Member Frequently Asked Questions
About the Horror Writers Association
A professional writer is defined as someone who is paid for his or her work. Not all professional writers earn enough for writing to be their primary source of income, but all professionals are paid for the work they do. The HWA, an organization of paid professionals, exists to assist interested and talented people in becoming professional writers, and to safeguard the rights of those writers.
There’s no big secret to becoming a professional writer. Step one is to write some stories or novels. Step two is to submit them to paying publishers who sell similar material to the general public. Repeat as needed.
This may sound fairly basic, and it is, but you might be surprised to find out how few people actually understand how important writing and submitting are to the process of becoming a professional writer. A lot of people think about writing, talk about it, pay therapists to listen to their fears about it, and pretend to do it by writing about writing on the Internet. Fewer start genuine writing projects like a novel or story; fewer still actually finish what they start. Of those who do finish, many are paralyzed by fear or low self-confidence and never submit any of their work. Others may just stick the material up on a Web site and pray someone notices it. Some people submit once, then give up after being rejected. Continually writing and submitting your work is crucial to becoming a professional writer.
To become a professional, you need to embrace a central fact of the writing life: your work will be rejected. Frequently. This does not necessarily mean you are a bad writer, any more than falling off a bicycle at age six means that you’re a bad bicyclist. It means you need to keep working at your craft, your understanding of the marketplace, and your knowledge of the state of horror (and other) fiction until you get the hang of it. Some of your stories and novels may never sell. Some may sell to the first editor you send them to. You won’t find out until you try.
The HWA is a good place to network and meet other writers, publishers, and agents. The organization has even edited its own member-only anthologies. However, the secret to getting publishing is to write good, marketable fiction. Being an HWA member will not automatically make your stories better or more likely to be published. You will, however, receive information about new markets early and hear the inside scoop about projects, editors, and publishers. You can also get some help with your writing through the Mentor program or by finding other writers willing to read and critique your work. But there is no short cut around the hard work and perseverance involved in honing your craft and becoming the best writer you can be.
You can read the complete Bram Stoker Awards rules on the HWA Web site at https://horror.org/members-only/2017/05/29/stokers/. But for a concise overview of frequently asked Stoker questions, click here.
Lots of people think so. One good thing about the HWA is that you not only accrue benefits from being a member, but you can actually improve the organization itself by volunteering time, energy, and new ideas. This FAQ, for example, is one of those new ideas put together by volunteers. The mature stance toward joining a professional association isn’t just “What’s in it for me?” but also “What can we do together to make things better for all of us?” What you put into this or any organization will improve what you get out of it.
For the most part, it is no longer possible to make a living from selling short stories. The sad truth is that the form is enjoyed by a very small audience. Even the leading short story magazines have smaller circulation than just about every other magazine you might find on the newsstands. Advertising and sales revenues just don’t support larger pay rates. Of course, many magazines and anthologies still manage to pay at least five cents a word, with some paying even more.
Even if you can’t make a living from selling short stories, you can pay some bills, eat a few expensive meals out, buy plane tickets, etc. Selling a few stories a year for $400 each is a worthwhile endeavor, both for your career and your pocketbook.
Trading Stoker recommendations with anyone, friends or otherwise, is strongly frowned upon by the HWA. You should recommend a work for one reason only — because you read it, enjoyed it, and think it worthy of the award. Reducing recommendations to favors diminishes the award and, by association, the HWA as a whole.
No, it does not. The only people who get to call themselves Bram Stoker Award-nominated authors are the 4 or 5 writers included in each category on the Final Ballot every year. Works that are recommended or make it to the Preliminary Ballot are not considered nominated.
In addition to the points noted above, you may find the online version of the HWA Handbook helpful.
About Short Stories
If your only goal as a writer is to see your name in print somewhere, sending your story to a non-paying market will probably make that happen. But since non-paying markets tend to publish almost everything sent to them regardless of quality, publication in such venues is no feather in your cap. The Horror Writers Association is an organization of serious writers — individuals who have or hope to develop professional writing careers. Since it is not possible to be a professional writer without getting paid, this goal is not compatible with merely seeing one’s name in print at any cost. Every time you give your work away, you make it harder for all writers to earn a living doing what they love.
So the answer is no, as a general rule you should not submit your work to non-paying markets (or to markets that pay “royalties only,” no advance; “royalties-only” almost always boils down to “no payment”). With very few exceptions, serious Horror Writers Association members are interested in writing not only for publication, but for money, too. Your time and talent have value in the marketplace, just as a carpenter’s time and talent or a C.E.O’s time and talent have monetary value. Publishers use your time and talent to sell their product, or to attract people to their web sites. In other words, whether they pay you or not, they profit from your work. Publishers could not exist without us, the writers who produce their content, so it’s only fair to expect payment in return for this vital service.
There are a large number of paying markets. These range from “semi-pro” publications paying as little as 1/4¢ per word to a few paying 25¢ or more per word. The HWA categorizes magazines and webzines that pay 90% of their contributors at least five¢ per word, and book publishers who offer advances of at least $2000, as “professional level” markets.
There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Charity anthologies, for instance, are non-paying markets to which even the most well-regarded professionals occasionally donate work, in return for the publisher’s promise to turn over all profits to a specific charitable cause. But these exceptions are rare, and deservedly so.
Yes, but most things worth doing are fairly difficult. Being a writer is all about hard work and perseverance. If you’re willing to put in the time to hone your craft, it always pays off in the end.
Keep in mind that editors usually buy stories, not bylines. Even very successful and famous authors still get rejection letters, and new authors can sell stories to the leading magazines. The way to make a name for yourself is to write the best stories you can and submit them to the most prestigious and best-paying magazines. Keep in mind that having placed eighty stories in non-paying markets nobody has ever heard of doesn’t mean much to an editor.
There sure is. In fact, we keep a list of horror markets right here on the HWA Web site. Another well respected and exhaustive genre market listing site is Ralan.com (http://www.ralan.com).
Anthologies may pay a flat rate per word, a flat rate plus royalties based on sales of the book, or just royalties. Royalties-only anthologies tend to be published by small presses who cannot afford to pay up front. Unfortunately, most royalties-only anthologies don’t sell well enough to pay out royalties at all. Occasionally, such an anthology does sell enough to generate royalties, but those royalties are almost always quite small. A fraction of the cover price divided among 15-30 people does not amount to much money. There have been a few success stories among royalties-only anthologies. But generally, it is best to go into a royalties-only anthology knowing that you are unlikely to see income from it.
The “top down” strategy discussed above in Section 13 should guide authors first to anthologies that pay up front and offer additional royalties. The choice between a flat rate-paying anthology and a royalties-only anthology may be less clear, but actual money up front is generally preferable to potential money somewhere down the road.
Writers should also pay attention to the anthology editor’s call for submissions. Some anthologies are produced “on spec,” meaning that the editor plans on selling the anthology to a publisher only after all the stories have been selected. If the editor can’t place the book, you won’t get paid or published even if you were accepted.
This is easily the second most asked question we get after “Shouldn’t we all just be writing for the love of our art?” (Section 17). And we assure you, it is not the conspiracy you might think it is.
Your stories might be less commercial than editors want, or not literary enough, or too extreme, or too soft. Read closely the stories published by the market that rejected you. Perhaps there is some particular quality you missed. It might also be a matter of perspective. You may not think the stories the editor bought are as good as yours, but obviously the editor thought differently. Or maybe your tastes are just substantially different from the core of the genre. It happens. Luckily, horror is a versatile genre defined by its effect on readers rather than by its content. Stories and novels published as fantasy or as mainstream literature have been acknowledged as horror by readers and in the Bram Stoker Awards. There is no reason to limit your submissions to the self-described horror and dark fantasy markets. Read a lot, and submit to whatever decent markets seem promising.
Finally, remember that publishing is a business like any other. Any given market needs to make money to stay afloat. Sometimes, when filling that last available slot in a magazine or anthology and given the choice between a story by a new writer and a story by a recognizable name in the field, the editors will make their decision based on first-hand knowledge of the marketplace and their own financial needs. It’s nothing personal.
About Novels
First, it is worth noting that most published first novels are in reality the second, third, or even fourth the author has actually written. So if your first doesn’t find a home, don’t give up. Keep writing.
Publishers will often list word counts in their submission guidelines; it is generally easier to sell work that fits the guidelines than it is to sell work that is too long or too short. It isn’t impossible, though, so if your story demands to be a certain length, then write it that way. Unlike the rest of a publisher’s guidelines, word limits are rarely set in stone; if it is longer or shorter than what they specify but good enough to pique their interest, they may still buy it from you. If so, they will then let you know if they need any changes made to the length or not.
The best novels, whether genre or mainstream, combine deep, believable characters with a compelling plot. But mainly, a first novel should be good enough to buy. Both action-packed and character-driven first novels can sell. There is no golden rule other than quality and marketability.
Keep in mind that it is very difficult to “time the market.” The books hitting the shelves today were acquired a year or two ago. Editors may be interested in different things now. You should write the book you yourself would want to read, then go about finding a home for it.
The first step is to finish writing your novel. Very few publishers will even look at, let alone buy, a first novel based on a pitch letter or proposal, particularly if the novel is not yet finished. Nor is it worthwhile to send in a partial manuscript unless you have the rest of it ready to send immediately upon request.
Write the novel, rewrite it, edit it and polish it until it is as good as you can make it. Visit a bookstore and see who is publishing the kind of novel you’ve written, then find the publisher’s submission guidelines and follow those instructions to the letter. If you have any questions about the guidelines, don’t be afraid to contact the publishing company and ask.
The HWA market listings will often have publishers’ guidelines available. Ralan.com also has a section for book publishers, and many publishers have guidelines on their Web sites. You can also write to the publishers, or look in the annual Writer’s Market from Writer’s Digest. Your local library will probably have a copy.
There have been entire books written answering these questions. We just don’t have the space to do it here. But these two easy-to-read Web sites will give you the lowdown:
Writers Digest article on submitting poetry
http://www.eclectics.com/articles/synopsis.html
When you submit the same work to two or more publishers at the same time, it’s called “simultaneous submission.” Because of the lengthy selection process described in Section 28, most publishers don’t want to go through all that work just to find out you have already sold the manuscript to someone else.
However, you can send query letters to several different publishers simultaneously, or to agents, or to a mix of both. Queries are not considered submissions. If you get a few nibbles, follow the most promising lead and be sure to let any other interested parties know that you can’t send it to them yet because the manuscript is currently with someone else.
Most larger publishers go through more than one step before deciding to publish a book. It may be read by several editors, examined (or even vetoed) by the marketing department, and appear on the agenda at a meeting or two before you hear back. Multiply this times a few dozen potentially marketable manuscripts and you have a time-intensive operation. Sprinkle these manuscripts amidst a massive pile of hundreds or thousands of bad submissions that need to be weeded out, and you have quite a long wait ahead of you just to make it to an editor’s desk.
Smaller publishers can also take a long time to come to a decision. Small press publishers may be juggling all sorts of other jobs: editor, salesperson, book designer, shipping clerk, etc., and may even hold down an outside job to keep the publishing concern afloat. They won’t have the lengthy series of meetings, but they have plenty on their plate.
What do you do while waiting? Keep writing. You may be asked to show the publisher another novel, after all. Decisions can take time — authors frequently wait a year or more before receiving an acceptance from a publishing house — so don’t waste that valuable writing time waiting by the mailbox. After a few months (3 to 4 is generally considered the proper amount of time) feel free to send in a polite, professional business letter asking for a status report on your manuscript.
Because publishing is a business like any other, and because publishing companies want to make as much money as possible, publishing contracts are not always as author-friendly as we’d like them to be. Here are two important essays you should read to protect your best interests when signing a contract. One is written by HWA founding member Dean Koontz, the other by esteemed, professional members Mort Castle and Nancy Etchemendy.
Not only do different writers use all sorts of different techniques, the same writer may vary techniques from project to project, outlining one novel and just sitting down and writing another with no idea what happens next. Some writers find outlines very helpful, while others enjoy the process of seeing where their characters take them next. There is no specific advice this FAQ can give you except to write often and rewrite often. If you keep writing and submitting, you’ll discover which techniques match your own working style.
Yes, the HWA offers a variety of resources for emerging writers, including a mentorship program, writing workshops, scholarships, and opportunities to connect with established professionals in the You may want to, yes. Having your book published by a large, New York publishing house will increase your chances of getting widely read and getting paid a fair advance plus royalties. However, sometimes a smaller press might be a better choice for your particular novel.
Small presses tend to publish different sorts of work than the bigger houses; their books may be less commercial, or appeal to a niche market. If that’s your book and if the leading publishers aren’t already publishing similar material, you might want to try a smaller press first. Just be sure to choose one that has access to the adult book trade via Ingram or other major book distributors that get books into stores.
Small presses can’t always pay advances, but some do. Further, you might have more say in the marketing of your book, might get more personal attention from the publisher or editor, and could be a larger priority for the business generally. Having your book be a lead title for a small publisher might be better than being in a low-priority slot at a larger house.
Or you may have something that a larger publisher would be very interested in paying for. Do your homework here. No matter who you submit your novel to, make sure that publisher can actually get your book out to the public..
No. If a publisher asks for the first three chapters, send them the first three chapters. They want to see if your story has a strong start. Three random chapters from the manuscript won’t show them anything useful, because it will all be out of context. Also, you run the risk of angering the editor because you didn’t follow his or her instructions. Why would you want to anger someone you are hoping will buy your book?
A letter that is cute or clever will indeed stand out, but only as glaringly unprofessional. Play it straight; let your writing speak for itself.
There are many possibilities for authors who want feedback on their books. Fellow HWA members can read your book (and expect you to return the favor) or you can apply to get an HWA Mentor. There are online and face-to-face critique groups in many places. If you can’t find one, you could always start one.
Professional freelance editors, sometimes called “book doctors,” can be an expensive proposition. A horror novel is not likely to get an advance of more than a few thousand dollars. You could end up paying that much to your editor before a publisher even sees your work. Beware! Some book doctors are actually scam artists who charge an arm and a leg for inferior advice (and are often associated with equally dubious literary agencies, as described in Section 33). This is not meant to discourage you from seeking an editor’s help, though. There are many legitimate freelance editors out there, so be sure to ask for references and a resume, then check that information out.
There are always surprise success stories, but the truth is that getting rich off sales of your first novel, or even your fifth, is unlikely to happen. The economics of getting publishing are rarely as glamorous as they may seem to the novice. Check out this essay by leading HWA member Robert Weinberg for an insider’s view.
About Agents
It usually is, though getting an agent can also be a time-consuming process. Do the same research for agents as you would for publishers. Whom do they represent? Are they open to submissions? What do they want you to send them? Can they provide references from satisfied authors they represent?
Keep in mind that an agent cannot guarantee sales; agented submissions also get rejected. What agents can do for you is submit your manuscript to several publishers at once. Often, agents have pre-existing relationships with editors and publishers, and thus have an idea what specific houses, imprints, and editors are looking for. Many publishers these days won’t look at unagented submissions, so landing an agent means that you have a wider variety of publishers willing to look at your work. That is a very powerful benefit when trying to sell a novel.
Not all agents handle horror, or any sort of fiction. Not all agents who handle horror want to take on any more clients. Sometimes an individual agent will leave a company and strike out on his or her own, founding a new company. The marketplace is in a constant state of flux, so be sure to do your homework. Look at agency websites, research agents in the Writer’s Market, talk to HWA members about their agents, keep an eye on the acknowledgements and dedication pages of novels (agents are frequently thanked), and if you get an offer of representation, be sure to ask for and check references from authors the agent represents.
Most agents take a 15% commission on sales, plus they may charge for some other expenses like long-distance phone calls, photocopying, and shipping. They also take a commission on sales of other rights, like foreign rights, film rights, etc. An agent’s cost of doing business is usually paid for entirely by the commission from selling your book. That gives the agent an incentive to sell your book to the company that will pay the most for it.
Absolutely not. Fee-charging agents make their money from charging a fee, not from selling books. Remember, anyone can call him or herself an agent, but the service is only worthwhile if the agent has business relationships or connections with publishers. The vast majority of fee-charging agents are simply scam artists: You pay them, and, having already made their money, they don’t even bother sending out your manuscript. After all, what incentive do they have to sell it now that they have already collected your money?
The Association of Authors’ Representatives (http://www.aar-online.org/) prohibits its members from charging reading fees. Choosing to submit only to AAR members is highly recommended.
Now that many people are getting wise to the reading fee scam, dubious agents are offering other “services,” like questionable editorial services, or other very expensive fees for photocopying and postage that they demand be paid up front. This is just old wine in new bottles –- you don’t need to pay a legitimate agent out of your own pocket, plain and simple. They make all their money from selling your work to publishers.
Finally, some fee-charging agents are listing client sales on their Web sites that, when investigated, turn out to be sales to vanity presses like Xlibris, iUniverse, or 1st Books. There is no need to pay for the services of an agent to place your book with a vanity press. You can do that yourself if that’s the road you want to take (take a look at Sections 34-38 for questions and answers about vanity presses).
When looking for an agent, check to see if he or she is a member of the AAR. Find out who their clients are, what sort of work they handle, whether anyone has had undue difficulty working with them, etc. Like finding a publisher, finding an agent requires doing your homework.
In addition to the agent information above, you may find the HWA Agents List helpful.
About Subsidized Publishing
P.O.D. stands for Print on Demand. This is a printing technology that utilizes digital printing to allow for shorter print runs.
Many of the larger publishing houses use the traditional printing method called “offset printing,” involving printing presses that can generate thousands of books per run. The more books you print with offst, the cheaper it is. Print on Demand is an alternative to offset Printing that allows the publisher to print a smaller run (say, 100 books, or even less) in a more economically viable manner than offset. This is why so many small press companies use Print on Demand these days. There is no reason for your average small press to print 25,000 copies of a single title. If they were to use traditional offset printing to publish a print run of 100 or 200 units, each book would be astronomically expensive. But with Print on Demand technology, the unit costs stays much more affordable.
Unfortunately, P.O.D. has also become shorthand when referring to vanity presses like iUniverse, Xlibris and 1st Books, who use Print on Demand technology, too. This does a disservice to the small presses and standard royalty-paying publishers who make use of P.O.D. technology, and can cause some confusion.
The odds are stacked against this. A very small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of vanity books out there have been sold to standard publishers. Some subset of that group may have also managed to actually turn a profit on their initial investment in a vanity press. But of the hundreds of thousands of people who go the vanity press route, only a very few have found any sort of success. Even those authors who have eventually sold their work to standard publishers still advise new writers not to go the vanity press route; the expense is too great, the obstacles too high, and the possibility of return too low.
Xlibris, iUniverse, and all the other vanity publishers springing up since the advent of Print on Demand technology will take any book submitted to them as long as you pay them to do so. Many will indeed make your book available on Amazon.com and other online retailers, but that does not mean anyone is going to buy it, let alone read it. There are several major problems with trying to market a book published by one of these companies.
First, the books are more expensive than comparable titles published by standard royalty publishers. This makes them that much harder to sell.
Second, these books are rarely found in bookstores, because vanity publishers do not take returns. Bookstores order books and return those that do not sell to the publisher or distributor for credit. If an unsold book cannot be returned to the publisher or distributor, the odds of a bookstore ordering it — especially from a vanity press, where there is no guarantee of quality or publicity — are practically nil.
Third, book reviewers have been inundated with vanity books since Print on Demand technology was launched a few years ago. They learned very quickly that most of these books were not worth their time because, again, there is no quality control at a vanity press; anyone willing to pay can have their book published. In other words, the reviewers found the majority of vanity books too bad to waste time on. Even if your book is a cut above the rest, you still run the considerable risk of having that same stigma attached to it purely by association. You may have to fight to even get a reviewer to look at your book, let alone actually commit review space to it.
Reviews and bookstore distribution are the two major factors in book sales. If you use a vanity press, you will start with neither and have to fight very hard to get any sort of presence in the book trade at all.
Fourth, your book will not have had the benefits of standard royalty publishing. Standard publishers edit and proofread their books, improving the final product. With a vanity press, you will have none of that; those few vanity titles actually reviewed are frequently described as full of grammatical errors, typos, and nonsensical plotting and characterization. Standard publishers also design covers that are based on their understanding of the marketplace and consumer response, an understanding built upon decades of experience in the trade. With a vanity press, your cover will either be a generic template or designed by you yourself. Do you have years of experience in designing eye-catching book covers? Probably not.
Of course, some of the larger vanity presses are beginning to offer proofreading, press releases, and marketing services, all for an additional price. Rather than earning several thousand dollars by selling your work to a publisher, you can find yourself spending that same amount of money. You will wind up buying your own books to hand-sell or give to reviewers; pay extra for proofreading and cover art; spend your own money on making flyers, bookmarks, traveling to signings, taking out ads, designing your own website, etc., and all to sell a book that may not be well-edited, will be more expensive, and that most people will never be able to buy since it isn’t in the bookstores.
Finally, be wary of thinly veiled vanity presses, too. These companies usually make a big deal about how you don’t have to pay them anything to be published, but the primary market turns out to be the author him or herself, who has to buy the books in order to sell or promote them, which is exactly what these “back-end” vanity presses aim for. They make their money not from selling your book to the trade, but from selling your book to you.
People have done it, but publishers prefer manuscripts. Manuscripts are easier to pass around, to mark up with marginal comments and proofreader marks, and are more easily photocopied. Plus, your vanity book will have to deal with the stigma mentioned in Section 35 that all such books are unreadable.
The vanity press stigma grew out of pure experience, not prejudice. Tons of bad books, most of them unsuccessful attempts at commercial fiction, have flooded the offices of book reviewers, publishers, book distributors, newspapers, bookstores, trade shows, flea markets, and of course, the Internet. The vast majority of these books were discovered to be not worth the time or cost. The onus is on the writer to show that his or her book is the exception, not on the rest of the industry and the reading public to invest time and money on a million extra books, just in case a handful of them are decent.