Where The Calling Began
By
[Note From Dave: this is a guest post by Robert Swartwood as part of his blog tour for his new novel, The Calling.]
Nowadays self-publishing is becoming almost commonplace thanks to the swiftness and distribution of e-book technology, but nearly a decade ago it just didn’t make much sense. Sure, you could self-publish your novel, but it would cost a lot of money and there was very little chance that you could find a readership – after all, most major bookstores wouldn’t stock those kinds of books, and the only way for readers to find your book was at a bookstore. So when I wrote my first novel in college, I knew the next step was to try to find an agent. But before that, I thought maybe I could contact some established writers and see if they would read my book and, if they liked it enough, possibly blurb it. So that when I did begin querying agents, those blurbs would help my submission stand out.
At least, that was the plan.
One of the writers I contacted was David B. Silva. I had of course heard of The Horror Show but had never actually seen an issue, as the magazine’s existence was way before my time – I only started writing in high school in the late ’90′s and The Horror Show had shuttered its doors in 1991. But that didn’t matter anyway, because the real reason I had contacted Dave was because of his short fiction. I would always come across one of his stories in a magazine that would blow me away. I managed to track down a copy of his collection Through Shattered Glass and thought it was great. So that’s why I contacted him. I asked him if he would be willing to read my novel and he was kind enough to say sure, send it along. And so I sent it along, and waited a few weeks until I received an email from Dave saying he had finished reading my novel and here was my blurb:
“Dark and disturbing, The Calling is a relentless nightmare. An eerie tale of the inevitably of fate.”
That was it. It was nice of him – of course it was – but even as a young writer I was able to read between the lines. The blurb was … indifferent. So I replied thanking Dave and asking if he had any comments that could help me make the book better. He was hesitant in his reply, trying to feel me out, because apparently – as he later told me – he had gotten burned from writers who had asked for comments and then became pissy when those comments were given. I assured Dave that I wasn’t like one of those writers and that I seriously wanted to learn and improve as a writer.
Oh good, Dave said, and we began emailing back and forth about the book. He told me what he liked and what he didn’t like, what he thought was the book’s strong points and its weak points. And from those comments I was able to improve the novel. In fact, this particular novel holds such a special place in my heart because it was a very long and in-depth learning experience. It’s my true first novel, and I experimented with different styles and techniques, and yet besides this, I feel it ultimately works.
And so now here we are nearly ten years later. Times have changed. Self-publishing has begun to make more sense for writers. And recently I decided to start releasing some of my earlier novels as e-books and knew The Calling would have to be the first. It’s a novel that has definitely come a long way, and I honestly don’t think it would be the book it is today if not for Dave’s help.
P.S. Since that initial correspondence, Dave and I have become friends. It’s been a pleasure to know him and talk with him about books and publishing. And it’s been an even bigger pleasure to collaborate on a top secret project. But, well, I may have already said too much, so I’ll just leave it at this: coming soon.
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Robert Swartwood’s work has appeared in The Los Angeles Review,The Daily Beast, Postscripts, ChiZine, Space and Time, and PANK. He is the editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. Visit him at his personal website: Robert Swartwood
The Calling: A Supernatural Thriller is available for an introductory price of 99 cents at the following places:
Robert invites you to follow along with the rest of his tour and to join him on Monday, April 18, at 7 pm EST, where he will be doing a live reading at his website.
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