Last year I had to eat my words in a really big way about ‘just reader and blogger’ Jane Line (aka Jen Frederick, author)

Now I have to eat my words about Christina ‘just kidding’ Brashear and Samhain.

I said a while back that Samhain’s announcement that they were closing their doors sometime this summer showed a lot of class (which, compared to EC-we-have-changed-our-name-ECforBooks, it did).

I did say that because I could only see the face the company showed in public, and I believed that while there were rumblings, it was a natural part of the process. People were being fired, or losing contract opportunities, etc.

Then came the announcement that oh, no, they found a way not to close.

Today I see that there’s another email, which has not been made public (yet?), which calls that big, honking, PUBLIC announcement a few months back, a ‘misunderstanding’ on everyone’s part.

What the actual fuck is this? I thought Samhain was a company run by a professional. More fool me.

Authors, beware–no one but you truly gives a shit about your career.

Make that the credo you live by. Make sure all your contracts have an escape clause for when publishers start behaving like assholes, and don’t sign with anyone who won’t allow you to protect yourself. The honeymoon turns to hunting moon soon enough.

Edited to add: Lauren Gallagher/L.A. Witt writes an open letter to Samhain and Christina Brashear. (I repeat: what the actual fuck????)

Further edit: under the cut, there’s a lovely screencap of the email that was sent (yesterday?) to Samhain authors. (via Ambergina at Absolute Write)