World Horror Con and Other News

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o a long overdue blog post.  It’s been a busy month on many fronts.  My wife and I drove south from Tulsa to attend this year’s World Horror Con in Austin, Texas, a seven-hour drive.  The Mustang got surprisingly good mileage cruising in sixth gear.  We also broke in a new GPS that proved very handy (as long as you program in the location of the correct hotel).

In Austin we met a number of old friends and new ones, including Gary McMahon and John Everson (two terrific writers involved in a book-length project I’m also contributing to), the legendary Peter Straub, Jack Ketchum, Gord Rollo, our old pal John Skipp, who bought my first short story years ago, Scott Edelman, Ian Rogers, the crew from ChiZine books and online magazine, and R.J. Sevin and his wife, Julia, both writers and publishers of Creeping Hemlock Press and the new zombie imprint, Print Is Dead.

 

I bought too many books (an oxymoron if I ever heard one), including the latest David Nickle novel and the first volume of Joe Hill’s graphic comic series Locke & Key.  We spoke with Joe for a bit and attended a comic book writing panel.  Joe is a very well-read, intelligent, funny guy and a talented writer.  I’m finishing his second novel, Horns.  I highly recommend it.  Here’s a guy who could have cashed in on his father’s name years ago but wisely decided to go it alone under a sort-of pseudonym.  He wrote several books that were rejected everywhere, learned his craft and developed his own voice, and today is turning out terrific stories.

There was a side-splitting edited video shown at the opening of the Mega Zombie author panel on Sunday morning, with great clips from favorite films and several book covers from anthologies containing my stories, which made me smile.

  

http://bit.ly/kjfuUj

Plus, Scott Edelman warmed up the crowd by hurling glow-in-the-dark zombie finger puppets like Mardi Gras doubloons.  We now have several adorning our bookshelves.

The late-night parties were fun and the many choices of food in downtown Austin kept our bellies full.  The hotel was also hosting about 500 frat boys and their Barbie girlfriends, and their late-night antics kept Scott Edelman entertained throughout his stay.  Thankfully they were not rooming next to us.

While in Austin I took advantage of a unique opportunity to pitch a novel I had been researching and outlining to two independent publishers (many thanks to A Twisted Ladder author Rhodi Hawk for donating her time and energy to run the WHC Pitch sessions).  Both parties asked to see sample chapters, which are nearing completion.  With luck, that project may find a home.

I came away from WHC with the firm impression that there are several independent book publishers out there attracting top existing and new talent, and turning out astoundingly nice books.

Back at the ranch, I had a new story accepted for an upcoming anthology from Apex Books, “Lifeboat” appeared in its Kindle and softcover edition from Apex’s The Zombie Feed imprint, and I received official word that “The Boys in Company Z” will appear in Zombie Kong from writer/editor James Roy Daley’s Books of the Dead Press.  The reprint of "Night of the Living Dead Bingo Women" is out in the Kindle edition of Best New Zombie Tales 3 on Amazon and Smashwords.  I’m also working to complete my novella contribution to another BoTDP project.

Justified season two ended, so I’ve got the time.

"Lifeboat" Excerpt: THE ZOMBIE FEED VOLUME 1

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omething clanged against the hull. A moment later a large ugly four-pronged hook landed on the decking a dozen feet from where Jack stood.

It was drawn swiftly back on its chain until it caught on the railing; the crew of the Destiny was preparing to board them.

 Pops of gunfire erupted but it was impossible to tell from where. Men appeared along the Destiny’s open lounge deck, extending makeshift gangplanks. Jack expected them to scramble across, but the men turned and swiftly climbed the narrow metal access ladders up the sides of the ship’s superstructure. Then the big tinted glass doors in the center slid open, and a wave of infected poured out. Within seconds the huge open space was a sea of jostling bodies and blank pale faces.

They were the boarding party."

-- "LIFEBOAT," The Zombie Feed Volume 1 

If you want to read more...

http://thezombiefeed.biz/tzf-store/the-zombie-feed-vol-i/

Don't Make Me Be a Jerk ; )

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o the good news: you get to read a new story, and hopefully you’ll enjoy it.  It’s one of the longest stories I’ve sold to date (7,000 words), longer than the average People Weekly article, so you may or not be able to read it in a single sitting if you get my drift.  But here’s the bad news: you really need to buy an e-book version for your Kindle or other reader, or preorder a softcover physical book. 

How many of you have read “Quitters Incorporated” by Stephen King (Nightshift) or “The Monkey’s Paw”? 

Well, here’s the deal.  It’s a tough, heartless world out there for genre writers and independent publishers like Apex Books and their Zombie Feed imprint.  Quality is high (I’m talking about the people they’ve published to date, not me) but it’s an uphill battle to win new readers and make ends meet.  So drastic measures are sometimes justified.

So come one, man, spit it out – yes, yes I will.  It’s just hard, OK?  Like holding a cocked gun on a basket of kittens.

I need all of my friends, family and readers to really consider buying a copy.  If you like what you read, maybe drop a brief review on Amazon for the book?

For everyone who does, I am going to insert you by name as a character right into a new story, novella or novel (and there are plenty under construction in the factory).  I’m offering a small slice of immortality here, people.  Your name in print.  You’ll recall it made Steve Martin pretty damned excited when the phone books were delivered in “The Jerk.”

So what happens if you don’t buy a copy? (And we have our ways of knowing, bwa-haa-haa.)

Well, I’ll put you in a story or novel anyway.  Sure.  But this time I will be forced to make you an evil, reprehensible character.  Probably someone who molests hamsters or steals elderly people’s Social Security checks or never puts the toilet seat down.  Maybe never flushes.  Your name and physical description, natch.

I know, I know, that’s terrible.  Worse than anything Dr. Doom (or Dr. Horrible) has served up.

Sigh.  Please, people, help me here.

Love, Simon

P.S. – Here’s how to buy the e-book today or preorder the physical book; if you order the softcover you get a signed copy.  Bless you all.

The print version is a couple weeks away, but the digital versions are complete and ready for purchase.

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004URS0VA?ie=UTF8&tag=apexsciencfic-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004URS0VA

nook: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Zombie-Feed-Volume-1/Jason-Sizemore/e/2940012321077

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/50540

Drive Thru Horror: http://thezombiefeed.biz/tzf-store/the-zombie-feed-vol-i/

So Long, And Thanks For All The Brains

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ver wonder what happens after zombies take over the world and eat all the brains? Of course you didn’t, but horror genre writers think about stuff like this all the time.  So did at least one The Zombie Feed / Apex Books reader, and this question recently won a contest staged by the publisher’s marketing manager to generate buzz about their first anthology of stories.

So once they chose a question from the dozens they received, they asked all the authors to come up with creative answers – and boy howdy did we.

The winning reader question:

“Fast or slow, flesh eaters or those who only eat brains, zombies are always pretty fun. Let’s look at them when they aren’t massing and trapping the last bastions of humanity and reducing them to red smears.
What do zombies do when there isn’t prey to motivate them? Say “World War Z” level of infestation goes ahead and wipes out humanity, do zombies establish a society? Do they take jobs? Set up daycares? Worry about 401Ks and health insurance? Or do they just sort of sit around and rot away?”

To see all the answers by going here:

http://thezombiefeed.biz/a-zombie-society-part-2/

More On The Rise of Self-Publishing

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he tsunami that toppled and transformed the music business is capsizing the traditional book publishing industry.  Each day more people buy Kindle readers or similar tablet devices.  Apple is launching a new iPad.  You can buy and read books on your smartphone.  Printed books aren’t going away, but sales of e-books are increasing rapidly.  

If you write short stories, novellas and novels, you have more choices and control, too.  Twenty years ago when I began writing and selling short fiction, genre and “literary” writers aspired to sell a novel to an established New York City publisher, bask in a decent marketing campaign, connect with readers, and sell a series of lucrative books.

Today the major print publishers are pulling back, spending less on writers and marketing, and trying to decide how to market e-books.  There’s a lot of uncertainty.  Agents are fleeing the business as it contracts.  Large booksellers are filing for bankruptcy protection.

I keep reading about writers who have decided that they can earn more by working with independent publishers – or in some cases, by publishing and marketing their own books.  And we're not talking about the seamy world of vanity publishing.  Many of these writers have worked with or are working with print publishers, but they're publishing additional titles or their backlist themselves.  And it appears that they earn a lot more net income than by selling novels to the traditional NYC publishers.  As more experienced writers go this route, a small cottage industry of copy-editors, book designers and cover artists are selling their services.  So if you’re a talented writer and you have editing skill, and you hire someone to create professional and compelling cover art, it’s possible to bypass an agent, editor and publisher (and the sales and marketing department) and self-publish a book that with work and determination could easily earn more in royalties than a traditional hardback or paperback original.

No guarantees, but it is being done.  Read this blog and others; the revolution has already begun….

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

Question: Why Did The Zombie Cross The Road?

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o win a free book, silly!  And maybe to eat someone's brain.  The Zombie Feed will be releasing its first anthology of new undead fiction in a month or so, and they've announced a fun little contest to give away some books and acquaint readers with the authors, including yours truly.  Readers and zombie fans are being asked to submit the one burning question they’ve always wanted to ask the warped, deranged chroniclers of the Living Dead.

There are no rules, so it’s hard to disqualify yourself.  “Make it scary or make it hilarious. Make it sophisticated or outrageous. Entertain us and you will be picked.”

I will give you one pretty solid hint.  There's one question you must at all costs avoid asking a writer: “Where do you get your ideas?”

We don't know, and we're only going to make up something stupid if you insist on asking.

Leave your question at The Zombie Feed site (link below) as a comment under the post. TZF editors will sift through all the questions and select their favorite, then post answers from all the anthology contributors.  The winner will receive an autographed copy of the book from editor Jason Sizemore.  So go ahead and ask me anything, and let’s keep it clean, people.

Actually, no matter what the winning question is, I think I'm going to answer with the opening line from Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude: 

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

The contest ends on Thursday, March the 10th at precisely 23:59 EST.

http://bit.ly/ffJhja

No Agent Required: Del Rey / Spectra Launches Contest for Novelists

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n the footsteps of Angry Robot, the editorial staff of Del Rey / Spectra (imprints of Random House) have announced the Suvudu Writing Contest for aspiring novelists of “science fiction, fantasy, horror, or paranormal romance” with a completed manuscript but no literary agent.

Most New York publishers do not accept submissions except from literary agents so they don’t have to staff for the arduous work of delving through roomfuls of slush.  The Del Rey/Spectra staff will accept submissions from now through March 18, 2011.  Entries must be previously unpublished manuscripts of 50,000 to no more than 150,000 words.  If you have self-published your novel via Smashwords or other online site, those works do not qualify.

Submissions will be judged on the basis of originality, creativity, and writing style.  Judging period is described as several months.  The winning submission will receive a full edit by Betsy Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief of Del Rey Publishing, and the novel will be considered for publication.  So not a guarantee, but it’s likely that Ms. Mitchell isn’t going to do all that work and reject the final book.  No details are given regarding advances and pay for an accepted novel, but the fine print of the rules lists the grand prize "value" at $2,250.  It is not clear whether that is the estimated value of the full edit by Ms. Mitchell or the Del Rey advance if the novel is published.  Three runners-up will be awarded sets of books from the Del Rey/Spectra line.

Submissions are to be sent electronically – see the first website link below.

Winners will be announced on May 18, 2011.

The contest is open only to legal residents of the United States (a little odd since there are lots of talented new writers in Canada and around the world), excluding Puerto Rico, who are age 18 and over as of January 18, 2011.

http://bit.ly/dMimP8

Full Contest Rules:

http://suvudu.com/edreview/rules.html