Posts Tagged: Grim Oak Press

News

Grim Oak Press cancels follow-up to Unfettered

By Aidan Moher November 3rd, 2014

Grim Oak Press has announced that Unveiled, the highly anticipated follow-up to Unfettered, has been canceled due to a conflict between its publisher and editor.

“[Unveiled] will not be happening,” revealed Shawn Speakman, publisher at Grim Oak Press. “And it’s important to say, through no fault of my own. After waiting for more than six weeks for the simplest of work to be done on the anthology, editor Roger Bellini asked me to renegotiate the contract. In the renegotiation, he asked for 17.5% of hardcover and ebooks sales—less than originally in the contract, true—and his name still on the dust jacket. In return, he would not be editing the book. This would give Roger large royalties for effectively doing what I consider very little work on the book,”

As of the time this was written, Bellini, who was attached to the ill-fated Neverland’s Library anthology, has not commented on the cancellation of Unveiled.

“After talking with my book agent, I decided it best for Grim Oak Press to terminate the contract,” Speakman announced, spelling the end for this iteration of Unveiled.

This is disappointing news for readers and the authors involved in the project. Given Grim Oak Press’ success with Unfettered, readers can hope that the anthology finds a new editor before long.

Speakman discusses the cancellation in more depth on the official Grim Oak Press website.

EDIT (Nov. 3rd, 2014 – 7:05pm): Speakman confirmed on Reddit that he’s working on a different anthology. It won’t be called Unveiled or feature the same lineup of writers, however.

EDIT (Nov. 4th, 2014): Turns out that Bellini owns rights for the stories, so Grim Oak Press and Speakman are unable to use the collected stories in a new iteration of Unveiled. It’s unclear what Bellini intends to do with the anthology, but he, theoretically, could sell the it to another publisher.

EDIT (Nov. 4th, 2014): Having spoken with several of the authors announced for the anthology, none of them were under contract yet for their stories (though some had already submitted them), suggesting that Speakman and Grim Oak Press might be able to reassemble the stories under a different title.

News

Grim Oak Press’ Unveils a New Name for its Upcoming Follow-up to Unfettered

By Aidan Moher September 4th, 2014
unfettered-art

Earlier this year, Grim Oak Press announced Neverland’s Shadow, edited by Shawn Speakman and Roger Bellini, a follow-up to the publishers successful first anthology, Unfettered. “All of the stories are told from the point of view of the villain/antagonist,” said Publisher Shawn Speakman of the new anthology. “I’ve always felt like the villain doesn’t get enough time on the page from his/her/its point of view. Well, now we will have an entire book and I simply can’t wait to bring it to you!”

And now, Neverland’s Shadow has a new name: Unveiled.

(Oh the deliciousness of the pun I was able to use in the title of this post.)

“After asking for suggestions from the internet(s),” Speakman says on the Grim Oak Press website, “more than 1300 titles were sent into the website. I culled them down to 10 favorites. Editor Roger Bellini did the same from those 1300.”

“I am tired of heroes winning and writing history the way they choose,” Speakman said. “The stories within Unveiled are told from the point of view of villains and, finally, their stories will be “unveiled” for all to read. No matter what the heroes think!”

“I am tired of heroes winning and writing history the way they choose,” Speakman said.

Honestly, I’m not crazy about the new name. Neverland’s Shadow was punchy and interesting, though it’s difficult to separate the connection to Peter Pan’s youthful island. Unveiled is thematically on point, and pairs nicely with Unfettered, but I can’t help but feel like it loses a bit of the impact, a bit of the mystery. Also, a theatre background just puts images of raising curtains in my head. Because, you know, everyone has the same cognitive patterns and connections as this blogger, right? Read More »

Art

Cover Art for The Twilight Dragon by Shawn Speakman

By Aidan Moher July 3rd, 2014
The Twilight Dragon by Shawn Speakman

Shawn Speakman, good friend of this blog, has been carving out a pretty nice niche for himself in the wild west of self-published fantasy. Writing in the vein of classic ’90s fantasy, Speakman’s Annwn cycle mixes the best of Terry Brooks’ adventurous epic fantasy and the otherworldliness urban fantasy of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files. The Twilight Dragon is a collection of short stories that bridge the gap between Speakman’s debut novel, The Dark Thorn, and its sequel, The Everwinter Wraith.

It’s no secret that I’m a Todd Lockwood fanboy and his work on the cover for The Twilight Dragon is gorgeous. Lockwood’s art alone is keeping dragons interesting and relevant to fantasy fiction these days. (Okay, maybe not, but he’s the species’ best ambassador.) Lockwood also provided the cover art for The Dark Thorn and the Unfettered anthology, edited by Speakman.

The Twilight Dragon will be released in October, 2014 by Grim Oak Press.

Feature Article

Shawn Speakman on Unfettered, its UK sale to Orbit Books, and his next anthology(!)

By Shawn Speakman October 25th, 2013
Shawn Speakman discusses Unfettered, its UK sale to Orbit Books, and his next anthology(!)
By Shawn Speakman on October 25th, 2013

I’m proud to announce that the rights to publish Unfettered have sold to Orbit Books UK.

This is great news but not for the reasons you might think.

A little background. When I found out I had cancer, you might be astonished to find that my first thought was not survival. It was there but it was in the back of my mind, like an itch that can’t be scratched. No, my first thought was, “How the hell am I going to pay for treatment?” Due to a pre-existing condition, I could not find affordable health insurance. Then the inevitable happened. I was diagnosed with Stage 3B Hodgkin’s lymphoma and quickly accrued a massive medical debt.

Luckily, I’ve made some friends over the years. Unfettered exists because of those relationships and their good will, the anthology paying off my debt in its entirety as of two weeks ago. Read More »

Feature Article

‘Herding Cats’ by Shawn Speakman

By Shawn Speakman July 15th, 2013
Unfettered, edited by Shawn Speakman
Herding Cats
By Shawn Speakman on July 15th, 2013

Ever hear the expression, ‘herding cats?’

I’ll tell you something: All anthologists know it!

I know it now too. I am the editor for Unfettered, a fantasy short story anthology that features some of the best writers working in the field. It is newly released as an eBook and a hardcover, the proceeds from sales going to alleviate medical debt I accrued after treating Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011.

In that regard, it is a special book. At least it is to me. I lacked health insurance due to a pre-existing condition and racked up one helluva medical bill. I could have easily taken the medical bankruptcy route and become another statistic. No one would have begrudged me that course. I decided to take a different path though. And in so doing, be free of the crushing debt that increased day by day by day…

To start, I had lunch with Terry Brooks, author of the bestselling Shannara series. I have been Terry’s webmaster for thirteen years and we are close friends. I asked him to donate a short story to my cause, the proceeds to go against that debt. He agreed. But he added more advice, advice that led to Unfettered:

‘Shawn, you should ask your other writer friends for the same thing,’ Terry said. Read More »