Construction Delays

The publishing path for Haunted in Paradise

Are you a fan of spine-tingly thrillers? A lover of the paranormal? Or a fan of the paranormal who loves to read spine-tingly thrillers? Or a… well, you know. Believe me, if you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll love Haunted in Paradise.

For a listing of all my books and published short stories, visit my website at www.susanerogers.com. There are links to stories and podcasts online for free, and to purchase any of my books or anthologies. You can also get to each book from my Amazon page. If you’d like a signed copy, my email is sneirish@gmail.com.

I submitted a query for Haunted in Paradise to Grendel Press in July 2023. They requested a full manuscript in October. They accepted the book in January 2024, and we signed a contract within a week.

Two months shy of four years since I sent out my first queries, and I had a contract. Haunted in Paradise would be published!

Huzzah! Huzzah!

Grendel Press, with a logo of a dragon’s head, describes itself as a publisher of “Dark fantasy, horror, and dark romance that embrace the monstrous, the misunderstood, and the unknown.” This sounded perfect for Haunted in Paradise.

The contract was standard, but standard can have wide variation in the publishing world. Here is a summary of some of the basic clauses in the agreement:

  ·         The Author grants the Publisher the exclusive right to print, publish, sell, distribute, and license the Work in any language in print, electronic, digital, and audio throughout the world, during the full term of the contract and any renewals and extensions.

·         Compensation in the form of royalties are paid to the author for each copy sold, based on a percentage of the retail price. The percentage for electronic sales is higher than for print books. Grendel uses a tiered system with a higher percentage paid after a certain number of copies are sold.

·         The Author agrees to deliver a complete and acceptable manuscript to the Publisher within one year of signing the contract. The Publisher agrees to publish the work withing one year of receipt of the final manuscript.

·         The Publisher will edit and revise the work for use under the contract. The Author has the right to review and request changes to the editing so that the edited manuscript is reasonably and substantially acceptable to the Author prior to publishing.

·         The Author receives twenty-five free author copies and can purchase additional copies at 50% off the list price. No royalties are paid on these author copies.

·         Grounds for termination of the agreement if the author or the publisher do not fulfill their requirements. All rights revert to the Author upon termination of the agreement.

These points are generally present in every publishing contract I’ve signed. There are a few more clauses related to accounting, marketing, warranties and indemnities, resolution of disputes, etc. and these are all standard legal publishing fare.

I vetted Grendel Press like I do with all publishers and presses. Asking other authors who might have dealt with them for their opinion, reading reviews, and checking their business status. I found nothing but good words and positive reviews for Grendel.

First, before anything else, I want to say for the record that the Editor-in-Chief at Grendel Press, Susan Russell, is a wonderful person, who I like and respect very much. She deeply cares about her business and the staff and authors who are part of it. Grendel is a small, independent press, and therefore runs primarily on enthusiasm, the love of books, and very limited resources. Like every other small, independent press.

Shortly after the contract was signed in January, The Editor-in-Chief sent me an email with a questionnaire to provide my creative input, the vision I had for the physical design of my book. This included any ideas I had for the cover, the formatting, and the interior design.

A week later, another email asked for my input on blog posts and social media promotion to generate excitement and anticipation for my readers. I responded to the key questions and sent that back quickly.

Then I waited. I didn’t hear anything more at all. I sent Russell an email inquiry near the end of March. She responded the same day.

Basically, her answer was that Grendel Press had contracted to publish eighteen books in 2024 and they were really busy working to make that happen. Since Grendel was a small publisher, they still didn’t have full teams to work on every book at once. She advised that Haunted in Paradise was scheduled for an October release, and I would hear more about the process for my publication in mid to late summer.

Once again, the publishing world hums along in its own sweet time. I had no choice but to pull over and be patient. It had taken almost four years for Haunted in Paradise to find its home with a publisher. I wasn’t ready to give up the dream yet.

What’s Next?

Passing time