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Interview with Publisher Jacob Kier of Permuted PressBy D.L. Snell Jacob Kier is founder of the horror publishing company Permuted Press, which publishes the zombie anthology The Undead. So, Jacob, give us a little bit of your background and tell us how you got started in the publishing industry. I got into publishing because I realized it was the intersection of two things I love: books and computers. I stumbled upon the process of printing books on demand and began devouring everything I could find about it. It fascinated me that anyone could, using computer technology, write, layout, design, and print a book from start to finish. So I said to myself, "Hey, I can do that, it sounds like fun!" I was right about it being fun, but the process was a little more complicated and required a lot more work than I had expected! Who are some of your favorite authors and what about their writing do you enjoy? That's a hard question.... While there are a few authors who I follow seriously, I often tend to follow genres more than particular writers. I love anything with a survival bent: zombie tales, apocalyptic horror/sci-fi, adventure, etc. I used to follow Stephen King, but his recent works have lost my taste. Now I'll pick up anything by Brian Keene, the Leisure editions of Richard Laymon's work, and Bentley Little. In non-horror fiction, I like Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, James Rollins, and Mathew Reilly. Generally, I gravitate toward well-written, hardcore, fast-paced, action-packed fiction. When reading submissions to Permuted Press, what kind of writing do you look for? What kind of writing displeases you? Anything that fits what I described in the last question. Being the owner of a small publisher has its advantages: I don't have to follow market trends or worry about what is popular. I can select books or stories to publish purely because I enjoy them. But, on a lower level, the fastest thing that will get you turned away is poor writing, spelling errors, grammar mistakes, etc. Describe some of Permuted's newest releases. We've released two titles thus far, not including the upcoming zombie anthology The Undead. Our first book was a mix of horror and science fiction stories by Eric S. Brown and D. Richard Pearce entitled Madmen's Dreams. Great, visceral, fun stuff! Our second release was an apocalyptic novella by Eric Shapiro called It's Only Temporary. If you can imagine Chuck Palahniuk teaming up with Jack Ketchum to write an end-of-the-world tale then you're on the right track. Your latest anthology, The Undead, focuses on zombies. What sets the anthology apart from other zombie fiction? One problem with the zombie genre is that the whole survival aspect has been done into the ground. People trapped in a building. People trying to get across the country. While it's fun to revisit those tales from different angles, we tried to find stories that were unique for The Undead. We looked for tales that were not only well written but packed some kind of punch, twist, or brought something new to the zombie genre. Toward that end, we threw the "rules" about zombies out the window and allowed the writers to take any direction they wanted. And because of that approach, I think we have come up with, if I may say so humbly, the best dang zombie anthology that has been put together in a long time. Writers have spawned many zombie breeds, from dumb and slow to smart and fast. What breeds of zombie can we expect from The Undead? We tried to keep no pre-conceived ideas about what zombies should be like when we selected stories for The Undead. So, while you'll find the traditional "Romero-style" stupid shamblers in The Undead, you'll also find a slew of surprises as well. Tell us a bit about the contributors to The Undead. Any up-and-comers or hardcore veterans? We were very fortunate to attract a lot of talented people to this project. From the hardcore veterans of the zombie genre, we've got Andre Duza (Dead Bitch Army), Vince Churchill (The Dead Shall Inherit the Earth), David Moody (Autumn), and an afterword by the zombie grandmaster Brian Keene. Up-and-comers in the genre include David Wellington (who's online Monster series is hugely popular) and Eric S. Brown (who's first zombie novel Cobble is coming out this year). Of course, zombie genre aside, in the general field of fiction I think it's safe to say that ALL of our contributors have bright futures ahead of them. After The Undead, what projects do you have in queue? Nothing specific at the moment. Should The Undead be well received most likely we'll do a follow-up. In general, what can we expect from Permuted Press in the future? More quality entertainment! Any final words? Thank you! D.L. Snell has written horror stories for anthologies such as Cold Flesh and Chimeraworld #3. For more information, such as free articles and free ad space for your own work, visit Snell's website, Exit66.net. |
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