Writerly Stuff: Publishers

Harper Signs Three Authonomy Writers Out of 2,000 Submissions

This is quite interesting.

It's one of those

YADS = Yet Another Display Site

These are places where you upload your novel's chapters - or maybe just one chapter - on the off chance that an editor or agent will "stroll by" that particular site, go nuts at your masterpiece, and sign you up.

Nice dream, anyway.

Most of them are pipe dreams or wish fulfillments (welcome to the Cliche Express ;-)), and the only publishers and agents that show up are the bottom feeders.

They've popped up on the Internet in many different shapes and shades before, usually never to be seen again.

But this is being run by Harper Collins, so maybe it is different because of the tie-in to a well-known publisher.
More...

This, essentially, is an online slush pile for Harper Collins.

More Information

Alan Baxter, a self-published author from Australia, has this to say about Authonomy:

“Beat the slush” is the tagline and that’s something that will appeal to all writers. In a nutshell, it’s a website where people can upload full or partial manuscripts and have them read and voted on by other members of the site. People can back a book and subsequently raise it up the ranks, comment on it, recommend it to friends and so on.

He also says that the idea is that "every month [have] five books that have floated to the top...put before relevant editors at Harper Collins and considered for traditional publication." Not a bad deal, except it looks as if, from the news I've just seen, that Harper Collins has signed only three (I guess the other two must've been really, really bad). Just remember that that's 3 writers out of 2,000 submissions.

Yeah, that's a slush pile, all right.

Here's the blog entry wherein HC tells us a little bit about those they've signed - no fantasy novels among them :-(.

I just don't know what to make of this, but my gut is telling me to shy away. After all, if only the critting part of it is good, I'll just stick to the Water Cooler's Share Your Work forum.

What do you think?

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Harper Signs Three Authonomy Writers Out of 2,000 Submissions

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

0 comments

This is quite interesting.

It's one of those

YADS = Yet Another Display Site

These are places where you upload your novel's chapters - or maybe just one chapter - on the off chance that an editor or agent will "stroll by" that particular site, go nuts at your masterpiece, and sign you up.

Nice dream, anyway.

Most of them are pipe dreams or wish fulfillments (welcome to the Cliche Express ;-)), and the only publishers and agents that show up are the bottom feeders.

They've popped up on the Internet in many different shapes and shades before, usually never to be seen again.

But this is being run by Harper Collins, so maybe it is different because of the tie-in to a well-known publisher.
More...

This, essentially, is an online slush pile for Harper Collins.

More Information

Alan Baxter, a self-published author from Australia, has this to say about Authonomy:

“Beat the slush” is the tagline and that’s something that will appeal to all writers. In a nutshell, it’s a website where people can upload full or partial manuscripts and have them read and voted on by other members of the site. People can back a book and subsequently raise it up the ranks, comment on it, recommend it to friends and so on.

He also says that the idea is that "every month [have] five books that have floated to the top...put before relevant editors at Harper Collins and considered for traditional publication." Not a bad deal, except it looks as if, from the news I've just seen, that Harper Collins has signed only three (I guess the other two must've been really, really bad). Just remember that that's 3 writers out of 2,000 submissions.

Yeah, that's a slush pile, all right.

Here's the blog entry wherein HC tells us a little bit about those they've signed - no fantasy novels among them :-(.

I just don't know what to make of this, but my gut is telling me to shy away. After all, if only the critting part of it is good, I'll just stick to the Water Cooler's Share Your Work forum.

What do you think?

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Will We Recognize the Publishing Industry in the Next Few Years?

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

0 comments

According to Lev Grossman of Time Magazine Online, the public in general will be in for some wild times (so to speak) when it comes to the publishing world, and the novel in particular.

As quoted from Publishers Lunch(since my browser is endlessly thinking about opening up the link to the online article):
More...

"A lot of headlines and blogs to the contrary, publishing isn't dying. But it is evolving, and so radically that we may hardly recognize it when it's done. Literature interprets the world, but it's also shaped by that world, and we're living through one of the greatest economic and technological transformations since--well, since the early 18th century. The novel won't stay the same: it has always been exquisitely sensitive to newness, hence the name. It's about to renew itself again, into something cheaper, wilder, trashier, more democratic and more deliriously fertile than ever...."

To which I say: So Mr. Grossman thinks this transformation will be like the English novel back in the 19th century. No, he talks about the 18th century, but this is my comment. ;-) Damn, I really do wish I could afford the Teaching Company's course on the English novel!

"...More books, written and read by more people, often for little or no money, circulating in a wild diversity of forms, both physical and electronic, far outside the charmed circle of New York City's entrenched publishing culture. Old Publishing is stately, quality-controlled and relatively expensive. New Publishing is cheap, promiscuous and unconstrained by paper, money or institutional taste. If Old Publishing is, say, a tidy, well-maintained orchard, New Publishing is a riotous jungle: vast and trackless and chaotic, full of exquisite orchids and undiscovered treasures and a hell of a lot of noxious weeds.

To which I say: Yeah, not to mention epubs going under, writers getting stiffed...riotous jungle, indeed. (Make sure you bring your own Tarzan. Or something.)

"Novels will get longer"

To which I say: This guy obviously has never read epic fantasy.

"--electronic books aren't bound by physical constraints--and they'll be patchable and updatable, like software. We'll see more novels doled out episodically, on the model of TV series or, for that matter, the serial novels of the 19th century."

To which I say: TV series? No, make it more like the serial novels. I could get into that. :-)

"We can expect a literary culture of pleasure and immediate gratification. Reading on a screen speeds you up: you don't linger on the language; you just click through. We'll see less modernist-style difficulty and more romance-novel-style sentiment and high-speed-narrative throughput. Novels will compete to hook you in the first paragraph and then hang on for dear life."

To which I say: Wait - novels don't try to hook you in the first paragraph NOW? Isn't that what we, as the great unpublished (or somewhat published), are told we have to do to sell our babies? Hmm? Unless literary fiction means you just have two people gazing at each other for three or four pages...

I get that he's saying ebooks will really take off (tell that to the romance writers out there who've been busy selling their stuff to legit, long-standing epubs for a number of years now), but maybe not in the form we're used to. Although it's kind of hard to imagine people, after staring at a computer screen at work for umpteen hours, will want to stare at another screen for their reading pleasure.

However, technology being what it is, ebook readers will (hopefully) become easier and easier on the eye. Maybe Amazon is on to something with the Kindle.

Who knows?

Hindsight is 20/20, so there's no way to know for sure if Mr. Grossman is correct. But what do you think of his overall assessment?

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Will We Recognize the Publishing Industry in the Next Few Years?

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

0 comments

According to Lev Grossman of Time Magazine Online, the public in general will be in for some wild times (so to speak) when it comes to the publishing world, and the novel in particular.

As quoted from Publishers Lunch(since my browser is endlessly thinking about opening up the link to the online article):
More...

"A lot of headlines and blogs to the contrary, publishing isn't dying. But it is evolving, and so radically that we may hardly recognize it when it's done. Literature interprets the world, but it's also shaped by that world, and we're living through one of the greatest economic and technological transformations since--well, since the early 18th century. The novel won't stay the same: it has always been exquisitely sensitive to newness, hence the name. It's about to renew itself again, into something cheaper, wilder, trashier, more democratic and more deliriously fertile than ever...."

To which I say: So Mr. Grossman thinks this transformation will be like the English novel back in the 19th century. No, he talks about the 18th century, but this is my comment. ;-) Damn, I really do wish I could afford the Teaching Company's course on the English novel!

"...More books, written and read by more people, often for little or no money, circulating in a wild diversity of forms, both physical and electronic, far outside the charmed circle of New York City's entrenched publishing culture. Old Publishing is stately, quality-controlled and relatively expensive. New Publishing is cheap, promiscuous and unconstrained by paper, money or institutional taste. If Old Publishing is, say, a tidy, well-maintained orchard, New Publishing is a riotous jungle: vast and trackless and chaotic, full of exquisite orchids and undiscovered treasures and a hell of a lot of noxious weeds.

To which I say: Yeah, not to mention epubs going under, writers getting stiffed...riotous jungle, indeed. (Make sure you bring your own Tarzan. Or something.)

"Novels will get longer"

To which I say: This guy obviously has never read epic fantasy.

"--electronic books aren't bound by physical constraints--and they'll be patchable and updatable, like software. We'll see more novels doled out episodically, on the model of TV series or, for that matter, the serial novels of the 19th century."

To which I say: TV series? No, make it more like the serial novels. I could get into that. :-)

"We can expect a literary culture of pleasure and immediate gratification. Reading on a screen speeds you up: you don't linger on the language; you just click through. We'll see less modernist-style difficulty and more romance-novel-style sentiment and high-speed-narrative throughput. Novels will compete to hook you in the first paragraph and then hang on for dear life."

To which I say: Wait - novels don't try to hook you in the first paragraph NOW? Isn't that what we, as the great unpublished (or somewhat published), are told we have to do to sell our babies? Hmm? Unless literary fiction means you just have two people gazing at each other for three or four pages...

I get that he's saying ebooks will really take off (tell that to the romance writers out there who've been busy selling their stuff to legit, long-standing epubs for a number of years now), but maybe not in the form we're used to. Although it's kind of hard to imagine people, after staring at a computer screen at work for umpteen hours, will want to stare at another screen for their reading pleasure.

However, technology being what it is, ebook readers will (hopefully) become easier and easier on the eye. Maybe Amazon is on to something with the Kindle.

Who knows?

Hindsight is 20/20, so there's no way to know for sure if Mr. Grossman is correct. But what do you think of his overall assessment?

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Writing and Publishers - With All of the Consolidations...

Labels: Agents, Publishers, Writing General, Writing Techniques/Ideas

0 comments

Random House and other big publishers have been consolidating like crazy, downsizing, shuffling people around (those that are left, anyway). No doubt some of the mid-sized publishers are probably doing the same thing.

However...

Uncle Jim has it right in this thread in the Bewares and Backgrounds forum at the Water Cooler.

What he says is:

"Do not pay to be published.

"Real publishers cost you nothing. They pay you. (And not just a measly dollar, in case you run into PublishAmerica.)

"Here's what to do:
More...
"Go to a bookstore. Find books on the shelf that are similar to yours.

"Write down the publishers' names.

"Get those publishers' guidelines. Follow the guidelines to the letter.

"If the publisher says you need an agent:

"Find the names of agents who have sold books like yours. By "sold" I mean they have books on the shelves in bookstores that you've seen with your own eyes. Get their guidelines and follow them to the letter.

"While all this is happening, write a new, different, and better book."

It's not easy, but it's best to be prepared. Start with the agents, if they pass, get out your list (you do have a list of agents and publishers, right?) of all sizes of publishers that take unagented mss.

Before You Contact Publishers Directly

But it's not just good enough to list a bunch of publishers. Make sure those publishers take your genre (same goes for agents, naturally). Make sure those publishers are actual publishers (unlike PublishAmerica, which is a printer - and a pretty lousy one at that).

If they take and print everything that comes their way - they're a vanity press. Real publishers - big, small, and everything in between - are selective about which books they'll publish. They're not getting any dough from you, so they have to be picky - they want to make money as much as you do! :-)

Background Checks

This is the most important step. Before you send out your Novel of the Ages or your query letter, research publishers and agents. There are plenty of fly-by-nighters, willing to fleece you out of your life savings (or close to it), there are the clueless (who really do want to help writers, but haven't a clue as to how to market, get distribution, etc.), and then there are the legit ones.

Do your homework! If you eventually decide to go the POD technology route, at least do it with your eyes open. Know that your novel will hardly sell any copies, unless you're a complete marketing whiz (few writers are).

In Summary

So, after the steps Uncle Jim talked about above, do your research by:

1. Getting a list together of all the legit agents and publishers.

2. Making sure they take your genre.

3. Making sure they're not bottom feeders/clueless.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Writing and Publishers - With All of the Consolidations...

Labels: Agents, Publishers, Writing General, Writing Techniques/Ideas

0 comments

Random House and other big publishers have been consolidating like crazy, downsizing, shuffling people around (those that are left, anyway). No doubt some of the mid-sized publishers are probably doing the same thing.

However...

Uncle Jim has it right in this thread in the Bewares and Backgrounds forum at the Water Cooler.

What he says is:

"Do not pay to be published.

"Real publishers cost you nothing. They pay you. (And not just a measly dollar, in case you run into PublishAmerica.)

"Here's what to do:
More...
"Go to a bookstore. Find books on the shelf that are similar to yours.

"Write down the publishers' names.

"Get those publishers' guidelines. Follow the guidelines to the letter.

"If the publisher says you need an agent:

"Find the names of agents who have sold books like yours. By "sold" I mean they have books on the shelves in bookstores that you've seen with your own eyes. Get their guidelines and follow them to the letter.

"While all this is happening, write a new, different, and better book."

It's not easy, but it's best to be prepared. Start with the agents, if they pass, get out your list (you do have a list of agents and publishers, right?) of all sizes of publishers that take unagented mss.

Before You Contact Publishers Directly

But it's not just good enough to list a bunch of publishers. Make sure those publishers take your genre (same goes for agents, naturally). Make sure those publishers are actual publishers (unlike PublishAmerica, which is a printer - and a pretty lousy one at that).

If they take and print everything that comes their way - they're a vanity press. Real publishers - big, small, and everything in between - are selective about which books they'll publish. They're not getting any dough from you, so they have to be picky - they want to make money as much as you do! :-)

Background Checks

This is the most important step. Before you send out your Novel of the Ages or your query letter, research publishers and agents. There are plenty of fly-by-nighters, willing to fleece you out of your life savings (or close to it), there are the clueless (who really do want to help writers, but haven't a clue as to how to market, get distribution, etc.), and then there are the legit ones.

Do your homework! If you eventually decide to go the POD technology route, at least do it with your eyes open. Know that your novel will hardly sell any copies, unless you're a complete marketing whiz (few writers are).

In Summary

So, after the steps Uncle Jim talked about above, do your research by:

1. Getting a list together of all the legit agents and publishers.

2. Making sure they take your genre.

3. Making sure they're not bottom feeders/clueless.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

More Publishing News - Bad and Good (Eh? Good?)

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

2 comments

Here's some of the latest from Publisher's Lunch:

Penguin Children's

Kathy Dawson will join Penguin Children's Dial Books in the new position of associate publisher, reporting to Lauri Hornik. She will work help to strategize and develop the list while acquiring and editing both novels and picture books. Dawson was formerly editorial director at Harcourt Children's.

So if you write kid's novels/picture books, time to add Ms. Dawson to your rolodex.

Macmillan U.S.

A restructuring throughout Macmillan in the US announced yesterday internally eliminates 64 positions from throughout the company's imprints and divisions (including cuts at their college business, central services for the whole company, and Scientific American magazine), representing about four percent of staff in all. CEO John Sargent writes in the memo, "Going forward we are tightening our belts in response to the current recession, but we are also reorganizing and rethinking our business to position ourselves for the long term."

Which probably means: We're losing a lot of blood, and applying a tourniquet just ain't gonna do the job.

More Macmillan U.S.

A consolidation of the company's many children's lines into a single Macmillan Children's division was the other focus of yesterday's announcement, though Sargent says "we've been working for quite some time on what is the best approach to move us forward in the marketplace." With a variety of acquisitions and start-ups in recent years, "when you roll up our children's business now, it's a lot bigger than it was operating as disparate individual companies." Henry Holt head Dan Farley will oversee the new Macmillan Children's Group as well, with group svp Jean Feiwel running Feiwel and Friends, Square Fish, Priddy Books and Holt Children's, and svp Simon Boughton running Farrar, Straus Children's, Roaring Brook Press, and First Second.

Having been part of an acquisition just recently, I can tell you that a lot of heads are going to roll before Macmillan gets it all together. Of course, there will probably only be a skelton crew to take care of day-to-day matters. (I see it here, where the other piece of the patents pie is getting rid of one temp; no matter that she takes care of a lot of things.)

As my hubby would say: Owen well. (Inside joke, heh.)

And I Found This Interesting - Borders Books

Borders will buy books from the Harper Studio imprint at a deeper discount of 58 percent to 63 percent off, on a nonreturnable basis. Borders evp of merchandising and marketing Rob Gruen repeats the company's expressed position since George Jones took over: "The idea of taking inventory and then shipping it back isn't a good idea for anybody. We're open to all publishers to discuss alternatives to the traditional return model."

Harper Studio is part of HarperCollins, and, if I read it correctly, Emeril Lagasse's (BAM!) cookbooks are published by them. In fact, this post on agent Nathan Bransford's blog is quite informative. Author's will get less money up front (as of that post, dated July 2008, advances are capped at US$100,000 - um, I'll take it! ;-)), and according to the post, instead of royalties, utilizes a profit sharing model that incorporates expenses on one side of the ledger (expenses will include publicity and unit production, but not editorial and overhead), and income on the other side. Profits are split 50/50, and accounting reports four times a year, translating to a break-even point at around 25,000 copies sold.

I don't mind the monetary amount, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the no royalties bit. Profit sharing? I don't know - count me skeptical.

Oh, and they only accept non-fiction, so that leaves me out of the loop, dammit.

Maybe I should write a memoir but change enough names and events to pass it off as a novel?

Oops, wait, that's been done.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

More Publishing News - Bad and Good (Eh? Good?)

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

2 comments

Here's some of the latest from Publisher's Lunch:

Penguin Children's

Kathy Dawson will join Penguin Children's Dial Books in the new position of associate publisher, reporting to Lauri Hornik. She will work help to strategize and develop the list while acquiring and editing both novels and picture books. Dawson was formerly editorial director at Harcourt Children's.

So if you write kid's novels/picture books, time to add Ms. Dawson to your rolodex.

Macmillan U.S.

A restructuring throughout Macmillan in the US announced yesterday internally eliminates 64 positions from throughout the company's imprints and divisions (including cuts at their college business, central services for the whole company, and Scientific American magazine), representing about four percent of staff in all. CEO John Sargent writes in the memo, "Going forward we are tightening our belts in response to the current recession, but we are also reorganizing and rethinking our business to position ourselves for the long term."

Which probably means: We're losing a lot of blood, and applying a tourniquet just ain't gonna do the job.

More Macmillan U.S.

A consolidation of the company's many children's lines into a single Macmillan Children's division was the other focus of yesterday's announcement, though Sargent says "we've been working for quite some time on what is the best approach to move us forward in the marketplace." With a variety of acquisitions and start-ups in recent years, "when you roll up our children's business now, it's a lot bigger than it was operating as disparate individual companies." Henry Holt head Dan Farley will oversee the new Macmillan Children's Group as well, with group svp Jean Feiwel running Feiwel and Friends, Square Fish, Priddy Books and Holt Children's, and svp Simon Boughton running Farrar, Straus Children's, Roaring Brook Press, and First Second.

Having been part of an acquisition just recently, I can tell you that a lot of heads are going to roll before Macmillan gets it all together. Of course, there will probably only be a skelton crew to take care of day-to-day matters. (I see it here, where the other piece of the patents pie is getting rid of one temp; no matter that she takes care of a lot of things.)

As my hubby would say: Owen well. (Inside joke, heh.)

And I Found This Interesting - Borders Books

Borders will buy books from the Harper Studio imprint at a deeper discount of 58 percent to 63 percent off, on a nonreturnable basis. Borders evp of merchandising and marketing Rob Gruen repeats the company's expressed position since George Jones took over: "The idea of taking inventory and then shipping it back isn't a good idea for anybody. We're open to all publishers to discuss alternatives to the traditional return model."

Harper Studio is part of HarperCollins, and, if I read it correctly, Emeril Lagasse's (BAM!) cookbooks are published by them. In fact, this post on agent Nathan Bransford's blog is quite informative. Author's will get less money up front (as of that post, dated July 2008, advances are capped at US$100,000 - um, I'll take it! ;-)), and according to the post, instead of royalties, utilizes a profit sharing model that incorporates expenses on one side of the ledger (expenses will include publicity and unit production, but not editorial and overhead), and income on the other side. Profits are split 50/50, and accounting reports four times a year, translating to a break-even point at around 25,000 copies sold.

I don't mind the monetary amount, but I'm not sure I'm sold on the no royalties bit. Profit sharing? I don't know - count me skeptical.

Oh, and they only accept non-fiction, so that leaves me out of the loop, dammit.

Maybe I should write a memoir but change enough names and events to pass it off as a novel?

Oops, wait, that's been done.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Publishers Will Do Just About Anything

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

6 comments

Think I'm kidding?

Here's the listing from Publisher's Lunch:

Random House and Ballantine are offering free books to read on the iPhone via Lexcycle's fast-growing Stanza reader. (The app has been downloaded approximately 500,000 times.) The works come from the backlist of popular authors such as Alan Furst, Julie Garwood, Charlie Huston, David Liss, Laurie Notaro, Arthur Phillips and Simon Rich, and include promotional excerpts for new hardcovers scheduled for 2009.

The company says it is also "providing links to retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, Borders.com, Powells.com and IndieBound.org to encourage readers to purchase more books by these authors."

I'd consider it if (a) I had the extra money and (b) I had an iPhone (for an explanation as to why I don't have an iPhone, see (a)). There would also have to be some fantasy authors included in the mix; I like the idea of promotional excerpts - why buy the book if you find the first chapter (or whatever is considered an excerpt) boring/stupid/confusing?

If you have an iPhone, would you go for this?

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Publishers Will Do Just About Anything

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

6 comments

Think I'm kidding?

Here's the listing from Publisher's Lunch:

Random House and Ballantine are offering free books to read on the iPhone via Lexcycle's fast-growing Stanza reader. (The app has been downloaded approximately 500,000 times.) The works come from the backlist of popular authors such as Alan Furst, Julie Garwood, Charlie Huston, David Liss, Laurie Notaro, Arthur Phillips and Simon Rich, and include promotional excerpts for new hardcovers scheduled for 2009.

The company says it is also "providing links to retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com, Borders.com, Powells.com and IndieBound.org to encourage readers to purchase more books by these authors."

I'd consider it if (a) I had the extra money and (b) I had an iPhone (for an explanation as to why I don't have an iPhone, see (a)). There would also have to be some fantasy authors included in the mix; I like the idea of promotional excerpts - why buy the book if you find the first chapter (or whatever is considered an excerpt) boring/stupid/confusing?

If you have an iPhone, would you go for this?

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Publishing Is Getting Hit By Economy, Too

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

2 comments

It looks as if a number of publishers are reorganizing, probably due to even thinner bottom lines.

Random House

According to Publisher's Lunch, Bantam Dell group president and publisher Irwyn Applebaum is leaving the company immediately after 25 years there, while the publishing line itself is being absorbed by the Random House group, under Gina Centrello, along with the Spiegel & Grau unit that had been part of Doubleday.

Doubleday president and publisher Steve Rubin's job is no longer going to exist because Doubleday is no longer going to be a freestanding group. The CEO of Random House is "in discussions" with Mr. Rubin "about creating a new role for him."

Other lines will be absorbed by Knopf (Doubleday and Nan A. Talese) and Crown (Broadway, Doubleday Business, Doubleday Religion, and WaterBrook Multnomah).

Harcourt Houghton Mifflin

A number of employees have been laid off. Publisher's Lunch thinks the parent company has given up on the trade line, so if your agent has been thinking of pitching here, he or she might want to rethink that.

Thomas Nelson

Ten percent of the workforce was laid off (about 54 people, according to Publisher's Lunch). They had laid off about 60 people back in April. Apparently their sales were off in September and October, which prompted the most recent layoffs.

Simon & Schuster

Thirty-five positions across the company were eliminated, due to "an unavoidable acknowledgment of the current bookselling marketplace and what may very well be a prolonged period of economic instability," according to CEO Carolyn Reidy.

Talk about stretching the thinning ranks even thinner. Not sure if this means more editors have lost their jobs, which means those who are lucky enough to have their books published in the upcoming year or so may have to deal with editors who are even more nervous and backed up (not to mention the authors, too).

So the economy is reaching into a lot of sectors, not just the financial and automotive ones. Count your lucky stars if you have a day job, but never, EVER give up hope of landing that publishing contract. Just write your very best, including those interesting characters...and you never know what may happen.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Publishing Is Getting Hit By Economy, Too

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

2 comments

It looks as if a number of publishers are reorganizing, probably due to even thinner bottom lines.

Random House

According to Publisher's Lunch, Bantam Dell group president and publisher Irwyn Applebaum is leaving the company immediately after 25 years there, while the publishing line itself is being absorbed by the Random House group, under Gina Centrello, along with the Spiegel & Grau unit that had been part of Doubleday.

Doubleday president and publisher Steve Rubin's job is no longer going to exist because Doubleday is no longer going to be a freestanding group. The CEO of Random House is "in discussions" with Mr. Rubin "about creating a new role for him."

Other lines will be absorbed by Knopf (Doubleday and Nan A. Talese) and Crown (Broadway, Doubleday Business, Doubleday Religion, and WaterBrook Multnomah).

Harcourt Houghton Mifflin

A number of employees have been laid off. Publisher's Lunch thinks the parent company has given up on the trade line, so if your agent has been thinking of pitching here, he or she might want to rethink that.

Thomas Nelson

Ten percent of the workforce was laid off (about 54 people, according to Publisher's Lunch). They had laid off about 60 people back in April. Apparently their sales were off in September and October, which prompted the most recent layoffs.

Simon & Schuster

Thirty-five positions across the company were eliminated, due to "an unavoidable acknowledgment of the current bookselling marketplace and what may very well be a prolonged period of economic instability," according to CEO Carolyn Reidy.

Talk about stretching the thinning ranks even thinner. Not sure if this means more editors have lost their jobs, which means those who are lucky enough to have their books published in the upcoming year or so may have to deal with editors who are even more nervous and backed up (not to mention the authors, too).

So the economy is reaching into a lot of sectors, not just the financial and automotive ones. Count your lucky stars if you have a day job, but never, EVER give up hope of landing that publishing contract. Just write your very best, including those interesting characters...and you never know what may happen.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Former Mardi Gras Books Authors - Read This

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

0 comments

I posted last year about Mardi Gras going down the tubes and figured, well, they'll just fade from view, drop off the Internet...

Not

I read a post on the Absolute Write boards that the former owner of Mardi Gras is still selling books under the Mardi Gras banner, at least as of May 20, 2008.

Check out the Dear Author post of that date.

Epublishers Biting the Dust

Mardi Gras was one of a string of epublishers (all romance epublishers, if I'm not mistaken) that tanked last year and into this year.

Now, from the gist of this, it sounds as if all rights were supposed to revert to the authors. If that's the case...what the hell is the former owner doing, selling those books?

She's selling them from this website. I haven't looked at the site, but the mind just boggles that someone would do this. How can she sleep at night?

Check to See If Your Books Are Up There

If you had a book published by Mardi Gras, and then the rights reverted to you last September, I urge to look at the site in the link above. And you might want to get a lawyer involved.

~Nancy Beck

Former Mardi Gras Books Authors - Read This

Labels: Pub News, Publishers

0 comments

I posted last year about Mardi Gras going down the tubes and figured, well, they'll just fade from view, drop off the Internet...

Not

I read a post on the Absolute Write boards that the former owner of Mardi Gras is still selling books under the Mardi Gras banner, at least as of May 20, 2008.

Check out the Dear Author post of that date.

Epublishers Biting the Dust

Mardi Gras was one of a string of epublishers (all romance epublishers, if I'm not mistaken) that tanked last year and into this year.

Now, from the gist of this, it sounds as if all rights were supposed to revert to the authors. If that's the case...what the hell is the former owner doing, selling those books?

She's selling them from this website. I haven't looked at the site, but the mind just boggles that someone would do this. How can she sleep at night?

Check to See If Your Books Are Up There

If you had a book published by Mardi Gras, and then the rights reverted to you last September, I urge to look at the site in the link above. And you might want to get a lawyer involved.

~Nancy Beck

Pages

16 February 2011

28 January 2009

27 January 2009

26 January 2009

23 January 2009

20 January 2009

17 December 2008

11 December 2008

04 December 2008

04 June 2008

Labels

Sample

Followers

About Me

Admin Control Panel

Labels

Text

Labels

About me

Subscribe via email

Text

Subscribe

Like This?

Labels

Dolor

Followers

About Me

Blog Archive

About Me

Blog Archive