My first novel was published in 2008. Like most beginning writers, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I let the first publisher that came along release it. It was a disaster from front to back cover. But I learned from my mistakes and forged ahead.
From 2009 until the end of 2014 I think I had a pretty good run. Several books, short stories, films, audio books, articles, etc, came out with my name on it. I considered myself pretty fortunate that so many people were buying the books and reading the words that seemed to just pour out of my mind during that time. It was really one helluva ride. I made some great contacts in the industry and a lot of those people eventually became genuine friends of mine. But, something, especially during 2014, just didn’t feel the same as it once did. The industry, specifically, the horror genre, was changing. It was just a feeling I had in my gut. My time had come.
In December 2014 I called it quits by writing The Death of a Horror Writer. It was more or less me backing away from the writing side of the industry. During the ensuing years from 2015 – 2017, I had a major proposal turned down by one of the Big 5 after twelve solid months of pitching an anthology to them (this is what made me completely, writing and otherwise, step away from the business), two books came and went out of print (Escaping Lucidity and the 5-year anniversary edition of Last Night Out. DININ’ also went out of print during this time), two anthologies were lost in the wind and were never released, one anthology I had to turn over the editorial duties back to the publisher after compiling the entire author lineup and three books were re-released (The Fields, Deep Dark Woods and The Killing Club), which I regrettably ignored. This wasn’t fair to my work, but more importantly, to their respective publishers. If you have already read Horror Writer, then you understand the reasons for all this. If not, well, maybe you should go and pick up the book now. Regardless, during 2015 – 2017 I always had the publisher end my books with a mostly blank page which simply stated, “The End is the New Beginning.” Honestly, I didn’t totally know what I meant by that, only that it needed to be inserted at the end of each of the books released after Horror Writer.
Then, about a month ago, something hit me like a ton of bricks. While the urge to write new material still isn’t there, at lest not yet, I felt like I needed to get back into the game.
The New Beginning.
That’s when the wheels started turning. The first thing I did was send a single email to a highly respected publisher in the genre who I always wanted to work with. I inquired if they would be interested in re-releasing an out-of-print novella.
They said, yes.
While I can’t yet tell you who the publisher is you’ll definitely know the name when I get the green light to announce it.
Until then, it’s time to make up for lost time by getting the word out regarding The Fields, Deep Dark Woods and The Killing Club.
Watch this space over the coming week or so for information on each book.
The New Beginning.
Yes. Yes, it is.
Ty Schwamberger 