Wednesday, February 9th, 2005
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2:16 pm - New Journal
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Monday, February 7th, 2005
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3:15 pm - November 14th, 2003
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dreampeople
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That was the first day I posted on livejournal so this community is almost as old as the press itself. But I've been wanting to change over to a personal journal for a long time since mostly nobody uses this journal like a community. It's harder for other lj'ers to find this journal and I don't get a friends list. So I've been working on a new lj. I'd really like to be able to transfer all my entries over to that one but there doesn't seem to be a way other than manually. I have transferred some entries but it's a major pain in the butt. If anybody knows of an easier way please fill me in!
We were surprised to receive a re-order request from Shocklines yesterday for John's poetry chapbook The Scars Are Complimentary. That thing is actually pre-RDSP even. It's just a small chap, only costs $2.50, but it was the first layout project I did and I put a lot of work into it, plus the poems are excellent. Despite all the bigger and better projects we've done I'm still proud of that one.
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, February 3rd, 2005
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11:42 am - When Angels Mutate
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dreampeople
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The all poetry issue of The Dream People is now online. I had absolutely nothing to do with this issue, John did the entire thing by himself. There's some really excellent pieces and lots of great new writers. The artwork for this issue is also very cool, including the collage works of ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) cakeearthhead which will soon be so valuable that we will no longer be able to afford his (free) services.
http://www.dreampeople.org
It's weird because we really don't have a lot of time to devote to The Dream People so we can't promote it much but every time I think about retiring I see someone mention it as a great market. The don't ever say that to us directly but we'll just happen across a comment somewhere. We rarely get any direct feedback about the issues so it's hard to know if people enjoy it. I think it gives a lot of off-beat writers and weird artists a chance to showcase their stuff but it's a lot of work for an indeterminate return. Luckily we've got two guest editors lined-up so we won't have to worry about it for awhile. Though there's still the layout part to be done when someone is guest editing. April's issue has the them of "When Angels Mutate". I'm looking forward to that one!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Tuesday, February 1st, 2005
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3:53 pm - Punktown Forcer
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dreampeople
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Mitch Garnet, infamous Punktown forcer, sent us a copy of the Boston Globe article about Jeff Thomas and his signing for Everybody Scream!. I didn't realize the mail delivery between Punktown and Earth was so fast. I've transcribed the article and scanned one of the pictures for anyone and everyone to read. I also scanned Mitch's letter for kicks. It's not every day you get mail from Punktown!
Things have been busy but it's too much to go into...feeling tired and behind.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Monday, January 31st, 2005
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11:26 am - random title generator (i wish i had one)
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dreampeople
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I finally got mr_graig's blurb for Spider Pie up on the page about the book. I was excited about his response:
"These stories will bitchslap your sensibilities and molest your pets. Each macabre absurdity is better than the last. I laughed, I winced, I bled spontaneously from every orifice. With Spider Pie, Alyssa Sturgill firmly establishes herself as the new deviant demoness on the block." - Craig Sernotti editor, Crown of Bones
I added a little on to the description of the book and put up another piece by the cover artist, Kris Kuksi. It's a stunning 3-D wall hanging. I didn't see anything like that on his site so I was really surprised when he sent the image.
Also steve_vernon's thoughtful review of 15 Serial Killers just went up at ReallyScary.com: http://www.reallyscary.com/reviews15serial.asp
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Saturday, January 29th, 2005
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9:38 pm - Donihe does it again
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dreampeople
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So the verdict on Bare Bone #6 is in. Horror-web has spoken. #6 is the best issue yet! And, as usual, Bloody Mary had a few colorful things to say about RDSP too, "Those bastards at Raw Dog pull more tricks than a coked out hooker in Vegas." To read the whole review go here:
http://www.horror-web.com/reviews/YaBB.cgi?board=Books;action=display;num=1106769590
Been working on a lot of things. Sent out PDF proofs to the authors for Pseudo-City and Westermead. Doing a little editing on Spider Pie. Working on cover art for Play Dead. Doing layout for a special edition of Westermead. Jeez, it's a wonder I can keep all these books straight, or is it Wester Plays Spider City?
Sick continues to spread like the deadly virus it is. Soon the entire video watching public in dj_of_l's hometown will succumb. Check out his lj if you don't believe me.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Friday, January 28th, 2005
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11:37 am - pre-order yourself some fun
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dreampeople
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3 RDSP titles are now available for pre-order from Shocklines.com and ProjectPulp.com:
Spider Pie
pre-order at Shocklines
pre-order at ProjectPulp
Tempting Disaster
pre-order at Shocklines
pre-order at ProjectPulp
Westermead
pre-order at Shocklines
pre-order at ProjectPulp
Check out the discounts at ProjectPulp! Westermead is already on the advance orders bestsellers list at Shocklines.
Remember you don't have to pay for a pre-order until the book is ready to ship and people who pre-order are sexy.
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(comment on this)
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Thursday, January 27th, 2005
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3:21 pm - Coolness abounds
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dreampeople
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Thanks to wretlind there is now a super-snazzy logo to announce the PLAY DEAD poker tournament on the front page of the website. The coolest thing about having a Raw Dog Street Pack is when you don't have time to do things like that you can just ask someone else to do it. I love that!
Crown of Bones is now available!!! I haven't had a chance to read it yet myself but the list of contributors practically reads like my favorite authors list; blindsidepubs, khaibit108, rdsp, cakeearthhead, Harold Jaffe, D. Harlan Wilson,Forrest Aguirre, Kurt Newton, Brian Rosenberger, Mark McLaughlin, Charlee Jacob. The only ones I don't know really well are Lida Broadhurst and Wayne Allen Sallee, though I have heard good things about them. And of course it's edited by mr_graig. All these great writers and it's available for FREE!! Get it here: http://www.yellowbat.com
There's other stuff but it will have to wait until tomorrow.
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, January 26th, 2005
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3:22 pm - PLAY DEAD Texas Hold 'Em Poker Showdown!!
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dreampeople
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So the coolest thing about WHC is we're going to sponsor a Poker tournament to celebrate Play Dead!!! You can watch Tom Monteleone, F. Paul Wilson, Jack Ketchum, Mike Arnzen and 16 more authors cry like babies when they don't make their flush draw on the river. This is going to be so much fun and such good publicity for Play Dead. Each author will be playing for charity and the top three winners will get money donated to their charity.
Matt Schwartz from Shocklines.com put together all the details and he's lining up the authors. He's done an amazing job. We knew that a Poker tournament would be a great way to promo Play Dead but I hardly know anything about Poker myself. Another cool thing is that there are going to be 50 special decks of cards and when each author participating in the tournament is eliminated they will sign a card in all the decks. The signed decks will go to the authors and sponsors, a very cool souvenir.
By the way, you can now order your tickets to the con through http://www.shocklines.com and the first 200 people to sign up get a bonus Jack Ketchum chapbook.
You know you wanna come.
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(19 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, January 25th, 2005
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1:35 pm - WHC 2005
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dreampeople
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WHC is shaping up to be pretty cool this year. It will definitely be cool to hang out with Michael, Jen and Oliver from Cthulhu Sex again. But we'll also get to meet wretlind and he's promised to give us a one-of-a-kind, home-brewed, leather bound chapbook of his work that's been trimmed with a hacksaw. I also saw something on dj_of_l's journal that indicated he might be there as well. Speaking of Dustin, he's managed to get the RDSP catalog and a copy of Sick displayed in his local Hollywood Video. There's a pic in his journal to prove it!
We've got some exciting prospects for doing Play Dead promo and Tempting Disaster will be out in time for the con too. We may even has Pseudo-City ready. I've been working on an updated RDSP catalog for 2005 which is almost done so that will come in handy too.
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(6 comments | comment on this)
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Saturday, January 22nd, 2005
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9:27 pm
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dreampeople
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Been working on setting up a cover for the review copies for Play Dead. This is the first book that we'll be doing real galleys for so that's got me apprehensive. It means dealing with a different printer and different technical specs but I think I've got it worked out now. Hopefully we'll fax them the financial stuff on Monday and get this print job started.
John was calculating and re-calculating a possible price today. At first we though we were going to have to charge $33 for the hardcover but he seems to have worked out a way to do $27. i'm glad because that will be a lot more appealing to buyers. This release with an honest-to-god print run is going to be a real test of the RDSP mettle. I want to make sure everything is prepared for the August release way in advance. The review copies for the places that need 4-6 months lead time are going to have to go out soon. There will be a limited number of review copies so I'm hoping a lot of our online reviewers will accept PDFs. We're going to need as much buzz and as many reviews out there as possible!
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(7 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, January 20th, 2005
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5:33 pm - a cute allergy
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dreampeople
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Ack! It's almost been a week since my last update. Bet you thought I was slacking but, no, I've been hard at work. Got the lettering done for Spider Pie so that's another cover wrapped up. I've now got pages for both Spider Pie and Westermead up on the site plus I've linked them in the menu and added them in the catalog.
I've done most of the layout for Pseudo-City but still have some tedious and boring parts to do. I've been checking out John's layout for Spider Pie which looks good but needs some help on the technical side plus I'm going to have a bit of fun sprucing it up with extras I think. Spider Pie is going to be a neat little book with lots of character. It reminds of The Nightmare Before Christmas, cute in a freakish kind of way. I love that kind of stuff! I can't stand REAL cute stuff, in fact I may be allergic.
Jeff received the promo bags for ES! and loved everything. He got a big kick out of the pins with his picture on them and the stickers I designed. He also loved the collage sign cakeearthhead did. He said he will definitely display it at the sigining.
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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Friday, January 14th, 2005
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2:41 pm - Ad it up
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dreampeople
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Another cover is completed. John's the mastermind behind this one. The Two Backed Books site has been update with the cover and a new table of contents. There's also been updates to the info about the Horror Between the Sheets antho too so check it out.
 I've been working on ads lately, we'll have a half page ad in the next Dark Discoveries for Everybody Scream!. They're also running an interview and a story previously not available in English by Jeff so that will definitely be an issue to check out. I also put together some ads for the back of Horror Between the Sheets and John recently did a full-pager for H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror. Doing ads can be a pain because it seems like you have to do a new design every time. The specs are never the same!
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Wednesday, January 12th, 2005
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11:07 am - Covergirl
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Monday, January 10th, 2005
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11:35 am - 2005 Publication schedule
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dreampeople
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I did some minor updates to the site. I know, it's terrible that I haven't done more, the site needs a major overhaul but that's not likely to happen any time soon. The biggest thing is we now have a publication schedule for 2005. Here it is:
SPRING
Tempting Disaster (on the Two Backed Books
Imprint) edited by John Edward Lawson
Pseudo City by D. Harlan Wilson
Last Burn in Hell by John Edward Lawson
SUMMER
Bare Bone #7 edited by Kevin L. Donihe
Play Dead by Michael A. Arnzen
Spider Pie by Alyssa Sturgill
AUTUMN
Westermead by Scott Thomas
Fugue XXIX by Forrest Aguirre
WINTER
Bare Bone #8 edited by Kevin L. Donihe
I hope to have more info up on the site about these releases soon. Actually I'm sure the schedule won't turn out exactly like this and really it's just a general outline. There's always unexpected glitches that hold things up and you have to be a bit flexible. There's a chance that we might add some releases to the line-up too but I don't know that we'll have time for any more. In 2003 we released one book. In 2004 we did 7. We've got 9 lined up for 2005 and that might be pushing it.
current mood:  hopeful
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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Sunday, January 9th, 2005
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8:17 pm - Hodge Podge Collage
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Friday, January 7th, 2005
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10:51 am - Button up
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dreampeople
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The buttons arrived the day before yesterday and they are really cool! The RDSP pins kick much butt and the Everybody Scream! ones turned out well too. If you ever need buttons or collage work definitely contact cakeearthhead. The card he made to advertise Never Lost Buttons is too cool. I love the slogan too; "You demand, we supply."
One thing that's been cool lately is we've had a lot of random direct orders for books from various places, not big orders but every bit helps. For instance the Borders in Hagerstown MD wanted 5 copies of Jolts and they contacted us directly. We've also been getting orders from library suppliers like Brodart and Midwest Library Services. Somehow these people are finding out about our books!
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, January 5th, 2005
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10:00 am - The New Brothers Grimm
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dreampeople
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I'm about a quarter of the way through the layout for Westermead now. It's a fascinating collection with an old time mysteriousness about it and a certain richness you don't find in most writing today. Scott Thomas really has brought the realm of Westermead to life. He recently sent us a link to an interview he did with Forrest Aguirre some years back and it sheds a lot of light on how he does it and why.
Check out the interview http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/intscott.htm
It also goes into a bit about his relationship with his brother Jeff Thomas and how they influence each other's work. Exactly which stories did their parents read them at bedtime to spark so much creativity. I'd like to know!
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, January 4th, 2005
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10:51 am - Boston Globe
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dreampeople
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The Everybody Scream! signing at Tatnuck Booksellers in Westborough, Massachusetts on the 29th is shaping up to be a major event. Jeff has contacted 8 or 9 local papers announcing the signing. Apparently the Boston Globe heard about it and scheduled a phone interview with Jeff and are also sending a photographer out to take his picture.
I've been working on adapting the Sick Bag giveaways for Everybody Scream!. Yesterday I designed some stickers and bags plus has made up some great pins with Jeff's picture on them which we should be getting in the mail soon. I think this signing is going to be a stellar event. I wish I could go!
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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Monday, January 3rd, 2005
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10:17 am
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dreampeople
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Got some cool reviews from darren_speegle yesterday. One will run in Flesh and Blood #16 which will also feature a story of Darren's. Here's a little tidbit from a detailed and glowing review:
"...a feast for the horror fan who prefers his fiction rich with imagery, symbolism, and beautiful prose...His tales brim with complex characters discovering the pervasive evil that inhabits both their worlds and their souls. A Dirge for the Temporal is full of blood, chills, and supernatural retribution; however, it is also full of spiritual and philosophical conundrums that demand the reader's attention."—Drew Williams
Another detailed review appeared recently in The Third Alternative:
"...Speegle is a writer of vivid prose snapshots that will linger in the mind long after the book is put aside. His work is recommended to connoisseurs of the weird and unusual."
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(comment on this)
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rdsp2
accomplished
