This is it!  The first post to Screamin' Lemur's blog!  It's also an over-use of exclamation marks!

So for those of you here, you may be wondering why I set this site up.  There's myriad reasons, really.

First off, credit where credit is due.  If it wasn't for my friend Jeff saying to me one day "Hey, is there a way we could use the internet to get my book out to people?", well, this probably wouldn't have happened.  But after the answer of an emphatic "YES!", I started researching book publishing, internet media companies, and anything else I could think of that seemed relevent.

And wow did I find a lot.  And a lot that made me sad.  Copyright abuse, author abuse, greedy corporations, unfair contracts, a complete misunderstanding of the web, readers being told what they want instead of being asked... the list goes on.  It was pretty disappointing.

So I talked to a few friends, enlisted some support, and started on a grand adventure of determining just what a publishing company should be, and how it should work.  From the discussions had with many people, we drafted up a set of values for Screamin' Lemur Publications.  And I think you should all get to know what they are to:

Screamin’ Lemur will always put integrity and financial responsibility foremost when dealing with authors and readers. Authors can expect personalized service, fair commissions and quality representation of their work. The foundation of this relationship will be built on the understanding that Screamin’ Lemur is in the business to help authors, not exploit them. Readers will be provided a unique opportunity to connect with others who enjoy the same genre and the authors who create the literature. Instead of simply building a relationship based on sales, the readers will be building a relationship built on mutual respect with the authors.

1. Quality: Provide readers with quality fiction or non-fiction literature by talented independent authors. Authors can expect their work to be printed, or converted for proper viewing on various electronic devices.

2. Innovation: Create and maintain a service that centralizes the choice of electronic formats for readers to keep up with their lifestyles and reading preferences, and provide independent authors with their promotional, printing and distribution needs.

3. Creativity: Encouraging authors to continue growth in their art, and employees in suggesting new formats, and grow in their technical and industry knowledge.

4. Respect for the Individual: Author’s time, and talent will be respected in their works, and will retain all rights to their manuscript, fair dealings with royalties and commissions.

5. Love the job you choose to do: This is probably the most fundamental value since the company was started for authors to enjoy writing, the people at Screamin’ Lemur to enjoy their specialized areas and the readers enjoying the stories provided.

From that, you can see that we want to set up a community where everyone is respected and happy.  We're still learning how to do this, and we're bound to make mistakes... but when we do, tell us!  We want to do what's right.