Author Platform: Literary Horror or...

So, when I started this writing gig many moons ago, the world was a very different place. Now being a writer entails so much more than simply writing. There's blogs, promotions of this and that sort, a dozen times a dozen Other Things to deal with, all related to the central cause of getting your name out there and getting noticed.


There's also this thing that's imperative, it seems: Building your Author Platform.

Finding that thing about your writing, that niche, that people can go to when they want there fill of that type of fiction (or non-fiction) as related to genre as related to...well, it's a quandary when you write as I do. But I've decided what I do, as has been noted in observations by my agent and other astute readers, as well as an inner acknowledgement I've known all along, is literary horror.

So...I am John Claude Smith: Literary Horror Writer.

But...that doesn't seem to say enough about what I do, at least not to yours truly. Hmmm...

Perhaps I will borrow from some of the reviewers.

One reviewer said I "transport the reader far beyond the horror genre." How can I incorporate that? John Claude Smith: Literary Horror Writer who transports the reader far beyond the horror genre. Sure, I kind of like that. It's more honest. As in, yeah, it's dark literary stuff, not all horror, but when it bites down, it hurts, baby.

Perphaps that's what I need to add. Let's see how that reads: John Claude Smith: Literary Horror Writer who transports the reader far beyond the horror genre, dark literary stuff, not all horror, but when it bites down, it hurts, baby. Hmmm...

I think we're getting there.

Another reviewer states my writing, "isn't for the sensitive or the faint-hearted. Many of the stories are edgy, working on concepts and thoughts that all us adults are familiar with, but rarely talk about. Smith isn't being quirky, or finding satisfaction in the gory, sexually perverse or the profane. No, he is writing this stuff because it unbalances the reader. Disturbs. Sometimes frightens - the essence of what quality horror/dark fantasy is all about."

I like that. Let's see how I can fit some of that in: John Claude Smith is a Literary Horror Writer who transports the reader far beyond the horror genre, dark literary stuff, not all horror, but when it bites down, it hurts, baby. It's not for the faint-hearted. Many of the stories are edgy, working on concepts and thoughts that all us adults are familiar with, but rarely talk about. His writing unbalances the reader. Disturbs. Sometimes frightens--the essence of what quality horror/dark fantasy is all about.

Almost there. It, um...almost feels write, er, right. But...

Another reviewer had this to say: "...behind the window-dressings of dark, speculative fiction we find the musings of a philosopher. The concepts of guilt, ennui, ostracism, addiction and rage are examined just as keenly by Smith and his horror as they would have been by the likes of Sartre, Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche and Kant. The reader is forced to think along with feel, a dark dialogue open straight into your psyche."

Well, something of this needs to be added, to really define what I do as a Literary Horror writer, y'know? Let me mix it all up here.

John Claude Smith is a Literary Horror Writer who transports the reader far beyond the horror genre. Dark literary stuff, not all horror, but when it bites down, it hurts, baby. It's not for the faint-hearted. Many of the stories are edgy, working on concepts and thoughts that all us adults are familiar with, but rarely talk about. His writing unbalances the reader. Disturbs. Sometimes frightens--the essence of what quality horror/dark fantasy is all about. Behind the window-dressings of dark, speculative fiction we find the musings of a philosopher. The concepts of guilt, ennui, ostracism, addiction and rage are examined with a fine-tooth precision akin to Sartre, Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche and Kant. The reader is forced to think along with feel, a dark dialogue open straight into your psyche.

I forgot to add another fave, "not your average horror." And what of an observation in a private message on FB today: "You write "sitting on the patio with a glass of wine" stuff. Non-rushing, thinking, rethinking, mind exercising work."  (But it's horror, remember; or at least pitch black.)

Let's see, how can I...

Ahem.

John Claude Smith is a Literary Horror Writer who transports the reader far beyond the horror genre. Dark literary stuff, not your average horror, but when it bites down, it hurts, baby. It's not for the faint-hearted. Many of the stories are edgy, working on concepts and thoughts that all us adults are familiar with, but rarely talk about. His writing unbalances the reader. Disturbs. Sometimes frightens--the essence of what quality horror/dark fantasy is all about. Behind the window-dressings of dark, speculative fiction we find the musings of a philosopher. The concepts of guilt, ennui, ostracism, addiction and rage are examined with the fine-tooth precision akin to Sartre, Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche and Kant. The reader is forced to think along with feel, a dark dialogue open straight into your psyche. Sitting on the patio with a glass of wine, non-rushing, rethinking, mind exercising work.

3, 2, 1...[vacuum sucking sound as John Claude's head implodes]

[deep breaths, the head re-inflates like a tattered balloon]

I think...I think we'll tone it all down to:

John Claude Smith is a Literary Horror Writer. With a twist. Of acid. On your brain. And...

And!

Can't I just say I'm a writer of dark stuff for dark minds?

There! That works!

John Claude Smith writes Dark Stuff for Dark Minds.

Or perhaps...

:-P

It's a never ending quest, my friends.

;-)

That's right! Kick back with your bunny slippers and your pipe filled with something besides tobacco, have a sip o' the good poison, and like this devil, enjoy my collection, The Dark is Light Enough for Me. Literary Horror: Dark Stuff for Dark Minds. Dig it!

With a twist...

[Shhhh, John!]