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Greetings & Salutations!

I am Laurie M. Rauch, Executive Editor of Samhain Publishing and Owner and Chief Code Nerd of Elle Media.

This is my personal blog, where I talk about editing, books, web design, decorating my new house, and my addiction to good grammar.

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Archive for September, 2009

Why I think Kanye’s a brilliant marketer

Posted By laurie on September 14th, 2009

Don’t get me wrong… what he did to Taylor Swift at the VMAs? Totally bad form. You just don’t do that to anyone, let alone a teenager who’s accepting her first award and is probably scared shitless to be there.

But here’s the thing… Kanye probably didn’t have a hope in hell of winning any of the awards he was up for… and it was for video, not even for the music, and his competition was pretty big. But at the end of the awards, who’s the one person everyone was talking about? Kanye.

And in six months, when people think back to the VMAs, they’re gonna be like… who was it Kanye interrupted while giving her speech? Oh, I don’t remember. But damn, Kanye’s a douche.

And, really, that’s probably his biggest goal from standing up there and crapping on that poor little girl. He wants people talking about him. And looking at blogs, twitter and forums after the fact? Kanye is the number one topic of conversation… even though he didn’t win anything. Even though there were much bigger stars and much bigger awards coming out of the event.

Because, honestly? Beyonce’s video was the best video ever? Really? I mean, I’ve never watched the whole video, I’ve actually never been a big fan of watching music videos – I’ve never even seen the one I’m in, for Pete’s sake – but from what I’ve seen, all she does is dance around in a little leotard, right? How is that the best video ever?

But what he was talking about? Not the point… Beyonce was just an easy excuse. The whole point? Look at Kanye.

So, douche move? Totally. Brilliant marketing move? Oh, hell yeah.

Call for Submissions: Red Hot Fairy Tales

Posted By laurie on September 1st, 2009

How did Belle tame the wild Beast? Did the carriage turn into a pumpkin… or did Cinderella? And just what was going on with Snow White and those Dwarves?

I’m very pleased to announce an open call for submissions for a new, yet-to-be titled Summer 2010 anthology. I’m open to any genre, M/F, M/M, or multiples thereof. I’m looking for your super-hot take on the fairy tales we grew up with and… there must be a Happily Ever After.

The anthology will include novellas from 20,000 to 25,000 words in length and will be released individually as ebooks in August 2010 and in print in Spring 2011.

Submissions are open to all authors, published with Samhain or aspiring to be published with Samhain. All submissions must be new material, previously published submissions will not be considered. Additionally, manuscripts previously submitted, whether individually or for past anthologies, will not be considered either. Please be aware that manuscripts submitted to this anthology cannot be resubmitted at a later date unless by invitation from an editor.

To submit a manuscript for consideration, please include:
The full manuscript (of 20,000 to 25,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-5 page synopsis. Please include a letter of introduction/query letter. Full manuscripts are required for this as it’s a special project.

As well, when you send your manuscript, please be sure to use the naming convention FairyTales_Title_MS or FairyTales_Title_Synopsis. This will ensure that your submission doesn’t get missed in the many submissions we receive, and makes it easy for me to find in my ebook reader.

Submissions are open until February 1st, 2010 and final decision will be made by February 15th, 2010. Please send your submission to editor@samhainpublishing.com and include Red Hot Fairy Tales Anthology in the subject line. Questions and queries can be addressed to Laurie M. Rauch (laurie@samhainpublishing.com)

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