There’s so much drama the HBC it’s kinda hard being Rob D O double . . . Wait, what? The HBC is the Horror Book Community, by the way. And yeah, lots of drama over the past week. I try to keep my neck out of that sort of thing, though I’m definitely interested in who all the cryptic social media posts are about. That’s what bothers me the most. All the fucking cryptic posts that don’t name names but want so desperately to talk shit, or bring attention to others in the community doing stupid shit, whether a writer, reviewer, cover artist, whatever. But hey, one of these cryptic posts got me thinking. I’ve written an essay later in the newsletter about those thoughts.
The leaves have changed, but it’s been too warm for fall. I love the cold weather. I’m eager for it. Having lived in San Diego my entire life before moving to Tennessee four years ago, I had no idea what different seasons were. In east San Diego County you get long-ass summers and a weird winter with intermittent heat waves. It’s a desert climate and it sucks. I crave the four seasons. I don’t get seasonal depression like some folks. Knowing the next season is around the corner makes me happy. Maybe someday the four seasons won’t mean as much to me, but I have years of no seasons to catch up on.
Welcome to Confusions, Delusions, and Formidable Impressions. I hope you like your stay.
News
The big news is that the Baby Fights audiobook is finished and will be coming out this week! This is my first real audio undertaking from my self-published books. There are audiobooks out there for some of my other books such as Tweaker Creatures and Mojave Mud Caves, but I had very little to do with those productions outside of helping choose the narrator. For Baby Fights I knew exactly who I wanted to work with. The man, the myth, the cool dude 4 life John Wayne Comunale narrated the audiobook for me, and he knocked it out of the park, as I knew he would. It sounds amazing! I don’t have an exact release date, but I will drop a surprise newsletter when the audiobook is available. Also, check out this cover art. I used the original Anton Rosovsky art and manipulated it into a mock Gerber’s Baby Food label. This is my first ever attempt at cover art design. Let me know what you think.
Pre-orders are up for Jack Bantry’s latest anthology Splatterpunk’s Basement of Horror. Just look at this line-up!
Featuring: J.F. Gonzalez, Jeff Strand & Bridgett Nelson, Glenn Rolfe, Wile E. Young, Robert Essig, Patrick Lacey, Lucas Mangum, Brendan Vidito, Candace Nola, Scott Cole, Kristopher Rufty, Carver Pike and Brian Keene.
I’m running a contest to get more eyes on my book This Damned House. I have said before that I think this was my best release of the year, even though readers have flocked to Baby Fights month after month since its release. In fact, as of writing this, Baby Fights is my top seller for November despite my efforts to get readers’ eyes on This Damned House. So, to enter the contest all you have to do is purchase a copy of This Damned House. It can be an eBook, paperback, even a signed copy from my Big Cartel store. Message me here or on social media with a screen cap of proof of purchase, and you’re entered! The prize is everything pictured below. Proof copies of my book Sick! Sick! Sick! and Daniel Eaves’ Tales for Dark Hours, a signed hardcover of Secret Basements (there are only eight signed hardcovers of this book out there), and swag.
The contest ends in a couple of days, November 15th. Good luck!
In the Goodreads group Horror Afficionados they’re doing a November group read of Baby Fights. This is a part of a series of monthly extreme horror group reads that started last month with Thomas R. Clark and will continue each month with a different author. I’m glad to be included and encourage you to join in on the fun as we discuss the book.
Recent Reads from Hell
I’m reading Altered States by Paddy Chayefsky, Irish Gothic by Ronald Kelly, and an ARC for a blurb. I recently finished As Evil Does by John Tigges. This book started off really good. At first it seemed like a low rent coming of age story when two young ladies are walking through the woods and then a biker gang shows up and all bets are off. After the protagonist’s sister and her friend are killed by the biker gang, he is possessed by the soul of a dead biker to get his vengeance. It felt like a better written William W. Johnstone novel, at first. Where the book fails is that it’s a very simple concept stretched over three-hundred pages with lots of filler. There were entire chapters with the protagonist’s girlfriend worrying about him that reiterated the same info over and over. I learned to skim those chapters to keep from falling asleep. This was more of a miss for me, but I will try other Tigges books. I have a ton of them. I’ve always said I never judge an author by one book.
The Path to . . . Success?
As I mentioned above, there has been some drama posts in the horror community. One of the posts was in regard to a writer who petulantly announced he was quitting and pulling all of his books off of Amazon in a week because he hadn’t found the success he’d been looking for. Or perhaps expecting. Through a couple of DMs, I was informed who the author was. I’d never heard of the guy, but wow, what a way to destroy a writing career before it even has a chance to flourish.
That got me thinking about how many authors I have seen come and go. Too many. Names that used to ping pong around my brain and have since faded into nothing. One author had a Ray Bradbury blurb. This goes back quite a few years, obviously. He was talented. Wrote great short stories. And had a fucking Bradbury blurb on the cover of his books. Incredible. But that isn’t enough. A blurb from a master storyteller is great, but it’s not enough. I’ve seen authors do very well but fail to keep the momentum or put their foot in their mouth enough to turn away readers and writers alike. I’ve seen authors put out books, get low sales and lackluster reviews, only to drop out of horror fiction existence. I’ve seen people come out of nowhere and have a debut skyrocket into the indie publishing stratosphere, selling more copies of that single book than all of my titles together for their entire lifetime (this is not hyperbole). That kind of thing always gives me hope, but I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t make me jealous. Envious. Of course it does. But I don’t quit. I don’t have a tantrum and announce it to the world. I’ve definitely had my share of bummer posts about this biz, and I’ve actually decided to keep that shit to myself now. I see enough writers out there sharing their frustration for all of us.
I published my first short story in 2008, I believe. I published my first novella in 2011. My first novel in 2013. I’ve since published over 100 short stories and somewhere around twenty books. I don’t keep track. It’s been a slow and excruciating journey filled with doubt and struggle peppered with moments of joy and accomplishment. For as long as it’s taken to get nowhere, I feel like most authors would have given up by now. And many of them who were around when I started have done just that.
I was listening to Make Your Own Damn Podcast a couple weeks ago. It’s hosted by authors Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum. It’s about exploitation horror films, but there’s always other stuff that gets in the mix here and there. Jeff said something about some creators finding their audience by just sticking with it and not going away. This is exactly my methodology. It’s exactly why I will not go away. We’re all on a different path. Does the path lead to success? I have no idea. I don’t think we can all succeed, even with time. But then again what is success? I suppose that’s up to the individual.
I’ve seen a lot of writers come and go, and I suspect this trend will continue as I struggle through each wave of newcomers who outdo me and leave me in their dust. Good for you. Make waves. Create good art that people want to enjoy. I’ll be back here in your turbulent wake hoping I’m one day that guy who gets to make the waves.
Parting Words
My next release is going to be a novella called The Philth Pig. I wrote this book a while back and shelved it. I’d always thought there was something missing even though I really like the story. I’d go over the manuscript here and there and get glimpses of what I needed to do to improve it, what was missing that would tie the story together the way I wanted. Is the story where it needs to be? I think so. It will be a January release. I’m still hashing out details and tightening the prose and whatnot before sending it to my editor. In my journey at becoming more independent, I used a very nice short story payment from a few months ago and bought an iPad. I have been learning how to use my own art for promo and hopefully book covers. Here is a draft for potential Philth Pig cover art. Let me know what you think. I’m still tweaking on it and who knows, I might even change the entire concept before I actually publish the book.
Thank you for taking a moment of your day to read my ramblings. I appreciate you very much!
Until next time . . .
Your essay about writer expectations was right on the money, Robert. The majority of today's writers expect instant success and, when it doesn't come, they're ready to throw in the towel. My journey included twelve years of no acceptances or sales between the time I began writing and the time I sold my first short story. Twelve freaking years! And now some writers are ready to pack it all in after a year or two? To succeed, you've got to focus, work your ass off, and prepare for the long haul. I'm a huge fan of your work, Robert, and think you're doing great and approaching the writing/publishing life realistically, with tenacity, wisdom, and grace. Looking forward to seeing you again and hanging out at a future event.