By Alan Kelly - In the first of my interviews on publishing, I talk to small-press CEO Monica S. Kuebler about Burning Effigy Press.
Hailing from Toronto, Canada Monica S. Kuebler has worked as a writer, performance artist and spoken-word artist, appearing on stages everywhere from New York to Chicago to San Francisco and London. This hard-working polymath is the managing editor of successful horror magazine Rue Morgue, the author of four chapbooks and the CEO of her own micro press Burning Effigy Press. Burning Effigy publishes a variety of fiction which includes Lovecraftian, speculative and atmospheric horror and will be expanding into EBooks early next year.
Monica tells me about the Catch-22’s of publishing, having to juggle her projects around a full-time career, whether she would accept corporate backing and the changes she is pushing for at Rue Morgue.
You have an interesting roster of writers over at Burning Effigy Press. Can tell me a bit about some of your titles/writers?
Because I am not a fan of any single horror lit subgenre, but rather enjoy them all for their respective differences, our roster of genre writers and stories is incredibly diverse as a result. For instance, we have Richard Gavin’s Primeval Wood, which is a very atmospheric piece of Lovecraftian fiction, then there’s Ian Roger’s Felix Renn books (Temporary Monsters, The Ash Angels) which are supernatural mysteries, Lee Thomas’ The Black Sun Set, which is a occult-infused crime story, and the superhero
splatterpunk of Steve Vernon’s Nothing to Lose.
BEP’s catalogue focuses on cyberpunk, dark fiction and speculative writing. Do you read each submission or do you have help selecting what you publish?
Burning Effigy’s Fresh Blood chapbook anthology series is all about exposing short stories by new and up-and-coming horror scribes.
But as far as reading submissions is concerned, I read everything I solicit. Most of the authors on our roster are there because I requested work from them. We also receive a lot of unsolicited submissions, and while we endeavour to read everything that is sent in, sometimes we just don’t have time (even with volunteers working the slush pile.) - except, of course, in the case of the Fresh Blood books, which are all about discoveries and open calls for submissions.
What writers would you recommend someone familiarising themselves with before submitting a manuscript to BEP?
Because we publish such a broad variety of horror and dark fiction, I don’t think familiarizing oneself with certain authors is quite as valuable as being well-read in the genre in general. We’re always on the lookout for original stories and new takes on the classic monster archetypes. We’re not the least bit interested in bandwagon jumping. For instance, just because vampires are huge right now, doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve got a bunch of vampire books lined up. For us, it’s all about the individual stories, trends be damned.
You’re the author of four chapbooks, a collection of poetry, a collaboration between you and Cynthia Gould and are currently working on a YA novel and another collection of poetry. As well as these projects you are also managing editor of Rue Morgue magazine. Do you ever find the business side of publishing leaving you with little time to free yourself creatively?
Every single day of my life.
I do my best to balance things and meet deadlines, but the reality of it is that Burning Effigy is 80-85% me. Which means when real life happens - i.e. family stuff comes up or I get sick - there’s no one to fill in for me, everything just has to go on hold. People always ask why my novel isn’t done yet and that’s a fair question. The answer, sadly, is that my own creative endeavours almost always take a backseat to my day job, the press and my family. It’s back to that idea of balance again - with a little sacrifice thrown in for good measure. That said, while I certainly wish I had more time for personal writing, I am grateful for all the opportunities I’ve been afforded in my life and I love every single thing that I do. I know not many folks can say that, so if a couple of my own dreams get delayed as a result that’s far from the worst price to pay to for such an awesome career.
Who are some of your favourite writers and publishers, and why?
I’ll be completely honest here, I absolutely loathe “favourite” questions, because I never seem to get through them without writing an entire laundry list of names - never mind that my tastes are ever-evolving and what tops my list today is unlikely to top it tomorrow. I will say this, as a book collector, I have an undeniable love of small press hardcovers. The kind of books where the craftsmanship of the writing is matched by the craftsmanship of the binding. I also have a particular weakness for ongoing series - I love epic stories, the longer the better. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of YA titles, because that’s the demographic I’m personally most interested in writing fiction for.
If you found yourself in a position with BEP where you could no longer afford to be self-sufficient would you accept corporate backing?
Perhaps. It would depend on the offer and how much creative control I would maintain. It would be awesome, for instance, if someone wanted to take over the business end, while I maintained creative control as curator. But if they wanted to take the buying decisions out my hands, I would say no, since the horror line is all about getting scary stories out there that I think people should be reading. As it is currently, I don’t purchase anything for the press that I am not behind 100%. I don’t run Burning Effigy to make money, I do it because I love horror fiction.
What have you discovered are the good and bad aspects of independent small press and magazine publishing?
Having to do everything on very frugal budgets (that’s the trade-off for complete creative control, of course) and, in the case of the press, in the hours when I’m not at the day job (an extra expenditure of time that absolutely takes a toll on one’s social life). But I’m not sure I’d trade more time and financial security for less control, that sounds a little too much like a deal with the Devil.
Do you plan on making any changes to Rue Morgue?
I’ve been at the magazine full-time for seven years now, during that time I have pushed for several major changes, including monthly book features, a proper book column (for editorializing and coverage of horror lit stuff that doesn’t really fit elsewhere in the mag) and a larger video games review section. So, to be honest, I’m all out of desired changes for the time being. That said, lately I’ve been working hard at solidifying Rue Morgue’s presence online and generating more day-to-day content for our website and our various social media pages.
Can you tell me how you first became involved with the magazine?
I discovered Rue Morgue when an ex of mine started taking me to the monthly Cinemacabre movie nights back in 2001. That Halloween I volunteered to be a go go ghoul for the RM’s annual Halloween party and that’s how I first met Rodrigo [Rue Morgue's creator]. He asked me what I did and I said, "Many things, among them writing..." It just so happened that he had a column in the mag that needed a writer, so he gave me a shot. I started reviewing softcore horror smut, and eventually branched out into book and movie reviews. Then when Mary-Beth, the magazine’s former Associate Editor, went on maternity leave, a full-time position opened up and I threw my hat into the ring. I got hired, starting as assistant editor/webmistress (which also involved a lot of office management-type duties at the time) and eventually worked my way up to Managing Editor.
What else have you got lined up?
The next twelve months will see Burning Effigy release horror novellas from Nate Southard and Michael Louis Calviillo, another Fresh Blood anthology and a collection of dark poetry from Maria Alexander. We’ll also be expanding into eBooks this winter.
Visit Burning Effigy at www.burningeffigy.com for info on new releases, and visit Monica's blog at http://strange.livejournal.com/
