Horror Writers Association Adds Shroud to the Approved Publishers List

There are few honors in dark fiction publishing as important as to be recognized by the preeminent horror author advocacy organization, The Horror Writers Association. Shroud was thrilled to be nominated for a Bram Stoker Award last year by the HWA for "Best Anthology" for Beneath the Surface. This year Rio Youers' Shroud novella, Mama Fish made the final update for the award, and since Shroud's inception several of Shroud's authors have been recommended for the award.

However, it's not always about awards. From a publisher's standpoint it is more important to be recognized for treating authors the way they should be treated. Since Shroud's first issue, first novella, and first anthology, we have always insisted on paying our authors for their efforts. In the beginning, we paid professional rates and were responsible for helping a few authors secure Active HWA status. As economic conditions got rocky, we were forced to scale back our payment scheme, and thus helped writers attain their affiliate status. We always pay advances on longer work, and we hope to return to professional rates in the very near future.

The president of the HWA, Deborah LeBlanc, has informed us that the HWA board has voted to add Shroud to their list of Approved Publishers. Our name will be added to the list in the next few weeks after the Stoker Awards process quiets down.

Thank you HWA!

D. Harlan Wilson Interview in Bull Spec

D. Harlan Wilson, the critically acclaimed other of a number of works within Bizarro and Irreal fiction, and the author of the Bram Stoker long-listed Shroud title, Peckinpah, An Ultraviolent Romance, recently sat down with the staff at Bull Spec for an interview.

BULL SPEC (blog here)is a professionally- and royalty-paying speculative fiction market and quarterly print magazine with DRM-free, commons-friendly e-books and audiobooks available for "donate what you like" in English, Spanish, French, and Chinese, based in Durham, NC, US.

D. sent me a copy of the interview. It's compressive, intelligent, and enlightening. In it he says:

"Peckinpah is a satire that makes an explicit and absurdist critique of small town American ethics and lifestyles. I don’t know if this critique stems from events, technologies, cultural formations, etc. of the early 2000s. In many ways it could apply to the 80s and 90s. Perhaps Peckinpah’s fragmented, disjointed, unconventional style indicates a recent current in narrative—similar stylistic experimentalism is visible in, say, Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves and David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas."

You can order a copy of the first issue of Bull Spec today.

Shroud Writers: Payment Processing Reminder

Just a quick note to remind Shroud's wonderful writers that (as the contract indicates) I need a simple email invoice before I can process your payment. I know it's a bit different from some fiction publishers, but it helps me track things, and then reconcile for tax season.

The invoice simply requires (in the BODY of the email):

Name

Amount Due

Type of payment (check or Paypal)

Address (if check desired)

Thank you!