horror – Page 4 – Phil Slattery, Writer, Publisher

Ad for A Tale of Hell

As I mentioned yesterday, four of my flash horror stories I have been accepted for publication in Ezine 51. The publishers have also offered to run a full-page ad in the issue for a very reasonable $10. I have submitted the ad shown. Let me know what you think of it. I will use it again as the opportunity arises.

Sirens Call required that the ad be 1100 px x 850. This did permit me to use only the painting, because the text would cover too much of it. Therefore I shrunk the painting down on Pixlr E and filled the background with black so that the painting would appear to be coming out of the darkness, which is appropriate for Hell. It’s like you are looking through the smoke and darkness to see the fight. It also allows all the other colors to appear bright.

The most important text was the book title, particularly “A Tale of Hell” since that carries the most impact and with the painting conveys in an instant the most important emotions and archetypal ideas the book conveys. So I made that the biggest text in white to stand out the most against a dark background. I was trying to give the ad a three-dimensional feel. Then of course I put the remainder of the title in white but smaller. I lined it up so that it didn’t cover the faces of the figures behind it. This also gives the title a feel of hanging out in the air as you watch the fight and the people and demon behind it. People’s vision and attention key on faces, so it’s important not to cover those.

The next most important text I put in yellow.

I put my own name in red and rather small, so that it doesn’t detract from the fight, but is still well visible yet almost blends into the background.

I used Pixlr E to make the ad and chose the fonts from there. I wanted the title to pop out like a movie title and to have a feel that it might be used on a sign in Hell so I chose a font that is more formal, something that looks like it was made by a professional. For the yellow text I chose something that would look like it might be found scrawled on a wall in Hell. Not using the same font as I did for the title makes it stand out more from the rest of the text. I chose a simple, narrow font for my name, so that it would stand out from the other text, yet it would be quite legible.

I found out just now that Siren’s Call accepted the ad. It will run in their Fall/Halloween issue.

Many heartfelt thanks to Siren’s Call for both publishing my works and my ad.

Update of August 15, 2020: You can purchase the print edition of Nocturne through Barnes and Noble.

Phil Slattery portrait — Phil Slattery
March, 2015

I apologize for not getting a Saturday Night Special up tonight. It fell through the proverbial cracks.

However, I do want to make it known that you can now get the print edition of Nocturne: Poems of Love, Distance, and the Night, a callous and disinterested lover through Barnes and Noble. They are not stocking the shelves with it, but if you ask they can order for you.

I was in Little Rock to buy a new cell phone today and thought I would drop by the nearby Barnes and Noble. I have always loved to hang out in the cafe with an iced tea or coffee and write or peruse the stacks. I went in for that purpose and while I was there I inquired about what are the most popular books (this is just for the Little Rock location on Chenal). I found out that for about two years they have had a problem staying supplied with Where the Crawdads Sing and that the most popular horror writer they sell there is Darcy Oates. I looked at some of her books. They appear interesting. I may have to get one soon.

As you probably know, I have been looking at using someone other than Amazon to publish the print editions of the my works. One factor I have to consider is each of the publishing platform’s distribution. Amazon distributes to Barnes and Noble along with many others. So, I wondered if someone could order my works through B&N.

I went to the counter and asked the lady if she could order A Tale of Hell… She said no, it didn’t appear in her search results. So I went back to perusing the shelves, studying cover design, etc. Then I thought, let me see if she can order by my last name. To my surprise, she said the print edition Nocturne was available. I almost fainted. I had published it only a few days ago. I told her I was the author and asked a few more questions of her. She said it had probably appeared because it was a new work. My other works, she said, they would have to order through Amazon and were print on demand. This was excellent news to me, because my latest edition of A Tale of Hell… should be coming out by the 17th if not sooner. It seems that Amazon has changed their distribution procedures and now print editions go out to the stores. That’s my assumption. I won’t know for certain until I do more research.

New cover of Nocturne — New Cover as of August 9, 2020

Now, I plan to issue new print editions of all my works, except for Alien Embrace and Diabolical. These are included in A Tale of Hell…. I published these separately only so that readers can sample my work in a specific genre. These smaller collections are also cheap in terms of print costs, so that I can hand out samples of my works at little cost to me.

I am thinking I will also have to rethink how I produce collections. The new print edition of A Tale of Hell… is about 300 pages and at $14,.95 is priced approximately the same as other books of that length, if not a little cheaper. But I think I am going to have to come out with a more professional cover design, if it can now be placed on shelves at places like Barnes and Noble. So, there will be another edition of it coming out soon, and I may included Click in it as a bonus story, simply because at this time I have no other similar stories of that genre to collect into one volume. I might as well use it to increase the size of A Tale of Hell… and keep the price the same to that the reader gets more for their money.

I am considering grouping Nocturne and The Scent and Other Stories together to make a bigger volume, but I am not certain how I would do that, as they are so different thematically. I may through my stories and see if there are a few more that I might include or that would not take much to finish them, so that I can include them.

Of course, I am also considering just grouping everything together in one big volume, but I am not certain how that would work because the genres are so different.

Anyway, those are some initial thoughts.

I am going to now come up with a plan to get local stores, and by “local” I mean at stores between Texarkana and Memphis. If I can do that, I might have toehold on getting even more widespread distribution.

Cover for New Print Edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror

So, I have a lot to think about.

If you have suggestions, please let me know, I welcome suggestions and recommendations.

Of course, if you are a book dealer and would like to sell my print editions, please contact me or go through whatever distribution connections you have with Amazon. And, if you sell books, I would be happy to discuss a book signing and/or reading with you.

Hasta luego. Please leave any comments, thoughts, suggestions, and recommendations below.

The New Print Edition of A Tale of Hell… Should Be Out in Less than 48 Hours and Cost $14.95.

The new print edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror should be out within 48 hours at a much reduced price of $14.95.

The current print edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror has been prohibitively expensive from the start. I recently decided to change that. Producing a new edition also gives me a chance to come out with an improved cover design. I was new at publishing with Amazon when I first published ATOH and my cover design came out as less than exciting.

One of the mistakes I made with the original print edition was that I chose the option for full color printing thinking this applied to the cover. Full color printing is always expensive, so I wasn’t surprised when the price came out at $53.99 and didn’t know any better. However, as I came to find out later, that option was for color interior pages. Amazon bases the printing cost on number of interior pages and whether the interior is in color or black and white. I found out that the cover can be color without affecting the printing cost so long as the interior pages are B/W. For example, when I published Click in print, its cover was in color, but the price was very reasonable (and still is).

I have been working on a second edition to bring down the price to something reasonable. Republishing it also gives me an opportunity to expand the distribution to brick and mortar stores by using Amazon’s expanded distribution, which I did not take advantage of initially. However, the important changes for the reader are that the price will be reduced considerably: down to $14.95 from $53.99 and finding a print edition should be easier. Note that A Tale of Hell… is about 300 pages long, so $14.95 is not unreasonable for a book of that length.

The new cover will be similar to the Kindle edition (as I just love that painting by Adolphe Bougereau) but modified slightly to conform to the limited formats available for Amazon print books. If the cover comes out hideous, I will just change it and produce a third edition.

On Friday evening, I submitted the final draft for publication within 48 hours. It can go live at any minute. Frequently, I have been pleasantly surprised when my new book came out well in advance of the predicted publication date, so I hope this will be out very soon. I will put up a link to the print edition as soon as it is out.

Photoshopped painting of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci wearing a medical face mask to prevent spreading COVID-19/Coronavirus — Prevent the spread of the Coronavirus/COVID-19.

New Print Edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror is Coming Soon

The new cover for A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror as of November 15, 2019. — The cover for A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror as of November 15, 2019.

The current print edition of A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror has been prohibitively expensive from the start. Amazon priced it at $53.99. I didn’t see my mistake until yesterday. When I published it, I chose the option for full color, which is always expensive. I am working on a second edition now to bring down the price and expand the distribution to mortar and brick stores. The cover will be similar to the Kindle edition (as I just love that painting by Adolphe Bougereau). Hopefully, I will have it out by the end of the week. I don’t have a price for it yet.

Photo of man wearing a coronavirus mask — Prevent the spread of Coronavirus/COVID-19 for the sake of yourself, your friends, and your family.

Titles Available Now in my Amazon Store

The following works are now available at my Amazon page: amazon.com/author/philslattery.

The Blonde cover fo The Scent and Other Stories — Available on Kindle and in Print

The new cover for Click as of November 15, 2019. — Available on Kindle and in Print

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note this story is included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

Available on Kindle and in Print. Note: These stories are included in A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror.

Shadows and Stars is my first, full-fledged novel. It is a science-fiction tale about a scientist who invents a portal and transports to an alien world where he becomes caught up in a revolution. I am finishing the first draft. The final draft will probably not require many changes. At approximately 135,000 words, it will be about 300 pages in 6 x9 format. This is how I visualize the cover currently.

Shadows and Stars cover 2 — Coming hopefully soon.