Steven E. Wedel

Dark, soulful tales that haunt long after the last page.

Success!


Well, I’m about to wrap it up for the day. I rewrote two chapters of The Prometheus Syndrome and made the last edits to my 2005 Free Sampler chapbook. Answered some of that long overdue e-mail. Listened to some good music. Looked at cruise information online … the wife and I plan to take a west Carribbean cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary this summer.

I talked to her on the phone today. She found my dues renewal notice for the Horror Writers Association and asked if she needed to send them a check. “Not yet,” I told her. For the life of me I can’t think of a reason to rejoin. Joe Nassise, the current president, has done some good things for members, like getting HWA in the Chapter-a-Day program, but that doesn’t benefit small press authors. Not many libraries are interested in small press books, so the new library database doesn’t do me much good. The Stokers don’t do much for me anymore. Sure, I’d like to win one, but the process is so cliquish and I’m still a bit pissed over the flap that erupted when I let people know Scrybe Press was willing to give away copies of Murdered by Human Wolves. The newsletter is online and I think I’ve only looked at it once since the decision was made to quit sending print copies, and I mostly refuse to go to the message board because it’s so full of intolerance toward everything from religion to politics to “alternate” career steps for writers, let’s say.

The only thing I can think of that I’d get for my $65 is the right to bitch about the organization.

Steven E. Wedel

4 responses to “Success!”

  1. jmlight Avatar
    jmlight

    Don’t blame you, man. I don’t miss the HWA. Much. Sure, I miss it a little, but not $65 bucks worth.
    Although, now that Lisa Morton is a board member things are sure to look up!
    I can’t believe someone called you out over Scrybe offering free copies to potentially gain Stoker nods. To suggest that’s anything more or less than routine is wrong. At least when I was a member, that seemed to be common practice. Maybe things have changed.

    Reply
    1. sewedel Avatar
      sewedel

      I’d love to hear how Lisa is dealing with a certain trustee who has run off another former trustee and an elected official. Seems those people didn’t like to be called obscene names. You know of whom I speak. The thought that he holds office really, really makes me want to distance myself from the org. If he ever became president I’d never admit to ever belonging to HWA.
      Things haven’t changed that much. There are guidelines for promoting work for the Stokers, but they apply to the HWA message board and publications. The flap came when I posted at Shocklines … and the flap was mostly posted at Message Board of the Damned.
      I know … I spend too damn much time on the boards. I should spend it writing.

      Reply
  2. eugie Avatar
    eugie

    I obviously missed the hooplah (not a member of the HWA, nor do I see a point in joining) about Murdered by Human Wolves. What was the problem? If someone offered me a free chapbook, I’d glomp on the opportunity.

    Reply
    1. sewedel Avatar
      sewedel

      It was seen as “trolling for votes.” For some, that is taboo. You’re supposed to want the Stoker, but not say you want it and certainly don’t do anything to alert potential voters that you have a work that is eligible. If the work is worthy, everyone will already know about it because HWA members apparently read everything published in the genre the moment it’s published.
      “Why not let the work speak for itself?” someone asked me. Because you can’t hear it if you don’t know about it.
      Also, for the ease of those able to make recommendations, I noted that MbHW had a Stoker recommendation (so members could make a rec without having the book in front of them; all the info was already recorded). That was taken as bragging that my book had earned a recommendation, which is a couple steps below getting an Amazon.com review from a friend, I guess.
      I also thought people would be happy to get a free book. Not just a PDF like some publishers offer only to HWA members with “active” status. Nathan (Scrybe’s owner/publisher for those who don’t know) offered a free print copy to any HWA member, regardless of status in the organization. What’s really funny is that the same members who lambasted me often deride small presses for not putting up any money to support their books, and yet here was a publisher willing to give away potentially hundreds of books to promote an author and they still were on the attack.
      Well, don’t I sound bitter? hehe

      Reply

Leave a reply to sewedel Cancel reply