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Samhain Publishing

Wildflower90

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Thanks everyone! I am so pleased with everything so far and cannot wait to start on editing/cover copy!! Good luck to all still waiting :0)
 

popgun62

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Now that the contract has been officially signed, I'm delighted to say I got an offer of contract for ASHES!!!!!

My experience with them so far has been professional and friendly, and they were very happy to negotiate the metadata clause - taking only the rights to the tagline, cover copy and sales hook, which is fair enough because they'll be all Samhain's making. All my questions were answered, no matter how silly, and I'm very excited to be working with them.

My first publishing deal - excuse me while I swoon..... :0)

Congrats, Wildflower! I've had author friends that wrote for them and seemed pretty happy. Their cover art looks great and they have had some well-known authors writing for their horror line. Hope it turns out well for you.
 

thethinker42

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I've never received an advance from them (signed my most recent contract within the last couple of weeks). Has there been discussion of advances? (I've been facedown in deadlines recently, so it's entirely possible I missed it)
 

thethinker42

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No, they've always been up front about not paying advances. I just wondered if that was changing with the new publisher.

I don't think it *IS* a new publisher. Christina Brashear has been at the helm since the beginning. They're just shuffling people around, changing some people's roles (including Christina's), etc., and looking into expanding into some new markets/distribution channels, but otherwise, it's not a new publisher.
 

gingerwoman

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I've never received an advance from them (signed my most recent contract within the last couple of weeks). Has there been discussion of advances? (I've been facedown in deadlines recently, so it's entirely possible I missed it)

I have heard rumors that some agented authors get advances because of their agent, but the advance I heard rumors of , is less than I made with my debut novel with Samhain on the first month's check.
 
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Sandsurfgirl

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This is a super long thread and I read quite a bit of it, but couldn't read all 50 pages. So maybe this has been answered. Did most of the authors with Samhain feel comfortable negotiating their own contracts, or did you hire lawyers, etc. to do it? Did any of you get an agent to negotiate the contract after Samhain offered it to you? Negotiating a contract without an agent or lawyer scares me.
 

popgun62

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This is a super long thread and I read quite a bit of it, but couldn't read all 50 pages. So maybe this has been answered. Did most of the authors with Samhain feel comfortable negotiating their own contracts, or did you hire lawyers, etc. to do it? Did any of you get an agent to negotiate the contract after Samhain offered it to you? Negotiating a contract without an agent or lawyer scares me.

I would try to get an agent instead of a lawyer. An agent would understand the nuances of a publishing contract much better than most lawyers, plus the agent can help you with other things, as well, like making sure you get paid on time, mediating disputes over cover art or editing, getting you a better deal down the road, etc.
 

thethinker42

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This is a super long thread and I read quite a bit of it, but couldn't read all 50 pages. So maybe this has been answered. Did most of the authors with Samhain feel comfortable negotiating their own contracts, or did you hire lawyers, etc. to do it? Did any of you get an agent to negotiate the contract after Samhain offered it to you? Negotiating a contract without an agent or lawyer scares me.

I've never had any problem negotiating Samhain's contract on my own. I've not asked for any *major* changes, but what changes I've requested have been made without issue.

As another poster said, I'd recommend an agent vs a lawyer if you want to have someone look over the contract or negotiate it for you. I've heard of people using copyright lawyers for contracts, but I couldn't tell you one way or the other about whether that's cost effective, etc.
 

Jamiekswriter

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Didn't see this mentioned yet, so I thought I'd post. Former Grand Central Publishing editor, Latoya Smith, is now at Samhain and she's heading up two exciting new lines.

"Samhain will launch two new lines under Smiths direction including an African American line of romances showcasing voices of color as well as a romance line with love stories told by and for the LGBT community."
http://www.mygtn.tv/story/26108144/...ng-as-executive-editor-launches-two-new-lines
 

Sandsurfgirl

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I would try to get an agent instead of a lawyer. An agent would understand the nuances of a publishing contract much better than most lawyers, plus the agent can help you with other things, as well, like making sure you get paid on time, mediating disputes over cover art or editing, getting you a better deal down the road, etc.

Thank you. That's what I'm thinking too. I'm sure that if you already have a publishing contract, there will be some agent out there who wants to jump on that train when quite a bit of the work is done for them.
 

Sandsurfgirl

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I've never had any problem negotiating Samhain's contract on my own. I've not asked for any *major* changes, but what changes I've requested have been made without issue.

As another poster said, I'd recommend an agent vs a lawyer if you want to have someone look over the contract or negotiate it for you. I've heard of people using copyright lawyers for contracts, but I couldn't tell you one way or the other about whether that's cost effective, etc.

Great to know. The reviews for Samhain have been so positive. This is my first time submitting directly to a publisher. Fingers, toes, eyes and everything else crossed. They say to give them 12 weeks, so it's back to the trenches and wait time. Yo ho, yo ho, the writer's life for me. Wait. Then wait some more. Rinse. Repeat.
 

Cassie Knight

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I would try to get an agent instead of a lawyer. An agent would understand the nuances of a publishing contract much better than most lawyers, plus the agent can help you with other things, as well, like making sure you get paid on time, mediating disputes over cover art or editing, getting you a better deal down the road, etc.

Actually instead of this since it won't be easy to find an agent even with an offer from Samhain, you could hire an agent just to review your contract. Elaine English, at one time but I don't if she does now, would review contracts for a flat rate.

I totally support agents but am thinking that you might be better served cost- and time-wise by paying an agent or literary attorney to review your contract than going through the search and giving up a percentage of your royalties on something you got yourself.

Totally my opinion. I'm an author with Samhain and I've never needed an agent for them (but my last contract is several years old so I don't know if I'd need one for new one).

Good luck!
 

Sandsurfgirl

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Actually instead of this since it won't be easy to find an agent even with an offer from Samhain, you could hire an agent just to review your contract. Elaine English, at one time but I don't if she does now, would review contracts for a flat rate.

I totally support agents but am thinking that you might be better served cost- and time-wise by paying an agent or literary attorney to review your contract than going through the search and giving up a percentage of your royalties on something you got yourself.

Totally my opinion. I'm an author with Samhain and I've never needed an agent for them (but my last contract is several years old so I don't know if I'd need one for new one).

Good luck!

You make a very good point. That is an awful lot of money not in your pocket if you got your own deal.
 

robjvargas

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Actually instead of this since it won't be easy to find an agent even with an offer from Samhain, you could hire an agent just to review your contract. Elaine English, at one time but I don't if she does now, would review contracts for a flat rate.

I totally support agents but am thinking that you might be better served cost- and time-wise by paying an agent or literary attorney to review your contract than going through the search and giving up a percentage of your royalties on something you got yourself.

Totally my opinion. I'm an author with Samhain and I've never needed an agent for them (but my last contract is several years old so I don't know if I'd need one for new one).

Good luck!

Agents do far more than negotiate contracts. I don't want to derail a BR&BC thread to go over it all. Just be aware that the percentage you surrender to an agent pays for a lot of things beyond contract negotiation.
 

Captcha

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Agents do far more than negotiate contracts. I don't want to derail a BR&BC thread to go over it all. Just be aware that the percentage you surrender to an agent pays for a lot of things beyond contract negotiation.

For an e-first publisher? What does an agent do that the author can't do herself?
 

robjvargas

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For an e-first publisher? What does an agent do that the author can't do herself?

I repped you a quick list. There are several threads over in "Ask the Agent."

You can do it all yourself, but an agent *can* be worth the money to hand that off.
 

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I repped you a quick list. There are several threads over in "Ask the Agent."

You can do it all yourself, but an agent *can* be worth the money to hand that off.

You've found threads in "Ask the Agent" where the consensus was that it's a good idea to have an agent for e-pubs? I did a quick search, and the threads I found seemed to generally agree that agents for e-pubs are a waste of money...

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-228923.html

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-235993.html

Are you thinking of different threads than those?

(I'm not arguing against agents in general. But this thread is about Samhain, an e-first publisher. I have an agent for my NY-possible books and I've asked her whether she wants to represent my e-first books, and she's said she wouldn't add enough value to make it worth her 15%. I believe her.)