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Tasmanian
based publisher working in the field of Horror Novellas.
Why?
Tasmaniac believes this length of story is perfect for the genre.
They can be consumed within a single sitting so atmosphere,
tension and flow is appreciated and not lost (which can be the
case with novels).
With limited
runs our aim is to produce editions worthy for collectors as well as
being reasonable in price for readers who love Horror.
Want to know more? Really? You can check out an interview
for the ABC news website here; http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/28/2016980.htm
Publisher, Stephen Clark - Guest
Blogger
Stephen
ClarkDecember Guest Blogger
The holidays are in full swing,
and here in the States winter is upon us, but our Second Tuesday Guest Blogger
for December, Steve Clark will tell you we're all turned around,
because it's Summer in his neighborhood! Yup, that's right, our new
friend from Down Under is WAY down under in Tasmania, hence the name
of his fine small press publishing company, Tasmaniac Publications. Now tell me, could
there be any place better for a small press horror publisher to call
home than Tasmania?
I recently received my copy of
the long awaited Tasmaniac edition of Gary Braunbeck's, Midnight
Museum. It's a lovely book, with work from Tom Piccirilli and Simon
Clark slated for release in 2008. The exchange rate makes it
affordable to shop direct from Steve even with the overseas postage
(remember, shopping directly from the publisher usually helps the
writers out, as well), but if you want a local venue for Tasmaniac
books, keep an eye out at Bloodletting Press and the Horror
Mall.
We're honored to have Mr. Clark
with us as our guest, and we're very happy to be able to share his
wisdom with you. Please give Steve a warm holiday welcome from
wherever you are in the wild weathery global continuum. ~Fran
Friel
Tales
of a Small Press Dream by Steven Clark
From the car park I’m doing mental
checks – remember to smile, but not like you’re crazy. Remember to
mention the quotes. Don’t act too eager. Hand them the complimentary
promotional material. Shoes look fine. Shaved. Presentable. Don’t
waste your time with the staff go directly to the manager. Expect a
tough sale. Remember to smile, but not like you’re crazy.
I’m no salesman. I have no ‘gift of
the gab’, no confident swagger that can put strangers at ease. I’m
just someone who believes in the wares he’s trying to
sell.
From where I’m standing on the
street, opposite to the bookstore I’m about to invade, I can see the
last two decades as a progression to this moment. An avid reader, I
tried science fiction, fantasy, true crime and other forgettable
genres but there was only the one genre for me.
Horror.
Many years ago I began scouring the
second hand bookstores for back catalogs of the more ‘known’
authors, which then led me to main street bookstores where I could
peruse over horror sections. This was in the late eighties/ early
nineties when the majority bookstores carried their own horror
sections (before they bled into general fiction). I found lesser
known authors but with heaps of talent and began gathering their
back catalogs. Suddenly I became aware of my urge to collect. Years
went by and bookshelves were filled. I discovered the Internet and
to sites that sold limited editions – I was hooked and became a
collector to the more exclusive range of books. During this time,
just before I opened a fresh package from a publisher, I often
wondered what it would be like to be the one sending and not
receiving. To have the ability of approaching an author you admired
and commission them to write a fresh piece of fiction to the
unsuspecting public was something that appealed greatly.
Time passed. My collection became a
living organism. Old, withered editions were replaced with newer
ones; whole ranges of authors I knew I wouldn’t read a second time
were cut to make way for new authors. My passion made me feel alive
and with purpose.
As well as reading I became quite
experimental with another hobby – writing. I found it hilarious
observing my wife’s expressions of disgust as she read my stories,
that in itself were priceless, and furthermore, I really enjoyed
creating my own characters, scenarios and consequences. I passed
them around at work and was met with an opinion that ‘yeh, they were
alright’ (for guys that stripped industrial furnaces that was high
praise!).
I submitted to small press
magazines, gathered a whole pile of rejection slips (that I’m
extremely proud of!) and found some success along the way too. So I
continued to write with the same passion I had to read…until one
day, quite out of the blue, I decided to try my hand at publishing.
After years of seeing the genre dwindle and disappear from the
bookstores and being fully aware that there’s a new generation out
there being denied access to many wonderful titles I had taken for
granted, this was just something I had to do. I had to make my own
small stand against all the hypocrisy that was beginning to strangle
the genre I loved so much. Dark Fiction? A cop out description if I
ever heard one! Why has the term horror suddenly become sub
standard? As if it implies a lack of talent from the writer or
intelligence from the reader. This suggestion falls in on itself
with names that come to mind – Keene, Masterton, Clark, Lee,
Braunbeck, Piccirilli, Lebbon – the list could go on and on.
Consistently churning out quality, men and women of all ages buy
their latest as ‘must have’ reads. So why have the stores adopted
this blind disdain for the genre? I’m guessing the larger publishers
and larger chain bookstores could cram a mile-high pile of
correlated statistics down my throat to justify marketing strategy
but it’s still gonna leave a bad taste in my mouth. I just love the
genre and feel despondent over other people’s blinkered [blinders]
views.
I began losing interest in walking
around bookstores, asking where the horror sections were, in turn
focusing my sole attention on buying books on-line. My saviour has
been the small press. But now I’ve entered these bookstores again,
these duplicated laid out stores that contain and display all the
other genres with glee. I’ve brought my publishing company’s titles
in the hope that I can convince a small change of heart; a little
relent on the part of the proprietor whom I hope is a little
intrigued with my passion.
I walk into the first store with
purpose and head for the counter. How can they not stock my title? I
ask myself. This is going to be the start of some kind of
revolution! A young man senses my approach, raises his gaze to mine,
and smiles. Can I help you? I return the offered smile and the spiel
reels off my tongue with speed. I tell myself to slow down and
continue on. He seems really impressed and looks as though he’s
taking all the information in. I feel close to selling my product,
in a store that has no horror section it’s looking promising.
Unfortunately the next thirty seconds confirm my deepest fears. A
‘store uniformed’ lady approaches from my right, looks at the cover
of The Lazarus Condition and asks what genre it is. I inform her the
genre is horror. With her gaze still looking at the book she simply
says, ‘no’ and walks away, never once actually looking at me. She
simply walks away and begins tidying the rather large cookery
section. I’m looking at her and then to the young man I thought I
had, words escape me. The member of staff has an embarrassed look on
his face and simply shrugs his shoulders. I’m afraid she is in
charge of ordering books. His words register but feel they are not
enough. I’m angry over this woman’s disregard. I want to walk over
to her and state my many months of work and effort that’s been
invested in this project – no, scratch that. I want to do some
damage. I could pull over her sacred cookery section and hold
everyone hostage (especially THAT woman) until the police negotiated
a peaceful settlement. The anger in me willed it but what was the
point. The time for selling had passed, I could see that so I simply
collected my material back into the folder and walked
out.
For a moment the streets looked
different, the people walking past looked as though they knew what
had just happened to me and still offered no words of support. The
next bookstore was further up the street and I could clearly see
their store frontage. I felt like going to a bar instead, any bar,
just as long as they offered sympathy along with beers and shots.
The store was smaller than the previous one, which didn’t boost my
already dented confidence but I continued with the sales talk, my
mask firmly in place. The owner of the store asked questions, I
replied. He was impressed and made an order. It took me by surprise,
my obvious relief made both he and his assistant smile. I walked out
feeling a little better and redeemed my belief that independent
booksellers can be approached and are willing to give the small
press a chance. During the rest of my visits that day I knew what an
uphill battle I was in for but my belief in what I’m doing has kept
me going. Horror fiction in Australia deserves recognition. If
bookstores stocked healthy sections of horror I’ve no doubt the
genre would thrive. Intrigued customers would pick up fresh authors
as I had done years previous. I can only do my small ‘King Canute’
part in trying to turn the tide by offering quality stories from
some of the most exciting authors to emerge in recent
years.
On the publishing side I’m pleased
with the way Tasmaniac is going. I’m very proud to have worked with
Paul Kane and Gary A. Braunbeck – both real friendly guys and easy
to get along with. E-mail conversations feel like I’ve known them
for years, that they’d be ideal fellow barflies who I could shoot
the shit with in gloomy establishments whose patrons are as easy
going and dangerous as a Redback spider on meth. Initial
conversations with Pic and Simon Clark have given me that initial
feeling too, though in truth I’ve had e-mail conversations with
Simon for many years as he’s been one of my personal favourites (an
author I ‘discovered’ from a store’s now obsolete horror section
many years ago). I remember picking up his second novel release
Blood Crazy from the shelf and thinking this sounds pretty good. It
was more than good, it was bloody brilliant, and led me down the
road to making sure I never missed a future Clark
release.
Artists I’ve worked with have also
earned my admiration. Conny Valentina illustrated Tasmaniac’s
edition of Braunbeck’s, In the Midnight Museum and went beyond my
expectations ten-fold. She’s such a talent and I hope we’ll hook up
again on a future project.
I’m using a local printer and have
somewhat of a rapport with them now – they know that I want to
improve the production with each title and are very willing to meet
any of my requests. It’s very handy to be able to browse through
their paper inventory and judge each sample against another. Even
handier if there’s a problem and I’ve only a thirty minute drive to
get there.
My fight to enlighten a country’s
preconceptions of what horror fiction can achieve will continue.
There’s a hope to stay around for many a year, hope is good – now
where have I read that?
-S.C. |