Horror Aficionados discussion

I've been reading about this publishing company, one of the more important in the country, but I want to know, are publishing with them some famous authors or are they newcomers?

I think, like most publishers, it is a mix. There are some more established authors and some who are still pretty early in their careers.

If you've been reading recent news, I'm sure you've read that they fired Don D’Auria as their horror editor earlier this week, giving the reason that he was not adept enough at social media to really "push the brand". Brian Keene (among others, I'm sure) has been quite vocal in his criticism of this move. Don has an incredibly high stature as an editor in the field, having launched a number of careers in the very successful Leisure horror line until financial problems caused that imprint to implode.

I personally will be quite curious to see how this move impacts their horror line down the road. Editorial skills and marketing skills are quite different, IMO, and just expecting you can find someone who excels at both, rather than separating that job and letting people with the required skill set and handle them, seems a risky proposition. But doing more with less is the harsh reality of business these days (I see it all the time in the software industry).

Probably way more than you wanted to know, but it sort of struck a nerve - sorry about that. :-)

Robert wrote: "I think, like most publishers, it is a mix. There are some more established authors and some who are still pretty early in their careers.

If you've been reading recent news, I'm sure you've read t..."

Good comments, Robert.

Robert wrote: "I think, like most publishers, it is a mix. There are some more established authors and some who are still pretty early in their careers.

If you've been reading recent news, I'm sure you've read t..."

This is interesting news -- thanks so much for sharing! I've enjoyed books published by Samhain, and I too am curious to see what direction they go in.

Also, I'm curious -- where do you get your news about publishing in the horror field? For various reasons, I'm interesting in learning more about all this as well.

Very interesting your comments Robert, I'm now reading the blog entry of Brian Keene, thanks for share your knowledge

Thanks for your comments guys.

Losing Don from Samhain Horror was an unwelcome surprise to say the least.

I blogged about it here:
https://frazerlee.wordpress.com/2015/...

And lots of other Samhain Horror authors weighed in too including blog posts from Hunter Shea, John Everson, Catherine Cavendish & many more.

While the future may be uncertain, i know we'll all keep writing as long as you keep reading.

So thanks again for supporting our books!

I've had the chance to speak and pitch to Don on a few occasions. He's one of the most respected editors in the horror industry and a really nice guy. My guess is that this was a bad move for Samhain.

Amen to that Carl. As Don himself said "The great thing about horror is nobody stays dead for long" :) Look forward to seeing what he does next.

Sorry, somehow the new activity on this thread escaped me until there was more just a few days ago. In answer to Felicia, honestly most of my information just comes from following various authors on social media, at least to the extent that free time allows. I have worked as a proofreader/copyeditor/editor for a long time, but mostly for very small presses, and only as a side-job, so I haven't "networked" much.

And yeah, I agree Frazer - Don WILL land on his feet, Samhain's loss will be someone else's gain...