You may recall that last month’s runecast on August 31st drew Hagalaz, rune of transformation and radical change. The next day my publisher, Secret Cravings, announced the publishing house was closing its doors and did so the following day. This past month certainly has been ripe with the disruptive energies of Hagalaz. Nearly three hundred shocked authors had to decide on courses of action: submit to other publishers, and if so—which ones; indie pub on their own or by using a media management company; or hang tight, re-edit, and then decide. I went through about a week of sorting out possibilities, asking questions, and making lists. During the first few days I also had the dismal task of removing my beautiful book covers from my website and all the other places they lived, including You Tube videos. My books disappeared from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all the other distribution sites. The reader reviews also disappeared. However, I discovered the books could not be removed from Goodreads. Once born on Goodreads, a book lives there forever.
I spent the second week focusing on matters other than 
writing and publishing, including a high school class reunion to help plan. Yes! A distraction just in the nick of time! Since then the energy has still been erratic and scattered, but also highly interesting with all the possibilities of what to do. I finally ended up indie pubbing one of my titles, Guardian of the Deep, and submitting another one to a publisher, with two others to hopefully go where that one goes. I will revisit the other titles and submit them to different publishers. I don’t want all my eggs in one basket again. It is a bit strange to divide up the series, but thank goodness Wytchfae is a loose series, and each book stars different characters. Only Wytchfae Runes, Mind Your Goddess, and Demoness Dreams are closely connected by characters.
The Secret Cravings owner, Sandy Sullivan, behaved toward us in a professional, caring manner. Unlike some other publishing houses that closed and cut off communication with their authors, Sandy answered all our questions and, most importantly, sent us reversion of rights emails, discount codes for the print books, and the final formatted eBook versions for those who needed them. The cover artist employed by the company also removed the SCP logo from our books and sent us the new versions.
Here are excerpts from the last couple of paragraphs of the Hagalaz rune reading last month:
If you cast Hagalaz in a rune reading, fate is at work. Seize the moment. Leap when it feels right. You may not know what is going on, but your inner self does.
May we all be self-aware enough to cut away and trim the negative and unnecessary from our lives. May we be attuned to any appearance of Hagalaz well in advance so that we can remain centered and calm during its flurry and open to the beautiful new fabric of life. Change is sometimes fun, sometimes distressing, sometimes devastating.
Indeed it is. Many thanks for your support during this transition. I am off on an auspicious new direction and so appreciative of the well wishes of friends. Thank you for hanging in there with me!
Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Paranormal Romance
It proves, once again, if there are people who doubt it, that scrying- in all its forms, runes included- is a powerful source of information.
I’m sorry you had to pass through such a frustrating and depressing moment. But I’m glad to see you had in you the power to overcome it.
Yes, perhaps it’s best to query different publishers and have your books published by more publishers than one.
Best of luck with finding acceptance from them! It’s not easy. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you. Your books are worth a good, stable publisher.
It was a quite interesting cast, Carmen. When all that happened the following day, I had some calm in the center, as I knew it was meant to be. Thanks for keeping your fingers crossed. I would like most of them to be with publishing houses.
It’s definitely been a challenging month. Best wishes for future sales and continued decisions. Hugs.
Best wishes to you as well, Cindy! I know you’ll do great. Thank you for stopping by, and please keep in touch.
I’m so glad to hear you haven’t let this disruption get the better of you, Flossie. It sounds like you’ve got a plan of action and already have elements in place to move ahead. You’ve got a wonderful series in Wytchfae, and I’m confident you’ll find homes for all of your novels!
It’s minor compared to some things, Mae. I’ll just shimmy on down the road:) Thank you for the good words about Wytchfae.
That was a big shock. you are handling it quite well. It sounds like you have a good plan! I wish you Well!.
I appreciate the kind message, Cathy. It means a lot.
We never understand why certain things happen, especially when it has negative effects. But sometimes, there is good that comes out of the negative.
That’s always the saving grace– the silver lining!
Oh my, not only spot on, but such an immediate confirmation, too.
I know this past month has been difficult and hectic for all my SCP author friends. It sounds like you’ve sorted out the confusion and are handling all these changes with grace.
I feel as if the grace flooded in with the mutual caring among the authors and the professional way Sandy handled things. It sure is an interesting time, Trisha.