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Morning Edit

Morning Edit

By: James D. Mills
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Morning Edit is your weekly peek behind the curtain of independent publishing. Host James D. Mills — editor, writer, and small press founder — shares candid updates from his publishing journey, insights on the writing life, and tips on submitting work, navigating the book business, and living creatively. Along the way, James answers listener questions and talks about the books shaping his thinking.

Copyright 2025 The Arcanist: Fantasy Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.
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Episodes
  • Short Books are the Future — Featuring Lee Patton
    Nov 8 2025

    Check out A Valley of Shadow: https://thearcanist.net/novels/avos.html

    Fantasy authors feel obligated to write giant books in never ending series. Trilogies composed of 800-page tomes litter store shelves. In the days of yore, this was a good thing. Now, with attention spans dwindling, authors are failing to meet the needs of their readers. Lee Patton seeks to impact fantasy by returning to the serial and standalone models that drove 20th century pulp fiction. His debut novella, A Valley of Shadow, is a searing introduction into the realm of short books. In this talk, he enlightens us on how he did it.

    Lee's website: https://deathlessrealms.com

    Follow my Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thearcanistsrefuge/novels-of-dusk-and-dawn

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    59 mins
  • Perfection vs. Creativity — When to let go (featuring C.D. Jensen)
    Oct 30 2025

    Win free copies of Jensen's books: https://kingsumo.com/g/1j2v5k3/fantasy-book-giveaway-the-crown-and-the-caged-god-by-cd-jensen


    All too often we get caught up in the idea perfection. Oh no! My first draft is riddled with errors, I need to go back and... we've all been there. Sometimes the pursuit of perfection is a worthy goal, other times it stands in the way of finishing your project. In this episode of the Morning Edit, author C.D. Jensen and I discuss the role of perfectionism in our creative lives and how we can use it and when to let it go.


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    21 mins
  • Crop Rotation — Write More and Stay Motivated
    Oct 17 2025

    Good morning fellow writers and welcome to the Morning Edit. Today we discuss my version of the Crop Rotation method of writing project management. If you are overwhelmed by myriad ideas, have a hard time staying motivated, and want to make progress on multiple projects—this is the method for you.

    Follow my kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thearcanistsrefuge/novels-of-dusk-and-dawn

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    28 mins
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