Hello, friends! Welcome to the end of July. I hope you’ve been enjoying your summer with some good books and a glass or two of wine. It’s been a while, I know, and we have a lot to catch up on. Not a lot of it is good news, unfortunately.
For those of you who haven’t heard—and I’m sure most of you have—Less Than Three Press is shutting their doors at the end of July and wishing their shocked and heartbroken associates a fond farewell. It came as a surprise to many of us (most of us?). There was no lead-up, no payment problems, no external indications that things were going sideways. I had, in fact, just been offered a contract for a new novel with them a month or so ago, with another one well on its way to landing at their door. This kind of surprise can be both a good thing and a bad thing, as far as I see it. On the positive side, a quick, clean retreat leaves no enemies. On the other side of things, a person can’t brace for a blow that they don’t see coming.
Regardless, LT3 has to do what’s right for LT3’s founders, so it is what it is; done is done and gone is gone, and here we are sitting around wondering what to do now. That’s a daunting position to be in, as I’ve chosen to work solely with Less Than Three Press. That means, in one fell swoop, this entire collection is going to disappear. And that means starting over. Completely and one hundred percent over. Those of you who are close to me know that there’s been an awful lot of starting over in my life these past few years and… I mean, I’ll get there. But, ugh. It’s been exhausting and here we go again. (Whine, whine, whine, I know!)
So, while I’ve been meaning to post something here about LT3’s departure and how it’s going to affect me, to be honest, I don’t really know what to tell everyone. I won’t drag out ancient sayings about eating hamburger after steak (as an animal lover and a veggie I don’t think my tofu substitutions will ring with any clarity if I try), but the point behind the adage is that it’s going to be hard to find a company that will ever give me the range of freedom, level of support, or personal respect that LT3 did. Their professionalism with payments, dedication to both customers and associates, support of culture, and respect to diversity is almost unheard of in today’s marketplace, even in this genre.
That being said, I do have a brand-new book that needs a home, and its little baby brother coming up along behind him. Even orphans need love, and I’d hate to see these two not get a fair start. I am researching, and considering, and trying to make decisions, and I promise you this: You all will be the first to know once I come to any conclusions.
For the time being, please feel free to drop a comment below or email me at a.freedom.henley@gmail.com if you have any questions, need some assistance, have the absolute need to tell me about a specific publisher that I super-need to look at right away, or really, really, really just have to have one of my stories that is no longer available. I am always willing to help out a friend. 😀
I look forward to our next chat when I can tell you something a little more definitive.
All my love, AF Henley ❤
AF Henley 