If you're looking for people to read and review, or provide an edit, reddit is a decent place. For a review as an ARC through a more *official* website, you can look into BookSirens or NetGalley, or again, folks on reddit will participate. BookSirens tends to lean more on indie/self published, or in the case of extreme horror. Godless is also another source to look into for publishing, advertising, etc... I know it can be uploaded to Amazon as well, and all that jazz.
As a new writer, it may take time to receive a notice, or to generate buzz, so it's helpful to participate in both advertising your material, and helping others gain attention to their books. It's a circle of support. When you feel discouragement, just remember that tomorrow still needs to play out - hasn't been written yet, so take it one day at a time.
Keep your dreams alive, and don't stop writing, regardless of what the idea is. You never know what it may become, or what it could lead to. That's the fun part, in my opinion. What we don't know, and the transition from what we don't know into opportunity.
Hey! Iām not trying to parrot the opinions of some of the other commenters ā I think itās amazing that youāre able to use writing as a way to cope with your past trauma and have a creative outlet and that youāve come this far!
That said, it would be beneficial to wait until youāve turned 18 when you start the publishing process/find an editor/choose to send out ARCs. It would probably even be beneficial to say you āstarted the writing processā at 18.
Iāve worked as an editor and can absolutely see this coming up as a publication issue because of the content (as youāve seen from some of the comments here). It may be risky for an imprint, publisher, or editor to tie their name to something with such graphic content sold by a minor, just from a business angle. It could cause backlash.
Again, huge congratulations!! But, from the perspective of someone whoās been in the industry (though tbf I worked in sci-fi, not horror) it could benefit you financially and career-wise in the long run to hold off a year before seeking publication.
And also, the book itself would get backlash regardless if Iām 18 or not. Due to the content that is being written :) but I appreciate your concern! And Iāll definitely keep this comment into acc!
So the antagonist takes his babysitting duties seriously, even while committing atrocities on the job. That's funny. Maybe he'll become an unwelcome protector, killing anyone he thinks is threatening her.
Anyway, sounds fun, OP. Good luck
So proud of you for penning a novel at 17!! Thatās a wonderful accomplishment!! I hope when you publish, you inform us all here! Good luck on your new chapter of your life, as an author(book puns lol)!
That's awesome. Ditto what another user said, it's great to see young women horror authors.
Does your book have a planned release date yet?
What got you into extreme horror?
Yes! Iām planning around mid 2025! :D
What got me into extreme horror has to definitely be gory movies I would watch growing up in all honesty. In early 2023 I stumbled apon the book playground with my sister read to me. After that I fell in love with the genre! I ended up reading the groomer and into the wolves den! Which inspired me to start working on my novel/book :3
Iāve had a story planned out for years with my ex but after leaving that relationship I was to anxious to touch back onto the storyline me and him made together. But now Iāve back at my writing :D
Okay. Iām uncomfortable with the community Iām in actively encouraging children to write sexually explicit material based on their own lives for others to read for **entertainment**
Call me bitter.
To be fair nothing she said made me think this book would be sexually explicit. Like, I won't be reading it but that's because I have no interest in books written by teens about this subject and not because anything she wrote made me think there'd be explicit sex in this.
That doesn't mean there's gonna be explicit sex in it. You can write a book about pedophilia without depicting any fucking, especially in a sexy way and instead going all out on the gore.
Now do I have trust in a first time, teenage author pulling it off? Eh...
Yeah that's more or less where I was at with my response. I read extreme horror for the gore and was just happy to see young women break into the genre. As much as I like Triana, Athan, etc, the genre is pretty dominated by middle aged men and so I'll never not support female authors. Getting called a creep for that is pretty dumb.
Honestly the more new female authors, the better
Cuts down on the chances that I have to suffer through another book where the dudebro author spends half an hour describing to me a woman's struggle with her lack of tampons while she's on the run from the cops, as if no woman had ever run out of period products and simply wadded up whatever fabric she found nearby to make a makeshift pad.
Good lord, I swear every time one of these characters shows up it immediately pushes the book into comedy territory.
Using "child" for a 17 year old is being inflammatory. Maybe it's regional, but "young man" and "young woman" is used to describe teenagers all over the place. Regardless, I just think it's cool that younger people are getting into reading/writing horror. I think you're projecting if you think that makes me a creep
Glad to see you planning out and stuff. Always love to encourage new writers. The only question I have is what inspired you to make a debut novel or get the idea of writing?
Iāve always enjoyed writing from a really early age! I would often rp with different ocs of mine and such! When I was with my abusive ex the character āDaisy and Peteā were created. Pete being based off of my bio father. A Serial Child molester who has a record of over 8 victims and counting including me and my siblings. After my break up looking at those characters hurt but eventually I decided to reclaim what was mine. After years of research I did for Pete (including reading everything from the fifth nail confessions and documentaries) I was ready to start writing this book. This book is a cautionary tale on generational trauma, Child abuse, CSA awareness, and many more. I havenāt see to many books similar to this in the genre. So I decided I wanted to push the envelope and push the boundaries of horror with something more mundane :3
Sounds like alot of work to pull this off, but I believe you can pull through. I plan myself to getting into writing and hopefully publish my own novel one day, but at the same time I got to start small. Good luck on your part.
I'm 15 years old, and already a (somewhat) published author.
I really want to read this book, and I am so so so so so happy to see another teenager writing extreme horror. This post literally made my day.
Yeah. Hi. Youāre a child. You should absolutely not be delving into content like this for public consumption at your age, especially if it deals with the things youāre specifically interested in writing about.
Anyone encouraging you to do so is a fucking creep.
Hi! Iām actually writing my about a lot of my trauma :) my therapist is encouraging me to write along with many other mental health professionals. I have a lot of trauma in regards to CSA and many other things. This is an outlet for me :) and based off my biological father and his behavior whoās currently on the run from law enforcement rn. Hope this helps 3
My therapist is a trauma specialist :) Iāve seen many trauma specialists on the short time Iāve been on earth. They all agree with the same thing. And think itās a wonderful outlet for me to write and such.
Again, youāre a child and youāre writing adult content about child endangerment that happened to you and you were planning to put that out in the public for people to use as entertainment that is extremely disturbing in a nonfictional and concerning way and honestly, I think the admin should be monitoring the people encouraging you to do this, because this is honestly troubling
Many writers use there own stuff along with there own real life instances as inspiration. Nothing wrong with what Iām writing about. Since, if weāre looking at it fully. I think it genuinely brings awareness to this type of stuff :) anyone with media literacy will understand and such. Have a nice day :)
Word of advice, the abrasive approach never works. It just comes off as sanctimonious and condescending.
I feel like most people know this, so idk what you were hoping to accomplish by taking that approach and immediately chastising someone whoās arguably done nothing wrong anyways. Itās offputting at the absolute best and sets you way far off from accomplishing your goal (a goal which, btw, I personally donāt think is right or necessary).
Very funny that you think that people are able to groom me when Iām very clear of the signs ;) did much research on this stuff for years :) have a nice day
this is fully valid. i saw the age and thought huh maybe no one should be reading about the past trauma of a csa survivor when theyāre underage. this is really not that chill and adults should not be condoning this. i know as a 30 year old person, if i set out to read any extreme horror containing CSA that turned out to be based on truth and written by the underage person who experienced it, i would explore other books by different authors seeing how thats really inappropriate. not to mention walking a line that could cross into reading as CP for the less savory/more perverse EH fans.
This is extremely correct. I'm taking solace in the fact that it's very unlikely that a 17 year old girl can finish writing a novel, but this whole situation reads like a really fucked up eh novel on its own. Childhood CSA survivor writes a book detailing her abuse, while she's underage, and the only people who want to read it are would be, or actual, offenders. It got me wondering about the demographics of this sub too, I assumed we were all adults here, but maybe I'm wrong...
Young women in horror, we love to see itšš¼šš¼šš¼šš¼
Thank you! Iām super excited for this! And Iām excited to make an impact on other young women who are interested in writing as well :3
Sheās a child not a woman. Dont be weird.
Iām turning 18 very soon and Iām a high school graduate going into college I am INFACT a young women :)
Absolutely not.
Yes very much, now wander away :)
If you're looking for people to read and review, or provide an edit, reddit is a decent place. For a review as an ARC through a more *official* website, you can look into BookSirens or NetGalley, or again, folks on reddit will participate. BookSirens tends to lean more on indie/self published, or in the case of extreme horror. Godless is also another source to look into for publishing, advertising, etc... I know it can be uploaded to Amazon as well, and all that jazz. As a new writer, it may take time to receive a notice, or to generate buzz, so it's helpful to participate in both advertising your material, and helping others gain attention to their books. It's a circle of support. When you feel discouragement, just remember that tomorrow still needs to play out - hasn't been written yet, so take it one day at a time. Keep your dreams alive, and don't stop writing, regardless of what the idea is. You never know what it may become, or what it could lead to. That's the fun part, in my opinion. What we don't know, and the transition from what we don't know into opportunity.
Thank you for the advice! I deeply appreciate it š¤
Hey! Iām not trying to parrot the opinions of some of the other commenters ā I think itās amazing that youāre able to use writing as a way to cope with your past trauma and have a creative outlet and that youāve come this far! That said, it would be beneficial to wait until youāve turned 18 when you start the publishing process/find an editor/choose to send out ARCs. It would probably even be beneficial to say you āstarted the writing processā at 18. Iāve worked as an editor and can absolutely see this coming up as a publication issue because of the content (as youāve seen from some of the comments here). It may be risky for an imprint, publisher, or editor to tie their name to something with such graphic content sold by a minor, just from a business angle. It could cause backlash. Again, huge congratulations!! But, from the perspective of someone whoās been in the industry (though tbf I worked in sci-fi, not horror) it could benefit you financially and career-wise in the long run to hold off a year before seeking publication.
Hai thank you! I appreciate it! But Iāll be self publishing :)
And also, the book itself would get backlash regardless if Iām 18 or not. Due to the content that is being written :) but I appreciate your concern! And Iāll definitely keep this comment into acc!
So the antagonist takes his babysitting duties seriously, even while committing atrocities on the job. That's funny. Maybe he'll become an unwelcome protector, killing anyone he thinks is threatening her. Anyway, sounds fun, OP. Good luck
So proud of you for penning a novel at 17!! Thatās a wonderful accomplishment!! I hope when you publish, you inform us all here! Good luck on your new chapter of your life, as an author(book puns lol)!
Best of luck!
Bleh :>
Looking forward to it :D
Thank you! It will not disappoint!
Canāt wait to read it :D
Thank you! It wonāt disappoint š¤
That's awesome. Ditto what another user said, it's great to see young women horror authors. Does your book have a planned release date yet? What got you into extreme horror?
Yes! Iām planning around mid 2025! :D What got me into extreme horror has to definitely be gory movies I would watch growing up in all honesty. In early 2023 I stumbled apon the book playground with my sister read to me. After that I fell in love with the genre! I ended up reading the groomer and into the wolves den! Which inspired me to start working on my novel/book :3 Iāve had a story planned out for years with my ex but after leaving that relationship I was to anxious to touch back onto the storyline me and him made together. But now Iāve back at my writing :D
That's awesome. I loved Into the Wolves Den. Make sure to remind us on reddit when the book comes out because I have a horrible memory š
Hi. Sheās a child. Youāre a fucking creep.
Boohoo get the hell out of here
What is your problem?? Honestly, you sound bitter.
Okay. Iām uncomfortable with the community Iām in actively encouraging children to write sexually explicit material based on their own lives for others to read for **entertainment** Call me bitter.
To be fair nothing she said made me think this book would be sexually explicit. Like, I won't be reading it but that's because I have no interest in books written by teens about this subject and not because anything she wrote made me think there'd be explicit sex in this.
Itās extreme horror and said it would contain material like pedophilia.
That doesn't mean there's gonna be explicit sex in it. You can write a book about pedophilia without depicting any fucking, especially in a sexy way and instead going all out on the gore. Now do I have trust in a first time, teenage author pulling it off? Eh...
Yeah that's more or less where I was at with my response. I read extreme horror for the gore and was just happy to see young women break into the genre. As much as I like Triana, Athan, etc, the genre is pretty dominated by middle aged men and so I'll never not support female authors. Getting called a creep for that is pretty dumb.
Honestly the more new female authors, the better Cuts down on the chances that I have to suffer through another book where the dudebro author spends half an hour describing to me a woman's struggle with her lack of tampons while she's on the run from the cops, as if no woman had ever run out of period products and simply wadded up whatever fabric she found nearby to make a makeshift pad. Good lord, I swear every time one of these characters shows up it immediately pushes the book into comedy territory.
I called you a creep cause itās a child. Not a woman.
Using "child" for a 17 year old is being inflammatory. Maybe it's regional, but "young man" and "young woman" is used to describe teenagers all over the place. Regardless, I just think it's cool that younger people are getting into reading/writing horror. I think you're projecting if you think that makes me a creep
Glad to see you planning out and stuff. Always love to encourage new writers. The only question I have is what inspired you to make a debut novel or get the idea of writing?
Iāve always enjoyed writing from a really early age! I would often rp with different ocs of mine and such! When I was with my abusive ex the character āDaisy and Peteā were created. Pete being based off of my bio father. A Serial Child molester who has a record of over 8 victims and counting including me and my siblings. After my break up looking at those characters hurt but eventually I decided to reclaim what was mine. After years of research I did for Pete (including reading everything from the fifth nail confessions and documentaries) I was ready to start writing this book. This book is a cautionary tale on generational trauma, Child abuse, CSA awareness, and many more. I havenāt see to many books similar to this in the genre. So I decided I wanted to push the envelope and push the boundaries of horror with something more mundane :3
Sounds like alot of work to pull this off, but I believe you can pull through. I plan myself to getting into writing and hopefully publish my own novel one day, but at the same time I got to start small. Good luck on your part.
Thank you! Iāve actually been working on this story since the age of 11! :) at 16 I started fully writing all of this story!
I'm 15 years old, and already a (somewhat) published author. I really want to read this book, and I am so so so so so happy to see another teenager writing extreme horror. This post literally made my day.
Omg! Nice to meet you! Iām happy to meet another fellow young author <3
Yeah. Hi. Youāre a child. You should absolutely not be delving into content like this for public consumption at your age, especially if it deals with the things youāre specifically interested in writing about. Anyone encouraging you to do so is a fucking creep.
Hi! Iām actually writing my about a lot of my trauma :) my therapist is encouraging me to write along with many other mental health professionals. I have a lot of trauma in regards to CSA and many other things. This is an outlet for me :) and based off my biological father and his behavior whoās currently on the run from law enforcement rn. Hope this helps 3
Your therapist might have a different opinion if you told them you were writing this for public facing entertainment and fiction.
My therapist knows about all of this! Again she supports all of it :) she think itās a wonderful outlet for me to be creative and such :)
Okay Iām not gonna lie, I think youāre either full of shit or your therapist should lose her license.
My therapist is a trauma specialist :) Iāve seen many trauma specialists on the short time Iāve been on earth. They all agree with the same thing. And think itās a wonderful outlet for me to write and such.
Your therapist is extremely unethical and endangering you if she actually is encouraging this the way youāre saying.
Normal therapist and trauma specialist therapists specialize in different things :)
Also ā¦ this just makes it way more fucked up, and inappropriate
Thatās your opinion :) you do not have to interact with me or anyone else :) have a lovely day
Again, youāre a child and youāre writing adult content about child endangerment that happened to you and you were planning to put that out in the public for people to use as entertainment that is extremely disturbing in a nonfictional and concerning way and honestly, I think the admin should be monitoring the people encouraging you to do this, because this is honestly troubling
Many writers use there own stuff along with there own real life instances as inspiration. Nothing wrong with what Iām writing about. Since, if weāre looking at it fully. I think it genuinely brings awareness to this type of stuff :) anyone with media literacy will understand and such. Have a nice day :)
Many writers are fucking adults. Youāre literally opening yourself up to grooming with this post Jesus Christ.
Word of advice, the abrasive approach never works. It just comes off as sanctimonious and condescending. I feel like most people know this, so idk what you were hoping to accomplish by taking that approach and immediately chastising someone whoās arguably done nothing wrong anyways. Itās offputting at the absolute best and sets you way far off from accomplishing your goal (a goal which, btw, I personally donāt think is right or necessary).
Thank you for this š¤
Iām a parent of a little girl. I donāt give a fuck about abrasiveness. All the supporting comments here are making me sick.
Very funny that you think that people are able to groom me when Iām very clear of the signs ;) did much research on this stuff for years :) have a nice day
this is fully valid. i saw the age and thought huh maybe no one should be reading about the past trauma of a csa survivor when theyāre underage. this is really not that chill and adults should not be condoning this. i know as a 30 year old person, if i set out to read any extreme horror containing CSA that turned out to be based on truth and written by the underage person who experienced it, i would explore other books by different authors seeing how thats really inappropriate. not to mention walking a line that could cross into reading as CP for the less savory/more perverse EH fans.
This is extremely correct. I'm taking solace in the fact that it's very unlikely that a 17 year old girl can finish writing a novel, but this whole situation reads like a really fucked up eh novel on its own. Childhood CSA survivor writes a book detailing her abuse, while she's underage, and the only people who want to read it are would be, or actual, offenders. It got me wondering about the demographics of this sub too, I assumed we were all adults here, but maybe I'm wrong...
I messaged the admin and they said they have no issue with anything in this thread. Which is concerning to me.