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Samhain Publishing

CaPooF

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Fortunately, I didn't have to hold my breath for long. Got a quick email yesterday from the editor, saying "thank you!" which I took to mean she'd received the sub. Whew. :)
 

EvolvingK

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Sub 12/7
Personalized Rejection today (1/19)

Sad face for the rejection, but I really appreciated getting the feedback, and it was all legitimate and understandable. Plus, it included a request that I submit again, as the editor enjoyed my writing. So at least it was an encouraging rejection!
 

Lemontree

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I have a submission to their horror line which is just right at the edge of the 16 week mark. Should I be adding a week on to the submission time for the holidays? That would mean I have to wait another week. :(

On the other hand I don't relish the idea of sending a query and having an editor go "Oh right, I forgot to reject that one, thanks for the reminder buddy."

sigh.
 

hikarinotsubasa

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Weird question... how do you address your submissions to publishers like this, where there's a general submissions email? There are at least two editors at Samhain I think MIGHT be interested in mine, and I'd rather submit to the general submissions address and have it forwarded to the best fit by someone who knows them, than try to make a guess of it myself?

But after so much experience with agents, I'm hesitant to use "Dear Editor" or "Dear Sir or Madam." Any ideas???
 

Laurasaurus

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If they don't offer any names I always go with 'Dear Editor'. Or sometimes 'Dear Submissions Department.'
 

Casey Karp

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I've occasionally used "Dear Esteemed Fellow Life-form".

It hasn't gotten me any sales, but then, nothing else has either, so I don't think it's hurt any.
 

CaPooF

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LOL. I Google editors for the particular publisher. I've always been able to find someone that way so I can address the specific editor.
 

PrairieWoman

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Newbie here, and my first post! If anyone is interested in hearing about response times for submissions, I just received an offer of contract - after a 12-week wait.
 

gingerwoman

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Newbie here, and my first post! If anyone is interested in hearing about response times for submissions, I just received an offer of contract - after a 12-week wait.
That's how long it took for my first novel to be accepted as well. :) And my editor responded with an acceptance to the submission of my second in 11 days.
 
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gingerwoman

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Sub 12/7
Personalized Rejection today (1/19)

Sad face for the rejection, but I really appreciated getting the feedback, and it was all legitimate and understandable. Plus, it included a request that I submit again, as the editor enjoyed my writing. So at least it was an encouraging rejection!
That's actually really good. I think they send a lot of form rejections. I got a form one once before I broke in with them.
 

RDHoward

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Thanks, PrairieWoman, that is helpful to know. I submitted my manuscript on June 24th, so it's good to know I can hurry up and wait. :) Best of luck to everyone else waiting on a response, as well!
 

TessB

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I can confirm this sort of timeline. My first one was 12 weeks to the day before I got a response and then an offer, and my subsequent submissions got a reply within a week. Just confirmed a two-book contract in my current series (for books 3 & 4) and another one for a start of a new series with them, so yay! They seem to be hopping along nicely.
 

Jezz de Silva

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Hi Everyone,


After lurking on this forum for years I finally have something to contribute based on actual experience : )


I'd like to start by thanking all of you for your wonderfully generous and informative posts. Your advice and experiences have helped me achieve things I'd never dreamed possible.


After two years of re-writes, critique groups, free-lance editing, and more re-writes I submitted my first manuscript to the four best romance publishers accepting unagented manuscripts (thank you once again to everyone on this forum for your guidance). At the start of this year I signed my first contract with Samhain Publishing and 'Home' was released about a week ago. To say the experience has been amazing is a huge understatement.


Before I get into details I'd like to clarify that I'm a complete novice in the publishing world. I have however been lucky enough to be able to listen to approx. 2000hrs of podcasts tracking the careers of newbie writers so I was aware of most of the writing and publishing horror stories. I've also endured enough time serving multinationals to appreciate the realities of the corporate world. Taking all this into account I cannot recommend Samhain Publishing highly enough.


My editor, Sasha Knight, is simply awesome. She's as serious and enthusiastic about my writing as I am and her faith, patience, experience, and professionalism have been invaluable in helping me jump from hobbyist to professional. Sasha gets back to me straight away and never fails to answer my newbie questions. Writer's comment on the importance of the editor/author relationship and I cannot agree more, this whole crazy experience wouldn't mean anywhere near as much without her.


My cover artist Nathalie Gray aka Kanaxa has also been phenomenal...but I'm biased : ) I 'knew' cover art was important, but I didn't appreciate just how important it was and I'm so grateful Samhain contracted such a talented artist.


The entire Samhain team have also been brilliant. All paperwork has been processed quickly and without fuss.



I know I've been extremely lucky with my first few steps on this journey but I cannot recommend Samhain Publishing highly enough.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to let me know, I'll do my best to answer them.



Take care,


Jezz.
 

Sheryl Nantus

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My first sale was to Samhain Publishing and I had Sasha as an Editor. Love the woman to death!

And Natalie... I still get compliments on her cover art for "Blaze of Glory", five years after the release. Her covers are lovely!

I'd say you hit the jackpot on this one - can't wait to see your title up there at Samhain!

Congrats!!!
 

Jezz de Silva

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My first sale was to Samhain Publishing and I had Sasha as an Editor. Love the woman to death!

And Natalie... I still get compliments on her cover art for "Blaze of Glory", five years after the release. Her covers are lovely!

I'd say you hit the jackpot on this one - can't wait to see your title up there at Samhain!

Congrats!!!

Thank you so much Sheryl, definitely feel like I've won the lottery :)
 

veinglory

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For POD books sold off the shelf at Barnes and Noble I would not consider 8% of cover low. I would think it is about normal but perhaps others can chime in.

There did use to be a small advance but as it was earning out within a few months it turned out to be more trouble than it was worth for authors at the time.
 

The Suspense Author

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8% is understandable if there is a decent advance. I have never heard of a publisher not offering an advance and then only giving 8% royalties. I have looked at a ton of publishers. That's about how much Random house gives except they offer advances.

- - - Updated - - -

And no i'm not comparing them to Random House. I have just never seen 8% + no advance.
 

thethinker42

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It may also be worth noting that, being primarily an ebook publisher, the vast majority of Samhain's sales are digital, not paperback. I can't speak for other authors, but a quick perusal of my spreadsheet shows that a very small percentage of my Samhain sales are print (On average, I see 56 ebook sales for every 1 paperback). This doesn't explain why the royalty percentage is what it is (and I'm not qualified to answer), but illustrates that at least in my experience, the ebook royalties are the much more significant part of the equation.

I should also qualify this by stating that I write primarily gay romance, which is a largely digital market, one in which paperbacks are almost negligible in terms of how much they actually earn. Your mileage may vary in different genres.
 

amergina

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FWIW, I have a title with a different digital-first publisher that only pays a token advance ($200). The paperback royalties for the POD books is 7%.

Generally, small digital-first publishers don't pay advances or they pay small ones. They also tend to sell more in e-books than in print.
 

triceretops

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I can see those lower percentages on mass-market paperbacks--I've seen them range from 2% to 10%, but I believe those figures were based mostly on cover. It was not stated whether this was net or cover price? Or was it and missed it? On a quality trade paper back, I think 8% on net would be ruinous, or even on an ebook. I think cover price on e-books are much more important to me since I'll sell 75--1 in favor of ebooks.
 

The Suspense Author

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Presses generally either have an advance with low royalties or no advance with decent royalties. Samhain has the worst part of both lol