This month, I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with the fantastic Justin Park (or J. R. Park, if you read his books), founder and owner of Sinister Horror Company, a small press that publishes some of the best in indie horror.
Q. How do you balance your work/life schedule with working a "regular" job, being a writer, and also running a small press? Are there ever enough hours in the day?
A. I'm never bored, that's for sure. Time management has been something that I have worked on over the last few years. The most important thing is to recognise that there are only so many hours in a day and therefore you can only do so much. Setting yourself unrealistic targets puts unfair pressure on you, and means you are failing. I learnt this through a CBT course and it provided me with a method of splitting each day into hour blocks. At the start of the week I would write down the activities I wanted to do, then I would block them out in this grid of the week split into hours. This taught me what was manageable and what wasn't. Over time I learnt how to realistically pace myself and now only go back to planning hour by hour if I have enormous tasks and deadlines, but I do always list. A list helps to stop everything from slushing around my brain, and every time I get to cross things off, I have a small victory for the day. My focus can change depending on looming deadlines, but a bit of forward planning is invaluable.
Q. Can you detail the process of taking on a new book for Sinister Horror Company, from accepting a submission to releasing the book?
A. I will only fully accept a submission once I have read the completed manuscript. The manuscripts can come through submission calls, or from other means such as if I'm chatting with an author at a convention and they talk about an idea that interests me, or if I read about it during an interview with an author. Once I've read the work I will then decided if it's something that I want to publish. The question I usually ask is: what makes this work different from all the other horror books out there?
I then approach the author and discuss terms and conditions. Once agreed, I will make editing notes on the manuscript and return them back to the author to review. I will ask them about cover ideas. Sometimes authors have very specific ideas, others don't have any ideas, and a lot come in between the two. It's important to me to work collaboratively in creating the look of the book. Once we have an artist working on the cover, I'll create the interior of the book. The look is very important, so I'll usually add a few little fun flourishes, then return to the author for approval. Together we'll write the blurb for the back.
Whilst this is all going on, we'll discuss the release date, come to an agreement and then prep for its launch. If we decide to do any kind of launch event, then that will be discussed and agreed on too.
Q. How often do you reject books compared to how often you take them on? Is there anything (thematically, stylistically, etc.) that is an instant "no"?
A. I am super picky on what I even approach to pick up, so my rejection rate isn't too high, but any rejection is sent back with comments, and usually detailed feedback on why I didn't like it, and what I think might help the story. Instant 'no's' for me is if the story or writing is just run-of-the-mill. It needs to stand out, and it needs to grip me. Aside from that I don't have any themes that put me off. I've published everything from soul staining extreme nastiness, to haunting, lingering quiet horror that will leave you in tears.
I ask two questions: 'is it quality' and 'is it original'.
Q. Can you tell me a bit about how you decided to open your own press?
A. When I decided to start writing, I went down the self-publishing route because I didn't know if anyone would want to read it. My idea was 'if I self publish I can produce a book and put it on my shelf, that's as much as I can ask for'. I did this at the same time as two of my friends. We then wanted to get our books noticed and reviewed but found it impossible to get attention. We decided to create a brand - a label - so if one book under the label got a good review, it would only benefit the others.
And so the Sinister Horror Company was born. We didn't mean to publish anyone else but out own, however, we read an interview with Kit Power where he discussed a book he was writing. We loved the idea, and said we could help him publish it. That book was Godbomb. From then we found all these other wonderful authors and stories, and just wanted to share them. There wasn't any thought about money, or a business. We read things, we loved them, we wanted others to read them too, and make them look the best we could make them.
Q. What does the future hold for SHC?
A. Fame, fortune and speedboats...?
I honestly don't know. I do this for the love of horror - horror of all kinds - and for the love of the written word. Eventually horror literature may turn mainstream again and indie presses like mine aren't required any more, but I like to think we are also pushing the boundaries and daring to do something different. As such, I think there's always room for us.
Q. Which piece of your own work are you most proud of?
A. That is a really tough one. I like a lot of my work for a lot of reasons. If I've got to settle on one, I'd say Mad Dog. The style of narrative was a challenge (my books always are, when I start them), but this one was so specific in what I wanted to do, and I'm pleased that I managed to achieve it.
It's written in the way of a load of interviews, all spliced together, as people describe the event of a prison riot. It meant that the story telling, character and even the way of dealing with suspense and action had to be handled in very different ways than normal prose.
Q. Is there an indie book that you love that you wished you'd had the opportunity to publish through SHC?
A. Absolutely. There's a few actually.
I've published a number of Rich Hawkins' books, but I would love to have his novella Black Star, Black Sun under the label. It's a wonderful book, and would fit lovely with his others, King Carrion, and Maniac Gods, that I already published. A gorgeous book.
On a nastier front, Duncan Ralston's Woom is a very literate extreme novella. A masterpiece. I loved it when it came out, and it's nice to see it gaining a good audience after all these years.
Q. And finally, what's your favourite book that you've published through SHC?
A. The books are all my children, I can't have a favourite child. I love them all, dearly. If I didn't love them, I wouldn't have published them.
If you'd like to check out Sinister Horror Company and its other authors, you can check out the website here:
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