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!
