My First Book: The Macabre Masterpiece

My First Book: The Macabre Masterpiece

Back in 2010, I decided that I wanted to write a book. Since I started writing poetry in high school, I figured that would be a great place to start. I sat down at my kitchen table and went over the horror poems I had already written, then wrote more until I had a solid 50. Then came the planning of 5 chapters, 10 poems per chapter, and which poems would go where. After the organization, it needed a title. After at least ten minutes trying to come up with a title, I finally settled on The Macabre Masterpiece: Poems of Horror and Gore. It was to the point and tells you exactly what it's about. I was excited. I had put my heart and soul into this, and it was surreal to think that I would become a published author. However, knowing next to nothing about the book publishing industry, I did a quick Google search and came across a vanity press. After I decided to go with them, what happened next would send my excited dream come true into an ongoing nightmare. I want to focus on the book, so I'm going to skip ahead, but feel free to click on the link to read about my publishing journey with the book.

In 2014, finally free, I wanted to give the book new life, so I ended up going with Createspace, which at the time was Amazon's book publishing service. I gave the book a new cover, touched up all the errors, and re-published it with a new lease on life. The cold, hard facts were simple; from the years it was published under the vanity press, 2010-2014, I saw no royalties. This was devastating, but not because the book was bad, but because the company was a scam. While I'll never know how popular the book could have been in those first few years, it has more than made up for it since. It's my most sold book, has several accolades, and continues to generate sales to this day. It has spawned two sequels, Repressed Carnage and Vile Humanity, and I plan on coming out with three more books for it in the future: Twisted Distortion, Project Bloodfest, and Crimson Dread. I am so proud of having written The Macabre Masterpiece, and I want to continue to bring new readers to it and the series. Edgar Allan Poe was a big inspiration for much of the book, and I always considered it to be a homage to him and my way of saying thank you for creating your own dark writing that inspired a young man to want to write his very own book of dark horror poetry.

Want to sign up for my newsletter? You'll receive Bloodprints free!