Quick note: there were some WordPress shenanigans that made it impossible for either Karen or I to post for a while; then, there’s life. Sorry ’bout that.

So, after last year’s false alarm, Samhain Publishing finally pulled the plug, on February 28.

From the outside, and because that they gave a bit more warning than other publishers, it seemed as if the closing process was going to be a relatively smooth affair.

Alas, that’s not to be. Reports over at Absolute Write Bewares forum are that Ms Brashear is asking authors to sign some questionable documents in order to get their right reversions letters, plus making them wait until sometime in the summer paying the last of the royalties owed them.

What irks me is that Ms Brashear et al must have known this was coming at least a couple of months prior to closing. Why didn’t they have all their ducks in a row before making the announcement? Why didn’t they open a dialogue with their authors regarding when and how the rights reversals and last payments would be made?

So here we are, yet another publisher behaving badly.

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)

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