by Natalie R Collins
After giving up on his dream of being a rock star, Scott Nicholson sat down and became what he always knew he would be: a writer. He wrote poetry, a collection of short stories, and a novel, The Red Church, a supernatural thiller. When his manuscript got lukewarm responses from agents, he decided to try submitting directly to publishers instead, and Kensington is now set to publish this book in June 2002.
"The second place [publisher] kept it for about nine months and the editorial assistant liked it but not enough. He did give some rewrite suggestions that made sense. Kensington Books kept the book for several months before calling with an offer. The novel was finished in 1999 and has a June 2002 release, proof that writing is not a game for the impatient. Of course, not many publishers are even looking at slush pile submissions anymore, so I guess it was a matter of timing and luck. But you don't get to the right place at the right time if you don't hold up your end of the equation."
Nicholson wrote stories and made comic books as a child, and he won some money in a patriotic essay contest in the fifth grade. He said he celebrated by buying some candy. "I tried to impress girls in junior high with the comic strips I would pass around the class. So there's also been a bit of a reward system in place, though it's mostly an ego stroke instead of actual gain."
He graduated from comic books and essays to a lot of "bad poetry" in his teens, and he took a few writing classes during his first stint at college.
"I was always the worst in the class," Nicholson said. "Everybody else was so serious, with illusions of being the next Hemingway, while I was writing wacky end-of-the-world stories. I dropped out of school to pursue a music career and spent the next ten years writing songs. My rock star dreams faded and I went back and earned my college degree, at which time I took a few more writing classes. Somewhere in the back of my mind I always knew I'd be a writer, and decided it was time to get serious."
Since he made that decision, he has worked steadily toward his goal of becoming a full-time fiction writer, selling stories to magazines and anthologies. He released the story collection Thank You for the Flowers through a small regional press in 2000. It got excellent reviews and "did about what I expected in sales. It was mostly a publicity tool, getting my name out a little bit. If I end up having a real career, I guess people will look back at those stories as some of my best early work."
This collection is now being released by Fictionwise in various e-book formats, which Nicholson hopes will reach a whole new audience. In a marketing effort, he is also working in conjunction with two other Kensington authors, and has released a free e-book New Voices From Kensington, which contains a chapter excerpt, original short story, and writing article.
Nicholson has an agent with a big firm, and it was important to him to have an agency with a foot already in the Hollywood door, since he also writes screenplays.
An agent was reading another manuscript he had written when The Red Church sold, and agreed to represent him. "So far it's worked out well, though we're still waiting on that follow-up sale," he said.
Despite his own success in selling from the slush pile, Nicholson said that he believed a writer should always try to get an agent before querying or submitting to publishers. "Most publishers are not even looking at unsolicited novels, and they come through the mail with two strikes against them even if the publisher allegedly 'reads' them. Another reason is that an agent allows you to be a bit dispassionate about the commercial end, freeing up your mind and time so you can focus on writing. While it's important to be up-to-date on contract terms and the publishing scene, a writer should be worrying about the words. Having an agent allows a buffer zone between writer and publisher, and also puts one more person in your corner."
Nicholson is currently working on a psychological thriller, and is revising his last completed novel. He also has a screenplay outline he is ready to start. He said he'd like to get "about half a dozen screenplays floating around, as they tend to be different sorts of challenges, both artistically and in the marketing. I usually have a couple of novel ideas simmering at a time, recognizing that eventually I'll have to roll up my sleeves and tackle them. I may do a few short stories as time, interest, and potential markets allow."
Nicholson said he gets his novel ideas from different sources, and "mostly by living." He currently resides in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, and The Red Church is set there.
"I like to watch people. I especially love the Southern Appalachian region and some of the issues we have here, such as balancing tremendous growth with protecting the environment, the old versus the new, farm tradition giving way to development pressures. I love turning the stereotypes around, because, to me, the hillbillies are the heroes and the city folk are not to be fully trusted."
When asked if he scared himself, Nicholson said "On very rare occasions. Though The Red Church is marketed as a horror novel, scaring the reader is my least significant motive. I'm more interested in the themes, such as the search for faith. Even when I have supernatural elements in my work, I'm mostly using them to explore the nature of existence, what it means to be alive or dead, how our choices change the path of our lives. Personally, I don't get scared from reading books, though movies sometimes deliver a healthy dose of the creeps. Then again, I know people who won't even look at the cover of a Stephen King book because it will give them nightmares."
Nicholson offers this advice to new writers. "Keep writing, and let it be personal, you versus the story. Don't worry about the opinions of friends, parents, or writing groups, and don't set a bar for success. Tell the story as simply and honestly as you can, because the story is far more important than its author. After you're done, then you have to think about finding the story a place in the world, whether giving it to a non-paying magazine or selling it to a major publisher. If you have told the story correctly, the last bit falls into place. Then repeat as necessary for the remainder of your life."
As for the difficulties in getting published, Nicholson believes that as long as a writer does his work with "clear and honest heart," success can be found. "I often hear writers decrying about the unfairness of the system. Well, every writer who made it did so by beating the system, and once you beat it, the system protects you. Established authors get by with occasional failures. The whole goal is to be one of those who breaks through, no matter the means. I believe if you do your work with a clear and honest heart, then you will find the barrier is really insignificant and secondary."
© Copyright 2002 Natalie R Collins
Visit
Nicholson's Web site at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com
To download his free e-book, go to http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/ebook.htm
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