When Third Place Definitely Feels Like First

by Tim Law

Please welcome Tim Law back to the Writer's Journey Blog with his experiences in self publishing and some pretty good ideas for the rest of us!

Self Publishing Journey

In July of 2018, I made a wonderful mistake and chose to self-publish my fantasy novel The Eleventh Tome using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing system. This was a bad idea because I went in blindly and (in my opinion) the end product shows exactly what I did not know about publishing (especially layout), and to be honest, what I still don’t know now.

I call this a “wonderful” mistake though, because self-publishing opened up for me the doors to a world of online publishing and new Indy publishing companies with whom I have found years of friendship, advice, and success.

One key example of this is my experience with the Montoya family based in California and David K Montoya’s company Dark Myth Publishing. This company through their subsidiary M-Kids Press has published both of my children’s novels The Neighbor (June 2023) and The Teacher (September 2024). This same company for the past seven years has run the Open Contract Challenge (website) where last year my manuscript for the sequel to The Eleventh Tome, a story titled The Picturesque Picaresque was awarded third place, a cash prize of US $50, and an e-book contract. That e-book I am thrilled to announce will be available on Amazon and a sales site specific to the Dark Myth publishing company (Mythmart.com) as of March 1, 2025.

Winning third place in the 2024 Open Contract Challenge is truly a dream come true, but missing out on first place only makes me want to win it this year.

Although it will only make the competition steeper, I thoroughly encourage you all to take a look at this incredible opportunity. 2025 I believe will be a little bit different, so stay tuned, and good luck to us all. https://www.opencontractchallenge.com/

(Click the covers to browse or purchase)

In the meantime, if you are a keen fantasy fan, why not check out books 1 and 2 of The Prophecies of Andrapaal, The Eleventh Tome, and The Picturesque Picaresque… Out now!!

The city of Andrapaal is in chaos, its hero, Raven Stormsong, disappeared. Sylvan, Paechra Lightheart takes it upon herself to guide what humans she can away from the fallen city.

But where should she take them? Where could be safe?

With the royal bloodline of Thuraen in danger, the daughter of Greenwood Vale heads home.

The way back is thwarted with dangers too though, and when she arrives with humans in tow, not all who remember the past will believe it worth repeating.

– Blurb for The Picturesque Picaresque Book Two of The Prophecies of Andrapaal by Tim Law

Bio: Tim (Timothy) Law is a proud librarian from a little town in Southern Australia called Murray Bridge. He only recently discovered the world of online publishing in late 2019 and hasn’t stopped submitting stories since.

His stories have appeared in Black Ink Fiction, Black Hare Press, The World of Myth Magazine, Inner Circle Writer’s Magazine, Spillwords, Short Story Avenue, Sweetycat Press, Short Story Town, Pure Slush, Academy of the Heart and Mind and narrated in The Poet’s Lounge—a channel on YouTube.

Tim has a host of stories and poems published in anthologies of various genres, his favorite being fantasy. He was awarded June 2021 Spillwords Author of the Month and was included in “Who's Who of Emerging Writers 2021.” His stories are inspired by everything and anything. For more about Tim, you can check out his blog at https://somecallmetimmy.blogspot.com

Children's Books by Tim Law. Click the cover to buy or browse.

“This is a true story, I swear it really happened, and it happened to me. My name is Jess and my friend’s name is Sam. Sam told me the story of the strange, unbelievable adventure that happened to him, only the other day. At first I didn’t believe my friend, couldn’t, the adventure that Sam told me he had had was so incredible that I thought it had to be made up. But then I had my own adventure and I knew that there was no denying then that Sam spoke the truth.”

Jess loves school, thanks to her teacher, the amazing Mr. Bright. When he is missing on the first day back from holidays, Jess knows that something is VERY wrong, and it is up to her to rescue him.

Join Jess as she battles the evil substitute teacher Mrs. Mister in a quest to return joy to the classroom. 

In the far corner of my neighbor’s yard, I saw a small creature. Not a child like me. It was human-looking but not from this world. It looked like a child-sized, hairy man. The man looked exactly like a Brownie that I once saw in a fairy tale book. He turned around, almost as if he has sensed that I was there…

And so begins a young child’s adventure, whisked away from everything and everyone they loved. Their quest is to not only save their world, but all worlds.

Can they do it?

Certainly not alone… But who can you trust, when even the world you are in tells you that nothing is what it seems…