Shakespeare Unleashed Nominated for Bram Stoker and Rondo Hatton Awards!
9 months ago – Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 01:03:00 PM

I have some amazing news. Last week, Shakespeare Unleashed was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award! This is my second Stoker nomination. Last year, I won for the Kolchak graphic novel. 

I'm so happy to see these books getting recognition. You all know how hard we work on them and how amazing they are. And they wouldn't exist if not for you backers who brought this book to life! Thank you all!

But wait—there's more...

And then today Shakespeare Unleashed and Monstrous #1 were both nominated for Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, both in the categories I won last year!

With the Rondos, the fans get to vote for the winner Here are instructions on how to do that. 

HOW TO VOTE: Voting is by email only. Simply copy the ballot found at https://rondoaward.com/rondoaward.com/blog/ into an email (cut-and-paste works fine), and mark your choices with an X, or use bold or a highlight color.

OR:
You can also just type your picks into an email.

Send the email to David Colton, at [email protected] not later than Tuesday night at midnight, April 16, 2024.

One vote per person, please. Every email must include your name to be counted. All votes are kept strictly confidential. No emails nor personal information will ever be shared with anyone.  

PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT have to vote in every category. Vote for one, all, or a few.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

Category #12:
BEST CLASSIC MONSTER FICTION
SHAKESPEARE UNLEASHED, edited by James Aquilone

Category #22:
BEST GRAPHIC ARTS PRESENTATION
MONSTROUS MAGAZINE (Monstrous Books)

I also have a Kickstarter campaign that has just a few days left. If you haven't, please check it out. You can pre-order the second issue of Monstrous as well as a new comic book series I'm writing. Check out the artwork below. And who knows you might help us win some awards next year!

THE OMEGA ELEVEN #1 and MONSTROUS #2

Page 1 of "Rise of the Morlocks," written by James Aquilone with art by J.K. Woodward and lettering by Tom Napolitano.

Check out The Omega Eleven and Monstrous 2 Kickstarter now!

My Next Kickstarter Is a Secret...
10 months ago – Wed, Jan 17, 2024 at 12:54:00 PM

2023 was an amazing year! I won a Bram Stoker Award, two Rondo Hatton Awards, and a Scribe Award; managed the Kickstarter campaigns for Deathgasm 2 and Dracula: The Impaler, which raised a combined $600K; released Shakespeare Unleashed and a bunch more stuff I won't bore you with. 

2024 is shaping up to be an even bigger year and I'm kicking it off with a campaign for my very first comic book series. 

I've been sworn to secrecy when it comes to the details, but I can tell you I'm working with artist Zac Atkinson. He illustrated my "Exit, Pursued by a Bear" story in the Shakespeare Unleashed comic, and he'd did the coloring for my Kolchak 50th anniversary graphic novel. He has created some amazing art for this new project and I can't wait to share it with you all...as soon as the powers that be allow me.

There's a hint on the landing page on what the series is about. If you have any guesses, leave them in the comments. You might win something. More details coming soon...

Please, sign up for the email alert on the landing page so you'll be notified when we launch. Happy 2024!

Head to the landing page...

True Believers Comic From Stephen Graham Jones Launches
about 1 year ago – Tue, Sep 12, 2023 at 11:40:08 AM

TRUE BELIEVERS, a slasher comic created by NYT bestseller Stephen Graham Jones and Josh Viola, has gone live. The campaign has six awesome variant covers and a bunch of early-bird specials that will be available for the first 24 hours.

I'm helping to run the campaign, which just funded! So come on over and say hi!

Check it out here. 

Shakespeare Unleashed Needs You!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Aug 18, 2023 at 03:26:52 PM

By now everyone should have gotten their rewards. Fulfillment went very smoothly. Maybe I'm getting better at this! I hope you're all happy with the anthology and comic.

Now I need your help. I really think Shakespeare Unleashed is an amazing book and I want it to get the attention it deserves. Most publishers spend hundreds of dollars at NetGalley to get reviews. I didn't feel like plunking down $500 to get reviews. I'd rather spend that money of donuts and books. As a result, we don't have many reviews 

If you've read the book, please, please, leave a review or rating — a simple rating is perfectly fine — on Amazon and Goodreads. I'd really appreciate it and Amazon doesn't promote books with a low number of reviews.

Still, we're doing pretty well. In fact, we were a No. 1 New Release in Horror Anthologies. 

And...

TRUE BELIEVERS 

Since, I'm getting really good at running Kickstarters I've decided to do it for other people. My first gig is running the upcoming campaign for a very cool slasher comic by Stephen Graham Jones and Josh Viola.  It's a great read and there's a ton of amazing artwork and rewards. Trust me, you're going to want this book. It's launching in a few weeks. Sign up here for an email  alert when it goes live.

All the Shakespeare Unleashed Hardcovers Have Arrived! Fulfillment Has Begun!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Jul 18, 2023 at 01:30:39 PM

I just got all the Shakespeare Unleashed hardcovers! All 1100 pounds of them. Fulfillment has already begun and I hope to be done in a week or two. 

I updated the addresses that a few of you sent me last week. If anyone else needs to update their addresses, this is your last chance. 

 The book is truly gorgeous. I think you'll all be pleased.  And please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. We can really use them. It was way too expensive to use NetGalley, which is where most publishers get their reviews. I don't know how people afford that. I'd rather put that money into my books.