Horror Community

What it means to uplift one another

Stoker-Con is this week. I loved getting the chance to be a part of it last year at the liminal space hotel that no longer exists. It’s a time in the horror community where a number of people: authors, fans, reviewers, editors, publishers, and agents all descend on one hotel and have a collaborative convention full of panels, book-signings, and of course, the awards ceremony.

There are also a lot of friends getting together who haven’t seen each other in months or years and from that, a flood of beautiful pictures overtake our socials. Those of us who are a part of the community love and live vicariously through our friends’ adventures this week and a good chunk of us resolve ourselves to make a plan to be a part of the next year’s ceremonies because of them.

There is also the very important and relatively underscored opportunity for lesser known authors to network, rub elbows with, and meet those who they wouldn’t normally encounter outside of the convention space. This can lead to some often really great relationships being forged.

This business is all about luck, perseverance, and smashing your face against a rock as many times as it takes until someone finally notices you. And sometimes, it doesn’t happen until you are dead. I am someone who believes that no matter how good of a writer you are, how talented you are as a salesperson, or how effectively you throw yourself out at the internet to sell your work, you will always need the help of others in the industry to get anywhere AND really good luck at the exact right time.

It is my belief that if you find yourself in a position where you can extend a hand to helping newer or lesser known writers (who you think are telling excellent stories and are good people) to help them out. This is how we help everyone in this community. I have watched people who’s hearts have hardened once they’ve reached a certain point of fame, who have closed themselves off, who have created the most impenetrable of boundaries that border on the feeling of high school clique culture.

I have also seen those who have achieved more fame who continue to reach back and help others over and over and over. They are posting about other authors’ books they’ve read, they are motivating new writers, they are blurbing their books, recommending indie or self-published titles, are standing up for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ voices, offering spotlights on their blogs, and more. These are people who are paying-it-forward and aren’t doing it for publicity.

Now, even though becoming an author should not just be about fame and recognition, it is not solely about our own love of writing either. It is a business that we have chosen for ourselves. That means that in order for our stories to be read, for our words to be ingested and ourselves to be seen, we must have readers. When a book release flops, when no one leaves reviews, when social media hides your posts… Over and over and over. Years upon years upon years. It becomes too much for lots of writers. It starts to break them down. It starts to hurt when the prospect of telling that next story shows on the horizon. A lot of writers stop writing because they can’t take anymore rejection or negligence.

I can’t stress enough that, as you read this, there is someone in your life who needs you to do this for them. There are books people are not talking about, authors who have been smashing their faces into rocks, grinding themselves down to bone, waiting for luck. Waiting for someone to reach a hand down so that they can be seen. For you.

Now, here’s where I want to clarify what I mean: I am not suggesting hand-outs. I am not suggesting that someone be given something without that something having been earned. The writing needs to be good. The story needs to be good. The writer needs to be a GOOD PERSON. Please. There are enough backdoor deals that happen in this line of work that raise more than one eyebrow and are more about friendships, circle-jerking, and climbing ladders and less about genuine literary talent.

“Why should I help? No one helped me.” Don’t even. Someone noticed you. Someone read your work and it moved them and they said something to the right someone because your work deserved the recognition and it got it. Whether it was an editor, an agent, your best friend, your mentor…

If you can’t find a reason to want to even help someone less fortunate than you out, you need to take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself how you got to where you are.

“What if I can’t help someone right now?”

I am also not suggesting that someone violate their own personal space and mental peace in order to do this. There are many, many ways and opportunities to uplift someone in this community and doing so at the risk of burning yourself out is not worth it. I only ask that when you are in a stable place and you have the opportunity to help someone out, please do so.

Now, here’s who I would like to uplift:

There are two younger Maine women who I published in BOREAL last year who I want to see succeed because their writing is EXCEPTIONAL. It’s bold, it’s brilliant, and it makes you think.

The first is E.M. Roy. Ellie already has one book out with Ghoulish Books called Let The Woods Keep Our Bodies. I fell in love with this book, its heart and soul, its characters and the world it created. When she sent me a story for BOREAL, it was one out of a hundred that, again, spoke to me, where others didn’t. And she’s now just released her first self-published book which I had the pleasure of providing editing for called Bloodletting Go. This is a queer time-traveling liminal horror story that will have BACKROOMS fans in the palm of its hand. Please give it a chance and pick it up during Pride Month.

The second author is Nicole Mann. I was introduced to Nicole’s work when she sent me “True North” for BOREAL. There was this austerity and quiet darkness to that story that I resonated with and I have since found in other work I have edited for her since then. She currently has an eco-horror novelette up for pre-order that is equal parts body and invasion horror and is sure to delight as well as make your heart squirm. Please consider following her IG account and pre-ordering Mindchoir when it becomes available.

I am also spotlighting other asexual horror authors every Saturday during Pride Month to create awareness and with hope that people will pick up their books and find a new favorite in them.

We are a community. Halloween people. Horror-lovers. We are all on the same team, so please let’s not punch down; let’s uplift and support. Especially this month. Especially this year. Especially during a time where there is so much hatred and so much violence.

That little thing that you do for someone might just be the luck they needed.

-Kat