Samhain and Kensington has announced (will announce) a deal today at BEA which will mark increased exposure for Samhain and Kensington’s move into the steamier side of romance. Kensington and Samhain are jointly creating a Samhain imprint, like Brava or Zebra or Aphrodisia is an imprint.
Kensington will be publishing a Samhain imprint of one to two books a month. The books will be both trade paperbacks and mass markets. Samhain will be responsible for the acquiring and editing of the books and Kensington will print, market and distribute the books.
The Samhain books will have traditional print runs and will be marketed to buyers just like the other imprints of Kensington. This will be the first time that an epublisher will make its way into venues like Wal-Mart, Target and grocery stores. Christina M. Brashear, Owner and CEO of Samhain, is unquestionably excited about this partnership and believes it will help to bring new readers to Samhain as well as new readers to Kensington. She will be working closely with Senior Editor, Kate Duffy, to work out print release dates.
I think it provides some validation about the quality of epublishing. Congratulations to Samhain. I expect a flood of proposals to be swamping their digital doorstep.
This is very cool. It sounds like a terrific venture.
Are these going to be mm releases? Because K’s trade releases don’t hit Wal-Mart now, and Wal-Mart has already quit carrying a lot of mid-list mm books from other publishers.
They have the potential to be either mm or trade, Alison.
Wow, I can’t believe it, I think that’s great. Although I’ve never seen any “spicy” books sold at Walmart, Target or Kmart.
Can I ask what is “mid-list” books
That’s interesting Alison. I wonder how they’re going to get around that. I presume they wouldn’t have announced Wal-Mart etc as a market if they hadn’t done a deal.
Still, not a bad job really – especially being entrusted with the acquiring and editing.
Oh, I agree that it’s great! I was just curious with all the buzz going around about Wal-Mart (and Target) dropping books and not carrying the steamier imprints, how it was going to work! (Wal-Mart has even refused to carry some Blazes in the past because their titles were too evocative!)
Does this mean, they’ve gone one better than EC? *G*
I bet Crissy Bashear is happy as a pig in shit, and trying very hard not crow about it. I’d say that was one in the eye for EC.
Diplomatic responses to the above notwithstanding, Samhain’s success does seem to illustrate how pertinent a role Bashear must have had at EC.
Just sayin’.
See Jane, you are soo The NY Times, whilst I would be more at home within the realms of Her Majesty’s Gutter Press.
Wow, not carry Blazes? That’s taking it a bit far. I asked Angie on her blog what the genre was going to be and if it would be erotic. Maybe she’ll answer that here too. Sounds like Walmart has a stick up their asses.
…and Karen, being the gutter press just means we get to swear a lot and report on the latest UFOs *snerk*
Jaynie – It was the first year only, I believe, when they refused to carry a book that had the word “erotic” in the title. There might have been a second, but I’ve slept since then. ;)
to clarify, we’re a general publisher, we publisher all genres of romance, not just erotic romance. Our contract with Kensington isn’t erotic romance specific, so it won’t be only those that get printed through them.
I think that’s Jane’s interpretation of the announcement, not our announcement, though the potential for the larger markets is certainly there if Wal-mart, as Alison said, opens itself up to more authors again. But in reality, even without the Kensington deal, our deal with IPS we’d just signed also gave us that opportunity, because the IPS team does market to Wal-mart/Target, etc.
Mostly romance, erotic and non-erotic, though the potential for genres with romantic elements is there if we think they’ll do exceptionally well.
Crissy so gets the publishing market and is a fab person! She just publihsed our cookbook that bennefits the troops in Iraq. :-) The Write Ingredients.
I agree that it will be interesting to see how she and Kens gets the books in WalM. Probably have to think of another word for erotica and spicy and really watch the covers. They go a whole lot by covers.
Should’ve known the Ja(y)nes would post the story first! It’s an exciting development.
Cool beans! We’re all excited :o) and proud.
Wonderful opportunity for a wonderful publisher. I’m proud to be associated with them. :-)
Re: the Wal-mart issue. I don’t believe that there is any deal inked for distribution of books at Wal-mart yet, but I believe that is a goal. Brashear was very cognizant of the need for the right labeling, cover, story to go to Wal-mart and other venues.
Wow! That’s amazing news. Congratulations to Samhain!
Yep, Samhain keeps taking the high road with reasonably priced eBooks and a great web site with actual working paypal and now a new highly visible print deal.
and what about the other “also ran”s? They make excuses.
Wow! Congratulations to Samhain!!! This bodes well for all of epublishing, too.
It is a great accomplishment for Samhain. Congrats to Crissy, Angie and the whole Samhain team. I’m excited about the opportunites the imprint could open up.
Jane – you stated the issue perfectly. WalMart is concerned about the book covers, labeling and their displays. As a family-oriented store, Erotic Romance titles would have a better shot at being carried if the covers were more subtle. Just because a book is a sexy read, it doesn’t take naked bodies to portray the content.
Lisa Amrine
Marketing Director, Samhain Publishing
Absolutely awesome news!!! Congrats!
I guess we don’t have to keep it a secret anymore? :) Congrats again, this is too cool!
Now when is Samhain going to do the iTunes audio and eBook venture… the iPhone comes out June 29th.
Inking deals with the big guns is a great way for e-pubs to get the distribution they need. EC has their deal with Simon & Schuster and now Samhain and Kensington. Who’s next?
Wonderful news for everyone!
CONGRATS Samhain! This is GREAT news!
Congrats to everyone at Samhain ;) This is wonderful news.
this is wonderful. CONGRATS to Crissy, Angie, and the entire Samhain family!
This is very exciting news. I’ve been so proud to be associated and published at Samhain since sending in my manuscript way back in January of 06. No one deserves this more. Congrats to Crissy and everyone on the staff! :-)
Congratulations to Samhain and Kensington. :) May this be the beginning of a great relationship.
Denise A. Agnew
This is terrific news. Congratulations to Samhain and everyone associated with making this deal happen. Sounds like this endeavour will benefit both companies along with all of its authors … myself included, of course. LOL.
Liz Kreger
Congratulations! Excellent business move, and says a lot about the professionalism of those who run Samhain.
I’m curious–what will be the criteria for determining which books go the Kensington imprint route? Is that too specific a question at this point? :)
Congratulations, Samhain! This is awesome news. :-)
This is a great thing between the ebooks and the print and hopefully it will show people that the ebooks are a great market for books. Good luck to Samhain and to Chrissy !!
I think this is a true acknowledgement of Samhain’s ability to recognize a great book and edit it to an even higher level. Hats off to Chrissy and her excellent staff (including those fabulous covers!). This is way too cool!
This is great news for both Samhain AND Kensington, IMO. Won’t it be great when both e-publishers and print publishers have equal prestige in their own right?
On the subject of covers, although only one of my books is considered a Red Hot Read, all my covers have been tasteful, gorgeous, and actually relay what the story is about very well. I have to give props to the entire art department at Samhain, I love my covers!
I don’t know who is going to get called by Kennsington, but it will be great for all of us!
Yay!
Ari
Just because a book is a sexy read, it doesn’t take naked bodies to portray the content.
**stands up and applauds Lisa Amrine.**
Congratulations to both Samhain and Kensington.
I’ve been wondering if it will work both ways…will mybookstoreandmore start carrying Kensington ebooks?
I think this absolutely rocks.
Not just for those chosen to be distributed by Kensington, but for drawing attention to the other e-books at Samhain and, hopefully, elsewhere too.
Go Crissy!! :-)
Wonderful news, for both Crissy and Kensington!!!
Congratulations! Wonderful news. I hope Samhain’s M/M erotic romances make it into the mix!
Very kewl! Both excellent houjses with excellent CEOs and editors. I see a positive explosion here.
Oh, thank goodness it’s been announced. I’ve been about to explode with wanting to tell my friends and family the news! [grin]
My Kensington Aphrodisia books, which are erotic romance, are carried by Walmart online, just not in the stores. Knowing Walmart’s prudish reputation,I was shocked when I first saw NIGHT SPELL on their e-rack, but now they have my March release as well.
I think that when you include the cost of shipping, my books are cheaper there than anywhere else, including the used section at Amazon. Target doesn’t carry my books.
One of my books through Samhain Publishing, Trophy Girl, is already available throught walmart.com (although it lists Ingram Pub Services as the publisher) It even has a disclaimer about explicit sex and graphic language.
So it appears Walmart’s….shall I say, prudish decision on what books to carry is much more relaxed when it comes to their dot com stock.
I think this joint imprint is awesome for Samhain and Kensington and is testimony to the hard work all those at Samhain have put into making their company a success. It’s very excited for the authors too!
Signing with Samhain last December was a fantastic moment for me because I kept hearing how fabulous they were. They weren’t lying!! Crissy, Angie, Lisa, Marty and the entire staff at Samhain totally rock with their organizational skills, professional skills and industry business savvy.
Samhain is clearly a force to be reckoned with given Crissy’s at the helm. Congratulations Samhain on this exceptional achievement in such a short time span.
Congratulations to both Kensington and Samhain for having the vision to join forces and be leaders in the world of publishing. Crissy has a clear vision of what she wants for Samhain Publishing and has gathered exceptional people around her to realize her vision. It appears to be a win win situation for everyone involved, especially the authors with Samhain.
I’m just thrilled to be along for the ride!!
Awesome! Samhain is such a wonderful company, both from a reader and an author standpoint, and I am SO proud to be one of their authors :D
Crossing my fingers for some of the m/m to make it in the mix…
Congratulations! This is just amazing news!
As far as Walmart goes with their “prudishness,” I think recently things have become a little more relaxed. Since their founder passed away and a new generation is leading the way, things have been steadily changing. I mean how can they not have erotic romances when they sell massage oil packs of three and multi-colored, flavored condoms!
Congrats again!
This is fabulous news,
Congratulations to Samhain and Kensington!
WOW—this is incredibly inspiring news! I just signed with Samhain and was ALREADY proud to be an author with this great company. Now I get to brag MORE about Samhain and its wonderful people! Hmmm…I think I’ll start spreading the news now!
Kari Thomas
author of TEMPTATION UNLEASHED to be re-released with Samhain. (YAY!)
Congratulations to Samhain! I signed with them in November and continue to be impressed and excited by their forward vision and savvy business skills.
They really are such a great crew to work with and I expect big things from both of us down the road. :-)
This is not surprising. Since I’ve been with them, they’ve been nothing but professional. Kudos to Chrissy and the entire Samhain staff and author stable for making this happen.
Sounds like congratulations are in order. Well done!
This deal is just one more example of just how great a company Samhain Publishing is when you take into account Cris’ forward-thinking, along with the fantastic editorial staff. I’m so glad I signed my first contract with them in October and three more since then.
Wahoo!
[...] week there was a big announcement from Samhain that it would be partnering with Kensington to bring a new Samhain imprint to the [...]