The Best of 2011: Publishers

While writing up my Top 11 of 2011 post, my brain kept coming back to dozens of titles, all of which were excellent, and all of which I read in 2011. Needless to say, it wasn't easy trying to come up with a list of the best reads of last year. Each title I mulled over, until, finally, I had a preliminary list. As I looked over each title that had made the list, one thought kept sticking out to me: the publishers.

Just as important as the author, the publishers are the ones who make it possible in most cases for the authors on my 2011 list to be read and reviewed by people like me. After some thought, I finally decided to do two Best of 2011 posts, the first being books, and the second post -- this post -- focusing on the publishers.

So, who were my top publishers of 2011? Well, when I broke it down, there were only a handful that immediately came to mind. In no particular order, they are:

Seventh Star Press - Although Seventh Star has been around for a few years, it hasn't been until recently that they've made a splash in the water. 2011 saw their author roster increase significantly with authors such as: D.A. Adams, David H. Blalock, and Michael West.

2011 also saw some major releases from Seventh Star as well. The Fall of Durkhon, Redheart, Cinema of Shadows, Angelkiller, The Seventh Throne, are all titles that hit the shelves this year. And if that's what they've managed to produce in 2011, I can't wait to see what they do in 2012! Fantasy, Horror, and Urban Fantasy fans should take note. If you want good, quality reads that don't take a bite out of your check should head over to Amazon and check out there $2.99 e-books.

And for those of you that might be unsure, or don't want to spend $2.99 on an e-book that they might not enjoy, should check out their 8 e-book short stories for only $.99, from authors Stephen Zimmer, Michael West, and Steven Shrewsbury.

I have no doubts that 2012 will be a very good year for Seventh Star!

Deadite Press - A relatively new small press -- and an imprint of Eraserhead Press -- Deadite specializes in cult horror authors that have managed to make a name for themselves, and along the way amassed overflowing flocks of followers. So it's no surprise that they produce great and sometimes hard to find titles from authors including: Brian Keene, Bryan Smith, Edward Lee, Robert Deveraux, Wrath James White, G.F. Gonzalez, and Nate Southard. Two of the eleven titles that made it onto my Top 11 of 2011 list were Deadite titles, so they must be doing something right!

Angry Robot - And finally, the sleeping giant of the list, and of 2011: Angry Robot. Founded in 2008 by Marc Gascoigne, Angry Robot has been going strong since, and gaining momentum at every turn. In less than three years, Angry Robot has managed to enlist some of the biggest names in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (Dan Abnett, K.W. Jeter, Tim Waggoner) and along the way found new names of future greats (Maurice Broaddus, Lauren Beukes, Lavie Tidhar, Adam Christopher, Matt Forbeck).

Angry Robot managed to release a massive list of titles in 2011, and have already begun to announce some great titles for 2012, including Giant Thief, Dead Harvest, Carpathia, Evil Dark, The Corpse-Rat King, The Alchemist of Souls, The Hammer and the Blade (all titles I'm looking forward to with much excitement).

If 2011 is any indication, I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be one hell of a year for books!

~Rodney