Horror Aficionados discussion
This topic is about
The Wicked
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
>
The Wicked by James Newman
Whatever you're doing, James, you're doing it right.
You guys are the best. Your kind words mean more to me than you will ever know.J.N.
Just don't tell anyone that we're really nice. :)(It doesn't fit our bad ass horror images.)
Well, we can't have that. ;)J.N.
James - The Wicked was originally released in 2007. How does it feel to have the revised and expanded release garner so much attention? I can imagine it could be either a wee frustrating or just plain cool as hell.I must admit that I did not catch it in ’07 and am extremely grateful that I hooked up with it now, so I can catch up on, not only your older work, but future stuff too. (As a side note, I had only read one of your previous works – Olden, and loved it)
I hope that question/statement fits my bad ass horror image! :)
Bill wrote: "James - The Wicked was originally released in 2007. How does it feel to have the revised and expanded release garner so much attention? I can imagine it could be either a wee frustrating or just pl..."I thought Olden was awesome too. :)
Mod
Me too!
That's a GREAT question. I have to warn you, my answer is gonna be long and . . . rambly (I know that's not a word, but I like it) . . . . The best way to describe it is: it comes in fits and starts. Highs and lows. When you're a midlist writer like myself (not even midlist, I wouldn't even consider myself at that level -- more of a small-press writer, if anything) you have to get used to that roller-coaster feeling, that feeling of releasing a book at one point in time and it seems like nobody gave a damn, but then releasing the same book a few years later and riding a high like the one I've been on since you fine folks have showed so much interest in THE WICKED . . . .
Here's how it happens; You sell the hardcover limited edition rights first, usually (at least, that's the way it's worked with me every time). That's a pricey edition that usually runs anywhere from $35-$50, and it usually has a run of between 250 and 1,000 copies at most (usually closer to 250). They're beautiful, real works of art, and they do sell, but obviously it's a collector's market. A lot more people are gonna read a $14.99 trade paperback (or a $2.99 e-book) than are gonna buy a $50 work of art. I don't blame 'em, I'm a reader not a collector.
Problem is, writers wanna be read. So you've gotta get that e-book and paperback out there too. Now, I only recently stuck my foot into the "digital publishing" ocean. And lemme tell ya, I don't know what the hell I waited so long for. 'Cause the number of folks reading my stuff has grown in a big way since I started getting my work into e-book format.
So . . . take THE WICKED. I sold the hardcover limited rights years ago. A hardcover was released in -- I can't remember the exact date, but I'm thinking it was 2006, maybe? -- to little fanfare. You'll see a few reviews pop up online when it's first released, but very few. So you feel like you're book was ignored. And you're right, basically. 'Cause, again, more folks are gonna buy a $14.99 paperback (or a $2.99 e-book) than are gonna buy a $50 limited. Times are tough. And the book eventually sold out, sure, but nobody's talking about it. If they are, it's your close friends or maybe some writer buddies who buy your book just 'cause you bought theirs. ;)
And then, a few years later (or, as in the case of both my first one, MIDNIGHT RAIN, and my latest, UGLY AS SIN, just a few months later -- which is as it SHOULD happen, but sometimes this business moves sooooooo much slower than you could ever imagine) you sell the paperback and e-book rights.
And you're riding the high again. Like I am now. 'Cause reviews are popping up online like crazy, and people are TALKING ABOUT YOUR WORK! People care! Once that more affordable edition is out there, you remember what it was like to be read. There's not a feeling in the world like it! And you want that feeling to continue.
. . . so you tell yourself that you need to be more prolific, and get more of your stuff out there for people to enjoy. 'Cause I live for this. :)
J.N.
James wrote: ". . . so you tell yourself that you need to be more prolific, and get more of your stuff out there for people to enjoy. 'Cause I live for this. :) Yes you do and yes you do!
Great answer btw.
Sorry it was so long-winded. LOLJ.N.
Not at all. Perfect answer. Exactly what I was asking.
Mod
I enjoyed hearing about how it all works. And you're so humble. You act as if your writing talent had nothing to do with it. I can guarantee you, (at least among most of us here, the regulars), that if your book was shit, your welcome here would not have been as warm. We would be nice and all that, but this thread probably would have died on 12.3. I don't mean to speak for everyone, of course, that's just how I feel about it.
Mod
You are a fantastic author, a nice guy and there is a picture of you next to "humble" in the dictionary.
And we are die hard horror fans, with decades of experience reading the best and the worst the genre has produced.
We will always be straight with you about your books.
And you really do need to be more prolific.
I concur with my esteemed colleagues, Charlene & Jon! (as always)Now get...prolificating (I know that's not a word, but I like it)
You guys are just awesome beyond words.(LOL, Bill!)
J.N.
Prolificating? I like it. :)
You're right. It is important to keep writing.
James, what are you working on now?
I've slowly but surely begun work on a new Nick Bullman novel. Tentative title: COLD AS THE GRAVE.:)
J.N.
Mod
*HAPPY DANCE*
Yeah? Excellent! (Insert Bill and Ted's guitar lick here.)
What makes that even funnier: I saw you doing it as soon as you said that, Charlene -- playing the air guitar, fingers waggling. . . . and I had to join in.
J.N.
Nice! That's my buddy Jimmy Z! Did the riff for the movie back in the day and still gets paid for it.
Now THAT is freakin' cool.J.N.
As soon as my daughter gets a little better I am going to have him give her some guitar lessons. First thing I want him to teach her is that lick :)
Dude, that's awesome! (yeah, I'm 40 years old and still talk like I stepped out of one of those movies . . . OK, not that bad, but close)J.N.
Mod
And damages furniture.
Nice. How does that guy do it?(I don't listen to AC/DC as much as I used to, BTW -- although I have nothing against Brian Johnson at all, if I do listen to AC/DC it's always the Bon Scott stuff these days -- but Angus Young is still my all-time favorite guitarist)
J.N.
Mod
The Bonfire box set sounds cool! I want.
Mod
It's a must have for Bon Scott fans.
Just for the Volts CD. The early, alternative version of the Highway To Hell album
Yes! That's such a great set. My favorite thing on it, though? "Cold-Heated Man" . . . one of my faves from their entire catalog.J.N.
Mod
Bill, that's pretty cool. :)
I'm still digging on Otis Taylor. He was one of the artists on James playlist for Ugly as Sin.
Mod
James is a triple threat: author, horror movie expert, and a man of refined musical taste!
Also an actor!
Weird . . . I was thinking that one was in BONFIRE, John. Where the hell did I get that track, then? Hmmm . . . . It always makes me smile, turning someone on to a new artist, Charlene. That's so cool. What I like about him is the fact that it's not really traditional blues -- it sounds crazy, but do you know what I mean when I say there's almost something "eerie" about his style? I believe I read an interview somewhere in which Mr. Taylor called what he does "trance blues". I dig that a lot.
J.N.
LOL, John. I sure do love my music. My wife teases me that I have to have music on in the background to do *anything* -- making a cup of coffee, getting ready for work in the morning, even for drifting off to sleep at night. And she's right.As for the acting thing: I don't know how the heck that happened. I just sort of fell into it. It's certainly not something that I have the slightest aspirations to ever do professionally, it's just FUN. A little local theater now and then, I find that it's a different sort of creative avenue to explore, and in a way it helps me with my writer side -- tearing apart a character, dialogue, etc. and inhabitating that person for a short period of time to make them "real". Like I said, it's just FUN. And that last one was something really, really special. I was so proud to be a part of it.
J.N.
Mod
It always makes me smile, turning someone on to a new artist, Charlene. That's..."
According to what I found, it's only on the European version of Powerage.
I could have sworn it was on one of those discs in that box set, though. Goin' crazy trying to find out where I first discovered that tune . . . I'll get back to you!J.N.
Oh, yeah -- and if I call you "John" one more damn time, you have permission to slap the shit out of me. I know I do it CONSTANTLY, and I think you're too nice to mention it past that very first time. :)Sigh . . . chances are, I probably signed your book that way too, the one that's on its way to you as of this morning. GRRRR
J.N.
Horror Aficionados
Books mentioned in this topic
The Wicked (other topics)The Wicked (other topics)
People Are Strange (other topics)
Ugly As Sin (other topics)
Ugly As Sin (other topics)
It's a question many horror authors are asked, and most of the time my response is, "Hell if I know. Maybe I'm just sick in the head."
But sometimes . . . I actu..."
Thanks for giving us this insight. It was a creepy scene, and it was very vividly depicted.