September 19 , 2017
Announcing our new imprints ...

I've made a career of implementing change in the IT world. For years, I've been the guy who comes in and leads large implementations to transform organizations. I've been the guy a lot of people groan about because I have been a harbinger of change -- often difficult. Ideally, these changes work out and organizations become more efficient. I suppose I would not have survived for 35 years in IT if that were not the case.
Then comes Sunbury Press. While I am the owner, I was dreading changing anything. Everything seemed to be working well enough. Why should I disrupt what we are doing? Maybe it will screw things up! Maybe I should just ride it out a little longer ... funny how I, too, am nervous about change over my own domain -- not so much when it is someone else's!

This decision was not easy. We are not a large publisher from a financial perspective, and creating five additional brands could be cumbersome. But, it is also necessary to achieve the level of success we are collectively seeking.

So, here we go:
Sunbury Press -- remains as our primary nonfiction imprint. Our history, self-help, science, political, biography/memoir titles will continue to be published under our traditional brand. This makes a lot of sense since it has been very successful with these categories. In fact, many bookstore buyers think of Sunbury Press as a history-oriented press.

Hellbender Books -- is our new imprint for our horror, thriller, fantasy, and science fiction titles. It has been clear for some time that segmenting these titles into a more appropriate brand would eliminate confusion. Usually, in my experience, a rising sun, as in the Sunbury Press logo, is the bane of the nasty things that dwell in the night. So, why would we want such a positive enlightened logo on our more disturbing material? I know Tom Malafarina and Keith Rommel are happier now. Hellbender came from the large salamanders found in streams in the northeast. While not creepy themselves, the name was cool. And, the logo has kind of a horned "H" thing going on. Anyway, I think it works.

Ars Metaphysica -- permits us to segment our spiritual and metaphysical fiction and nonfiction. It will also be home for our paranormal titles. This imprint was cooked up last year, while talking to Susan Kiskis about a potential blog under this name. I pulled a mystical design from ancient times.

So, how will this work? New books will be assigned to their appropriate imprint. As we release your new books, we may take that opportunity to rebrand your other titles, especially if they are in the same series. This takes time, and money, and will likely require many months to accomplish. The goal is to complete the rebranding effort of active titles over the next 12 months.