I write high-speed, strategy-driven Military Sci-Fi & Space Opera, where cunning commanders, elite soldiers, and alien warlords fight for survival on the fringes of space. Subscribe to my newsletter for my latest updates!
A Year I Never Expected, Thank You
Thank You So Much For Your Continued SupportHi Everyone, This will be our last newsletter of the year, before we disappear for a short Christmas break. Lower down I have attached links to a brand-new short story, Syla Steals Christmas, which you can download for free. But before we get to that, I wanted to do something a little different. Instead of talking about what’s coming next, I thought I’d take a moment to look back, because when I stop and actually write it all down, the last year feels completely unreal. 2025 was my debut year as an author. I hadn't written a single word of creative fiction since leaving school over forty years ago. I didn’t publish my first ever short story until the middle of February 2025, so it hasn’t even been a full year. And yet, together, we’ve managed to build something I honestly never imagined when I started. What we’ve done in less than a year:Since that first step, here’s what has happened. Five novels published from June to November:
Book Six, Stand for the Galaxy, is written and in final preparation. A novella: Wild Prince at the Starfighter Academy Seven short stories released:
Two more short stories written but not yet published:
And somehow, a newsletter every single week. That alone still surprises me. Awards, reviews, and reader supportAlong the way, things happened that I never dared hope for when I started. Return to the Galaxy won the London Book Festival 2024. We also won many other awards. The Return to the Galaxy novels have also been Amazon bestsellers in eight categories, including Alien Invasion, Space Opera, Space Marines, Space Fleet, Galactic Empires and several more. All of this has been done without a publisher, without a large marketing budget, and while learning everything from scratch, including writing craft, designing covers, formatting, writing newsletters, advertising, and the business side of publishing. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve learned fast. And I’m still learning. Across the five novels, we’ve now passed more than 1,800 reader ratings and reviews. That number matters to me far more than charts or rankings, because it means people didn’t just buy the books. They finished them. They cared enough to leave a review. Many of you even took the time to write to me afterwards. That means everything. A quick apology and what’s coming nextI had hoped to release Book Six before Christmas. That didn’t quite happen, and that one is on me. What I didn’t fully appreciate, (rookie mistake), was just how much winter illness, holidays, and real life slow everything down at this time of year. Editing, formatting, cover tweaks, final checks, all of it takes longer when people are unwell or away. The good news is that Stand for the Galaxy will be published in the first two weeks of January. Thank you for your patience and for sticking with me. A small Christmas giftAs a thank you, I’ve written a brand-new Christmas short story for you. Syla Steals Christmas is a warm, hopeful science fiction Christmas story about friendship, second chances, and how a small act of kindness can change far more than one life. You can download it free via the links for BookFunnel or StoryOrigin below. Consider it my way of saying thank you for being here. (If you don't use those services, drop me a line, and we can send you a PDF or an ePub.)
If I could ask for one small Christmas gift in return, it would be this. Discoverability is the hardest part of being an independent author, especially in the US. Earlier this year I had five books in the UK top ten for Alien Invasion science fiction, which was extraordinary to see. But on Amazon.com, many American readers still never see the books at all. Reviews help, but word of mouth helps even more. When readers talk, algorithms listen. If you enjoyed Syla Steals Christmas or any of the Return to the Galaxy books this year, a short review, a quick post, or even telling a friend makes a bigger difference than most people realise. It doesn’t need to be long. A few honest lines are perfect. If it helps, you could start with: “This author reminded me of…”, “What surprised me most was…”, or “The moment that really hooked me was…”. And if reviews aren’t your thing, a social media mention or recommendation works just as well. I don’t have a big publisher or marketing team behind me, so readers truly are everything. If you’ve ever wondered how to help, this is it, and I’d be deeply grateful. This absolutely wasn’t a solo effortNone of this would have happened without the help of my magnificent professional team, and I want to say that publicly. Katy, for marketing, graphics, promotion, and keeping me pointed in the right direction. Thank you.Most of all, thank you, the readers. For reading. You are what drives all of this. We’ll be quiet now until the New Year, but I’ll be back very soon, rested, grateful, and ready to launch Book Six. Until then, I wish you and your families a peaceful, merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and successful New Year. Now I'm off to find a quiet, warm corner in my local pub to catch up on my own reading, which I have sadly neglected this year. Thank you for being part of this journey. With Kind Regards, ***If you've been meaning to dive into the Return to the Galaxy Universe, now’s your chance!Whether you're a new reader or just haven’t grabbed your copies yet, now’s the time to catch up on the award-winning series readers are calling “better than Scalzi” and “the best book since Heinlein died.” There is still time to catch up with the first book. You can also read the series free anytime in Kindle Unlimited:
***Discover More Sci-Fi Adventures Each month, I’ll team up with a group of talented sci-fi authors to bring you an incredible selection of books. Whether you’re looking for thrilling space battles, deep space mysteries, or first-contact encounters, these books are packed with stories to fuel your imagination. Author Spotlight: |
BA Gillies
I write high-speed, strategy-driven Military Sci-Fi & Space Opera, where cunning commanders, elite soldiers, and alien warlords fight for survival on the fringes of space. Subscribe to my newsletter for my latest updates!
Till Life Us Do Part (3-4 minute read) Readers of Wild Prince at the Starfighter Academy may remember the moment when Tovas explains Saret relationships to Beryn. Saret live for centuries, and because of that, no one expects a single bond to last a lifetime. Partnerships form, change, and sometimes end without shame or scandal. What unsettles Beryn is not betrayal, but the idea that permanence itself becomes unrealistic when time stretches too long. That conversation feels increasingly...
The Next Century: Technologies That May Reshape What It Means to Be Human (4-5 minute read) Rather than talking about science fiction this week, I want to look at something slightly different: likely and potential scientific developments that may change the human condition over the next century. Not miracles. Not magic. Just technologies that serious researchers are already working on, with varying degrees of confidence, controversy, and momentum. I’ve broken this into three time horizons....
The Long Game (4-5 minute read) Over the last couple of weeks, a lot of commentators have been focusing on what we might expect to see happening in 2026. I decided to go long instead and look at what we might see by the end of this century. Not in a science-fiction sense. No flying cars or immortality treatments. But in terms of real, observable trends that are already locked in. The kind that unfold slowly, attract little attention, and massively reshape the world. If you fast-forward...