Dark and Bookish – Authors’ Tour and Documentary – Summer 2014
Struggling writers, horror, small presses, independent bookstores, conventions, and the modern era of publishing.
There is a very interesting story to be told here. This tour and an accompanying documentary will attempt to open up this world of horror writing and speculative fiction publishing in the current age of writing and reading.
The Idea:
5 authors are featured on a summer 2014 tour across the United States followed by a documentary crew. The tour promotes for the authors and publishers while serving as a stage for exploring the worlds of small authors, small publishers, and small bookstores.
The tour would cover approximately 30 days from the beginning of June through possibly mid July of 2014. The tour would cover 8-10 cities including 4-5 horror, sci fi, and general fandom conventions. The tour would include events at local, independent bookstores in the convention cities and in cities in between conventions. There would be 5 featured authors traveling for the entire tour with guest authors included for short stints or single events. The documentary, Dark and Bookish, will focus on struggling/ rising authors in the horror and speculative fiction genre, the work and struggles of small presses within these genre, and the experiences and struggles of independent bookstores within the current age of publishing.
This campaign will be phase one of multiple phases to fund the tour and the documentary.
What You Get:
You are onboard for the ride. In addition to the perks you select, you will be a part of the experience including updates before, during, and after the actual filming. The Dark and Bookish channel on YouTube will provide a picture into the lives of many authors in this world of publishing.
The Dark and Bookish Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DarkAndBookish
You will also be connected to the authors and publishers involved in this project. You will see the lives and stories unfold through the process along with the finished product of the documentary.
There is an interesting story to be told about the people and publishers producing dark fiction for readers today.
The funding for this phase will be focused on Convention costs, travel expenses, and lodging for the authors on the tour. Future phases will address costs of the documentary crew, filming, post production, distribution, and travel costs to conduct interviews with other authors and publishers.
How You Can Help:
Give!!!
Any donation is a step toward making this a reality. You are signing on for a dream with people working hard to create something bigger than themselves. Their story is your story as we all are reaching for something. Your gift will help make that happen.
Consider one level higher.
There are some sweet perks connected to this project from the many supporters involved with the project. Consider going one level up for bigger perks and a bigger piece of the dream. Your generosity is much appreciated and will not go to waste.
Share!!!
Your belief in what we are doing and the story we are telling is important. Communicate that to others and encourage them to become a part of the Dark and Bookish community. The publishing world is changing. It is becoming a tougher dream to achieve even as more people are striving to reach it.
Help us tell this story.
Meet the Featured Authors:
Max Booth III --
This bio is supposed to be more personal than typical bios, so I am going to write this in first person. This is me, the author, talking. Not some publicist or robot. My name is Max Booth III. I grew up in Northern Indiana. I began writing at the age of six or seven when my dog, Penny, was killed. I created stories of her and I going on adventures as a way to deal with her loss. I continued writing and I never stopped.
When I was in 7th grade I dropped out of school and began living in various motels throughout the area. I spent almost every day writing and reading. I sharpened my skills to the best of my ability. I still am. When I stop sharpening my skills, it will mean I am dead.
When I was sixteen, I enrolled in an adult education program and earned my high school diploma after two years of alternative schooling. During this time I began editing for Dark Moon Digest: the Horror Quarterly. When I was eighteen, I bought a solo bus ticket to Texas and moved across the country (see? I already have experience in riding a bus across multiple states!). I lived alone for a year writing and bouncing back and forth from a couple of different jobs.
I started a publishing company with my partner called Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing. I’d been interested in publishing and book marketing for over a year and I wanted desperately to try my hand at it. I wanted total freedom in the books I published. I also needed a small break from the horror scene; PMMP has given me that break, although yes, we do publish horror too—just not as much as everything else I’ve been used to.
Then I moved in with my partner and got a job as night auditor for a hotel. You have to understand, this is one of the perfect jobs for a not yet professionally paid author; the whole shift is basically free-time to do whatever the hell I want. Which includes, yes, editing and writing and other publishing stuff.
My first book, True Stories Told By a Liar, came out in November from Numen Books. It is a collection of half original stories and half previously published stories. My second book, They Might Be Demons,will be released this June from Dark Moon Books. It is a collection of bizarro flash fiction. It will be released just a few weeks before my twentieth birthday. I don’t really talk about my age too often as I feel some authors and publishers would not view me as very professional because of it. However, it is an important aspect to talk about on this page. I am looking to go on a bus trip around the country with other authors and friends. This is a one in a lifetime opportunity—not just for my career, but as a human being.
There’s a monster survival guide I co-edited with Stan Swanson that’ll be released sometime early 2014, as well. I also have two novels currently being considered by publishers. And many more on the way.
I am the co-founder and publisher of the new online and print magazine, Revolt Daily, with Laramore Black (also co-founder) brilliantly serving as editor-in-chief. I have edited three anthologies to date, with many more in the works.
I will be a panelist at the World Horror Convention this June in New Orleans, and I will host a Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing vendor table over Labor Day Weekend at Worldcon in San Antonio.
I look forward to going on Jay’s crazy bus trip idea. The man is a mad genius and it will change the writing and publishing industry as we know it.
Adam Millard --
Adam Millard is the author of thirteen novels and more than a hundred short stories, which can be found in various collections and anthologies. Probably best known for his post-apocalyptic fiction, and his ridiculously vertical hairstyle, Adam also writes fantasy/horror for children. He created the character Peter Crombie, Teenage Zombie just so he had something decent to read to his son at bedtime. Adam also writes Bizarro fiction for several publishers, who enjoy his tales of flesh-eating clown-beetles and rabies-infected derrieres so much that they keep printing them. His “Dead” series has been the filling in a Stephen King/Bram Stoker sandwich on Amazon’s bestsellers chart, and the translation rights for the trilogy have recently sold to German publisher, Voodoo Press. Adam also writes for This Is Horror, whose columnists include Shaun Hutson, Simon Bestwick, Jasper Bark, and Simon Marshall-Jones. Adam lives in the post-apocalyptic landscape known as Wolverhampton, England, with his wife, Zoe, and son, Phoenix. Renowned for its elaborate chimneys, handsome ladies, and dense, Innsmouth atmosphere, Wolverhampton is a few miles from Birmingham, the UK’s second capital. When he’s not changing nappies or chasing small people around the garden, he reads, writes, attends conventions, plays lead guitar and drinks copious amounts of coffee. Adam would like to be cremated and scattered across the pitch at Anfield, home to his beloved Liverpool FC, though not right now as it would severely restrict the rest of his career.
Derek Deremer –
The first story I remember writing was in sixth grade. It was an adventure along the lines of Indiana Jones. The sole thing I can recollect from the tale was that it contained “Evil Germans.” Apparently, Nazi had not entered my vocabulary, yet.
Ever since, I have had a fascination with stories. I have loved to read and consider the book store to be a sanctuary. After high school, I went to Westminster College, pursuing a degree in chemistry - a sensible degree as my parents would say. At 2 AM on the third night in a row, I tossed my hands into the air over my inorganic chemistry lab report and said, “Screw this.” I quickly sought a major change and stumbled upon English. Originally, I intended to be a lawyer; It made mom and dad happy. So, I joined our college pre-law society. During our first meeting, they brought in several lawyers who had graduated from the program. They were the most miserable people that I have ever met. So, there went my lawyer idea, and what I was going to do with an English degree.
However, all was not lost. As I sat quietly in my intro to lit class (I prefer to take in what everyone else says in silence, and argue them in my mind.), a guest professor entered the dated room. Dr. Swerdlow took a seat at a wooden desk and began to talk about poetry as if it were religion. As he spoke of lines and stanzas, he sat poised on the corner of his chair and leaned forward as if ready to snatch a feather that may have floated into the room. I desired to look at students and incite that same feeling. I now had a profession.
Several years later, I was a passionate teacher, but I found it unable to quench my creative needs. So, I began my first novel with no intentions of releasing it. Soon, I put it aside because creating without sharing is an empty journey. Last year, I finally began to write with the desire to publish the finished work. With the assistance of a coworker, the one and only Jay Wilburn, I began to dive into the hidden realm of self publishing. It was a generous, benignant world without rejection.
I pulled countless hours together and wrote Humanity Gone: After the Plague. To my surprise, readers loved it. Best of all, my greatest praise came from people I barely knew. As of today, hundreds own the paperback, and thousands own the digital edition. Immediately after my success, I began the sequel. Without the asset of self publishing, I probably would not be an“author” today. Novels take a lot of time and energy. I assume many authors quit because enough publishers told them that they“sucked.” Self publishing removed that pain and instead just brought the content to those who wanted it. There is no greater motivation than someone loving your hard work.
As I sit on the eve of releasing my second book, Humanity Gone: Facade of Order, I can't wait to entertain them again. I planned on taking a short break from writing but have since changed my mind. Taking a break from writing will never happen.
Jay Wilburn –
Jay Wilburn writes horror and speculative fiction. His debut novel is Loose Ends: A Zombie Novel with Hazardous Press. He will be releasing Time Eaters with Perpetual Motion Machine at WorldCon in San Antonio over Labor Day Weekend. He is currently shopping The Great Interruption to publishers and literary agents. He has dabbled with steampunk, science fiction, fantasy, and bizarro, but he is continually drawn back to the dark world of horror when he writes. He recently had a story accepted in Best Horror of the Year vol. 5 with editor Ellen Datlow.
Jay Wilburn taught public school for sixteen years and then he quit. He quit in the middle of the year. He quit in the middle of a week. His younger son struggled with seizures. Jay left teaching to care for the health needs of his son and to pursue his dream of writing full-time.
Jay Wilburn lives in coastal South Carolina and grew up in Georgia. He is beginning to recognize a distinctive, Southern flavor in many of his stories. He believes the American South is both a wonderful place to live and a great place to find and explore horror.
He’s trying everything he can think to do to try to make his mark in the publishing world. He writes like his life depends on it. He is pursuing his dream of writing your nightmares.
Come meet him and discuss this project at XCon in Myrtle Beach May 17 – 19th or at the World Horror Convention in New Orleans June 13 – 16th. Follow him on Twitter @AmongTheZombies or at www.JayWilburn.com as well. You can even join his fan club at http://www.jaywilburn.com/fan-club/ for giveaways and updates on our progress.
And one more featured author coming soon!
Many more will join the tour and participate in the documentary. Give and become a part of the Dark and Bookish community to stay up-to-date on developments and new names becoming involved in this important project and story.
Meet Some of the Presses:
Part of this story is the many small presses that are building themselves and rising authors from the ground up. Each one is made up of dedicated people that have dreams of creating something amazing with the written word. Many of them will be featured in the Dark and Bookish documentary, but here are a few you can meet now.
World Weaver Press:
World Weaver Press (WWP) is a publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction dedicated to producing quality works that engage the mind and ensnare the story-loving soul. WWP was founded in March 2012 by Eileen Wiedbrauk (Editor-in-Chief) and Elizabeth Wagner to embrace great speculative storytelling whether it fits into a neat box or boldly crosses genre boundaries. WWP titles are available in paperback and ebook editions and sold on multiple storefronts. For more information, visit: worldweaverpress.com
Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing:
Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing (PMMP) was founded in the summer of 2012 by Max Booth III and Lori Michelle. Based in San Antonio, PMMP focuses on quality rather than quantity. Their tagline is "Imagination is Infinite", and they intend on proving this with the fiction they publish. http://perpetualpublishing.com/
Hazardous Press:
Hazardous Press publishes dark speculative fiction including horror, sci fi, and other genre work. They believe that rising tides raise all ships. Hazardous supports its authors in all their endeavors in writing including work with other presses. They look for ways to produce the best quality work in partnership with writers. http://www.hazardouspress.com/
Crowded Quarantine:
Crowded Quarantine looks to publish the best and darkest works. They work in partnership with authors through the entire process. Their main goal is to discover great storytellers, and work with them closely, from designing the cover to choosing the type of paper their masterpiece will be printed on. Their work speaks for itself. http://www.crowdedquarantine.co.uk/
Post Mortem Press:
Post Mortem's impact on small press publishing is felt by authors and readers from the quality of work they publish. They combine business acumen with a love of the written word and respect for the authors that create them. Their singular goal is to provide an outlet for new and established writers of speculative fiction.
http://www.postmortem-press.com/
Many more will be involved and details about them will be coming in the near future.
Become our Mavens:
Audience is vital to the work of writers. That audience is built by readers and supporters that communicate their passion and belief in the work of a writer. Dark and Bookish and the good people involved in this story need you to be our voice. Not only share the project with others, but please, convince them to become a part. Words matter and fiction moves people. There are important stories to be told and that includes the lives of the people that dream of telling them. You are a part of that telling. Be our voice to tell others about Dark and Bookish.
Thank you for your support.
