Author Alan Baxter's new short story collection blends the worlds of horror, fantasy and the just outright weird.
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Served Cold is the latest release from the award-winning writer.
"I've always been a huge fan of short stories, and it's another way to make some income as a writer," the Jamberoo resident said.
"The more income streams, the better.
"I write a lot of short stories for various avenues like magazines and anthologies.
"So as time goes on, you end up with a body of work, and you get to a point where you have enough stories that are cohesive enough that they work together as a collection."
Served Cold features 16 tales, collected together for the first time.
Most have been previously published, but there are also three brand new stories.
His first collection of short stories, Crow Shine, was released three years ago.
Baxter, 49, said each of the tales in Served Cold was a standalone story.
"But there is kind of a vibe and a general feel to a collection where the stories are complementary to each other," he said.
"Crow Shine leaned more into dark fantasy short stories, whereas this one is leaning a little more into horror short stories.
"You end up with a voice as a writer, and I write certain types of stories.
"And when you get enough of those certain types of stories that complement each other you get to a point where you have enough for a collection."
Served Cold landed on the Australian Amazon Books Chart at No.1 on its release day recently.
However, given the advent of self-publishing and print-on-demand, it can be increasingly difficult for authors to get noticed and/or retain a readership.
"On the one hand, there's never been a better time for publishing because there are so many options out there," Baxter said.
"But that's a blessing and a curse, because there's so much noise out there and it's so difficult for people to know what's good and what's not.
"Which is why word-of-mouth is so important.
"As you build up a bit of a following, and people share what they like, a lot of people will take recommendations from their friends over anything else, because everybody's out there shouting about how their book is great.
"So that's why it's great when readers say, 'this book or this author is great', because other people will trust that."
Baxter also has a newly completed novel being shopped around to publishers, as well as another novel in the works.
Served Cold is available in paperback and e-book formats, published by Grey Matter Press.