Borders

The demise of Borders has been thoroughly picked apart by pretty much every person with an interest in the written word.  Whatever circumstances led to their downfall--be it poor management, ebooks, Amazon--the result is the same ... It's over, Johnny.

What I find particularly sad is that ever since Border started its liquidation sale, my local store has never been busier.  Even at a mere 10% discount, the place was packed and the lines snaked around the aisles.  I've never seen anything like it.  Like Black Friday meets Groundhog Day.

And for 10%?  You get the same (or better) discount with a membership, people.  Makes me wonder if Borders should've had a store-closing sale a few years ago.  I'd made a comment about this to one of the employees last time I visited, and he told me that the place has been like something out of a zombie apocalypse novel ever since the sales began.  I hope the employees are at least getting compensated for all their extra work.

Today, the Borders near me started selling off their furniture.  I called up the store to inquire about some bookshelves and chairs, and the store manager who answered eagerly passed me off to the liquidator, which made me laugh.  I could tell by the liquidator's tone that the manager has been passing anything and everything off to him.  I'm sure I'd do the same.

Borders was one of my family's favorite places to visit.  We each had our aisles of interest (mine being the horror section--a rarity in bookstores these days) and after we'd pick up a few books, we'd gather in the cafe and read our purchases and sip our drinks.  It was a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I'll miss it deeply.

I did manage to procure a few pieces of furniture, so at least I'll have some memories of my favorite bookstore.  I guess I'm sentimental that way.

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Eve Hallows and the Book of Shrieks - Cover Design by Shaun Lindow

It goes without saying that if you've decided to go the self-pubbed route, you're job description goes far beyond writer.  Some of that extra work is tiresome, and just about all of it distracts you from the main task of actually writing.  That being said, it's not without some benefits--namely the ability to have complete control over your cover design.

Thanks to the ridiculous talent of artist Shaun Lindow, I couldn't be happier with the results of the cover for my forthcoming children's novel EVE HALLOWS AND THE BOOK OF SHRIEKS, so I thought I'd talk a little about the process of bringing the cover from concept to finished product.

Shaun and I tossed around some ideas early in the process.  Basically, it was him explaining what works and me saying what I would like to see and the two of us meeting on common ground.  Shortly after those brief discussions, Shaun sent me four concept sketches.

 Already it was a hard decision.  I liked them all!  I felt the top right image truly captured Eve's moody attitude, but I also wanted the whole family on the cover.  I told Shaun my concerns and he came back with something even better: How about a candid shot of the family getting ready for a photo?  I loved the idea, and he sketched it out.

This was the one I decided to go with (above), so Shaun put together a more detailed sketch to make sure the colors and layout were exactly how I wanted them (below).

From there, I was like a nervous soon-to-be father pacing around my writing room.  I've seen Shaun's work, so I trusted him completely, but there's always that worry: He didn't read the entire book.  He doesn't understand the characters like I do ... and so on.

But then he came back with this, and all those little worries slipped away:

And here's the final design with spine and back cover.

I can't praise Shaun Lindow enough for his artistic talent and his ability to take my scatterbrained ideas and turn them into a beautiful cover.  If you're shopping around for an artist, then you should add him to your short list of professionals who charge reasonable fees for quality work.

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Proceed With Caution

Instead of offering a list of rules you must not break, or a list of rules you must follow, in this month's Hellnotes article, I decided to give a list of rules that are sometimes okay if used sort of properly. Yup, just call me Switzerland.

You can check it out here: Proceed With Caution.

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Pottermore Revealed

J.K. Rowling today unveiled Pottermore.com, an interactive site pertaining to all things about The Boy Who Lived.  The site will open to a million fans on Harry Potter's birthday, July 31, and then go live for the rest of us muggles in October.

The bigger news, in my opinion, is that Rowling plans to finally release the series in ebook format (also due out in October); however, the ebooks will only be available through Pottermore.com.

What does this mean exactly?  For one, Rowling has just kicked both her publishers and every distributor to the curb, which is all too reminiscent of when Stephen King ventured off on his own and released THE PLANT via his website back in 2000.  However, King did not have the benefit of e-readers, tablets, and smart phones.  But let's put all that aside and focus on the effects this will have on the industry.

So far, sales of children's ebooks have been lackluster at best.  Besides Rick Roirdan and a few others, we haven't seen much action in this area.  And I suspect most of the people buying these titles are adults.

The most common speculation as to why children are not embracing ebooks is because the devices are still too expensive, but I don't buy into that theory.  Most children have an iPod, Nintendo DS, Xbox, PlayStation, etc.  Some kids have all of these devices plus an iPad.  And every one of these devices costs more than a Kindle or nook.   I believe the more reasonable answer is that kids just don't read enough to justify a dedicated ereader.  Maybe the Potter-effect will change that, maybe not.  Either way, it's certainly going to bring a lot of attention to the children's ebook market, and that's a good thing.

Overall, I'd say Rowling has just destroyed at least three of the publishing world's Horcruxes.  She also might've just changed the whole landscape for self-published writers and the children's ebook market.

And she did it with this little announcement...  

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On Reading Horror

This month's Hellnotes article is all about exploring the deep and rich history that the horror genre has to offer.  It's about learning your craft the old fashion way: by watching a professional at work.

You can check it out here: On Reading Horror

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Horrorfind 13 Author Schedule

This year's Horrorfind Weekend (lucky number 13) will be held once again in Gettysburg, PA on September 2-4.  And once again I'll be attending as both a fan and an author.  The difference, however, is that this year I'll be doing a special reading just for kids.  (Don't worry, folks.  I won't be reading the story from last year.)   The schedule is tentative, but as of now I'm reading on Saturday (10:00am-10:30am) and again on Sunday (11:00am-11:30am).  So if you're in the area and you're bringing your kids, then stop on over and say hello.  I might even have something special to give away.

Here's the complete schedule.  If you don't catch my reading, chances are you'll find me all googly-eyed at many of these:

Friday

5:30pm – 6:30pm: Zombies – Authors Christopher Golden (moderator), Tim Lebbon, Jason Gehlert, Jeremy Wagner, and Scott Baker discuss why the dead just won’t stay dead, and why the literary zombie craze is far from over. (Reading Room)

6:30pm – 7:30pm: Ronald Malfi and Rio Youers (Reading Room)

7:30pm – 8:30pm: The Life of Forrest J. Ackerman – Author Deborah Painter discusses the horror genre’s favorite Uncle. (Reading Room)

8:30pm – 9:00pm: James Newman and Norman Prentiss (Reading Room)

9:00pm – 10:00pm: Women in Horror – Authors Monica J. O’Rourke (moderator), Kelli Owen, Mary SanGiovanni, J.F. Gonzalez, James A. Moore, Sheri White, and Lesley Conner discuss the history and contributions of women in literary horror, and their future roles. (Reading Room)

Saturday

10:00am – 10:30am Spooky Stories for Kids with Robert Gray (Outside – Rear Carport)

10:00am – 11:00am: Thomas F. Monteleone and Chet Williamson (Reading Room)

11:00am – Noon: What We’ve Learned So Far – New authors Kevin Lucia (moderator), Sheldon S. Higdon, Lincoln Crisler, Stavros, Jacob Haddon, and Bryon Morrigan discuss the perils, pitfalls, and lessons learned from publishing in the new millennium. (Outside – Rear Carport)

11:00am – Noon: James A. Moore and Mary SanGiovanni (Reading Room)

Noon – 1:00pm: Jason Gehlert and Jeremy Wagner (Reading Room)

12:30pm – 1:30pm: Politics and Religion in Horror – Politics and religion are two things many prefer not to discuss, yet horror fiction examines them regularly. Authors Kim Paffenroth (moderator), Andersen Prunty, Ronald Malfi, Kelli Owen, Rio Youers, Norman Prentiss, and James Newman discuss why. (Outside – Rear Carport)

1:00pm – 2:00pm: Tim Lebbon and Christopher Golden (Reading Room)

2:00pm – 3:00pm: Monica J. O’Rourke and Nick Cato (Reading Room)

3:00pm – 4:00pm: Brian Keene and Kelli Owen (Reading Room)

4:00pm – 5:00pm: Dustin Warburton (Reading Room)

5:00pm – 7:00pm: Bizarro World – Authors Andersen Prunty, Jeff Burk, Gregory Hall, Eric Mays, William Pauley III, Jordan Krall, Kevin Donihe and Nick Cato discuss the origins and future of the Bizarro genre, and offer some select readings and performances. (Reading Room)

5:30pm – 7:00pm: Author Q&A – Authors Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, James A. Moore, Brian Keene, J. F. Gonzalez, Kelli Owen, Mary SanGiovanni, Chet Williamson, and Thomas F. Monteleone answer your questions about anything in this no-holds-barred Q&A. (Outside – Rear Carport)

Sunday

11:00am – 11:30am Spooky Stories for Kids with Robert Gray (Outside – Rear Carport)

11:00am – Noon: Charles Colyott and Brent Abell (Reading Room)

Noon – 1:00pm: Sheldon S. Higdon, Lincoln Crisler, and Bryon Morrigan (Reading Room)

1:00pm – 2:00pm: Robert Ford and Kevin Lucia (Reading Room)

2:00pm – 3:00pm: Jeff Burk and Scott Baker (Reading Room)

3:00pm – 4:00pm: Jacob Haddon and Lesley Conner (Reading Room)

4:00pm – 5:00pm: Wesley Southard and Jay Franklin (Reading Room)

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25th Anniversary of Stephen King's IT

Following the announcement that Cemetery Dance is releasing three special editions of Stephen King's masterpiece IT this fall, their server went down.  The announcement was that big.

As you can imagine, I'm a huge fan of IT.  In fact, it is my favorite horror novel of all time.  So, yeah, you better believe I refreshed my screen about a thousand times until my order went through.  Good news is the server is back up at CD, for those who have been waiting patiently.

The 25th Anniversary Special Editions are full of extras, including an amazing wrap-around cover (above) by Glen Orbik, a brand new afterword by the author and nearly 30 pieces of artwork by Alan M. Clark and Erin Wells.

For more information, go to Cemetery Dance's Website.  And hurry.  I imagine this one's going to sell out faster than Pennywise can tear off poor little George Denbrough's arm.

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