Weird Westerns discussion
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Re Carpenter: Will have to watch that short later.
Quentin,My story "The Blood Creek Gold Rush" got rejected too and I got the same reason. I was hopeful but at least they were nice enough to write us back.
Hang on to your story, who knows what other weird western anthologies will ride on in..
Yeah I wasn't too bummed about it, I figured they would have a ton of responses. I think Philip sent one in too, so I'm curious if he got the same letter.
Quentin wrote: "Yeah I wasn't too bummed about it, I figured they would have a ton of responses. I think Philip sent one in too, so I'm curious if he got the same letter."
I did. "Endgame, 1883" was also rejected with the same letter. That's perfectly fine, I'm just happy they got the name of my story right in the rejection letter! I'm not sure what I'll do with the story now, I mean I'm going to hang on to it, but it will probably just sit on my computer for now. I'm actually used to rejection letters by now; I got a lot of them in the decade I shopped around my illustration/graphic design skills. Now I wish I'd kept the really good ones, they were great for a laugh.
I did. "Endgame, 1883" was also rejected with the same letter. That's perfectly fine, I'm just happy they got the name of my story right in the rejection letter! I'm not sure what I'll do with the story now, I mean I'm going to hang on to it, but it will probably just sit on my computer for now. I'm actually used to rejection letters by now; I got a lot of them in the decade I shopped around my illustration/graphic design skills. Now I wish I'd kept the really good ones, they were great for a laugh.
Oddmonster wrote: "Thanks for the link! "No problem.
How cool would it be if we made our own weird western anthology and added our stories? Others could join in if they wanted. Also those of us who also already have stories could write a few more if we could..I don't know just a crazy thought I had..I know it would be better then having the stories sit in our computers with no real homes.
Also, I have an idea for a story that involves vampires, werewolves and instead of cowboys it's indians, would it still be considered a weird western? Or do cowboys have to be in there for it to be considered a western?
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As for the anthology, I've wondered about it. There's, what, ten of us right off the bat who could contribute? Add another five to ten and I think we'd have something. The biggest thing, I think is just nailing down the collective copyrights. And we'd need someone running it since we'd probably need to run a crowdfunding campaign. Lot more work than solo pubbing.
It's a lot of work but it could be done. It would be nice if we also had someone with us to guide or mentor, so we'd know what pitfalls to avoid in such a big endeavor. And we'd all have to be on the same page.
Philip wrote: "It's a lot of work but it could be done. It would be nice if we also had someone with us to guide or mentor, so we'd know what pitfalls to avoid in such a big endeavor. And we'd all have to be on t..."Paging John Hamilton, Paging John Hamilton lol
One pitfall is the issue of royalties, and the tax consequences. One person, or a corporate entity, would have to collect sales from Amazon and whatever other sales outlet we choose, and keep it in a dedicated bank account. Then the money must be distributed to the authors in an agreed-upon fashion. (An even split? What if someone wrote a piece that's four times lengthier, or vastly superior in quality, or that person's marque name brings in the lion's share of sales? Does he or she get a bigger cut? How much?)Then there are taxes. The person managing the bank account will need to cut 1099 IRS forms to any authors earning more than $600 per year. Who pays the accountant's fee?
Who's liable for any defamation lawsuit? Or a copyright claim?
It gets complicated, as you can see.
Hey John! See guys, I knew he'd know lol.
Justin, could we do something more like we are doing in the Fringe group then?
Another interesting idea would be a Weird West periodical, published, say, monthly, and distributed electronically. I was a magazine editor for many years, back when dead trees ruled the world.
They did a free anthology over in the Fringe group, everyone retained their rights and they just published it on Smashwords. It was more just to get everyones names out there.
That would work, if your aim is solely to get exposure, rather than income. You'd still need a project leader, though.
John is absolutely right about the difficulties in publishing. If the goal is not money though, there are other options. An interesting one several writers I know have been exploring is Wattpad. Personally, I don't know that I am so hep to the newfangled idea. It looks to me like they make money off my story that I give away for free. Other writers see it as a chance to interact with fans and get feedback to improve their stories. If everyone wanted to just share stories, it could be done online on Wattpad easily. It would also be easy to set up a group or newsletter type thing announcing new stories of similar ilk. *Warning* Many publishers would consider posting a story online like that as First Publication and would no longer be interested in the story at all, or only as a reprint. If anyone is interested in what it looks like, I have two stories up on Wattpad. http://www.wattpad.com/user/authorsam...
Hi Sam, thanks for the info. I've looked into Wattpad but haven't done much there yet.
Quentin wrote: "Hi Sam, thanks for the info. I've looked into Wattpad but haven't done much there yet."If it is something you are seriously considering as a tool, you might want to take a look at this guide written by a friend of mine.
http://www.wattpad.com/story/32539297...
Thanks for the info John and Sam! This is why I asked for more experienced people to step in and offer anything they could on the subject. Mentors are a good thing!
Sorry Quentin, didn't see we started up the conversation. Yeah I think What we do over on Fringe could work here. We could have it published over on smashwords and aim for getting our names out there so we wouldn't have to worry about the royalties and all that. Also look around to other anthologies and see what they do, I think most go with the here it is and we are just getting our names out there kind of approach though I could be wrong.
Also, congrats to Ashe for finishing his novel Demon in the Desert! Now comes the fun part of having it edited, formatted and all that jazz haha.
Mod
As for Demon, thank you, Justin! I already edited it and formatted it though. Proof should be here tomorrow or Thursday.
I remember you guys talking about Big Trouble in Little China a week ago and I happened to come across this...http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/20...
I don't know how you guys feel about The Rock but he's no Kurt Russell
The remake will have to have an entirely different feel. The Rock is not believable as the same character that Russell played.And yes, Russell is perfect in those loner roles that he played, for Carpenter (Big Trouble, Escape from New York, The Thing).
I tend to always like Mr. Johnson's performances, regardless of the film. And I never liked wrestling, so I never got to see what the Rock was cooking. (but I bet it smelled like old locker room)
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Hollywood, you leave Jack Burton alone!
John wrote: "Hollywood, you leave Jack Burton alone!"Ha!
And while you're at it, leave Tim Burton alone too!
Quentin please, the grownups are trying to talk.
Justin wrote: "Quentin please, the grownups are trying to talk."Really? In which group is that? lol
So let me pose this question guys, do you have a LEAST favorite Carpenter film? If so, which one and why?
Quentin wrote: "So let me pose this question guys, do you have a LEAST favorite Carpenter film? If so, which one and why?"My least favourite:
The Ward 2010
Struck me as a horror flic anyone could have filmed.
Escape from L.A. 1996
Ick. Gag. And what the hell? Seemed like an Asylum Films rip-off of Carpenter.
and
Memoirs of an Invisible Man 1992
I don't hate the film... but in no way does it feel like a John Carpenter film. I think he had almost no control over this film and, from recent events, I suspect Chevy Chase ran roughshod all over Carpenter.
So, my least favourite Carpetner films are the ones that, to my view, have the least of his style, present.
I haven't seen Elvis or Somebody's Watching Me. Aside from that, I like all his films. (well, Dark Star sucks, but it's a student film)
I tend to agree with you. I didn't realize Memoirs was even Carpenter.
Quentin wrote: "I tend to agree with you. I didn't realize Memoirs was even Carpenter."Yeah, I keep forgetting that one, too. And I note that he never brings it up in interviews or commentaries and I've never heard a single interviewer mention it, which strongly suggests that they were told not to.
And again, for this Group, I think the most Weird Western of them all is Ghosts of Mars. This film also has a lot of reviewers marking it as one of his worst, but I found it entertaining (if simple).Think:
Posse of Rangers rides into town, to find the streets empty. They look around and discover that everyone who isn't missing is horribly mutilated and murdered.
Then an infamous desperado rides into town, with his gang.
Then they have to deal with an army of pscyhotic-zombie-killer-alien-juggalos!
It also features a train, as a pivotal element.
Replace the vehicles with horses and Mars with Wyoming and you have yourself a good-ol' weird western.
Ghosts of Mars is definitely not perfect, and I think it didn't quite reach the potential that was there. That said, I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It had that creepy tension that Carpenter does so well. I think if you wanted a weird western from Carpenter, the best thing to do would be to give him a regular western script and tell him to do whatever he wants with it. Pretty sure it would end up weird, and probably awesome.
Mod
I recently did a five day free promo for my "Death in the Desert" short story, which previously had 1 sale. 30 people downloaded it for free. But no sales since. It is interesting what people are willing to try for free but are unwilling to pay $.99 for (of course it has no reviews yet, so that could be a large factor). Awesome as a reader, not good as an author.
The two biggest pieces of advice I've ever gotten about doing things for free (or free giveaways) are as follows: Never do spec work, and free rarely becomes paid.
The two biggest pieces of advice I've ever gotten about doing things for free (or free giveaways) are as follows: Never do spec work, and free rarely becomes paid.
Sorry about that Philip, I forgot to post my reviews my Amazon. I have posted them now. Maybe that will help. I do free promos at times and I'm not sure how much they help boost sales really, but not a great deal it seems.(Actually this should probably in the author chat thread guys.)
Quentin wrote: "Sorry about that Philip, I forgot to post my reviews my Amazon. I have posted them now. Maybe that will help. I do free promos at times and I'm not sure how much they help boost sales really, but n..."
Dude, don't worry about! I appreciate it nonetheless.
Dude, don't worry about! I appreciate it nonetheless.
Mod
Ashe wrote: "I'd give Ghost of Mars another watch through a weird western lens. It's just a hard sell."I haven't seen Ghost of Mars, but now I definitely want to, with my weird western lens on, especially after James' explanation.
It wasn't my favorite Carpenter movie, or even close, but all this new discussion has made me want to go back and watch it over now. Oddmonster, if you haven't seen it all, I would recommend giving it a look.
Oddmonster wrote: "I haven't seen Ghost of Mars, but now I definitely want to, with my weird western lens on, especially after James' explanation. "And as mentioned, many Carpenter movies are weird westerns, in disguise. Or just westerns, in disguise. Definitely check out the original Assault on Precinct 13 for straight-up western in modern clothes. It's a re-envisioning of Rio Bravo.
Yes, for sure on Precinct 13, definite western feel.
Mod
I'm okay. Busy writing away mostly. How about you and everyone else?
Enjoying their rewatch of House II: The Second Story and feeling guilty about not being able to get into Felix Gilman's The Half-Made World, but finding phenomenal Weird West videos based on traditional murder ballads.How 'bout yourself?
Weird Westerns
Books mentioned in this topic
Ecotones - Ecological Stories from the Border Between Fantasy and Science Fiction (other topics)The Half-Made World (other topics)
The God Eaters (other topics)
End Trails - Two Stories of the Weird West (other topics)
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy
The Resurrection of Broncho Billy is the story of a young man (Johnny Crawford) who lives in a big city in p..."
Wow! That looks awesome. Thanks for the link!