Horror Blog & Dark Home of

Horror Fiction Author Advice – Guest post by Belinda Frisch‏

Horror is by far my favorite genre. It’s the thrill of being scared, of exploring the darkest recesses of the supernatural or of human behavior that really gets me. When Tyr asked me to guest post, I tried to think of what would best tie in with his awesome blog.

First things first, I am a horror writer. I have been for years and not because it’s a conscious decision, but because the urge to write dark stories is innate. Writing for such a specific niche genre is not for the faint of heart and this is where I get to the topic of my post: my experience as a debut horror novelist.

I expect that being a debut novelist in any genre is hard. Horror is that much harder. Fewer agents represent horror, fewer publishers publish horror, and fewer readers read horror. When I finished my novel, Dead Spell, I queried for an agent and had several polite declines citing subject matter and salability as issues rather than the quality of the writing. I was both encouraged and depressed.

In the sidelines of trying to go the traditional route, I heard buzz about the indie movement. I watched others cite record sales garnering NYC publishing attention with their remarkable success. It looked good. I thought, “I can do this.” I hired an editor and a cover designer and after some judicious editing, independently released my novel.

I admit freely that I had some expectation that with an honest amount of hard work marketing, I would see more sales than I ended up seeing. I got stuck in that debut indie novelist loop where you check your sales figures hourly and tweet and Facebook your Amazon links as often as is considered borderline polite by your online friends. This is a self-destructive creativity suck of epic proportions. It will eat your soul, I swear it.

Five months later, I still do some marketing, but it isn’t the most important thing.

Why am I telling you this? Because if you’re a horror writer, maybe I can save you some heartache on your debut. What I realized after some time was that the reviews counted far more than the sales. Thirty-three Goodreads reviews later and Dead Spell is still rated over 4.5 stars. I found my target niche market and they’re enjoying what I put out there.

That, believe it or not, is worth more than sales right now because I’m a new writer on the scene. Every ounce of good word of mouth establishes me in this genre. I’ve built a firm base on Twitter (@B_Frisch) and Facebook, have an active blog, and have fans, which is incredibly rewarding. I was also recently fortunate enough to be reviewed in the Midwest Book Review.

There is no short cut to success. I believed in Dead Spell and I think it is the perfect example of a book with a niche audience. It’s nasty, scary, real, and no holds barred. It’s viscerally real and is the embodiment of my adolescent experience while being true, adult horror. Harmony, my MC, is an amalgamation of people I knew, was, loved, or lost and her character has received the strongest response. This review says it all and is, by far, my favorite: The Wheel and the Star’s book review of Dead Spell

If you’re a debut horror novelist, you’re going to have to make a name for yourself, find your audience, and build your social networking platforms. You have to put your absolute all into writing the best book you’re capable of because, without that, none of the rest matters. Great cover design, top-notch editing, and marketing will help with sales, but giveaways and reviews go a long way, too. No one I know of hit the big time their first time out. Don’t get hung up on sales figures; get hung up on being the best writer you can be. To that end, I’ve taken money out of the equation. Dead Spell and my compilation of short stories, Crisis Hospital, are both available for FREE on Smashwords and Scribd (at least through August.) They are also available for $0.99 each on Amazon and B&N because they don’t list freebies unless they choose to. I’m hoping they’ll pick up on my Smashwords freebies and follow suit as a result of price matching. I know it seems radical and you’re thinking you’re going to make a small fortune because a handful of very lucky indies have done so, but I don’t know a single horror indie taking Amazon by storm. Amazon’s new indie only section doesn’t even offer a horror section because it only features their top sellers. It’s worth keeping that in mind that if you write horror, you’re a niche writer. We’re a supportive lot, horror writers, and I love the camaraderie, but the odds are stacked against us. Still, I keep at it.

I’ve never been one for the easy road.

How about you?

Dead Spell on Smashwords
Dead Spell on Scribd
Crisis Hospital on Smashwords
Crisis Hospital on Scribd