TOD 026 Two BizarroCon Panels: ‘The Road to Publication’ and ‘The Weird in a Post-Weird World’

In this podcast The Outer Dark presents two panels from BizarroCon 2017 (Nov 17-19, Portland, OR): ‘The Road to Publication’ featuring Ross Lockhart, Hugo Camacho Cabeza, Don Noble and Nicholas Day, Michael Kazepis, and Rose O’Keefe (moderator) and ‘The Weird in a Post-Weird World’ featuring Cody Goodfellow, Mark Jaskowski, Emma/MP Johnson, Andrew James Stone, Madeleine Swann, and Jason Rizos (moderator). The show opens with the official announcement of the second annual The Outer Dark Symposium (March 24, 2018) and also includes a BizarroCon report, News from the Weird and a review of Ecstatic Inferno by Autumn Christian with guest co-host Michael Griffin The panels were recorded live on Sunday November 19.

Announcing The Outer Dark Symposium 2018

(0:01:10) Associate Producer Anya Martin joins Scott for the official announcement of the second annual The Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird, Saturday March 24, 2018 (10 a.m.-10 p.m.) at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA. Memberships are $125 ($150 after Jan. 15) and include more than eight hours of panels and readings, author signing reception, continental breakfast, sandwich box lunch, buffet dinner (with cash bar) and a tour of the Winchester Mystery House. Ancillary activities include Friday Night Readings and a Sun. March 25 group visit to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. Guests include David Bowles, Daniel Braum, Michael Griffin, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, John Claude Smith, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, with many more TBA! For the latest info, visit The Outer Dark Facebook Event Page, including ticket purchase link and hotel group rate info.

Show Notes

(00:15:20) The Outer Dark presents the panel ‘‘The Road to Publication’ featuring Ross Lockhart (Word Horde), Hugo Camacho Cabeza (Orsiny Press), Don Noble and Nicholas Day (Rooster Republic Press), Michael Kazepis (King Shot Press), and Rose O’Keefe (Eraserhead Press) (moderator). From editing to printing, publishers discuss what it takes to get a book in front of an audience including open versus closed submissions, finding unique voices, bizarro in Spain, pro tips, reaching audiences, production and distribution, and pros and cons of print-on-demand. (01:09:20) Then Michael Griffin joins Scott to talk about the panel and attending BizarroCon 2017.

(01:15:25) The episode continues with another panel, ‘The Weird in a Post-Weird World,’ featuring Cody Goodfellow, Mark Jaskowski, Emma/MP Johnson, Andrew James Stone, Madeleine Swann, and Jason Rizos (moderator). How can authors of Weird, horror, and bizarro fiction make an impact in a world where readers are both increasingly immune to being shocked and increasingly resistant to having their core values assailed? How can writers avoid creating echo chambers and instead push these genres to new frontiers? The panelists discuss writing from ‘other’ perspectives, art as reaction to Trump and Brexit, ‘meaningful escapism’, finding the balance of offensiveness in Bizarro fiction but keeping the reader, tackling taboo topics, recognizing the beauty of the Weird, ‘the disturbing relationship we have with violence as a solution’, unfeeling existence as a fake boundary, and signs of hope and empowerment in a changing world. Thank you to Michael Griffin for recording both panels.

News from The Weird

(02:12:24)Michael Griffin rejoins Scott to further debrief the panels, revisit BizarroCon 2017, unveil the exciting Eraserhead Press 2018 line-up, and review of Ecstatic Inferno by Autumn Christian, published by John Skipp‘s Fungasm Press.