offerings beyond those supporting our Creatives and their books. On video, we take that first step today with the release of the first six episodes of 21 seconds, a new YouTube series from aois21 video.
21 seconds is both given its mission statement and description by its title alone. Every video is 21 seconds (with a 3 second intro) and aims to capture a bit of the world to share. The videos will be a mix of function and aesthetic. By using our base in Washington, DC to generate content, we will provide clips usable for B roll in other video productions. Alternatively, we will also see to tell video short stories with this series, capturing moments you may not notice. Exploring angles you may not consider.
This is the first aois21 series that is being released on a Creative Commons license. We claim no ownership or copyright of the content once it is released. Feel free to use these videos in your own projects, all that we ask is basic attribution. You don't need to ask our permission. We won't be picking and choosing which creators and projects to support. They are all here for free.
To start, we have released six episodes, three aesthetic and three function. All are now available to view on the aois21 YouTube channel and media.aois21.com. In the future, we will release episodes two at a time, keeping that balance between form and art.
If you have your own video you would like to submit and share with the wider audience, reach out to us and we would be happy to include it in the series. All clips will be shortened to 21 seconds and we will not creators in the captions. Currently the videos do not include any production beyond the camera catching moments. No actors. No scripts. Just capturing life, 21 seconds at a time.
Take the next 21 seconds of your life to enjoy our new video series on the aois21 YouTube channel, and media.aois21.com!

American Presidents at War now available for download

Paperback and Hardcover coming in weeks to follow

At long last, the wait is over! American Presidents at War is now available to own in all eBook formats. For just $9.99, you can have your own electronic copy of Thomas P. Athridge's scholarly work, released just in time to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks. The book, written in the aftermath of the attacks, compares past military conflicts with an eye toward our current War on Terror. It took Athridge eight years to research, conduct interviews, and write this weighty tome, and now it can be yours.
If you prefer to hold it in your hands, the paperback and hardcover copies will be available soon. Lulu.com will be printing them and make them available online and in stores worldwide. Once they are released, join us for a launch event at the Library of Congress, date and exact location TBA.
Over the next few days, Athridge's book will be popping up across the digital marketplace. Today, find it on the aois21 market and Smashwords. By the end of the week, it will also be on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, iBooks, and Kobo, just to name a few.
It's been a long journey for Athridge, and for us, and we are happy to bring you this nonfiction epic. Visit market.aois21.com today and download your copy!

Judkins breaks the streak

Interlude to Sentimental Me! is the August aois21 bestseller

After several months on top,, James D. King and the HIVE series have fallen to Michael B. Judkins' poetry collection Interlude to Sentimental Me! The collection is Judkins' second in his Sentimental Me! series, with the first being self published as a chapbook by Judkins.
Judkins, who hosts the monthly podcast series I Stand, will be talking about his collection on the next episode as part of an upcoming Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Find I Stand next Thursday on Podomatic, wherever podcasts are available, and media.aois21.com
As for the collection, find it and all of our great aois21 Creatives atmarket.aois21.com!

Fourth lit mag taking shape

Several aois21 Creatives will be taking part in next edition

With submissions officially closing this Thursday night, we decided to give you a first look at the some of the works already submitted and accepted for inclusion. Specifically, it is this submissions by aois21 Creatives.
The magazine was originally created as a way for aois21 Creatives to share work from upcoming or tangental projects with the same wide audience their main works enjoy. Over the years, we have been fortunate to include many guest contributors as well. The full list of guest contributors will be announce in three weeks. For now, we like to spotlight the new work by our own authors.
Submissions have been high for both short stories and poetry. In those sections, they will be lead off by two of our Creatives, James D. King and Michael B. Judkins, respectfully. We will also be including an excerpt from HIVE: Battle at the Dog Star in the excerpt section.
In the essay section, aois21 Publisher Keith F. Shovlin, whose three books make up the foundation of our catalog, will be including a new essay. This essay will be the first taste of a nonfiction book Keith is currently writing about his experiences. We will also have new photographs from aois21 Chief of Creative Relations Adam Wallick, who was featured onlast year's cover.
There is still time left to get your submissions in! We are especially on the lookout for essays, photography, art, and any audio or video content. Visit aois21.com/annual for more information!

Final week for submissions!

2017 aois21 annual still looking for new work before Sept. 1st

August is nearly over, and that means time is almost up to submit your work for the 2017 aois21 annual. The all-digital literary magazine is looking for poetry, short stories, essays, book excerpts, photography, art, and comics, as well as audio and video content. Sumssions close on September 1st so now is the time to share your story!
Click here for the submission form!
Advertising in the annual will remain open until September 15th. Sharing your ad allows direct hot linking to your website or online product. Audio and video is available! Sign up here!
We are happy to see all the submissions coming in for the annual and it is sure to be another successful release! Be on the lookout for announcement of the release party, which will be during the second week of October!
For more about the annual, visit aois21.com/annual today!

Services for hire on Fiverr

aois21 and ePress21 offerings are being added to site

aois21 and ePress21 services are now available on the work for hire site Fiverr. As part of our attempt to build a customer base, we will be listing a number of our short-turnaround services on various sites. Our past history with Fiverr made it the logical choice for the first site to gain our listings.
The Gigs now available on Fiverr are focused on support and promotion. Just as on our ePress21 site, anyone looking for professional podcast support can get that for just $40 per episode. If you have a manuscript you want turned into an eBook, our eConversion service is now a gig. If you are looking to promote your book, we are offering a gig with a discounted package of promotion read by one of our audio staff.
More gigs will be posted in the coming weeks, including other services such as cover design and ads for the upcoming aois21 annual.
To take a look at our offerings, visit our page on Fiverr today!

aois21 partners with Square for upcoming event sales

New partnership allows contactless + chip card payment

aois21 is happy to announce our new partnership with Square as our point of sale provider for aois21 events, book fairs, and festivals. Not only will aois21 now use the square plugin to swipe credit cards, we also have a Square Reader to accept contactless pay systems like Apple Pay and Android Pay and chip cards!
This new partnership came forward thanks to a special offering from American Express. Square replaces PayPal, which has allowed aois21 to conduct credit card sales over the past three years, but couldn't process the more advanced payment options. The aois21 market, although originally powered by PayPal, will continue to be run by Stripe, through our partnership with SquareSpace.
More about Square:
Square, Inc. creates tools that help sellers start, run, and grow their businesses. Square enables sellers to accept card payments and also provides reporting and analytics, next-day settlement, and chargeback protection. Square’s point-of-sale software and other business services help sellers manage inventory, locations, and employees; access financing; engage customers; and grow sales. Square was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Ireland, and the UK.
Check out our upcoming events schedule to find out when you can take advantage of our new payment options!

aois21 annual: Submissions open Tuesday!

Fourth aois21 annual will be electronic only

On Tuesday, August 1st, submissions will open for the fourth aois21 annual! This edition will be electronic-only continuing our exploration of eZine formatting. Submissions are welcome, but not limited to, poetry, short stories, essays, book excerpts, photography, artwork, and audio and video content.

The new annual will be produced in iBooks Author and will allow instant connection between an author's contribution and other online content, whether it be a website, portfolio, social media, or other online presence. With video and audio content, it opens up a whole new dimension to the literary magazine, allowing people to see and hear the wonderful work that is shared with us.

Each year we have welcomed submissions from around the globe and have even included authors and artists that have gone on to bigger things. 2015 annual contributor Brendan Loper has recently been published in the New Yorker. Poet Michael B. Judkins, who also contributed to the 2015 annual, became an aois21 Creative last year.

You have until the end of the month to get your submissions in. Not everyone will be accepted, and submissions must be original work that has not been published elsewhere.

For more information, visit aois21.com/annual and share your talents with the world!

King reigns into Summer

The HIVE series continues to lead all aois21 titles in sales

Another month has come and gone and 2017 is half over, but James D. King and the HIVE series continue to claim the bestselling crowd. Combined sales of the first two HIVE books have kept him on top once again. This will be buoyed for July as well with the HIVE bundle being popular at the Virginia Comicon this past weekend in Richmond.
With book three, HIVE: A Matter of Gravity, due out this fall, King's Sci-Fi collection is continuing to grow in popularity and acceptance. More than once visitor to the aois21 table at Comicon claimed to have heard of the series before. The past few aois21 events have featured the bundled sales of the books as well as special gifts such as bumper stickers, t-shirts, and posters. The Comicon audience also had the ability to pick up HIVE mousepads and puzzles.
With book fairs few and far between until the beginning of the school year, aois21 looks to be setting up individual events in the DC area in the weeks to come. On top of the ongoing output of aois21 audio with numerous new podcast episodes, and the new offerings from aois21 video. Several cosplayers were interviewed at Comicon and those interviews will be released as part of the aois21 live video series over the next few weeks. Additionally, the next edition of Creative Speaking will be out this Friday, featuring part one of Paul Dickinson Russell's author interview.
Find Creative Speaking and other aois21 video series on the aois21 Youtube channel and media.aois21.com. To pick up your copy of the HIVE series or any other aois21 titles, visit market.aois21.com!

New aois21.com on the way!

Update accompanies transition to larger media focus

Over the next few weeks, aois21.com will be evolving to the home of aois21 media, expanding it's focus beyond the written word and promoting audio and video work to the forefront. Whereas the original aois21 site was built on the pillars of authors, readers, and self-publishers, the new site will unite the triangle of audio, video, and written word.
As part of this transition, certain pages are being downgraded while whole new sections are being created. The major new addition is a full video section with full pages and episodes of the four aois21 video series, Creative Speaking, ask aois21 on the 21st, aois21 live, and aois21 unboxed. Viewers will be able to watch these series directly on the aois21 site with additional information beyond the video caption.
Another key change is the addition of the aois21 annual to the menu bar at the top of the page. As the jewel of our media focus, the annual will include even more audio and video content this year. Submissions open for previous contributors on July 1st and new contributors are welcome as of August 1st. The electronic literary magazine will continue to redefine the reader's experience and the opportunity for the user to become part of the story.
More changes are on the way as Chief Technology Officer Joshua Silberman shapes the page to suit the needs of creators and consumers, helping bring stories to life. Be sure tovisit aois21.com after Independence Day to see our new look for the world!

Richmond, here we come!

aois21 prepares for tw0-day Comicon on VCU Campus

aois21 media is busy making plans for the two-day Virginia Comicon on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus in Richmond on July 8th and 9th. This will be aois21's first two day event, and we're planning some big new things.
First off, we will be filming live interviews with cosplayers for the aois21 live video series. Share the stories that inspired you. Share the story of creating your costume. We'll share it, and your completed product, with the world.
Second, we will have some new merchandise and specials available. Get prints of the Will of the Magi cover art, bundled copies of the first two HIVE books, and more! We originally planned to have designer Rana Gainer with us but she can't make it. Additional guests will be announced as we get closer to the event.
For more information about the Comicon, visit the aois21 events page at events.aois21.com!

Get more Tales more often

Podcast will now be appearing weekly with shorter runtime

The Tales from the Old New Land podcast series has fallen short of its original monthly plan but is now refocused and will be releasing weekly, starting last Thursday.
Each Thursday now, Tales will be released in 20 to 30 minute episodes comprised of a section of the next tale, a musical piece, and a comedy sketch such as an interview or setup. Currently the series is taking a multi-episode trip through Tale 5 - Chosen Family. While Tale 4 was released in one epic 2 hour episode, Tale 5 will be cut up in 15 minute bits allowing faster processing time and easier consumption.
Host A.C. Charlap is continuing to work on upcoming tales as well as the accompanying sketches. Take a moment and subscribe today for his unique approach to Prairie Home Companion, built on his Jewish upbringing in Baltimore.

Visit the Tales page at media.aois21.com to listen and subscribe today!