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Samhain Publishing

Calla Lily

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Congrats, Sonarbabe!

I didn't get an auto reply, so I emailed, blaming the Time Warner/Adelphia conversion mess (and yes, it is a mess of classic proportions). I got a reply to that email the next morning saying they'd received my submission. Now beginneth the 8-week wait. :popcorn:
 

KAugusto

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Hello all.
I am new to this group. I was referred by someone on the Backspace forum after I posed a question about Samhain. Reading all your comments inspired me to join this group too.

First, congratulations Sonarbabe! I was also just offered a contract from Samhain (hence my questions on BS). I would love to have a buddy to chat with as we start this exciting ride. This is my first novel, so I'm over the moon. And you?

Second, I wanted to second the advice to recontact SP if you did not get an automatic reply. I was in that situation about 2 months ago. I diligently waited my 8 weeks, not wanting to be a pest. Then I contacted Anne and learned that they had an office move and my manuscript was lost in the shuffle (my words). I received a very apologetic email in return, a request for a partial, and within 72 hours, a request for a full. A few days later I had an offer. So I think they are very professional and timely in their communications. If you didn't receive some kind of notice, I would not hesitate to ask for clarification.

I am wondering if someone who has published with SP would be willing to share your experience with in-house PR. What did Samhain do to promote your work? Were you encouraged to hire outside PR at your expense?

I'm looking forward to getting to know some of you on the AbsoluteWrite list. Oh, and my work is Women's Fiction, tentatively titled STRAWBERRY DREAMS.

Kerri
 

veinglory

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Hi Kerri

Samhain release a lot of books, PR for each one is not going to be huge. The send to some review places, online and print. More importantly they provided ARCs for print and the books are bookstore stockable (returnbale, discounted) unlike most POD trade paperbacks. Distribution is far more important than hype.

Given the sales numbers of their books and the value added by outside PR hiring a PR person would almost certainly be a financial loss.
 

chibeth

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Samhain has recently hired a new Advertising Director, and I think, someone in marketing. So their authors may be getting more PR in the near future.
 

JimmyD1318

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OK, rejection for me, BUT with notes on revision and an invitation to resubmit.

Good notes, too, and something to think about if the other two publishers I have the manuscript work with also reject.

:cry: Sorry to hear that. Good luck with the other two submits.
 

veinglory

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Don't pass over that invitation to resubmit, they wouldn't say it if they didn't mean it. I almost took a similar notice (from another epub) as a rejection for my first novella, luckily the editor followed up and 2 years later it has sold well over 1000 copies.
 

Christine N.

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I'm taking it in stride. She had some good points. I am totally considering resubmitting. The notes were more on characteriztion and plot tightening. She loved the actual premise.

I think if I implemented her revisions the manuscript would be even stronger, so maybe I'll just do a bit of a dabble here and there. Save it as another draft, in case the other two reject too.
 

RoccoMom

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Christine,
I got the same type of rejection. She offered comments on how to improve the manuscript and asked me to resubmit if I rewrote. So as soon as I'm finished with the revisions on my paranormal, I'm going to do just that.
 

Josie

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Good for everyone. Keep on chugging along :)

Samhain also rejected my story but asked for more. So I will send another I'm editing right now.

Cheers, Judith:Sun:
 

Sonarbabe

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Christine,

My honey, here is a cookie!!!! :e2cookie: Think about the notes they gave you. If nothing else, keep the original copy of your manuscript and work on some revisions. I did that with my stories and (consequently) found that I liked the revisions better. You never know, right?


Josie said:
Samhain also rejected my story but asked for more. So I will send another I'm editing right now.

{{HUGS}} Keep at it. If they didn't like your voice, they wouldn't ask for what else you had.
 
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Glenda

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Sorry, Christine, Toni and Josie. I'm sitting on pins and needles, waiting.
 

veinglory

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sow as in blow, or sow as in cow? (I spent long enough saying Loose Id wrong and am still unsure about Torquere--if I ever start a press it will be called Bob--just to keep things simple)
 

kristie911

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Since I never received the auto-response their website submissions page mentions, I did send another e-mail asking if they got my query and chapters. I'd hate to sit around for a couple of months before realizing they never got it.

ETA: I got an e-mail back stating their auto response has not been working properly since they switched servers...they are working on the problem.
 
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JAK

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Anne Cain does good cover work--

Total agreement. Anne really upped the creep factor of mine


dark_resurrection_samhain_cover.jpg


And my editor really had some great insights on how to tighten it up. Together we chopped about 10,000 words from the original. Really a professional job
 

Braydie

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Hi, everyone. I happened to be online looking up Samhain Publishing, and one of the links led to AW. When I clicked on it, I was surprised to see people I recognized from having browsed around in AW for a few days.

After reading your success stories, I wanted to tell you all I'm excited that things are going so well for you. Congratulations and best of luck with your sales. And, even for those who received rejections, it doesn't sound like the rejections are meant to be forever, but more like, if you want to resubmit, that Samhain is willing to reconsider and work with you. Wow!

This has to be an exciting and happy time for you all, and I couldn't be more pleased for you. Wow! :snoopy: I'm going to go look at their site, now, and maybe I can see some of the covers you've mentioned.

Congratulations! :hooray:
 

Christine N.

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I resubmitted my revised manuscript yesterday. After considering it and spending days and days with it, I discovered that she was very right with her notes and the whole first half of the book needed to be revamped.

So, here's to trying again!
 

Calla Lily

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I resubmitted my revised manuscript yesterday. After considering it and spending days and days with it, I discovered that she was very right with her notes and the whole first half of the book needed to be revamped.

So, here's to trying again!

Fingers crossed for you!
 

JimmyD1318

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I resubmitted my revised manuscript yesterday. After considering it and spending days and days with it, I discovered that she was very right with her notes and the whole first half of the book needed to be revamped.

So, here's to trying again!


Good Luck, Christine! I hope you get some good news.
 

Unimportant

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This is *not* meant to denigrate Samhain or any other small press; it's just a question: Is a sale to Samhain or a similar small e-press a credential taken seriously by agents and large mainstream publishers?