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Samhain Publishing

yendor1152

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Well, I just finished revisions for my Samhain horror novel, THE BLUE CLASSROOM. Now, I'm playing the waiting game and working on my second novel. So far, so good. It's been great working with Don, who's been very supportive and very understanding. I'm not exactly a youngster at age 60, so I'm really flying by the seat of my pants! Will keep everyone posted! I should also add that I first submitted my manuscript in the middle of July and didn't hear positively until the second week of January. Rod
 

Stacy

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After reading such great things about Samhain i have taken the plunge and submitted by dark fantasy romance. crossing fingers and toes.
its really amazing the support and community i find in these thread, and the wealth of information is amazing. thank you
 

yendor1152

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We pitched a novel to Don, at World Horror this year in SLC. He asked for a full, no word yet but we are used to a year turnaround from our other publishers.



Regards,

Kevin

What happened to your Samhain submission? Were you successful? :)
 

yendor1152

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I'll be hitting the 20 week wait mark tomorrow. Trying to decide if I should nudge. From what I've seen, they're typically running this far behind their 12-16 week listed response time. The one time I nudged a different publisher, I didn't get a response, just a form R two weeks later, so I'm wondering if nudging is even worth it.

Anyone else close to the 20 week mark?


I've been waiting on pins and needles to hear about your situation with Samhain! Did they finally get back to you?
 

yendor1152

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discovered Samhain when a few of their horror authors had a table at a horror movie convention i went to a few months ago. bought some of their books and liked them, and the authors i talk to had nothing but good things to say about Samhain.
it sucks that the wait-time for them is so long. i just finished and am editing my first novel and am planning to send it to Samhain. i'd like to have print copies to sell at conventions so that might not happen for a while (if they even decide they want to publish my book) but hearing that so many people on here are so happy with them is very, very encouraging.


Did you end up submitting your manuscript to Samhain?
 

yendor1152

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Hello all.

I love Samhain and will submit manuscripts to them again, but do they send out rejection forms? I sent my MS on 2/17/2013 and haven't received an answer yet. The website said 12-16 weeks.

The reason I ask is because the editor recently Tweeted they completed their March slush pile. So I was wondering if I fell through the pixels cracks or if no response means no.

Thanks :D
Happy spring!

So, what happened? Are you in the waiting period for Samhain?
 

yendor1152

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I made a horror submission yesterday, and they got back to me today to tell me that I must have both a full and synopsis attached separately. I actually had the synopsis in the body of the email. That was very, very swift and the note to me was not form but a personal, polite message. They could have very well kicked me to the curb. But they took the time to correct my error. Very nice, indeed.

tri

Fill us in on what's happening with your horror submission to Samhain! I'm definitely interested in your experience.
 

yendor1152

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For some reason, the traffic has slowed down to nothing on this thread. Horror and romance are very "big," and they don't get much bigger than Samhain as a grand showcase for your literary gems! Are people still submitting? And those who notified us that they did submit, what's happening?

Samhain had several books nominated for the Bram Stoker award. That's a very big deal, in my opinion! Anybody here shooting for a Stoker?

Rod
 

yendor1152

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Well, I figured things are still happening, but this thread has petered out...who's submitting? What's being submitted? I always love to hear other's experiences; it helps me understand my own!

What's amazing to me is that people post here, saying they're sending material to Samhain, and then we never hear from them again. Or they say their book is coming out, but they never return with any follow-up. I'd like to know the process of getting published with Samhain. For example, do advance copies go to reviewers? Are there critical blurbs put on the covers? What is "good reads?" How can you tell how well your book is doing, sales-wise? Is there a best-sellers list? I'm a complete newbie at this, as you can tell.

Thanks! Rod
 
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MumblingSage

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Well, I figured things are still happening, but this thread has petered out...who's submitting? What's being submitted? I always love to hear other's experiences; it helps me understand my own!

What's amazing to me is that people post here, saying they're sending material to Samhain, and then we never hear from them again. Or they say their book is coming out, but they never return with any follow-up. I'd like to know the process of getting published with Samhain. For example, do advance copies go to reviewers? Are there critical blurbs put on the covers? What is "good reads?" How can you tell how well your book is doing, sales-wise? Is there a best-sellers list? I'm a complete newbie at this, as you can tell.

Thanks! Rod

I understand the temptation to live vicariously through another's successful publishing experience (just ask any of my friends who show a glimmer of wordsmithing talent about the things I push them to do), but the Bewares & Backgrounds Thread for a publisher rarely carries the whole story. You might try checking out the personal blogs & other posts of authors with Samhain. I know there are several on this board.

I assume advance copies go out to reviewers with Samhain, since my (comparatively smaller) romance publisher does that, but you might find out by google searching for reviews of Samhain books and seeing if the reviewers tell in their disclaimer whether they got the copies from the author or publisher.

Are there critical blurbs on the covers? Buy a copy and find out! (IIRC from the Samhain books I've bought, not always--might have to do with it being a digital-first press).

Google search GoodReads. It's a really fun site for readers who like sharing recs, forming groups, and connecting with authors. Can also be a time suck.

How can you tell when your book is doing well? The royalty statements are a hint ;D. Stalking your Amazon sales ranking is more a time suck than research, but if you're hovering in the top 100 you're probably doing well. Just a guess.

There are bestsellers lists by book selling site for sure; I'm not sure what else there is in the way of romance bestsellers. As for sales with Samhain, it is one of the top rankers on this sales report page.
 

yendor1152

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Thanks for the reply, it helps. I'm more curious, actually, about the people who posted earlier about submitting to Samhain. Some kept up a running commentary about their waiting period, how they were on pins and needles, etc., then everything just came to a screeching halt. I'd like to know what happened to their submissions--did they land a contract? Can we look forward to reading their book? Since many here don't even post under their real names, it's difficult to Google search their whereabouts. I was just hoping they'd come back to give us a status update. Or should I assume the silence means the books were ultimately rejected? Thanks!
 

Marian Perera

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Can we look forward to reading their book?

I do hope someone will look forward to reading my book. :) But I only got the acceptance email six weeks ago, so it will be a little while before the book's out. So there's no status updates from me, unless you count finishing up the next manuscript in the series.
 

yendor1152

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I do hope someone will look forward to reading my book. :) But I only got the acceptance email six weeks ago, so it will be a little while before the book's out. So there's no status updates from me, unless you count finishing up the next manuscript in the series.

Yes, I'm very happy for you. It's exciting, huh? The wait until publication can be murder! But I wonder about the other people who've never returned here with either a notice of acceptance or rejection. They posted about submitting, and then nothing.
 

amergina

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You could try PMing or leaving a message for them. They may not ever check this thread or be subscribed to it. Updating it may have slipped their minds.
 

AngelaA

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I got an r&r that lead to a contract offer :) Just waiting on the actual contract to sign. It's all very exciting!
 

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Thanks for the reply, it helps. I'm more curious, actually, about the people who posted earlier about submitting to Samhain. Some kept up a running commentary about their waiting period, how they were on pins and needles, etc., then everything just came to a screeching halt. I'd like to know what happened to their submissions--did they land a contract? Can we look forward to reading their book? Since many here don't even post under their real names, it's difficult to Google search their whereabouts. I was just hoping they'd come back to give us a status update. Or should I assume the silence means the books were ultimately rejected? Thanks!

Or it means that they're busy making corrections/changes recommended by their editor. Or they're on a self-imposed AW ban while they get a handle on their next book. Or it's summer and people are unplugged and on vacation. Or they posted here in the heat of excitement and have since forgotten. Or they posted here to give an idea of turn-around time between submission and acceptance/rejection (which would be the sort of info this particular thread is for) and figure their job here is done.

Sometimes we get a story with no ending. :Shrug: My curiosity hates that, but I know nobody owes me an ending, happily-ever-after or not.
 

yendor1152

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Or it means that they're busy making corrections/changes recommended by their editor. Or they're on a self-imposed AW ban while they get a handle on their next book. Or it's summer and people are unplugged and on vacation. Or they posted here in the heat of excitement and have since forgotten. Or they posted here to give an idea of turn-around time between submission and acceptance/rejection (which would be the sort of info this particular thread is for) and figure their job here is done.

Sometimes we get a story with no ending. :Shrug: My curiosity hates that, but I know nobody owes me an ending, happily-ever-after or not.

I dunno--maybe I see things differently. I also had to do revisions on my novel, right after the death of my mother in February, but I still found time to periodically post here. As someone new to the novel-writing "biz," it's a big help to read of others' experiences. When they give us the set-up and then don't follow through with the rest, it's a tad disappointing.
 

kelliewallace

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I applied for their content editor position. Anyone else works for them or knows anyone who does? I'm based in Aus so I hope I'm eligible.
 

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Well, I figured things are still happening, but this thread has petered out...who's submitting? What's being submitted? I always love to hear other's experiences; it helps me understand my own!

What's amazing to me is that people post here, saying they're sending material to Samhain, and then we never hear from them again. Or they say their book is coming out, but they never return with any follow-up. I'd like to know the process of getting published with Samhain. For example, do advance copies go to reviewers? Are there critical blurbs put on the covers? What is "good reads?" How can you tell how well your book is doing, sales-wise? Is there a best-sellers list? I'm a complete newbie at this, as you can tell.

Thanks! Rod
To answer some of your questions.
I submitted to Samhain on November 5th 2011. In January 2012 I received a contract offer.

Samhain sends contracts out in batches so it was a bit of a wait for the contract. The edits were awesome. Three rounds, the final being with an additional line editor.
My book was released in ebook form in December 2012. It is schedled for release in print November 5th 2013.

I think advance copies were sent out by Samhain to a two or three big name review sites but ....guess what .....NONE of them chose to review my book. They all chose the contemporary more straight forward Christmas stories to review for Christmas, not my far out paranormal Christmas story. So I didn't have any reviews before Chirstmas. So this year in about April I had to send copies of my ebook out myself to a bunch of other places in order to have professional review quotes for the print version of my book which comes out November 5th this year. There will be quotes on the first page inside the print book. (Unfortunately just because you or your publisher sends a free copy of your book to a review site doesn't mean it will be reviewed. It seems the popular review sites are inundated with requests for review and they pick and choose.)

Yes Samhain has best seller lists that are updated twice daily. To my utter amazement my debut novel climbed those lists on its release week peaking at number five on the romance list and number 6 on the overall best seller list under two free reads, two NYT Best Selling author and one USA Today Best Selling Author. I'm not sure why, other than that it is a really high heat level book with a fairly unique premise that perhaps appealed to people, and it was a Christmas book selling at Christmas time.

You can tell how well your book is doing by your royalty statements that you get monthly and you can get paid monthly if you want, or less frequently if you want. You can view how many copies you sell on the actual Samhain site itself, and how many you sell on Amazon, but you won't know how many you have sold anywhere else. until you see your royalty statements.

I live in New Zealand and my checks are sent snail mail from Ohio, but they arrive. Americans get paid directly into their accounts. As of this month Samhain are now trying to offer direct credit into accounts in other countries, but unfortunately my New Zealand bank wants to charge me too much for this so I've had to say no. They are reliable with payments.

So maybe that answers some of your questions?
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Probably the reason people don't come back and talk about their book's release dates etc... in threads like this, is that it might be considered spamming, which is not allowed here. There is a separate section here for promo which is the only place you are supposed to be doing that kind of thing.
But you can see the name of my book in my avatar and sig line.
 
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blue_aura12

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e-mailing after query?

so i sent my query (first 4 chapters of novel, blurb, etc) to samhain and got an e-mail back that it takes them approx 12-14 weeks to respond. it will be exactly 14 weeks next monday and i'm wondering if i should e-mail or wait for them since i've heard that it can take them a lot longer than that to respond. and if i do e-mail them, is there a certain way i should word things, or can i just say "i was wondering if you had made a decision on my submission"?

thanks!