If this is horror they should hang their head in shame!!

[Andy]

Completely agree with Mark and Charlene (among many others on this thread) that rushed, ill-conceived ebooks from authors that are just trying to make a quick buck are strangling the genre. I have recently self-published my first short horror story collection via Amazon and I completely understand that readers aren't going to want to risk trying their arm with a new author when they've been burned by some of the crap that's floating around.

My first book only chimes in at around 13,000 words, containing 6 stories; the time that I spent editing, proof-reading and checking was a little under a week prior to uploading. Even after doing all of that, one typo slipped through - but because I care strongly about my work and what people may think of it, I have just re-submitted the manuscript with the typo corrected.

OK, this may be overkill and some people don't have the time to do this but at the end of the day, this is my passion. I put my soul into creating the best work that I can; if I can scare a few people and try to bring something a little different to the genre while I'm doing that then all the better!

So, in summary:
1. Typos / spelling errors / grammatical train wrecks suck.
2. Lazy, uncaring wannabe authors suck.
3. Zombies suck (in the majority of cases).
4. Vampires suck (all of the time).
5. Real, heartfelt, classic horror storytelling rocks!

[Tressa]

Andy wrote: "So, in summary:
1. Typos / spelling errors / grammatical train wrecks suck.
2. Lazy, uncaring wannabe authors suck.
3. Zombies suck (in the majority of cases).
4. Vampires suck (all of the time).
5. Real, heartfelt, classic horror storytelling rocks! ..."

On this we can agree.

[Char]

Well, good luck to you Andy! No matter what the genre, an author needs to care and put out the best work of which they are capable.

[Renee]

Thanks so much Grieg. Its good to hear. I do worry with the increased number of zombie books that it will get silly the way vampires did.


Greig wrote: "Renee wrote: "I have a confession to make. Please don't throw me from the group.

I love zombie stories. They have been my favourite since I was a small girl. The stumbling gate the cries of BRAIN..."

[Justin]

I'm working on my second book and it will contain the undead and Zombies, however it will not be clique whatsoever in fact i'll describe them as they always are but their not going to be the old uhh brains type.

[Brett]

You all should try The Panama Laugh by Thomas S. Roche. Just finished it and it's a very different take on the zombie story and I have enjoyed it a LOT!
I've been getting jaded on zombies too, so this was a nice surprise.

[TJ]

Andy wrote: "Completely agree with Mark and Charlene (among many others on this thread) that rushed, ill-conceived ebooks from authors that are just trying to make a quick buck are strangling the genre. I have ..."
Yep - completely agree! Good luck to you Andy. The world can always use another terrific author!

[Andy]

Thanks TJ!

I wasn't trying to ruffle feathers with my last post, I just get so exasperated with some of the quality that I'm seeing. Even on the promotion forums at Amazon, some of the grammar, spelling and punctuation that authors are using in their posts is atrocious! Surely you're supposed to be PROMOTING your work; if the post is an indication of the quality in the book, then it's more likely to put me off buying it than encourage me to make a purchase!


P.S. The undead guy featured in 'Face Value', part of Darkness Calls: A Collection of Short Stories - Volume One, is most definitely NOT a zombie!

[Jaded]

Zombies, better to watch than to read, except for in comics but thats cuz of the pictures

[Michael]

Mark wrote: "Tim wrote: "Tressa wrote: "What's so sad is that there are probably quite a few excellent zombie stories choking amid all the bad weeds of lame zombie books. Give them some sun so they can grow!"

..."
Speaking as someone who wrote a zombie book, I'm sorry for adding to the clutter. I didn't even meant to write a zombie book, I just was blocked from writing anything else and suddenly I was fifty pages in. What's weird is I don't read zombie books much for a lot of the reasons listed above - I agree, the market is glutted with tired cliches. But writing about zombies let me approach what I was really thinking about - living in South Korea - from a completely different angle. And in the end, they weren't really traditional zombies. But, you know, you do what you can. Thanks for reading. End ramble.