Читаем A Writer's Tale полностью

This leaves us with somewhat less than a handful of mega-stars making millions of dollars every year, and a small crowd of horror writers struggling at the bottom of the barrel, usually making no more than $10,000 per book but frequently getting more like $2,000 - 5,000.

Most of the good writers at the bottom of the barrel get out. They move on to more lucrative pursuits.

This is just dandy with the publishers, because there are always new writers jumping in.

The publishers of horror fiction love new writers.

Beginners are so eager for a first sale that they’ll go for anything. They don’t care if they’re at the bottom of the barrel they just want to be in the barrel Publishers can get them to sign contracts that would disgust a seasoned writer. A novice will sign away all rights to a book forever for $1,500.

The new kid who’ll sell his horror novel for peanuts might not be as good a writer as the pro, but that doesn’t matter. To the publisher’s way of thinking, the readers will never know the difference.

In the immortal words of a certain powerful New York editor, “Why should I pay Richard Laymon ten thousand dollars for a book when I can get one from Joe Schmow off the street for two thousand?”

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ATTENTION PLEASE!

I HAVE A SECOND MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!

Guess what? The big establishment New York publishing industry thinks FOC/are trash.

Holds you in contempt.

You are as vile and worthless as the people who write the horror you hope to read.

If publishers assume (and believe me they do) that all non-star horror writers are interchangeable and dispensible, it is because they think that those of you who read us don’t know the difference.

They think you have such lousy taste buds in your choice or reading material that you can’t tell the difference between top sirloin, ground chuck, and dog shit.

So they are inclined to throw you whatever is cheapest.

And guess what that is?

Given such a state of affairs, those in the business of providing meat go out of business.

Which, in my opinion, goes far toward explaining why we lovers of horror fiction have such a difficult time finding the good stuff.

How do you find the good stuff?

First, follow authors. Know your favorite horror writers and stick with them, even if they write “non-horror” books. The qualities that drew you to these writers will still be there, even if they have turned to adventure novels or medical thrillers or whatever.

Second, keep an eye on the small presses. They are not immune to publishing crap, but some small presses do bring out quality horror books by major authors who have been trashed by the New York literary establishment.

Third, find yourself a book store or mail-order dealer who can provide you with books published in England. It appears to me and to a great many other horror writers of my acquaintance), that publishers in the UK still care about quality fiction and respect authors. Not only do such companies as Hodder/Headline publish overlooked American authors, but they publish books by some wonderful UK authors, as well.

Fourth, keep an open mind. In bookstores, don’t spend all your time inspecting the horror section. Excellent horror novels are being published by major U.S. houses on a fairly regular basis but they are disguised. They aren’t promoted as horror. Instead, they are labeled suspense or thriller or simply fiction. They might be found in just about any section of a bookstore. For instance, I’ve found copies of my books in the science fiction section. A couple of times, I’ve even found horror novels (such as The Amityville Horror) tucked away in the non-fiction section of major bookstores.

You need to study covers. You need to read a few pages.

The situation is so ironic.

The same U.S. publishers who despise horror and readers of horror will go out of their way to write the most lurid, shocking cover material imaginable for their mass market mainstream thrillers. They know that readers hunger for scary, graphic stuff. They are so aware of the taste for grue that they actually write misleading cover material, trying to make even mild, tame suspense novels sound more gruesome than The Silence of the Lambs.

And yet they despise horror fiction, its writers and readers.

What gives?

What is going on with horror in the U.S. publishing industry?

The more I look into the situation, the more complex it seems to be. It is a bundle of contradictions, ironies, paradoxes.

Horror is frowned upon by most publishers and readers in spite of the fact that three of the best-selling, most highly-regarded writers in the country are blatantly writing horror novels.

On top of that, what about “literary” authors?

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