Weekly Update #245! More on Let's Read

Editor's Note

Ugh, I had a rough week. A combination of working a couple nights, a financial emergency and one painful headache later meant I had little time to actually commit to working on anything, especially my next video. It also didn't help that the sudden interest in the "alt-right" has led to many people on Twitter confusing the movement with, you guessed it, alternate history. Sigh, I may have to address that issue eventually.

Highlights from last week included Map Monday: Carolina and Friends 1800 by Rebecca Stirling, which was actually liked by the official Library of Virginia Twitter account, so that's cool. Plus there was Rewriting the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake by Beth Cato, which was another great guest post. I hope to have more like it from a variety of alternate historians in the near future. Also people seem to have enjoyed Alkebu-lan 1260 AH or: What If Africa Was Never Colonized? so if you haven't watched it already, go check it out.

And now the news...

More on Let's Read

In case you missed it, last week I posted a short video discussing a new series suggested to me by CountPeter on AlternateHistory.com that I am calling: Let's Read.

Here’s how it works: if you are a writer (aspiring or otherwise) who wants to draw attention to your alternate history, you can submit an excerpt of it to me and I will read it on my channel and include sound effects and music for atmosphere. It’s a great way to promote your alternate history by introducing potential readers to stories they may have overlooked.

Excerpts should be no longer than 3500 words. They can be from web originals that are posted on sites like AlternateHistory.com or from published or soon to be published works. Excerpts should be interesting to listen to or, to put it another way, after listening to it a person should want to read the full piece to find out what happens next. If you need help making an excerpt, check out Choosing a Book Excerpt at Indies Unlimited or 5 Tips For Creating A Strong Excerpt From Your Novel Or Memoir at Writer's Relief.

And, of course, excerpts should be alternate histories, but I will accept related genres, like steampunk, historical fantasies, time travel, etc. I also reserve the right to reject any submissions I don’t feel meet the standards of what I am looking for. If you have any other questions or would like to submit an excerpt, send it to ahwupdate at gmail dot com.

And good news everyone! We already got our first submission from Alison Morton, who sent an excerpt of her novel: Perfiditas. Thanks Alison and I look forward to reading more excerpts. If this proves successful I may find guest readers or create entire radio plays. Also Let's Read doesn't have to be a series devoted to just my channel. Anyone and everyone can join in, but don't forget to try The Alternate Historian first.

You Should Also Check Out...

• What a medieval historian thinks of the cult classic, Trollhunter (via Tor).
• What David Peterson, the creator of Dothraki and Valyrian on Game Of Thrones, and Dr. Paul Frommer, the creator of Na'vi in James Cameron's Avatar have to say about conlags and Hollywood with Cracked.
• The video where the world largest butt-shaped aircraft...crashes (via Gizmodo).

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger for Amazing Stories, a volunteer interviewer for SFFWorld and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not exploring alternate timelines he enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.