Quote:
Originally Posted by neverending
That's a very underground writer kind of statement- no offense intended.
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It very much is, but it's not an uninformed statement. Yes, good literature does reach the shelves, but that which doesn't reach the shelves and ends up discarded is often bolder and more interesting than that which does. Much of what hits the shelves comes from agented writers and, for the most part, literary agents are only interested in the bottom line. Most of the best films in the horror genre were independently produced and now the same thing is happening much more often with books. The only thing is, an independent film has an ingrained audience, while a small press book has to take greater risks and do more self-promotion to a wide audience of non readers. There aren't people who don't watch movies. Small presses also have the early books by authors that end up peppering the shelves with third, fourth...hell, seventh novels. A lot of horror writers do things for Dybbuk, Bloodletting or Delirium before they get on the Leisure horror thing, and Leisure horror is a very mixed bag, often representing inferior more commercial works from smaller press authors. I would recommend people do research before thinking that some author's book from Leisure is the best thing of theirs they can get. It's usually the contrary. Leisure doesn't want to blur genre, take risks or offend anybody, which are huge components of good horror instead of vanilla crap. Look an author up and see where his early work came from and check it out. Also, check out work somebody does with a smaller press after they're a decent sized name. Did all of the best performances in rock come out of the Albert Hall? I think not. If you want really good horror or something unusual to read, slum it.