So This Happened…

I’m sure if you are involved in the publishing world at all or are a reader of  mine who connects with me on social media, you’re well aware of the fact my fantastic publisher, Samhain Publishing, has announced its intention to wind up business. The company will close sometime in the not distant future, I don’t know exactly when. The first thing I want to say about that is this.

THEY ARE NOT CLOSED YET.

My books are still for sale on their site as well as the usual third party venues. I have 8 books with Samhain and one in pre order, which will still be released on schedule on March 22nd (I have proof — print books I received the very day before the announcement of the company’s impending closure came through).

I still earn royalties from every sale I make off those books until they are taken down from vendors. Samhain still earns their cut on any of those sales, and they need that money to continue doing business while they are winding down, and hence ensure they can continue to pay author royalties, editor fees, payments to cover artists… etc ad nauseum. Samhain is trying to do this thing right and not drive everyone into the ditch while they are winding down operations. As an author and a supporter of the strong, classy company that is Samhain Publishing, I urge readers to support them too. Because worst case scenario? If everyone stops buying Samhain books now because they don’t understand what’s going on or they think the company is already closed or they think what’s the point of buying from a company that’s closing, the company could end up in bankruptcy court, where all my books, and the books of my friends, become assets to be sold off to random bidders. They could land literally ANYWHERE. I don’t want that. No shit, that would suck. Neither do I want any authors, artists, editors or formatters to be left owed money because Samhain ran out of funds to pay them.

So if you’re still reading this I’m thinking you might be the kind of person who’d like to help. Here’s how you can:

1.   If you have a wishlist at any point of sale with Samhain books on it, why don’t you consider actually buying those books?

2.   If you’re on social media let other people know when you bought a Samhain book so your followers and friends might feel inclined to do the same.

3.   If you already own ebooks from your favorite Samhain authors but absolutely LOVE those books and would like them in print, consider buying that print copy soon if you can afford to.

4.   If you have an account at Samhain’s site (or are willing to set one up), please consider making any purchases you want to make through that site. Buy the books, download them in any format you want (you can download more than one) and that book’s yours forever no matter what happens with the website in future. Any sales made directly through the publisher cut out the middle man (you know who I’m talking about), which means the author gets a higher royalty percentage and so does Samhain.

(Before you say but it’s so much more time consuming than one clicking, let me say I know. I hear you. One clicking is THE SHIT, HELLS YEAH! It really is. But remember when you used to have to save your coins and walk to a used book store and trawl the aisles looking for a spine that had one of your favorite authors name on it? All those blurbs you had to skim before making your decision… the YES and MAYBE pile you would stack up as you counted your cash and worked out how many you could move from the MAYBE pile to the YES pile… the last minute novel that caught your eye on the way out and you were like ‘Argh I didn’t see that early Penny Jordan Harlequin sexy alphahole blackmail book on the way in and now I don’t have enough money for it NOOOOOOOO!’

No? That was just me? Hmm. Anyway, it used to take so much longer to get books. Think of going to the Samhain site and browsing the categories and actually having to put in your email address and give your card number and all that work as a trip down nostalgia lane.

Or not. Continue to one click. It’s totally cool. Just something to think about).

5.    Don’t forget about the authors Samhain Publishing introduced you to. We’re still out here, maybe releasing with other publishers or self-publishing. Keep an eye out for us in future, because we writers tend to be a stubborn, hardy bunch. Many of us will still be plugging away, trying to get our stories out there any way we can, be that through self-publishing or other publishers, if we’re so lucky. Heck, I’m even considering hawking my wares on a street corner. If you see me doing that, please don’t point and laugh.

That’s all I can think of for now. Even one of these things will be so hugely appreciated. The bottom of what’s left of my writer’s heart will thank you.

BTW
****MONDAY 29TH OF FEBRUARY SAMHAIN IS HAVING A SITE WIDE ONE DAY LEAP YEAR SALE! 40% OFF ALL E BOOKS!***

I’ll be tweeting and facebooking about this sale when it goes live, so keep an eye out. Let’s make it EPIC.

Sami