Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Horrible News

I have some sad news to report.  Hall Brothers Entertainment, the publisher of West of the Warlock, its forthcoming sequel, The Curse of Selwood, and my upcoming anthology, The Temporal Element, have closed down.  Time and financial constraints forced them to make the hard decision.  Therefore, we place another tombstone on a small press, and must find a way to move on.

First off, I'd like to assure those of you who have submitted stories to The Temporal Element that I am not shutting down.  I will press forward with this anthology, and seek to find another publisher for it.  I have a few industry contacts, and I'll figure something out.  Those of you who have been accepted, you're still in, though I'll have to work up a new contract for your stories (since the HBE contract is now null and void).  Those of you who are still thinking of submitting, please do so.  The anthology submission period is still open until January 31.

Now, what are we going to do about West of the Warlock?  Undisputedly, this has been my most popular work to date, but in a few short weeks it will no longer be available.  Finding another publisher for it may be a precarious proposition, as few publishers are interested in "reprints" these days.  This is something I will have to sleep on before making any rash decisions.

The Curse of Selwood is going to be less of a problem for various reasons.  First, it was never published, so it can still be marketed as "new."  However, as a sequel, publishers will again be less inclined to pick it up, especially if the first book in the series is out of print.  I'll have to figure out what to do with West of the Warlock before moving forward with a full-scale marketing campaign for the other books in the series.

The third book in the series, The Man Who Shot Thomas Edison, never had the chance to reach any sort of production stage.  I was hoping to have HBE release it in 2013.  Maybe luck will give me the chance to get it out by then, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

This really sucks, damn it.  Seeing the demise of Hall Brothers Entertainment is like having a good friend die—it leaves you with a lot of tumultuous emotions and can cause a lot of troubles.  Plans and dreams often die in this manner, and going forward is easier said than done.  Yet, we must press on.

I have a lot of work to do...

5 comments:

  1. I'm sorry to hear your publisher is closing down. I hope you get your full rights back for your work.

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    1. The Hall brothers are really good about that. They've already reverted the rights back to me, and even offered to send the rights to the artwork, which could be a major benefit. This is not the end for my Fantasy Western series, by any means. It's just road bump.

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  2. Well, I'm glad they've sent you more details about what's going on than they have me. I had a book that was scheduled to be published after "Curse," but they haven't said anything about that. I'm glad that the anthology is moving forward, even as I appreciate that it's just one of the many things that have grown more complicated with HBE's demise. Good luck!

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  3. I'm really sorry to hear this happened to you, Martinus. I know how much work it was getting to the point you were, and a setback like this has really got to hurt. I know you'll figure something out, but what a kick in the nads.

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    1. What's that old saying? "Close that damn door, or I will throw you out that window." No, wait, that was an episode of Drew Carey. But you get the point. One opportunity lost, and another will present itself.

      The solution to this whole predicament will be revealed in tomorrow morning's blog post.

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