Interview With Nick Kaufmann Page 3
Q. When did you start getting your stuff published and making a living at it? What were the first steps?
A. I think it was right after college that I started looking into getting my stories published seriously. The problem was that I was not writing them seriously. It would take me a couple weeks or so to write a story because I was still working at the time as publicity manager of a small press called The Overlook Press, which is distributed by Viking Penguin. I had only a few nights a week where I could actually do the writing.
So, what I would do is write the story and be done with it, and if I was lucky I'd look it over for spelling mistakes before printing it up and sending it off. I wouldn't revise it. I wouldn't edit it. I would barely read it again. I'd just type, "The End,"put it in envelope, and then send it out. And, of course, it would get rejected because I didn't put any work into it. I'd just put words on the page. I had done the craft, I hadn't added the art.
In 2000, I decided to make a commitment, an actual commitment to writing. I said I can't have any safety nets or it's not going to happen. I was 31 years old, it's now or never. So, I said, "Okay, I'm going to get serious. Quit my day job, I'm just gonna write, and let's see what happen." I sold my first story two months later.
Q. Going back to not doing the craft of writing, was it arrogance?
A. No. It was not confidence or arrogance. It was purely just not understanding how to write and how to publish. It was just purely a misunderstanding. I thought,"The story's done because I wrote, 'The End,' now it's time to send it off and maybe it will get published." My father gave me a leather, magnetic-clasp envelope and I said, "You know what, I'm going to use this to store my rejection letters." My brother said, "It's not big enough."
Q. How do you deal with comments like that?
A. Here's the thing, he was right. I have hundreds of rejection letters, most of which I keep, even if they're form letters. Sometimes they're personalized. Then you can learn from them. Sometimes I use them as a record of where a story has been sent. There's also a feeling of accomplishment with a rejection letter just knowing that, (unlike) more than ninety percent of other people who are writers, you actually sent your work out to be published.
Q. Is it an easy or hard genre to get published in?
A. It's a very difficult genre to get published in. At least published well in and there is a difference. There are a lot of freebie webzines out there that will take horror stories and they're just crap.
Q. Does that hurt the genre?
A. I'm not sure it hurts the genre but it hurts the writers involved. You can really damage your career by being published poorly. It is a difficult genre to get published well in though because there are so few good-paying markets for horror unless you can slip it in to the mainstream.
Q. What about dealing with rejection. Should you reply to a rejection?
A. It's very amateurish. Nobody should write back to an editor and say, "I want another opinion." If you want another opinion, send it to another editor at another magazine. A lot of budding writers don't understand that it is not personal. You should feel honored if someone takes the time to actually do a personal rejection.
Q. Did you use a writer's guide to find out where to send your stories?
A. I got the Writer's Market that Writer's Digest puts out, and I would just look up horror or science fiction or whatever the story was and I would just send it to whoever. Work through the A's, then the B's, and then the C's. I had no idea what I was doing.
Q. How often? Once a week?
A. Oh no. Maybe two or three a year, maximum. I wasn't taking it seriously. Writing was a hobby; I was a hobby writer. I wasn't taking it seriously. Now that I'm taking it seriously, I look back at that time, and I understand it's a phase every writer has to go through. But it's embarrassing, too, because right now I can't stand hobby writers.
Q. Why?
A. Because through the Internet and through the ease in which people can get published on the Internet...
Q. Do you mean blogs?
A. Not just blogs but also freebie webzines that will take any story you give them. The places on the Internet that you pay to have your book published. People get this sort of arrogance and don't realize that they still have a lot to learn. And just because they paid someone $800 to print and bind their book doesn't mean they're published and doesn't mean that they know what they're talking about. This is a total sidetrack, but I think Internet culture is probably one of the worst things that's ever happened to writers. It's a great way for people to research and do quick information scoops, or to meet other writers, but it's created so many shortcuts that all these new writers are screwing themselves over.
Q. When did you learn about revising your stories and putting the art into writing?
A. When I rewrote my first novel. The first time I rewrote my first novel, I realized, "Oh my god, this sentence is ridiculous. I should have added this here because that makes more sense. I wanna expand on this now. Oh, here's a joke that fits in to lighten the mood..." And I realized, the first draft is like a naked Christmas tree. Each revision, each draft you work on after that is like hanging ornaments on the tree until finally you have the perfect Christmas tree. So, I think it was when I rewrote that first novel I realized there's more to being a writer than just putting words on the page and typing, "The End."
Q. Do you recommend writers always show their work to other people before sending it out?
A. I think you should always have someone who is a first reader and is hopefully someone who knows what they're talking about with writing and reading. Somebody who is a writer or does a lot of reading or just someone you know who has good taste. I have a first reader, somebody whose writing I like, who writes in the same genre. I read his stuff, he reads my stuff. It's a mutually beneficial relationship, which I definitely recommend.
Q. What do you do about writers block?
A. I surf the web aimlessly until my wrist hurts from moving the mouse. Or I'll watch t.v. or rent a movie or read something.
Q. Do you try to write everyday?
A. I try to write everyday but I don't write everyday.
Q. And when you are on a roll with the writing?
A. That's like magic. That's being in the zone.
Q. Any other advice on the business side of writing?
A. Just do your homework. As with any business, it has a lot to do with learning the craft, putting in the time and effort to get the skills you need to be good enough, and doing the homework; researching who's looking for what kind of stories, where you can send your work, agents, all that stuff.
Q. Do you agree there are so many more options out there than a writer is actually aware of?
A. Yes, there's a lot out there. And you shouldn't feel that you have to be boxed in to a certain genre or a certain type of market. There's no reason that you have to limit yourself to the small press or places that don't pay you very well. There are alternative markets for every genre and many of them are more mainstream than you think.
Q. Advice you would give an aspiring writer?
A. No shortcuts. You gotta put in the time and effort to learn the craft. Read a lot. Absorb out of what you read the things you like.
Q. So, do you think we debunked the myth of horror fiction a little?
A. I think it's going to take a lot more pieces like this to fully debunk the myth that horror is just trash.
Q. More than just stories of vampires for people who think they're vampires?
A. Right. Exactly.
Q. What is up with that?
A. I don't know. Why would anyone want to be a vampire? It obviously doesn't make you more attractive.
LINKS:
home room | morning announcements | home ec. | geography | english | chemistry | detention | student store | faculty lounge
Submissions | Letters from the Editors
There's More To Love!
Read all of annabelle's past issues online!
Read the current issue now!
Don't miss an issue of annabelle!: subscribe© 2005, annabelle magazine
