Monthly Newsletter #3 May 2017

Welcome back! Yes, I missed two months. I could tell you that I was churning out manuscripts left and right, that I had a busy couple of month saving the world from the grips of evil, or . . .  the truth--it slipped my mind. I would really like to post once a week at the minimum here on my blog/website, but I'm a terrible host. I find it difficult to use my writing time on anything other than fiction, but I'll work on that. In fact, I have something brewing that I hope to reveal in another couple of months.


News

I just got the cover for my brand new novella Brothers in Blood. Looks pretty cool, huh? This will be coming out very soon as an exclusive ebook from Grand Mal Press. Think HG Lewis's Gruesome Twosome meets Rex Miller's Slob. 

I finally got paid paid for a story that was published a year ago. I know Harlan Ellison would be disappointed with me were he to know--or even really give a damn--that I didn't get paid for a particular story. In fact, I didn't even make a request for the payment when it should have become clear that the publisher was slacking. Shame on me. The release of this particular anthology was lack luster, which kind of caused it to slip off of my radar, so imagine my surprise when someone took over the company and decided to pay the authors and send out contributor copies. Good on them. The real question here is, will Harlan Ellison sue me for not putting a trademark symbol next to his name?

I've been hard at work on an urban fantasy novel I started about two years ago. I have been working off and on, writing stories and other novels when my interest in this one waned. I'm nearing the final stretch and looking forward to typing THE END.


Cool Read

I've been trying to promote newer books books in the cool reads section, but I've been reading older books lately, so this week I would like to spotlight Douglas Clegg's Mischief. This is a Harrow house story that takes place back when Harrow was a dormitory, and deals with the mischief college students get into concerning secret societies and unusual intitiations. I'm a big Douglas Clegg fan, and I love the Harrow books. He finds unique ways to tell stories that revolve around that creepy mansion and this was one of the most unique I have read in the series, adding a layer of history and intrigue to a fictional building that has more to offer than your standard ghost story.


Featured Fiction 

This month I am going to highlight a story I co-wrote with Jack Bantry called "A Lesson in Renegade Filmmaking" that was published in Dark Moon Digest #25. This one is for the horror movie fans out there. It's a coming of age story about a kid in the 80s who befriends the local video store owner. As their relationship cements over talk of horror movies and strange lessons regarding the methods in which the movies are made, things get a little strange between the two. It's always fun writing with Jack, and I believe we come up with some killer stories. This is a great jumping off point to our work. Hopefully we'll have some good news soon about a novella we're shopping around.

Thrift Store/Used Book Store Finds

I have found a lot of good books over the past month and a half, so I am only showcasing a few of them. The Laymon books are a particularly good find, both acquired from a used book store I recently discovered. It is becoming more rare to find decent records at thrift stores since the popularity in vinyl has boomed in recent years, so I was pleased to find some good stuff.

Closing Words

Well, this is the third time I've written these closing words. The draft for this newsletter has been hanging around all through April. As I said in the opening words, there is something brewing that will force me to be a bit more punctual concerning my newsletter, but I don't want to spill the beans just yet.

And finally, congrats to all who recently won Bram Stoker awards!

To ebook or Not to ebook

That is the question.

I say ... DO IT!

It took me quite a while to really accept the so-called e-book revolution for a variety of reasons.  There was the fear that paper books would be all but forgotten, though I never really believed that would happen.  I figure mass market paperbacks will drop off a bit, and with the failings of Leisure it seems like that is exactly what's happening.  I think this is a shame, but in this tech world we live in paper is becoming outdated.  Schools probably don't even use paper products any longer.  I bet kids in kindergarten are painting pictures with fake brushes on kiddie sized laptops.  What a horrible thought!

Unlike the vast majority of the populace, I have very little interest in technology.  I have a flip phone and I like it that way.  I have no use for a "smart" phone.  (As a side note, I hate the term "smart" for things like phones and those little death-trap cars.)  It took me a while to get an e-reader, and now that I have one I can understand what all the buzz is about.  It's a pretty cool invention, and it allows me to purchase books from authors I have never read at low prices (providing the publishers keep prices low, which I think they will, for the most part, considering the fact that we're talking about a transfer of data here, not something physical).

That being said, I also think ebooks have opened up an opportunity for unknown writers like myself to get their work out there.  One must be careful, though.  There are a plethora of authors and so-called authors dropping piles of shit here and there and everywhere.  So much so that potential customers and horror enthusiasts have to wade through every X amount mediocre or just plain out terrible books for a good one, which can turn people off of trying something new, or, gulp, something self published.

Oh the horror!

I once said I would never self publish my work, and to a certain degree I have not wavered in that opinion.  I will not self publish novels, however I have an idea about self pubbing some short work.  I have seen many authors selling a single story for .99 cents.  Ok.  I have seen established authors sell their back catalogue for .99 cents apiece.  OK.  The established author will make money off of that kind of price due to the volume they sell.  I would be doing nothing selling my books at that price because few people have heard of me and are looking forward to my next release (hopefully there's more than few, but who knows).  So my thought is to publish an ebook with around 20-30K worth of short stories.  Some of them new, some of them re-prints, maybe one or two of them trunk stories...maybe.  I'm weary of trunk stories, and I am uncertain that a whole book of them is a good idea.  Anyway, I would also include a preview of my forthcoming novel People of the Ethereal Realm, providing the publisher will allow me to do so.  The price: .99 cents.  A customer would get more for their buck than just a single story, and hopefully that would entice them to take a chance on my work.  It would be a sort of starters guide to Robert Essig's fiction.  If they like what they read, then maybe they would be willing to take a chance on People of the Ethereal Realm or Scarecrow and The Madness.

I'm working this through my mind and going to have to figure in a few other factors.  I would have to hire an editor, of course, and maybe someone to do a decent cover if I couldn't manage one myself (and I probably can't).  Once I see the cost going into this little venture I will decide whether I feel it is worth the effort.

Here's to ebooks!

Cheers!