Samantha Combs's Blog, page 21

The Beauty of Bloggers and a New Review of Ghostly

In the last few days I have been reminded of the single, largest marketing tool an author has in her arsenal right now.....Bloggers!  I want to take a quick moment to let you know how grateful I am that you exist.  I sent out a casual request for a review of Ghostly, to see if I can get the sales to match those of Spellbound.  The reviewer replied that she was regrettably booked (haha, a pun!) until June, but with my permission she would farm out my request to 20 (!) of her contributing reviewers to see if anyone might like to tackle one or the other of my books.

The response has been nothing short of amazing!

I have received, in the expanse of barely one full day, more than seven responses.  And they keep coming.  In fact, as I write this, two more have popped up.  I am so excited.  And the best thing of all, they all want to read BOTH of my books and review them for all the regular review sites: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and my very own facebook page.  I am overwhelmed with delight.

So, it's important to take this time to fully and thoroughly thank Angie from Books4tomorrow.  I am eternally grateful that bloggers exist and that they share their talent for reviewing with the world.  I am also grateful to Mera Sampson from Meras's YA Book List.  She wrote the following review, for which I am still glowing:


Ghostly by Samantha Combs Review

I have been a fan of Samantha Combs' work since reading her debut novel, Spellbound. So it suffices to say that I had high expectations for her second published work, Ghostly. Ghostly is the tale of a high school freshman, lovingly nicknamed Juice by her small group of friends. After meeting Shane, a teenage ghost stuck in our world, her life completely changes. But only the story can tell whether the changes in Juice's life are for better or for worse.                         I think it is safe to say that I loved Ghostly just as much as I loved Spellbound, if not more. Samantha Combs' writing style is somewhat indescribable, but it would be wrong of me not to try. I could see her sitting at the kitchen table or on a comfortable sofa, slowly thinking up and telling her romantic paranormal tales for teens with a captivated audience soaking in her every word. The way she writes is recognizable and refreshing. She seems to have created a niche for herself and she is solid with the way she chooses to portray her characters. During the time I spent reading the galley Samantha so graciously provided to me, I was torn between who was right for Juice. But as I delved further into the story, the right person for her became evident to me.                The addition of her unique group of friends was awesome. The story slowly progressed and Samantha managed to put the climax closer to the end, which ultimately worked brilliantly. As I read of the events occurring, my heart leaped out of my chest. At one point, I was holding back tears, and as I finished reading I felt that tingly sensation that only occurs in me in three instances. The first instance being after I try a ride at an amusement park, which is not often due to my fear of heights. The second being after I've gone through a tidal wave of different emotions. And finally, the third occurs after I've read an amazing and emotional book. I have to applaud Miss Combs on her ability to entrance me with her writing and her characters. I would love to have friends like Jett, Sixx, Creepshow, and even Shane, and the story had an absolutely powerful and perfect ending.
Point blank: Samantha Combs is an author that you should definitely look out for. Ghostly, as well as her first book Spellbound (which is to be the first in a trilogy), is a great read I would recommend to anyone, but especially to tweens, teens, and young adults. You won't regret reading it. Her stories are like a refreshing walk in the park. Even if you're tired or sleepy, you wish her words would go on. 

If you haven't done so yet, check out my interview with the fabulous author just a few posts below!Also, look out for the sequel to Spellbound entitled Everspell in January, and her fourth work Waterdancer at the end of summer 2012!
So, to all the bloggers out there, and I am certain I speak for at least every author I know, THANK YOU!  You make getting out there easy and we appreciate you more than you can know.


Here are the links to the two bloggers I have highlighted here:
http://merasyabooklist.blogspot.com/
http://www.bookstomorrow.blogspot.com/

I Sold A New Book!

Now that I have received, accepted and signed the contract for my latest publication, I can share the amazing news with you all, officially.  I am THRILLED to announce the forthcoming newest standalone in my portfolio, to be published by the wonderful team at Musa Publishing, coming to readers at the end of the summer.  To give you a taste, here is the blurb:

WATERDANCER

As if high school isn'thard enough, try being Bailey Wasserman. Try being the new girl in town, navigating a touchy relationship withyour flighty mom's rich new husband in a brand new town he's just moved youto.  Add to that finding out that yourfather, a semi-pro surfer who's just mysteriously re-entered your life afternearly fifteen years of silence, is half sea-creature and you're about toinherit that particular gene on yoursixteenth birthday which is only a few days away, all after you just met thecutest surfer boy you've ever seen in your life.
Bailey feels she and hermom have always met life's challenges as a team of two, more like best friendsthan mother and daughter.  But her mom's recentmarriage has changed all that.  Having herlittle brother Landry is all Bailey can find good about that union.  The move to wealthy Del Mar from their humblebeginnings has turned Bailey sour, until a chance meeting of surf hottie JackWest changes all that.  Then, when herfather reenters her life, with his annoying Zen-surfer lingo and a talkingturtle he claims is her spirit guardian, no less, he threatens the onlyrelationship Bailey thinks is working in her world. She soon finds out that'snot all his arrival will do.  Hispresence and their shared family trait could ultimately force Bailey to make adecision that will alter the course of her own life and those sheloves…..forever. 
I am doubly excited about this book, because I drew a lot from my own teen years and somehow it makes the book more personal.  I also feel that I have grown as a writer and my words and world-building is more layered and nuanced.
I hope you think the same when you get to read it!  But never fear, even though the end of summer is a long time from now, I have the sequel to Spellbound coming out in about a month.  Look for Everspell in January 2012!  Logan and Serena would not let their story end there, though, so there will be a third and, I think, final chapter.
Lastly, I have two more completed works for which I am anxious to find a home.  These are both a complete departure from my YA paranormal roots.  The first one is a Middle Grade horror and the second one is a straight adult horror.  I'm excited to showcase another part of my writing brain and the dark side of my moon, as it were.  I also have a new YA paranormie in the primary stages of being a novel.  I like where its going so far and have a working title of Wingspan.  Premise is under wraps until I flesh it out a bit more, but I can say this:  the title is important!
So, please celebrate me becoming a Musa author, a distinction for which I am filled with pride.  I loved the contract and truly believe this is the right home for my new, edgy read, Waterdancer.  Thanks for stopping by, and I'll chat with you later.
Write, publish, and be informed!
Samantha

Changes, They Are A' Comin'

Even though this is the end of the year, I have so many changes afoot in my life, it doesn't feel like the end of anything; it feels more like a beginning.  Let me explain.

Just last night I finished the content edits for my next book, Everspell.  This will be the second book to the first, Spellbound.  If you read it, as my editor has, you will immediately understand that there HAS to be a book three.  And so, against all my preconceived notions on trilogys (you know I prefer writing standalones if you read my blog), I am committing to you, Fabulous Reader, to write a last and final chapter in the story of Logan and Serena.  I didn't even make the decision, either....they did.  There was more to their story and they would not get out of my head.  As many times as I would try and write a specific scene, I was guided (demanded, commanded, you choose) to write it differently.  So this is an apology of sorts to you, Fabulous Reader, as it was never MY intention to drag you along and keep you hanging.  But....I am.

Additionally, I am pleased to announce that I have contracted for my fourth published work.  This is another YA paranormal directed to the teen audience called Waterdancer.  The premise is a young girl discovering her absentee real father, once a talented surfer on the pro-circuit, is back to reveal to her that he is half-sea creature, and she may be too.  A story of self-discovery and acceptance, it has family drama and teen angst galore!  I am excited to publish this one because I feel I have grown so much in my writing and my style.  I am doubly excited because I was accepted for publication by my friends at Musa Publishing.  Once the driving force behind the now defunct Aspen Mountain Press, I am thrilled to call myself one of their authors.  They are changing the way the ebook business is handled and I can't wait to be along for that ride.  I now have the dubious distinction of being with, what I feel, are the two best publishers in the digital business, Astraea Press and Musa Publishing.  Look for Waterdancer late summer 2012.

The next big thing in my life can be viewed as a pretty cheesy photo on my facebook page.  Spellbound, already the winner of the Global Ebook Award for Speculative Fiction-Fantasy, is now available in print.  If you know what it feels like to get a contract, then for holding your actual paperback in your hand is like that, times ten thousand.  Hence, the cheesy photo....I could NOT get the smile off my face.  I have gifted them and autographed them and the feeling is beyond words.  Ebooks are great for the ability to publish rapidly, since traditional books take so long, but having a paperback has sent me over the moon.

Lastly, there are changes in my personal life that will better my family situation and increase my ability to have more writing time.  I'll share more about this as it develops.  Rest assured, there are MANY more books left in me dying to burst onto the keyboard.  I love writing and I love writing for YOU.

I hope you had a great year (not many of us did) and lets look forward to a great 2012!

Reasons To Be Thankful

As we come to the end of the year, and the beginning of the holiday season, I've realized I need to stop and truly be thankful.  Not just because it's Thanksgiving Day, but because there are many blessings in my life that I should recognize.  And believe me, that's hard for me to do right now.

This year has been tough.  I lost my job in April, due to a mismanaged business that was failing and eventually went bankrupt.  I didn't plan for it and with no notice, I was out of a job.  Being the main breadwinner, this had devastating consequences on my family.  I filed for unemployment and learned firsthand how ineffective and inadequate that whole system is.  But the worst was yet to come.

Because I remained unemployed for six months.  That may not seem like a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but to me it was stunning.  It represented six car payments, house payments, and insurances, on two cars.  It was six phone bills and six gas and electric bills and for the first time ever, we got delinquent notices and notices advising us we were close to disconnection.  It was illuminating.  And humiliating.

I'm happy to say I am employed now, but I make almost $30k less than I used to.  And my family has learned how to live on that.  I don't want to say I am thankful for losing my job and being placed in that tenuous position, but I am grateful for the lessons I learned.

So today, on this day of thanks, I want to be specific in those things I am grateful to have.

I am grateful to be employed, to have somewhere to go every day where I am reminded of my worth, my value, and my contribution.  I am grateful to be a mother of the most wonderful children on earth who are way too young to be concerned about our family's finances, but who still understand why they can't have new things.  I love you so much, babies.  I give thanks for my husband, and the life we have lived together for twelve years.  I hope he knows how much I love him.

I am grateful for the gift I have for writing, and weaving worlds others want to enjoy.  I am grateful every time a reader tells me how I have transported them and how much they enjoyed something I wrote.  I am grateful I sit in front of my laptop and still have ideas flood my head every day.

And even though I am not with my family for this Thanksgiving day because I am working, I am thankful that unlike millions of people, I will, eventually, sit down to a meal prepared by my family with love, warmed up on a plate my husband will assure I have. And for that I am truly grateful.

Most of all, I am grateful for what I don't know yet, and that is what the future holds.  I'm excited by all the possibilities I have in life still, and that this new year coming could be the start of something amazing.  Life is a wondrous, precious thing, and today, I am grateful to be living it.  I hope you are too.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to my loving family, immediate and extended, and my wonderful friends in life and on Facebook and Twitter.  I hope you enjoy each other's company today.  And give thanks for everything you have.   I wish you all the best for this season of thanks.

The Importance of Being an Informed Author

I am reposting a guest blog I did recently because I think the information could be valuable.  Please let me know what you think.
Blog Post:  On Being an Informed Author
I haven't been publishing long, but what I have learnedabout the publishing game recently, well, I could write a book.  I've beenscammed, duped, taken advantage of, however you want to say it.  And allbecause I trusted.  My blind faith is partly to blame for my current woes. Let me explain.
I had published my first book, Spellbound, with anincredibly professional and truly wonderful house called Astraea Press. As an illustration of my satisfaction with them, I have published one more,Ghostly, and have another coming in January, Everspell, the sequel toSpellbound.  I am more than happy with them and had no reason to look foranother publisher.
Except one:  they don't publish horror.  And I hada new manuscript I wanted out there, The Detention Demon, a middle gradehorror story I was, and still am, especially fond of.  So I did my duediligence online and found a new house that took horror submissions.
I was thrilled when Aspen Mountain Press accepted me andoffered me a contract.  I was a bit taken aback that it was for sevenyears.  My works with Astraea Press are all for three years.  But Ididn't question it.  And besides, as soon as I was accepted, thingswhipped into motion.
They had an author site I was registered for, where I couldtrack the progress of my publication.  Several dozen books were alreadylisted there, I could see when I signed up.  I was immediately contactedby staff about my editor and artist assignments and given a release date ofOctober 3, 2011.  It seemed so professional and together, I was impressed. That ended quickly.
Shortly after I was accepted, current staff walked out dueto an inability to work with the publisher, Sandra Hicks.  I wouldlater learn that this was the same personnel responsible for the quickassignments, the release date, and the organized and methodical way I wasaccepted into the house.  At this point, the house collapsed. Actually, it imploded.  It wasn't gradual.  The only thing gradualwas my dawning realization that I totally picked the wrong horse.
As of this writing, 42 authors including myself, have theirbooks stuck at the non-operating house.  The publisher, Sandra Hicks,refuses to release us, or communicate at all regarding returning the rights toour books.  Mine never even published.  Others were published, rightsexpired, and she continues to collect money for their sales.  Authors havetaken to their OWN websites and begged the public NOT to purchase theirbooks.  it is a catastrophic mess and we authors are the victims in themiddle of it all.
I'm writing this blog in hopes that future authors will beforewarned.  Although I truly believe there was no way to foresee this,other situations are not so difficult to see through.  I implore everywriter to READ every line of that contract you've just been offered.  Ifyou don't like the terms, even one small thing about it, DON'T SIGN IT. My contract with Aspen Mtn. Press stipulated we could request our rights backif the company failed to operate by sending a certified letter.  Great,except she refuses to accept them.  Look for any loophole you think favorsthe publisher and not you, and lobby for it's change.  If they want you,they'll change it.
Or do what I did.  I have submitted my new speculativefiction work to a new house, formed by the incredible staff that left AMP, MusaPublishing.  For everything wrong at AMP, Musa is doing everythingright.  Clear, concise contracts, terms that favor the author, and aboveall, transparent accounting of sales of books.  There is no reason everyauthor shouldn't be demanding these anyway.
The bottom line is, you need to be aware of what you aresigning.  Don't be in such a hurry to see your words immortalized that yousettle.  Never settle.  Your work, your words, your craft isimportant enough to you that you have sacrificed for it.  Don't sellyourself short. 
Lastly, if you have been wronged, make sure you tell theworld.  You have a voice, you're a writer for crying out loud....put thattalent to work.  Avail yourself of every social network out there andexpose those with no integrity without reservation.  We authorstrapped at AMP are doing that for you now....I hope you never have to do it forme.
Write, publish, and BE INFORMED.
Samantha Combs

My Personal Path To Publication - Lauren Hunter

I'm really happy that the final entry into my Personal Path To Publication series is with a great friend who has made the transition from the devastation at Aspen Mountain Press to the stellar future she has with new publishing house Musa Publishing.  I hope to join her soon.  If you haven't figured it out, I am one of Musa's hugest fans, and truly, one of Lauren's as well.  She has to be one of the hardest working gals in the writing biz. Anytime we correspond, she is either writing, editing, sending out queries, or a combination of all three.  Sometimes just talking to her exhausts me!  Her latest offering, with Musa Publishing, is a thought-provoking paranormal under the Thalia imprint entitled The Coffee Shop and available now.  Her journey to publication is as interesting and unconventional as she is.  Please enjoy meeting my friend, the author Lauren Hunter.



1.   How long have you been writing?
Let's see . . . since grade one when they mademe. Okay, all joking aside, I'm not really joking. In grade school we would berequired to write a story every week. I remember in grade four the teacherwould always read my story out to the class. I have no idea why she alwaysliked mine. *shrugs* I do recall this boy saying out loud, for the entire classto hear: 'Not again!' The fact that my teachers chose my poems and stories toread out led me to think they must be okay, if the teacher thinks so. So Ialways had the idea in the back of my head, way back there where it echoes. Butwhen all other avenues of career never seemed to pan out, I eventually cameback to the idea of writing novels. I worked on my first story, on an off, overthe years. Did finish it. Did it long hand. God! The idea of transferring itover to the computer . . . Just occurred to me I can't finish this question asthe answer overlaps other questions here. God, as I write this I have been upfor 26 hours, and when I do that I keep forgetting my mom is dead. For thebriefest of moments everything feels good, and normal, and right, and then Iremember, and it all feels wrong again. But I digress . . . I do that a lot.
2.   Are you published and if so, how long have youbeen a published author?  If not, what's your plan?
At present I have five novels, a Regencytrilogy, a paranormal romance, a science fiction, and one horror short story,accepted for publication. But nothing has been released yet. And yes, you didread those correctly. And yes I can't make up my frickin' mind as to whichgenre to write in. My ideas are going off in so many directions that it's all Ican do to keep up. If I'm not careful I'll wind up leaving myself behind. Iguess I should mention these are all with ebook publishers. At present I willcontinue to submit to ebook publishers.
3.   Which route did you choose for becomingpublished, the traditional route, with an agent, the "indie" route, goingdirectly to the publishers yourself, or deciding to self-publish?
I considered the pros and cons of agents. Theywill polish your work so your best foot is put forward, they will get your mss.to publishers that won't accept unagented (is that a word?) material, they willget your ms. to the editor to actually look at, or at least increase your oddsof being read by an editor. But they may have many clients, so just how muchtime can they devote to you, just one of many authors at their agency, and thenthere is the percent they take, obviously a trade off for all described above.Then again, finding a good one, that actually knows what they are doing, andworks hard for you. So, I just went the other route. I read a bookabout how to be your own agent, and then went to the library and signed out theWriter's Market for this year. I carefully read through all the publishers inmy genre, made a list, and put it in order of choice. And then started sendingoff my submissions as per their guidelines.
4.   How long did it take you to write your firstnovel?
The VERY first one I worked on it on and offfor years. I then wrote my 120K (it's now 115K after a revision) sci-fi in fourweeks. My first Regency took longer than that, can't remember how long. Mysecond took about six weeks. But the last two, my 50K third regency, took justunder a month, and my 85K paranormal romance, was written in 19 days. Andyou're wondering why the heck I am telling you about all the others, when thequestion was for just the first? Because this is my interview, and I want to!*holds breath and stomps foot* I guess what I am saying is, I am shocked I wasable to write those last two books at all. I had just started the third Regencyromance when my mom died while on vacation. After that I didn't think I couldwrite, but I buried myself in it. As long as I was writing, I wasn't thinkingabout it.
5.   How long did it take you to publish it?
I haven't tried to get the first one publishedyet. I was sending the sci-fi out to prospective publishers and then tworomances at the same time.
6.   How many times did it get rejected before itgot published?
The sci-fi . . . sent to three big namepublishers. The first one wasn't interested but asked to see other work, I'mpretty sure they say that to everyone. The next one, never heard back from them.Does that count as a rejection? They must have lost it. I did send them anemail, but they never responded to that either. The third, that I will remarkon in worst rejection. After that I sent to three at the same time, with oneaccepting. BUT my romance got picked up first. I sent to a long list ofpublishers that accepted simultaneous submissions, and within a few hours Ireceived a request to see the full ms. Then in 9 days it was accepted.
7.   Describe your worst rejection letter.
I had just started a medieval fantasy, had justfinished the research and was nicely fleshing out this chapter right in themiddle, don't know why I started in the middle, when I received this letter, Iwon't say who from, but anyone that has received one from them will recognizeit. It stated that, and it is burned into my memory for life, in order topublish a first time author their work has to be truly exceptional, and thisisn't. Yep, you are probably thinking now what I was thinking then. Readingthose words killed all creativity in me and I instantly stopped writing, anddidn't write for years after that. There was no reason for them to say that inthe way that they did. They could have said, we're not interested, or thisisn't what we are looking for just now, or we are going to pass, or somethinglike that. Yes I would have been disappointed, but I would have shrugged it offand kept on. But this? This got unnecessarily personal and nasty. Also, I don'tneed to hear what 'they' think is wrong with it. I am not going to completelyrewrite my story to suit someone else's idea of how it should be. That would nolonger be 'my' story. It would be their version of my story. So I figured Iwould just keep sending it until someone liked it the way 'I' wrote it. Yep, Iam digressing again . . . hang me up by my thumbs!
8.   Describe the best news you ever got in yourwriting life and how it felt.
I have had numerous poems published andreceived an editor's choice award, and was asked to submit a poem forpublications several times. But I would have to say that receiving my firstacceptance for one of my novels would have to be it. It was like, am I readingthis correctly? They actually liked it? And want to publish it? That is afeeling only another author can understand. That I can only experience thatonce . . . *sighs and smiles*
9. What's theworst piece of advice you ever got?
      I better notsay, because they might be reading this. *looks over shoulder*
10. Now, tell usthe best.
     During thatperiod, when my creativity was killed (and I know there are people out therethat will say, that is part of this business, get over it and move on, whydon't ya?!)  my mom was constantlyencouraging me to go back to writing. That she is not here to experience thiswith me now, pains me profoundly. That I cannot share all aspects of this withher, for her to see my first book come out. I had written a dedication to herand my dad in my first regency. It was to be a surprise, thanking them fortheir encouragement and for believing in me. I never told her about it. When Isat at her bedside, while she lay dying, I did tell her. I can only hope sheheard me.
11. What's theone thing you would want an aspiring writer to take away from your personalpath to publication?
I think this has been voiced by others already.Never give up. You will probably get rejections, and they will hurt. Hopefully,you will be able to brush yourself off and keep on going.
Reach Lauren here:  http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurenHunterMusa Link:  http://www.musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=18 My Blog:  http://laurenhunter-1.blogspot.com/  The Coffee ShopParanormal RomanceComing October 14, 2011, underthe Thalia imprint from Musa Publishing
From the moment Derrick Sloane andAnnie Maddock met there was an instant connection. They date for five months,growing closer every day.Only Derrick wakes up to discoverthe entire five month relationship was nothing more than a dream. Or was it?For when he goes to the coffee shop who should be there but Annie, just as inhis dream. Derrick soon realizes he was seeing a relationship withAnnie five months into the future. That night the dream continues right whereit left off, five months in the future, but his meeting with Annie thatday has altered the timeline. Every day he spends with Annie, he continues toalter the timeline of his future. Although Derrick tries desperately to puteverything back to the way it was in his dream, every attempt just makes itworse. 
And when he is shown two alternatetimelines, he must now make the most difficult decision of his life.
Lauren is always pleased to meet new fans and to help and assist new authors....I should know.  I'm one of those new authors she befriended!  Get in contact with her via facebook or over at her blog.  You'll be making a friend for life!  Just be prepared to be stunned by her energy....the woman has bucketloads!
MORE BOOKS COMING SOON
Regency Trilogy
From a Distance   ComingNov. 18, 2011 under the Aurora imprint from Musa PublishingSarah's Story   ComingSoon under the Aurora imprint from Musa PublishingMine Own Heart   ComingSoon under the Aurora imprint from Musa Publishing
Horror Short StoryLaura by E. H. James Coming soonunder the Urania imprint from Musa Publishing
Told you!

Hi, my name is Samantha and I'm a TV-aholic

So, I am back in the saddle again.  As of this evening, I am editing the second book in the Spellbound series.  I have just sent off the first three chapters for Everspell to my editor.  Of course, she has been waiting for them for a week.  (Sorry, Kate)  But my new schedule has been a little brutal for me and has taken some getting used to.  One thing it has done is allowed me to redevelop an appreciation for quality time that does not include watching television.


For instance, tonight my kids and I watched a movie together, something we haven't done in well over two weeks.  Actually, I haven't even watched television in that long.  Which is a bit of an amazing thing in and of itself.  I used to be able to tell what day it was by what was on tv and now I can't even remember what I was missing.  I mean, I still remember the names of the programs, but it seems I don't miss them as much as I thought I would.


It doesn't take away from them at all.  I still believe that contrary to popular belief, there is some real quality broadcasting out there.  Shows like The Good Wife and Harry's Law and Prime Suspect, and any of the Law and Orders, natch, I always found well-written, well-acted, and enjoyable to the point that I was mostly unable to figure out the plot BEFORE the first commercial, unlike most sitcoms where I mostly feel I can figure it out, and, if I'm being honest, could probably write a better script.  


That being said, I must also confess this:  I love American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, and Dancing With The Stars as well.  I was a reality show junkie.  But it seems I may have accidentally kicked the habit.


Oh, I may relapse.  I admit, I did sneak in a half hour of Toddlers and Tiaras this afternoon because I was bored and had the time.  And also, every so often I just need to see a three year old named Diamond or Alaska wearing a dress that costs roughly the same as my mini-van.  But that's just me.  I'm sure I'll shake the need in time.  Right?

My Own Experience with Aspen Mountain Press

I am a published author of YA paranormal romances.  When I wrote a middle grade horror novel, I had no place to submit it.  It's an odd duck, really.  Besides the Goosebumps series, the well-known and beloved books by R.L. Stine, horror is not a genre generally associated in the middle grade level.  Then I stumbled upon Aspen Mountain Press.  I was thrilled when I learned they were about to launch a new imprint specifically for speculative fiction.  I queried and Celina Summers requested the full.  


On July 11, 2011 I received the exciting email from Celina that AMP wanted to publish my work, The Detention Demon, and if I accepted, the release date would be October 3, 2011.  I was invited to the author site, advised I would be assigned an editor and artist right away, and a contract was attached for me to read and sign.  I read it over, acknowledged in the author signature line and mailed it back.  I was going to be an AMP author under the Aura Speculative Fiction imprint.  I was excited and impressed with how professional it was moving forward.


On August 5, 2011, I received a group email from Celina Summers explaining there had been an "incompatibility" between the "planned direction" and the "business practices" between what we authors now refer to the Fab four, Celina Summers, Dominique Eastwick, Kerry Mand and Kelly Shorten, and the publisher, Sandra Hicks and they were resigning, en masse.  We did not know then what a nightmare that would mean for us now.


We have been enlightened.


Even as the publisher began to trot out all manner of excuse for her actions; depression, personal family problems, abandonment, you name it, the company, which had been left in perfect operating condition by the Fab Four, began a sickening slide to disaster and implosion....destruction from the inside out.  And slowly, we became more and more enlightened as Celina Summers, sickened by half-truths and out-and-out lies and bastardizations of the truth, finally broke her long-suffering silence.


Here is what we, the pawns, have learned:


We know now that company funds have been co-mingled with Sandra Hicks' personal funds, illegally.  We know that she has not issued statements or paid royalties for months on end, in some cases, several quarters worth, illegally.  We know that she is selling books on her website and third party websites that she has no right to and/or are out of contract, illegally.  We know that dozens of authors have requested, even demanded the rights back to one, two, seven, nine or more of their own intellectual property and have been ignored, illegally.  And finally, we know that she thinks she is the victim in all of this, even as she continues to victimize each and everyone of us, if not illegally, then at least immorally.


Of course, my book was never released.  The imprint, Aura Speculative Fiction, never launched.  Authors are actively having their OWN books removed from third party sites and one brave author, Charles Wells, even got AMAZON to comply, the mother of all sites.  He also got the AMP site shut down.  Which lasted for one hour.  Because amazingly, Sandra Hicks was able to shake her debilitating depression to rally enough strength to get the site running again in RECORD TIME FOR A PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED PERSON.  Really, she is to be commended.  Hear, hear.


At the end of the day, Sandra Hicks is stealing from authors who now want nothing more to do with her or Aspen Mountain Press and likely rue the day they ever heard of the damn house.  If she has any sense at all, she will do the following, before she is arrested and handcuffed at her home for felony fraud:

Release every single author who demands their rights back for every single book they requested.Pay CURRENT every single royalty she owes.Allow and PAY FOR an independent audit of the last 36 months of AMP's operationsTake down every single title from every single 3rd party site within a PRESCRIBED period of timeSign a statement agreeing to NEVER be involved in the publishing industry EVER again.Number Five is my personal favorite.  If that judge in Prescott, AZ can get his inmates to wear pink striped prison uniforms, then we should be able to get number five.  Thanks for listening.
Samantha Combs

The Truth About Aspen Mountain Press

I thought we'd all wonder about what really happened at Aspen Mountain Press in the same way we wonder what really happened in the last hour of Marilyn Monroe's life, or where Jimmy Hoffa is buried, or how we speculate if there really is an Area 51.  In other words, I thought that this would simply become just another story of tragic implosion and devastation, with so much conjecture and gossip that it would become one of those legendary industry stories that after a time would almost become infamous, each retelling more outlandish than the least.

Until today.

Today, the former head editor and person best positioned to tell the true story, the actual truth, did just that.  Celina Summers, who knows where all the bodies are buried, so to speak, dug them all up and spread them out for all the world to see.  And what we saw was ugly.  And fraudulent.  And illegal.  And so, so, so, much worse than we authors trapped at AMP wanted to think.  I can do no better justice to this ever-developing story than to direct you to the words of Celina Summers herself, on her own blog, posted today.  She has said it far better than any other person could have or rather, should have.  I give you, Celina Summers:


Breaking My Silence on Aspen Mountain PressOriginally, I'd planned to write a completely different blog post from the one I am now putting out there.  I was going to trace the history I have with Aspen Mountain Press and the disintegration of the business, ending with how and why the senior staff all walked out at the end of July.  But after a very disturbing post by AMP's owner, Sandra Hicks, on the AMP Authors yahoo loop this morning—a loop I and other authors to whom AMP owes a lot of money were banned from because we were too outspoken—I think it's better to just cut to the chase and then to go through some of her responses.  I believe it's essential that what is happening at AMP is brought fully into perspective.   And, since I have kept every email correspondence, every royalties report from AMP and third party sites, and chat transcripts of every staff meeting with Ms. Hicks this summer, I'm in a unique position.
I'm one of the few people in the world who knows exactly what happened to AMP and has the documentation to prove it.
The disaster at AMP was a drawn-out affair, one that several people tried to address.  At this time last year, Lori Basiewicz was the managing editor of AMP and I was the head editor and solely in charge of the Aurora Regency imprints—a line I'd built and worked on myself.
My first indication that anything was wrong came when one of my authors at Aurora Regency—a writer who was in my writing group, who was a dear friend, who was someone whose integrity I trusted absolutely—wrote to me in concern because she hadn't received her royalties.  Lori and I struggled to find out what was going on, pleading with Ms. Hicks to address the problems with royalties that were starting to build up with our authors. None of the authors received regular royalty statements after August of 2010, so there was no way to determine if they sold any books or if there was an oversight.  This was resulting in an atmosphere of serious distrust—an atmosphere Lori and I bore the brunt of because Ms. Hicks wasn't answering any emails.  Eventually, last March, Lori couldn't take the lack of communication anymore.  She resigned, and I was the only visible face for the management of AMP.
To be perfectly fair and up front, Ms. Hicks WAS dealing with several physical ailments that rendered her unable to maintain the day to day activities of a publishing house. That is not in question and never has been. 
I'd been scheduled for serious surgery, one with a recovery time that was long enough that I knew I needed to make arrangements for the operation of Aurora Regency in my absence.  So, I emailed the owner, Sandra Hicks, and held off scheduling my surgery until we had agreed upon how Aurora Regency would be handed in my absence.  When over a week had passed with no response from Ms. Hicks, I got angry and sent an email to her, forwarding the message to the entire senior staff.  Here's part of it, from June 19, 2011:

Because of your inattention, you have lost staff, authors and books. And the flood is not only continuing, but growing rapidly. As a result, my income is going to drop substantially. I've lost three authors and their books in two months--*author names removed*. All three of them have devout followings and readerships. AMP can't afford the loss of any authors or books, particularly since Aurora is now responsible for roughly half of AMP's releases which was not the intended purpose of the line. I wasn't supposed to have to carry the release schedule.

As a result, here's what I expect to happen during my three months' absence, which is now effective immediately. I expect my royalties paid on time every month, both as a writer and a editor. I expect statements with those royalties so I know what I'm being paid for. I expect the Aurora releases to come out on time and in good shape, for my authors to get copies of their books upon release and for THEM to get their royalties on time and with royalty statements. If, for any reason, these conditions are not met, my leave of absence will become permanent. I will not return to a big old mess. 

I've come to the conclusion that the only way you're going to bestir yourself enough to care about AMP and its writers, editors and staff is to return to the days when you have to do it all yourself. And the fact you didn't even respond to an email as important as the first one I sent is insulting.

I demanded these things because they hadn't been happening at AMP for some time.  That email got the rest of the senior staff involved—involved to the point that Kelly Shorten, our art director, telephoned Ms. Hicks who was in a panic.  The result of that conversation was that Ms. Hicks would immediately turn over running of the company to the senior staff, that a qualified bookkeeper would be brought in to straighten out the mess of AMP royalties, and that we would have the power to do whatever it took to bring the company back. We also made a pact among ourselves, the four of us: if, for any reason, we found something that would make us consider quitting, we would all quit.  We would not enable Ms. Hicks any further. We were staying for the authors, to make sure they were paid what they were supposed to be paid on books that went out well-edited and packaged, on the scheduled release date and uploaded to third party sites. I personally would get as much done editorially as possible and stabilize the company, so that I could have my surgery and be reassured that the company wouldn't go under due to no management in my absence.
What we discovered when we took over was a nightmare: 
Hundreds of emails in all the AMP accounts, gone unanswered and unopened from authors and staff.  The customer service email account alone had over 500 unanswered emails over the previous eight months.  That took two people working eight hours to resolve—and in the process, we discovered a frighteningly large number of AMP books that had serious formatting problems for a long time.
Authors who were contracted and never heard back from the company, leaving their books unpublished and their rights tied up.  I found books from two years previously that were still stranded by AMP, the authors begging to just get a response from somebody…anybody.
The royalties were such a mess that the bookkeeper, Kerry Mand, elected to concentrate on just getting that month's royalties out and working on some of the most pressing cases before working backwards through the books and auditing a year's worth of royalty spreadsheets and reports--a course of action I agreed with.  We discovered that in previous months, only portions of the royalties had been paid at any given time.
Two weeks from the time that we took over, the only releases scheduled at AMP were Aurora Regency books—books that I was personally handling and scheduling.  Nothing else.  The last scheduled AMP book for release was on July 18.  The rest was all Aurora Regencies and one Christmas title at AMP, scheduled by Lori before she left.
The submissions account had not been opened since Lori had resigned three months prior.  I went through all those submissions and answered every single one since March of 2011, even connecting with authors who'd been contracted before Lori was the managing editor and forgotten.  I got all those lost books on the release schedule and to editors, who I hired.  The books were edited, proofed by me and uploaded to a special file where ready-to-be-published books were kept. 
Yep. Everything was an absolute nightmare. We worked seven days a week, up to twenty hours a day. And we made positive changes to AMP.  We got over a year's worth of books uploaded to the third party sites.  We updated and improved the website.  We planned and scheduled a new imprint for only speculative fiction.  We created new emails for author concerns and staff concerns, keeping those emails out of the submissions account.  We developed a policy between the four of us that NO email at AMP would remain unanswered for longer than six hours.  We released a chunk of authors who'd been trying to get their rights back in the previous months.  The owner initially balked at that but I pointed out that unhappy authors would be detrimental to what we trying to build and eventually, reluctantly, she agreed. I got all the contracted books on the release schedule and to editors, who I hired.  The books were edited, proofed by me and uploaded to a special file where ready-to-be-published books were kept. 
We scheduled AMP through the end of the year, with multiple releases each week—and many of those books were the ones that had dropped through the cracks.
After a couple of weeks, things were starting to look up. The authors were happy again, beginning to believe in AMP once more.  And in that first month of our leadership at AMP, we posted a huge increase in sales.
But as Kerry got further into the royalties at AMP, the more concerned we all became.  The art director and bookkeeper asked for—and were empowered to use—the AMP Paypal  and bank accounts. All four of us were working with those accounts and past royalty spreadsheets so we could try to match payments to sales. In other words, to make sure all the authors were paid for every single book sale.
Kerry had managed to get the royalties done ahead of schedule, and sent the royalties to Ms. Hicks to pay.  On July 15th, we were all so relieved.  The royalties were done and the authors would be paid on time.  But by the 18th, we started to get a lot of emails: the publisher didn't pay the darn royalties!  AMP paid only a few authors and then stopped.  So I emailed the owner. No answer. I called her. No answer.  I texted her. 
Finally, she responded.  When I asked her why the royalties hadn't been paid, she said that to her knowledge, they all had been.  We were online IN the bank account and Paypal, trying to match authors (and pen names) to amounts to see who'd went unpaid. And as I asked her about a specific author, we watched the payment go out from that account. Then she texted me back each time and said that I was mistaken, that author had been paid.
Up until that moment, I believed that all the problems at AMP were unintentional, and that there wasn't a chance of dishonesty on the part of the owner.  But that, when considered along with everything else, made me suspicious for the first time.  After that, we couldn't believe Ms. Hicks when she told us she'd paid for something. So we began to monitor the bank account.  It was essential that we knew what the financial situation of the company was before we did or said anything to the authors about their royalties.  We'd taken over and were so proud of the fact that the royalties were done—and correctly—and then the payments weren't made, which made us look like we were incompetent.  It was then that we starting noticing some peculiar activities in the AMP bank account.
The owner was using the business's bank account for personal expenses. 
Kerry worked backwards through the bank accounts and spreadsheets, arriving at the amount of back royalties an author was owed, the owner would go behind our backs and tell the author that WE were wrong and the author had already been paid most of that amount.
In the meantime, we were seeing these personal expenses—for food, souvenirs, car payments, doctors visits—coming out of the AMP account.  We decided to confront the owner about this in our weekly Skype conference—a system I preferred to use because we could keep transcripts.  When we pleaded with the owner to separate her personal expenses from the company's, to set up a monthly draw account that would be a percentage of profits—so that we wouldn't have the appearance of impropriety—she refused.  She also implied that we had used her Paypal account without her knowledge to pay a long overdue bill for advertising—when we'd mentioned multiple times during that conversation that we were doing so AT THE TIME. REAL time.
We were all so angry at that time that Dominique suggested we stop the meeting, take a deep breath, think things through and meet again the following day when everyone was calmer. 
Unfortunately, even though we tried, the owner would not budge.  She apologized for what happened the day before, assuring us that she didn't mean to question our use of the Paypal account to pay an advertising bill as dishonest or inappropriate.  But she wouldn't budge off the personal expenses. She said the income of AMP was too irregular to establish a draw account for a percentage of the income. 
At that point, I made an offer to buy AMP. She replied that she wouldn't sell for less than a quarter of a million dollars.  I tried to purchase the two imprints I'd built—the Aurora Regency line that was nearly a year old and the Aura speculative fiction line that was scheduled to launch in October.  She refused.  So there was nothing left to do but announce our resignation from AMP to the authors, turn over everything we'd done to AMP, and leave.
As a result of all this, we decided to open our own publishing house, Musa Publishing, where we would address all the issues we had with AMP in advance. Ms. Hicks had assured us she was going to close AMP because we had left, so we wanted to create a haven for AMP authors—a house where their books could be reissued as soon as possible.
Once we'd left and were building Musa as fast as we could, Ms. Hicks contacted me again to offer me the chance to buy the Aurora Regency imprint and AMP.  We agreed on Aurora and she dropped the price for AMP down to a more realistic but still high number.  The four of us discussed the amount and refused the offer.  We had put our financial resources into Musa and couldn't afford to take on AMP with all the lingering problems there.  She then offered to sell us individual contracts/books.  So we considered it, added up the amount of back pay and royalties AMP owed us, and offered an exchange: we would forgive our entire back salary and all my future earnings as an editor who'd done 75% of the books released by AMP the previous year in exchange for approximately 65 book contracts.  Our plan was to immediately release those authors from their contracts.  We would offer contracts to Musa to each author—an offer they were not obligated to take.  The four of us thought it was worth forgiving the money owed to us in order to free as many authors/books as we could.
But as soon as Ms. Hicks  received our check for the Aurora Regency imprint, she abruptly decided against the deal we'd been working for the individual contracts—a deal that was HER initial plan. She cashed our check for AR immediately, and then proceeded to breach the remainder of the contract.  The website was not turned over by the agreed-upon date. The books were not removed from the third party sites; we ended up doing that ourselves.  Aside from the communications with us, which she terminated as soon as she got some money, she made very few attempts to communicate with the authors in her company.
Until today.
Today, Ms. Hicks finally answered a post on the AMP Authors loop from a stranded AMP author—an author I contracted as managing editor, an author who has no editor, no cover art, no publication, and has had no answers.  His post--minus his name—and Ms. Hicks' replies are below. My comments are in between each section.
.

 Author) Do you intend returning answering queries, letters etc? What is the time
span involved so we know when to expect an answer from you?

 Ms. Hicks) In all fairness, I can't tell you what sort of time frame to expect an answer
in, except to say that I am working on them. It takes time to respond to
THREATS such as the one Wells made and take care of other business matters AND
attend to my health needs and the work that must be done in raising my son
alone.

The *threat* Ms. Hicks is referring to occurred when the author in question, Charles Wells, served a DMCA notice to the domain host and the AMP website was taken down temporarily.  The website that, by the way, AMP has not paid the designer for. AMP authors have served similar notices to AMP's third party distributors.  AMP books are coming or have come down at many online retailers, particularly the large number of out-of-contract books that up until now, AMP has not removed from their home website or third party retailers despite numerous attempts by the affected authors.

 Author) Do you intend returning rights to authors who have asked for them? 

Ms. Hicks) Not in all cases. All who've asked will be getting a personalized letter from
me through the mail system explaining what I am deciding and why.

A personalized letter through the mail system would have to go through her post office box, where scores of unaccepted registered letters and snail mailed demands to take out of contract books off the AMP sites or notices of breach of contracts have been accumulating dust and not been answered. That address is a Mailboxes storefront a few blocks, I understand, from the owner's home. 

Author) If YES,when can we expect to have the documentation? 

 Ms. Hicks) When I get to the requests, I am writing a letter and mailing it to the authors.

Author)  If NO, can you please use this Loop to advise who yes and who not? If NO, can
you please explain why you intend holding on to authors that have lost faith in
AMP? 

 Ms. Hicks) Losing faith in a company does not void a contract. Any business matters are
between the author and AMP. If the author wishes to make those matters public,
they will. I won't violate their privacy in that way. It is their own
decision. 

Additionally, I'd like to tell the members here that this is not a business
MEETING loop. I've posted a few announcements in the past, and participated in
some general chat, but I don't use this for meeting purposes.

"Losing faith in a company does not void a contract."  And yet, let's take a look at the breaches of contract all AMP authors are experiencing.  Unpaid royalties. No royalty statements. No books published in nine weeks and only two since the end of July—and they were late. A website that is out of date (and not paid for). No web presence, since one needs to actually participate in conversations to be considered a presence.  No response to emails, snail mailed letters or registered letters.  Out of contract books still being sold at AMP and on third party sites while the authors don't get paid for them.  No editors. No art staff. No signature pages signed by the publisher for contracts. 
Those things DO void a contract.
And after months of not responding to communications by email, text, phone call, or certified letter, why wouldn't the authors bring up issues regarding the publisher at a Yahoo loop designed by the company to discuss issues within the publisher? 

Author) Do you intend paying royalties AND supplying sales statements in toto as per the contract? When can those owed money expect to be paid? 

Ms. Hicks) Yes, I will be paying royalties and statements, but as of the moment they are on
the back burner as I deal with all the other threats to the company, and the
requests to relinquish contracts.

*bolding mine*
Wait a second—paying royalties that will be three months past due on October 15th is on the back burner because of threats to the company and all the reversion of rights letters?  So what Ms. Hicks is saying here is that as long as the AMP authors are in active rebellion against her, she will continue to NOT pay royalties. Paying authors and staff the money due them should be the TOP PRIORITY here, regardless of whether the author/staff member is speaking publicly about what happened as AMP.  She's holding authors' money hostage, the same way she's holding their books hostage, until they shut up and sit down.
That's my take on the situation, at least. I could be wrong. If someone can put a different interpretation on this for me, please do.

Author) Do you intend removing out of contract books from the AMP web site and
within what time frame? Bear in mind many third party sites have already done so
on request from authors who have provided documentary evidence of the end of
contract... 

 Ms. Hicks) Yes, but again, I can't provide an exact time frame. Interestingly enough, some
of the authors who have sort of provided evidence have also negatively affected
authors that wish to remain with AMP. Any of the threats that are coming from
in force contracts can cause issues for the authors. This especially is true in
light of the clause to redress breaches. A scanned copy of the clause with the
authors signature eliminates the DRM violation claims.

What authors wish to remain published by a company that doesn't pay them royalties? I'd like about a hundred of those--with bestselling books of course--to submit to me.  
Smart comments and pipe dreams aside, the clause in the AMP contract to redress breaches reads as follows:
A). Breach of Contract If either party breaches this Agreement, the non-breaching party shall provide written notice by certified mail to the breaching party of the alleged breach.
Upon receipt of such notice, the breaching party shall have ninety (90) days to cure.  At the expiration of such ninety (90) day period, upon failure to cure, this Agreement shall terminate, except as otherwise provided herein or otherwise agreed in writing by both parties hereto.

 Author) Do you intend continuing business with AMP? 

Ms. Hicks) Yes. I put a lot of love and time into AMP. Am I ill? Yes. Is AMP ill, yes.
This situation has certainly given me a load of things to consider. What if I'd
had a heart attack or ended up in a coma? I have to develop a system to provide
back up for such scenarios.

She used to have a staff to provide back up for such scenarios—a staff that resigned en masse when she refused to remove her personal expenses from the company's. And now, it's going to be very hard to find a new staff when the old staff is owed thousands of dollars in back and future pay.  Why would anyone think that AMP would pay a new staff when they don't pay the old one or the authors? And, to be honest, the other staff members and myself were the ones carrying the load of AMP for a year before our resignation.  Lori Basiewicz, the managing editor before me, and I were carrying on without guidance or even assistance from Ms. Hicks for months. We weren't doing that for her, but for the authors who were relying on AMP's integrity with their intellectual property and income.

Also, let's be perfectly frank here.  Ms. Hicks hasn't had a heart attack or a stroke. Her health permitted her to make this statement today without any trouble or turmoil.  Her health permitted her to drive to the bank and cash a check. Her health permits her to do many, many things--but not, apparently, to answer an email, cut a check, type out a royalty statement, or anything that might benefit her authors and staff.

Author)  If Yes, please state when we can expend within what time frame it will do so
and also do you intend doing so with authors who no longer wish to be identifies
with it? 

Ms. Hicks) The first thing I am doing is reading and responding to authors. Each is
individual, case-by-case. Just because some authors no longer wish to be
identified with AMP does not negate their contracts. I and I alone will make
that decision, on a case-by-case basis as I look to the future.

What negates their contracts is months without royalties.  And when the author sends the registered letter as specified in the AMP contract, the publisher evades activating that 90 day period by refusing to accept the certified letters.

Also, these complaints have been ongoing for over a year. Is she saying that in all that time, she is only NOW reading authors' emails?  

Author) If NO, when can we expect the return of rights letters, payments, etc, that
will avoid legal action on the part of those owed money? 

 Ms. Hicks) As stated before it is one thing at a time. Having been an author, I know the
return of my intellectual property is more important than anything else. That
said, I would seriously consider how much attorney fees cost and weigh them
against what I believe I'm owed. Aspen has the money to pay its authors, but
being one person at this time, I have made the decision to handle the rights
requests first.

*bolding mine*
In other words, Ms. Hicks is threatening the authors, implying that it would be more expensive and a more lengthy process to force AMP to pay royalties than it would be to just shut up and not make too much noise about this, and that since they're complaining she's just going to work on the rights issues on a case by case basis, therefore delaying any attempts to pay the royalties. Aspen Mountain Press probably does have the money to pay its authors, seeing as second quarter royalties from the third party sites were just paid out.  She is electing, however, to ignore those royalties as a punishment for bad behavior.
And as an author who knows the return of intellectual property is more important than anything else, AMP's owner, who suffered as an author from the Triskelion debacle, is proving stubbornly resistant to returning anyone's intellectual property despite the numerous and egregious breaches AMP has committed on every single contract in the past 14 months. 

Author)  At this stage I think these are the main themes authors are worried about and
I  ask, on behalf of all of them to give answers as soon as possible. 

 While we all know about your personal problems and many have wished you the
best for them. You should also be aware that this situation have caused all of us to suffer anziety(sic), depression, and other problems caused by stress. Do you truly believe that it is fair, or worse still, legally defendable refusing to face up to this situation?
  

Ms. Hicks) Actually, yes, it is defendable as I have sought documented treatment for my medical issues as well as the depression. It is not a refusal to face the
situation, it is an inability due to depression. And for those that are
suffering anxiety, and depression, then I would surely expect them to be more
compassionate of the anxiety and depression I am suffering. Do I believe it is
fair? Of course not. I don't believe it is fair for a person to suffer cancer,
lose a loved one, get laid off from a job they've worked at for 20 years. Some
thing just have to be handled one thing at a time, one day at a time. Seems tome like there was a boatload of people who got paid just last month (and no,they did not get their statements, they are sitting in my flash drive) And as a clarification to many of you, right or wrong, I made the decision that it was better you got your money than the statement. Cutting the checks actually took less time than attaching the document and emailing it individually. Now, that said, some of you think I owe you money that I actually
did pay--you did not cash your checks. There is ample proof of that in the bank account. Will I send statements? Yes. When, not until I can get people paid.
  

Have I not answered emails? Yes. Why? Bad news upon bad news only deepens depression, doesn't help it at all. For those who have known me since the very early days of our writing careers and the beginning of this company, you knowthat I don't speak ill of others, and that I haven't treated you badly. Am I coming out of this? With professional help. I don't know what sort of time frame to expect for that either. Some days are better than others. Right now I've upped my work quotient to about 2 hours a day. Upped. Is that great...depends where you are. Right now for me it is-two years ago-I was
putting in twelve to fourteen hours a day and editing as well. I was also writing. Now compared to then? Bad. Perspective has a lot of power. 

 Even answering this post has zapped a lot of the energy I had for the day. Again, to all of you who've put in requests, watch the mail. You are getting signed hard copies related to your requests.

*bolding is all mine—not the author's or Ms. Hicks*
When I was sent this post this morning by multiple authors, I literally felt ill. Ms. Hicks actually thinks that she is in the right!  That NOT paying authors and staff is defensible! That a 'boatload' of people got paid just last month! 
That two hours is day is somehow work, when a few months ago AMP had people working 16-20 hours a day to try to save the company.
That due to her personal illness and her documentation of treatment, she has a legal defense NOT TO PAY THE AUTHORS TO WHOM SHE OWES MONEY?  I've never heard of a court anywhere that lets a contract employer refuse to pay people who have fulfilled their end of a contract because the employer is ill. Never.  And usually, if a legal entity like a company refuses to or cannot pay its employees, the doors are shut and all contracts are immediately terminated.  If I'm incorrect, I'd love to see a post from an attorney pointing out where my logic is wrong.
In the end, I don't know who got paid; I know who DIDN'T get paid—I know I didn't: either my regular author royalties, my editor royalties, my percentage of sales for Aurora Regency or my percentage of sales for my role as the AMP managing editor.  I know that Kelly Shorten, the web designer and art director, did not get paid the back salary and contracted labor (website building, maintenance and design, the database, shopping cart system) AMP owes her. Not a dime, when it's impossible to run on online business without those things—things AMP is still using even now I know that Kerry Mand, the bookkeeper we brought in to fix the AMP accounting didn't get paid the hundreds dollars AMP owes her.  I know that Dominique Eastwick didn't get paid the full amount of money owed to her for promotions, formatting and uploading books to third party sites. 
And yet, when our company bought the Aurora Regency imprints, we paid immediately. And Ms. Hicks was certainly well enough at that time to drive immediately to her bank and cash that check, but was not well enough to fulfill the remainder of the contract OR to pay any of us some of the thousands of dollars she owes us.
This is what I know.
There may be some authors who got paid; I can't say that they didn't.  But I know for a FACT that the authors who have been the most vocal about AMP issues have not been paid. Not a penny.  Not since the royalties the senior staff sent out when we were running AMP. These are the same people Ms. Hicks banned from the company yahoo loop along with me, people who were unwilling to keep quiet about the  concern they felt for their books, their publications schedules, and their money.
In the end, the senior staff left AMP because we could not have our names and reputations associated with a publisher who put her personal needs above the needs of her authors and staff, who thinks it's acceptable to contract books and then either not publish them or not pay the author royalties on those sales, who believes that somehow SHE is the victim here and not the scores of people who've been left without income, who thinks that just by ignoring emails, phone calls and registered letters everything will just go away.
This publisher, once a leading ebook house with an owner/publisher whose integrity was accepted without question, the selfsame publisher who is now holding books and authors alike hostage, threatening to continue to NOT pay them if they speak out publicly against AMP because her two hours of work a day will be spent dealing with threats to the company.
To recap: I became suspicious when an author who I recruited and brought to Aurora Regency emailed me that she had never received a royalty check from AMP for her (at that time) two books. I knew that was wrong because I, who did the editor royalties, knew she'd had sales every single month.  Lori Basiewicz, the previous managing editor, begged and pleaded with the owner to rectify the situation. Ms. Hicks wouldn't, and Lori quit.  Three months later, the senior staff was empowered to bring AMP back to the good, strong publisher it originally was.  That lasted for a couple of months before we felt it was too dangerous and legally ruinous to continue to work for a company that in our opinion, was at the very least guilty of neglect and at the most possibly guilty of fiscal malfeasance.  And now we find ourselves in the position of watching as a once-respected publisher flat out refuses to pay her authors and staff the money she owes them from the royalties AMP books earned, money that—at the time we left at least—was being used as the publisher's personal income for private expenses.
I once said on this blog that I would never discuss the reasons the senior staff resigned at Aspen Mountain Press.  Now I have to consider that one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made.  But I—and the other staffers who left—had hopes that the publisher would do the right thing: reverting all rights to the authors, paying out the royalties due, and closing up shop.  In fact, we were told that was what would happen at our last meeting at AMP, the same meeting where we were told she would not sell AMP for less than two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
I have empathized with Ms. Hicks's personal situation. For a long time, I protected her because of it.  In other words, I enabled her to do exactly what she is doing right now.   For that, I've borne a terrible sense of responsibility when I listen to the authors at AMP and their distress and anger toward the publisher.  People are at AMP who would never have been trapped if I hadn't encouraged them to submit to MY publisher, the one publisher in the world I was certain would never cheat or deprive her authors and staff.
And while that is the story in a nutshell, there is still so much more.  As I prowl through the reams of communications and documents I amassed in my tenure at Aspen Mountain Press, I am compiling a sizable list of issues that I personally dealt with or have knowledge of.  In addition to that, I have every financial records provided to me by Ms. Hicks to do the editor royalties. And, of course, the chat transcripts where we discussed all these things.  After today's communication from Ms. Hicks, I felt that I needed to put all this down on the record as a kind of placeholder for the larger report with documentation that I am preparing.
I hope this is all unnecessary. I hope that Ms. Hicks, who meant so much to me as a friend and mentor, will still manage to do the right thing.  But I don't condone holding authors' books and royalties hostage contingent upon their good behavior.  This is business, not a preschool. My money doesn't go to timeout because I acted out. There are a lot of ugly, legal terms one could use here—terms that I'm certain will be used in multiple court cases already peeking over the horizon.
Someone asked me last week how I'd learned all that I know about the publishing industry. My reply was that I hadn't learned what to DO, but what NOT to do—and that hasn't steered me wrong so far.  So it is indeed time to break the silence on this matter, time to let the world know once and for all what's really happened at AMP in my experience, in the hopes that somehow this knowledge might help to break the hold Aspen Mountain Press and its owner currently has on its authors and staff.
So I think it's time to break the silence on this matter, time to let the world know once and for all what's really happened at AMP in my experience, in the hopes that somehow this knowledge might help to break the hold Aspen Mountain Press and its owner currently has on its authors and staff.
Today is such a sad day for me. But everything I've said in this post, I have documents to back me up. Publishers need to be held accountable for their actions.  It is time now for Aspen Mountain Press to pay what they owe.
 Give the authors their rights back.
Give the authors an internal audit of the books.
Pay the authors and staff what they are owed.
And shut the doors on a one-time great little publisher that is now the biggest cautionary tale of all.
And a special note to AMP authors, editors and staff--please post a comment on this blog detailing exactly the breaches of your contract.  Tell us the last time you were paid, the last time you got  a royalty statement. Let us know how you tried to contact Sandra Hicks, the owner of AMP, and how many times.  Let us know what she has said in response to you.  And I will continue to compile my article about Aspen Mountain Press, complete with documentation, for publication at a later date.  I also encourage you all to report Aspen Mountain Press directly to watchdog sites and blogs.  Go to Preditors and Editors, or Piers Anthony's e-publishing blog.  Absolute Write has an active thread detailing the disintegration of Aspen Mountain Press.  Go to any writers guild you belong to, like SFWA or RWA.  
It's time for you to break the silence as well.

POSTED BY CELINA SUMMERS AT 8:49 PM 

My Personal Path To Publication - Phillip Creighton

My guest today may sometimes feel as though he is the only male at my publishing house, Astraea Press.  Writer and soon to be published author, Phillip Creighton, with his first fiction novel, Nightfall, due this autumn, may often feel outnumbered as the lone testosterone-laden voice in a sea of estrogen.  In our private online forums, we often chat about those things that occupy our lives besides writing and editing, which is more often than not, babies and children, daycare and doctors, visits to schools and ERs, and those things generally germaine to us as moms, us as wives, and some of us as grandmas.  More than once a post will begin "Present company excepted, Phil," and he good-naturedly posts back "No worries" or "No problem".  Being they only guy hasn't made him any less of a valuable member of our House.  Nor did it make his path to publication any easier.  He went through the same kinds of things we all did, and has learned the same important lessons.  Lucky for us at Astraea, he came to us.  His upcoming release sounds intriguing and exciting!  Check out his personal journey.



1 - How Long have Your Been Writing? - I've been writing since I could remember. I've always had an active imagination. In Middle School I remember writing my own star wars story because I couldn't find the story I wanted to read. It turned out to be about thirty pages before I started reading mysteries and horror stories by Stephen King and HP Lovecraft.(I know weird kid right?) 
2 - Are You Published and if so, how long have you been a published author? If not, what's your plan? - I've been published in regional publications and such for my non-fiction work before but my first fiction novel, Nightfall is due out from Astraea Press this fall.
3 - Which route did you choose for becoming published, the traditional route, with an agent, the "indie" route, going directly to the publishers yourself, or deciding to self-publish? -  When I wrote my first novel I didn't think of publishing, I just kept writing. There was this story that just kept coming so I kept writing. When a number of people including my professors started singing the praises they said I should try. I had to dive in and learn about the industry. I quickly learned you couldn't touch the publishers directly(several years ago) so I started targeting agents and I had to learn about how all of that worked. I started editing my work based on the feedback I was receiving and kept pitching to agents inching ever closer until the great upheaval in the past couple years. I had a number of authors point me at certain publishers that were making great leaps for their authors. So I reached out and got positive responses from all of the publishers. 
4 - How Long did it take you to write your first novel? - I wrote it over the course of 3 months between my spring and fall semesters at the start of my Junior year in college.
5 - How long did it take you to publish it? - It took a few summers of revisions and edits and pitching. It probably would have been different if I had actually focused on it through the Fall and Spring semesters instead of giving it a break.
6 - How Many times did it get rejected before it got published? - Honestly, I probably only sent out about 40 Queries over the course of a couple years. That was more to do with my specifically targeting queries at some high profile agents than mass queries.
7 - Describe your worst rejection letter. - It was a simple rejection letter that said "Your project does not match our interests at the time." and something to the effect of.. you're not our style look elsewhere.
8 - Describe the best news you ever got in your writing life and how it felt. - It's kind of a tie. My first creative writing professor in college, Freshman year, gave an assignment to the whole class. Write a quick 3 sentence scene and read it to the whole class. When I read mine, the entire class was awestruck. The professor said.. "We've got to get you published." The other best news was receiving the Email from Stephanie and AP saying "We love it. We'd like you to join AP." It's moments like that when you're just sort of struck and want to do the whole fist-thrust into the sky a-la The Breakfast Club thing. :-) 
9 - What's the worst piece of advice you ever got? - This is actually kind of interesting. I asked one of the professors in the Communication/Lit department about how one could go about being published. The professor burst out laughing and said it was pointless. "Those that are in help those around them. It's virtually impossible for anyone on the outside to get published unless you're willing to pay for it yourself." 
10 - Now, tell us the best. - An agent responded once… "I love the dark themes, settings and characters in your work. It's not a fit for me but don't give up, I want to pick it up off the shelf and read the completed story."
11 -  What's the one thing you would want an aspiring writer to take away from your personal path to publication? -  Keep writing, publication is more about choice and persistence than anything else.
12 - Where can we read your blog? www.pwcreighton.blogspot.com     - Buy your books? Astrea Press - Fall 2011     - Connect with you on Facebook?  - http://on.fb.me/oQ632D     - On Twitter?  - www.twitter.com/RavenRequiem13     - Website - same as blog for time being. Blurb - Three years after everyone important to Connor Maitland was murdered by a fanatical cult he is still attempting to put his life back together. Accompanied by his ex-girlfriend and business partner, Alison Herne, he is making a living as a jack-of-all-trades running a security company, sailing charters, and even photographing weddings out of Dolliber Cove, Massachusetts. Connor's world is finally coming back together until they find one of Alison's ghost hunter friends murdered.When a childhood love he thought was dead, appears on his doorstep during their investigation, Connor is forced to confront memories he convinced himself were the delusions of a man deep into grief. They are being stalked by a mysterious man who appears to know far too many of their secrets, as well as Connor's. After Alison is almost killed confronting her occult past, it is impossible for Connor to deny the connection between the cases. Someone is attempting to end Connor's life and the lives of all those who surround him.The crazed rantings of the murderous cult may be the key to his survival. 
Phil is no different from any of the authors showcased here...he would love to connect with you and find out what you thought about his journey.  Comment here or reach him on facebook, Twitter, or his own blog.  And keep an eye out for his book!