Samhain Publishing

[Viridian]

Anyone else feel a little surge of hope?

I am weirdly emotional about this.

 

[Captcha]

I only have three books with them, so I wasn't despondent to start with. But I'm definitely enjoying the intrigue!

 

[Viridian]

I have zero books with them. But DAMN IT, I like Samhain.

 

[AW Admin]

Thinking good thoughts; a lot of really lovely people have sold to Samain.

 

[Lillith1991]

I'm wondering about a buy-out or something... you'd think she'd have been able to come up with practical plans on her own...

Not always. Sometimes even business people feel overwhelmed when finances are apparently declining and they're trying to do the right thing. I for one am hoping the go with a similar model to Riptide, which as I mentioned earlier was still growing despite the market, or are being purchased by someone with a similar diverse business model. If Samhain can be saved by going into a niche that suffers less than small Romance and Horror presses, I'm all for it.

 

[Latina Bunny]

I was shocked to hear about Samhain. I bought several M/M series from them, including a vampire and werewolf one. (I rarely read about vamps and werewolves, but I have greatly enjoyed Samhain's books of various genres/sub-genres of M/M.)

Sending good wishes to those involved.

I am sad because there are some really great authors there.

 

[cmhbob]

No dog in this specific hunt, but I'm holding good wishes for everyone who does.

 

[triceretops]

I have zero books with them. But DAMN IT, I like Samhain.

Yeah, same here.

 

[Deirdre]

And the plot thickens...

Just got an e-mail from Christina Brashear suggesting she might have a Hail Mary in mind--she's asking authors to not make too many plans elsewhere in case she's able to figure something out.

Intriguing... and my rights aren't eligible for reversion anyway, so it's no harm to wait and see what she's up to!

I'm hoping they'll be able to figure something out.

 

[Rebekkamaria]

I don't think they were even aware how much people care, not just businesswise but as a community of readers and writers. I do hope they can figure something out.

It would be lovely to see them survive this, fight back and become one of the strange success stories. I don't want to hope too much, but I am hopeful.

 

[gingerwoman]

I'm wondering about a buy-out or something.....

I was thinking it was surprising that a buy out hadn't been considered, considering their long standing reputation for quality. The romance market has so much competition for sales now though.

 

[gingerwoman]

Thanks for this. I've been browsing the Samhain site (have never purchased books from them before) and I am finding some very great finds in the horror line. Looks like I will be having a spending spree today.

They have a lot of top names in horror apparently. I don't know I've never read any horror but Stephen King.

 

[KVL]

I'm trying to limit myself to cautious optimism. I have two books with them and was offered a contract on a third a few days before the shutting down email. I've always found Samhain a pleasure to work with, even if I keep forgetting how to properly pronounce their name

 

[az shea]

As a still-aspiring author it's distressing to see so many of the smaller publishing venues collapsing under the weight of Amazon's enormous influence, limiting the options more and more. Granted, not nearly as distressing as it must be for you, the authors whose works are published with Samhain. Sure wishing you guys all the best (and the easiest of roads) as this plays out.

Ditto.

 

[az shea]

It makes me nervous for the future of indie publishing.

I understand how you feel, after having the ground fall from underneath you... yet I don't quite get why people fear this will destroy or damage indie publishing.

I know Amazon is the big gorilla -- so much unpacking, not doing it here!

Amazon isn't the only thing affecting indie publishers and their readers. There are advocates like Kris Kathryn Rusch [The Business Rusch 10-Feb-16] and Tobias Buckell who blog constantly. You can ask their advice too, for that matter...

 

[gingerwoman]

I'm trying to limit myself to cautious optimism. I have two books with them and was offered a contract on a third a few days before the shutting down email. I've always found Samhain a pleasure to work with, even if I keep forgetting how to properly pronounce their name

No word on what the second email meant yet.

 

[Anna204]

This is sad news. I had two manuscripts with them.

 

[gingerwoman]

It seems like they are negotiating with someone on some kind of buy out, but the head of Samhain cannot talk about it while negotiations are going on and was apparently already scolded by someone involved for giving us the "hint" email, although it said nothing much, except "A New Hope". I am only guessing that it is a buy out as I can't imagine what else it could be.

 

[PeteMC]

Only just heard about this - I used to want to publish with the Samhain horror line until I placed elsewhere. I really thought they were going from strength to strength.

Thoughts are with everyone affected by this.

 

[gingerwoman]

I don't like how some people are acting like Samhain is just disappearing off the face of the earth, I was given the impression scheduled releases will still happen, you can still buy backlist, and there appears to be hints of a buy out.

 

[Filigree]

The tone I'm seeing is more like 'cautious optimism'. I'm still buying their books...more than I can say about EC.

 

[ShaunHorton]

I don't like how some people are acting like Samhain is just disappearing off the face of the earth, I was given the impression scheduled releases will still happen, you can still buy backlist, and there appears to be hints of a buy out.

Yeah. I couldn't help but notice the tone of the letter Lisa Morton sent them on behalf of the HWA.

 

[Sheryl Nantus]

Yeah. I couldn't help but notice the tone of the letter Lisa Morton sent them on behalf of the HWA.

???

 

[ShaunHorton]

Oh, it was shared to the HWA's Facebook page, so I hope it's okay to share. I don't know how to link to a specific Facebook post, but here's the one bit.

Because we have many members who will be impacted by this shutdown, we want to let you know that we're here to help in any way we can to assist in achieving fair and equitable resolutions with your horror authors. Many of the authors will of course be anxious to move on with their properties, so we are especially interested in making sure that rights are returned to authors as quickly as possible.

 

[Sheryl Nantus]

Oh, it was shared to the HWA's Facebook page, so I hope it's okay to share. I don't know how to link to a specific Facebook post, but here's the one bit.

Ah, thanks!

Since every email that comes out from Samhain tends to become public knowledge within seconds, I don't think we'll hear anything until a deal is actually reached.