K. Scott Forman
There is never enough time, or so it seems. Fear Knocks started as a simple project that I envisioned becoming something rather grandiose. Over the last two years, I have come to the realization that success is dependent on two things (three actually). First, there must be writers, second an audience, and third, though I hate to mention it, some form of payment.
Being a writer myself, it is very difficult to submit work and give permission to a publisher to use that work - one's blood, sweat, and tears in ink - with nothing in return. It is a difficult thing to do, even for unestablished, first-time writers. All writers must struggle through the years of getting published wherever they can, with usually no payment other than contributor copies, and lots of open mic nights where only the time is free (and limited to 10 or 15 minutes). Unfortunately, the current form of payment at Fear Knocks (for now) is the satisfaction that an editor is going to look at and comment on your work - for free - and you may end up getting published - for free. Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, Dan Brown, and even J.K. Rowling were once first-time, unknown writers.
Readers also want some form of payment: they want to be paid for the time they invest in reading. There is never enough time, and people have to really want to read. To make it more difficult, these readers will have to be so attracted, so captured by your work, so enthralled by the lyrical magic you create with story, plot, and language, that they will read it on a web page. Readers also are only willing to pay for good writing: they are always leery of something that is free - usually poorly written material that finds its source in some kind of religious tract, get-rich-quick scheme, pyramid marketing system, or bad poetry. Combine this with the number of "free" blogs and "free" web sites popping up all over the Internet, and the reader can easily overlook something "free!"
Fortunately, Fear Knocks is not something a reader will find under his windshield wipers in mall parking lots, or on most blog sites, or even distributed by zealots. Fear Knocks is something the reader and writer can choose to participate in. I request your participation. Also, Fear Knocks is a real .com site. Simply put, somebody - me - is paying for a legitimate, credible web site.
Change of subject. After two years and four issues of Fear Knocks, you, the regular reader, and you, you, and you, potential Fear Knocks' writers, may think that success is still light years away - the next King or McCammon or Rice hasn't been discovered yet, let alone on Fear Knocks. This may be true, but that's not to say they might not be in the next issue. It also goes without saying that I am addicted to helping and promoting new writers via the wonder of the World Wide Web. I also want to find something horrific and suspenseful to read, as well as provide the same for all of you out there in the ether, something I can get for free, and something that, I hope, will be something you can get for free and enjoy reading too.
In parting, I now find myself with more time than I've had in several years. I have finished a second graduate degree, my part-time job teaching at university is over until the fall, and my wife and kids will be on summer vacation soon. I hope to improve and increase the volume and quality of Fear Knocks in the next few months. This month is a call to come back, check out Fear Knocks, and get ready for a good June 2008 issue that will feature, in addition to some of my recent work, some writing from many up and coming new writers I've discovered over the last few months. I hope you, all of you out there in the ether, will come back and make this site flourish.
Fear Knocks - Let it in...
Scott
Readers also want some form of payment: they want to be paid for the time they invest in reading. There is never enough time, and people have to really want to read. To make it more difficult, these readers will have to be so attracted, so captured by your work, so enthralled by the lyrical magic you create with story, plot, and language, that they will read it on a web page. Readers also are only willing to pay for good writing: they are always leery of something that is free - usually poorly written material that finds its source in some kind of religious tract, get-rich-quick scheme, pyramid marketing system, or bad poetry. Combine this with the number of "free" blogs and "free" web sites popping up all over the Internet, and the reader can easily overlook something "free!"
Fortunately, Fear Knocks is not something a reader will find under his windshield wipers in mall parking lots, or on most blog sites, or even distributed by zealots. Fear Knocks is something the reader and writer can choose to participate in. I request your participation. Also, Fear Knocks is a real .com site. Simply put, somebody - me - is paying for a legitimate, credible web site.
Change of subject. After two years and four issues of Fear Knocks, you, the regular reader, and you, you, and you, potential Fear Knocks' writers, may think that success is still light years away - the next King or McCammon or Rice hasn't been discovered yet, let alone on Fear Knocks. This may be true, but that's not to say they might not be in the next issue. It also goes without saying that I am addicted to helping and promoting new writers via the wonder of the World Wide Web. I also want to find something horrific and suspenseful to read, as well as provide the same for all of you out there in the ether, something I can get for free, and something that, I hope, will be something you can get for free and enjoy reading too.
In parting, I now find myself with more time than I've had in several years. I have finished a second graduate degree, my part-time job teaching at university is over until the fall, and my wife and kids will be on summer vacation soon. I hope to improve and increase the volume and quality of Fear Knocks in the next few months. This month is a call to come back, check out Fear Knocks, and get ready for a good June 2008 issue that will feature, in addition to some of my recent work, some writing from many up and coming new writers I've discovered over the last few months. I hope you, all of you out there in the ether, will come back and make this site flourish.
Fear Knocks - Let it in...
Scott
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