What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Today, November 22, marks the second anniversary of the creation of GAUSTEN BOOKS and the publication of my first book, Tales of Horror: The History of The Misfits & The Undead. To say that the past two years have been exciting for me would be a grand understatement.

Back when I was living in Los Angeles in 2005, I was on the phone with my then-girlfriend when I was suddenly struck by a mental lightning bolt to write a book on “Albums that (Should’ve) Changed the World.” Within an hour, I compiled a wish list of artist I thought would be wonderful to include in such a project. It was a rather eclectic list of artists to say the least – Aerosmith, SWANS, Throbbing Gristle, Prong, Thin Lizzy and so on. If the sheer eclecticism of this wacky idea of mine weren’t enough, I immediately faced the reality that I knew of absolutely no way to contact any of these people, let alone convince them to take part in an unpublished project by a first-time book author.

No problem.

The very next day, I began researching, calling, writing and in some cases, downright stalking various desired interviewees. Ivan Julian (Voidoids) and Midge Ure (Thin Lizzy/Ultravox) were the first two people who signed on, followed days later by Jarboe (SWANS) and the ever-lovely Amanda Ghost.

By the end of 2005, I had tracked down and conducted 100+ interviews, ranging from musicians to engineers to producers to cover artists.

Then the publishing industry came calling.

I spent the first half of 2006 negotiating with one of the nation’s largest music book publishers for the release of this project – which, by that time, was already about 300 pages. For a number of reasons that I’ve discussed elsewhere in the past, I ultimately decided that this project – my dream – would be better served as a strictly independent endeavor. After taking my ball and going home, I created this Myspace page as a way to help spread the word about this perpetually-in-progress book by positing excerpts on my blog as they took shape.

In celebration of Hallowe’en 2006, I began posting excerpts from my Misfits and Undead book chapters. People must’ve really liked them, as I promptly began receiving 3,000+ blog reads a day! I also began receiving emails from people around the world asking me to consider just publishing the Misfits and Undead material as a stand-alone book.

So that’s what I did.

I self-published the 56-page Tales Of Horror on November 22, 2006. Within two weeks, the book landed on the Best-Sellers List on www.lulu.com, I received an interview request by none other than Revolver Magazine and www.suicidegirls.com ran a completely unsolicited (and incredibly favorable) feature on the book. A few months later, the great WFMU invited me down for a special three-hour broadcast devoted to the book, while I found it increasingly difficult to keep hard copies of Tales of Horror in stock.

The overwhelming success of Tales of Horror led me to continue pursuing the idea of publishing select book chapters (as “mini books”) in anticipation of the much larger “Albums” book. Not only did this serve as a way to keep GAUSTEN BOOKS in the public eye, but it also served to keep revenue coming in to keep the main project afloat.

The “mini book” experiment has proven to be a rewarding experience. In addition to Tales of Horror, I have published “mini books” on Prong and Black Sabbath, with both titles competing quite well in the marketplace.

Along the way, my old friend Martin Atkins asked me to help him edit what eventually became Tour:Smart, which hit Number One on Amazon’s Best-Sellers List for Music Business Books in July of 2008.

Not bad for a hobby I started in my bedroom, eh?

Above all, the past two years have afforded me the opportunity to work with and get to know several great musicians and human beings – many of whom were childhood heroes I now count as friends. While a full “thank you” list would likely fill 10 blogs, I would be remiss if I didn't make a point to especially acknowledge Martin Atkins, Mike Kirkland, Ted Parsons, Troy Gregory,Chris Connelly, Cosey Fanni-Tutii, Eric Singer, Bob Daisley and the great Bill Ward for their overwhelming encouragement.

Also, love to my infinitely better half, Shannon Gardner (www.myspace.com/ahrt),whose unwavering care and strength kept me from going off the deep end with all of this more times than I can possibly count.

Although things have been relatively quiet on the GAUSTEN BOOKS front for the past several months due to other personal and professional matters, that is all about to change.

Next year will start with a bang with the late January/early February publication of my years-in-progress autobiography/manifesto, Words From The Third Side: Essays on Sex, Satan & Success. That will be followed by the long-awaited Warzone “mini book,” the full-length book on the late Rik L Rik and – finally – the approximately 500-page “Albums” book. There’s also a SWANS book, as well as a book I’m doing with Shannon called Satanic Familiar, in the works as well. Stay tuned.

In celebration of GAUSTEN BOOKS’ second anniversary, e-books of all available titles will be on sale for only $2.00 now through the end of the year. Hard copies are also available at regular price, and UPS Ground orders should be placed no later than December 12 if you would like them to arrive before Christmas.

For more information and to order the books, please click on this link:

Additionally, I have a very small number of signed, printed copies of Tales of Horror available directly from me for $10 each in the US. This price includes shipping in the US; international customers are encouraged to contact me via message to determine appropriate shipping costs prior to ordering. I’m happy to personalize each book if you so desire.

Speaking of Tales of Horror…the original incarnation of the book will be discontinued at year’s end to make way for a revised/expanded edition that is currently in development, so here’s your chance to get a copy of the final remaining copies of the original version of the book that started it all for me.

Thanks to everyone who has supported GAUSTEN BOOKS for the past two years. The best is yet to come!

Joel Gausten
Gausten Books
November 22, 2008