Accountant Driven Horror

[kenneth]

I'm not a writer so perhaps I have no right to comment, but I do read a lot.

I enjoy (some) of King's work as well as a lot of the other established horror genre writers.

But isn't it sad that these writers totally dominate the horror market so totally?

I trawl around the net a lot, as I'm retired now and have much more time on my hands than I used to and the plethora of raw horror writing talent out there has stunned me.

But do you see a lot of these writer's in print? The answer is sadly no! The reason seems to be that this industry, like so many others is what I believe to be termed as 'accountant driven'.

Basically if you aren't a 'name' to begin with your odds of reaching a wider audience, no matter how talented must be nil I would imagine. If a publishing company doesn't know your name then you aren't a marketable commodity and you won't get any exposure. I guess the prospect of getting an agent would be about the same odds.

Perhaps it's me being cynical, but that is how it seems.

I'd be interested in hearing other reader's opinions on the matter?

[feral cat]

The thing is like evry industry, money is important!
Many books dont even make the publishing costs back, thus the publishers go with those that are established or have won prizes, created hype, etc.!
...the only other route is then self publishing or small independant publishing house's, but this makes it very difficult to create hype or get distribution and there for reach the target market!
Maby the net will help change this, but many people dont like to try anything new they need to be told its ok first!

The other thing is people don't seem to be intrested in the short story magazines which used to be used by new horror, sci-fi and fantasy writers to hone there craft and build a strong reputation"

...its the same story with all creative industrys evry is looking for that lucky break!

Feral Cat (Please forgive my spelling deslexia is my curse)

[AmarylandPsycho]

Yeah it deffinetly blows goats. Along with money I think it has a lot to do with the world getting smaller. Where a horror writer used to be able to get satisfaction from a few people reading their shit, now they know the whole world has the possibility to read their shit and wont. From the writers persepective I write for people to read my stuff, not to make money. Problem comes into play because of the way you market the goods. Though the artist just wants to be heard most publishers are more concerned with money. There are exceptions of course.
Good call on the short horror stories feral cat. With me the stuff I write isnt done in a way that could be vastly accepted....cult classic not best seller. I say fuck em. Just another problem with the world advancing.

[brownzombie]

I get what you're saying about the horror market. King, Koontz, Rice, Barker and such are great in their own right, but what about new blood (not a pun) like Edward Lee or Brian Keene, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Jack Ketchum, or Christopher Golden?
Sometimes, the cover alone has drawn me to these new horror writers and I find myself enjoying their work, wanting to read more and then I find bupkus on the shelves at Borders or Barnes. They should have a Horror Awareness Month promotion on Halloween to expose the public to some of the genre's newest writers. ;)