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Fictional InfluenceCreating stories that change the world Author: Kristin McTiernan
Nonsense-Free Kristin is where independent authors and creators learn to build their platforms, master their craft, and create on their own termswithout begging for permission from gatekeepers who hate them. www.fictionalinfluence.com Language: en Genres: Film Reviews, Society & Culture, TV & Film Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Michael Morton - What Small Press Editors Actually Want in Chapter One
Episode 15
Wednesday, 6 May, 2026
Michael Morton is a retired Air Force officer, civilian Space Force employee, military sci-fi and fantasy author, and editor at Canon Publishing. In this episode, he joins to discuss his unconventional path to publishing, the craft principles that actually move the needle, and how a small press operates from the inside — including Canon’s firm stance on AI, scheduling realities, and what separates a manuscript that gets a yes from one that gets a pass. If you write military sci-fi, are weighing indie vs. small press vs. traditional, or just want to understand how a working publishing house thinks about authors, this one’s worth your time.In This Episode* Why Michael Can’t Write Contemporary Fiction: 20 years in space ops means security review would line-edit a contemporary novel into oblivion. The workaround was a far-future fallen empire where the physics still hold but the classification stamps don’t reach.* Microgravity Marines Built Like Gymnasts: The Mist Marines in Silent Violence aren’t your standard tall, jacked Devil Dogs. They’re short, compact, and built for Newton’s laws.* The JF Holmes Moment: A casual Facebook post in 2017 about something he’d been dabbling with. The publisher’s first reply: “Are you published yet?” That’s the line that flipped him from fanfiction hobbyist to working author.* Bullet Points Are Secretly Fiction Training: Years of distilling general-officer briefings into five bullets read in five minutes turned out to be the same skill as writing tight fiction. Cut the words that don’t earn their spot.* The Structure That Actually Works: Forget the outliner-vs-pantser fight. Michael recommends My Story Can Beat Up Your Story by Jeffrey Alan Schechter — 13 structural elements that give your story a frame without locking you into rigid outlining.* The First $1,000 Is Theirs, the Rest Is Yours: A figure he’s heard repeated: your publisher’s marketing covers the first thousand dollars in sales. Everything after is word of mouth. Which is why Canon now writes “maintain a social media presence” into the contract.* Canon’s AI Line in the Sand: Grammarly is fine. AI marketing visuals are fine. ChatGPT plotting your book — or mining other authors for “successful plot points” — is a hard no. The line is whether the creative work is yours.* The AI Cover Loophole: A fully AI-generated cover can’t be copyrighted. Run that image through a human artist who reworks it into an original composition with different assets, and now you own it. The Fiverr artists who can do this fast are quietly winning.* Why Prologues Get Books Auto-Rejected: Some readers will refuse to buy any book with a prologue, because the prologue almost always exists for the wrong reason — backstory dumping that should have been woven in through dialogue and exposition.* What Kills a Submission in Three Chapters: If he doesn’t know who the protagonist and antagonist are by chapter three, it’s a no. If the first three pages are background instead of action, it’s a no. If basic Word grammar checks weren’t run, you started in the hole.* The Rising Tide Argument: Voracious readers go through books faster than any single author can produce. Other authors aren’t competition — they’re the relay team keeping the reader’s habit alive between your releases.* No Exclusive Contracts on Purpose: Canon actively refers authors to other small presses — Three Ravens, Chris Kennedy Publishing, Jump Master Press — for genres outside their lane. The bet is that authors who write across multiple houses come back better.* 200 Words a Day Equals One Book a Year: Don’t compare yourself to the author shipping four books a year. Hold yourself to your own pace. The math adds up faster than people realize, and BICHOK — butt in chair, hands on keyboard — is the only rule that actually matters.Guest Links* Read the Fallen Empire series by Michael Morton: https://amzn.to/4cOW9BX * Facebook: Michael Morton, @michael.mortonauthorKristin’s Links* Editing Services: nonsensefreeeditor.com* Newsletter: https://www.fictionalinfluence.com* YouTube: https://youtube.com/@nonsensefreekristinTimestamps00:00 - Meet Michael Morton.01:09 - From Fanfic to First Publish.03:41 - Space Ops to Space Marines.05:41 - Microgravity Combat Mindset.08:38 - Character Over Hardware.11:12 - Learning the Craft.13:19 - Structure That Works.16:03 - Readers and Market Gaps.18:22 - Inside Canon Publishing.20:19 - Small Press Model Explained.22:12 - Launch Marketing and Social Media.23:33 - Social Media Dialogue.24:03 - Author Training Tools.24:32 - No Exclusive Contracts.25:16 - What Editors Want.27:05 - Common Submission Pitfalls.28:24 - Prologues Debate.30:45 - Small Press Scheduling.33:47 - Indie vs Traditional.35:04 - AI Policy and Art.38:20 - Writing Routine Advice.41:09 - Projects Coming Next.43:06 - Where to Find Michael.44:11 - Book Recommendation Wrap.About This PodcastNonsense-Free Kristin is where independent authors and creators learn to build their platforms, master their craft, and create on their own terms—without begging for permission from gatekeepers who hate them.New episodes weekly.Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Music. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kristinmctiernan.substack.com
