New Concepts Publishing: Lessons On How To Butt-F*ck One’s Authors…
I’ve been absolutely amazed by the number of people who have been having difficulties with NCP for ages, but up ’til now, haven’t had the cojones to make it public.
I realise of course that it’s probably not as simple as that for most of the authors who are there, but shoot, it’s not like the owners were shafting just a couple of them. From the e-mails that I’ve received, it seems that quite a lot of the authors were gettiing butt-fucked on a daily basis by the multi-pseudonymed, multi-faceted, mysterious owners of NCP.
Since when has it been acceptable for a publisher to not respond to their authors?
Since when has it been acceptable for a publisher to threaten to blacklist any authors who try to raise pertinent issues?
Since when has it been acceptable for a publisher to not pay their authors what they are owed?
These are all things that have been happening within e-publishing houses over the past year or so. NCP have merely added to the growing tally.
I heard that the liaison support person at NCP hasn’t been sending out books for reviews, which is fairly mind-bloggling. I’ve had two of their main reviewers e-mail me about how erratic NCP’s book distribution has been in recent months:
well I honestly thought this wasn’t my fight but I ‘know’ so many of the NCP authors that are battling with NCP that I felt I really should mention that from the reviewers perspective, getting the books sent to the review sites has been a huge issue for a long time.
I’m the review coordinator at _______ and we’d go months without receiving a single book from them and then we’d receive only one or two weeks worth of books.
Since apparently there’s now a liason they are getting sent to us but not with any regularity… for instance a few weeks ago I received 5 months worth of books at one time!!!! And when I do send requests for books for review I’m not acknowledged in any way shape or form so I’ve resorted to sending requests to authors instead of the publisher…
From a reviewer and the ebook coordinator’s perspective they’ve been on a downward slide for at least the past year and a half. I personally just sent a donation to Ellen Ash to help fund all the ladies in their battle against the unfairness of NCP’s actions.
I was a little dismayed when I read these e-mails. When a company fails to fulfill such a basic business-led requirement, it tells me that there are serious problems within the organisation.
Aspiring authors, does this sound like the kind of publisher you want to write for? Seriously?
Readers, does this sound like the kind of publisher you want to trust with your credit card details? Seriously?
Now, admittedly I’ve never bought a book from New Concepts Publishing, even though they’ve been in business for a while, but their behaviour towards their authors has just made sure that I’ll never buy from them in the future. If they are around that long anyway.
I have to applaud Ellen Ashe because she’s willing to take this matter further.
I know that not every author can afford to take legal action, but there are times when you have to stand up and refuse to be treated like crap.
Ashe’s books were taken off the NCP website despite the fact she had an active contract for them. When her lawyers questioned them about this, this was NCP’s response:
“There is no breech. In the first place it doesn’t say any where on the contract that we have to post the books for sale–naturally we do because the objective is to sell the books–but there is no REQUIREMENT that we do so…”
So basically, even though they’re an e- book publisher, they don’t have to sell a contracted book on their website. Nice.
I think I can safely say that like the other e-pubs before them, NCP have done their utmost to tarnish the reputation of e-book publishers everywhere, in my opinion.
Over at Novelspot, Desiree Erotique states that she’s quitting e-book publishers because she’s tired of constantly being shafted by them. Unfortunately for her, she’s been with quite a few of the publishers who have recently gone kaput.
Des writes:
Tomorrow marks the scheduled release day of my collection from Red Rose Publishing, Adieu Bonjour. The title indicates my saying good-bye to one pen name as I prepare to focus my future work under the name of Anya Howard. With the release of this collection tomorrow also marks the last of my e-books waiting under contract for release. It also marks what I imagine the very last e-book I will ever contract with a straight e-book/POD publishing house.
…why the decision not to sign any more e-book contracts?…
Despite all the years I’ve been writing for several recognized e-book publishers, only TWO -LI and RR- have earned my professional respect. One in particular left me with a bad taste in my mouth because the owner to this day has not paid me royalties for my book her company had published. This woman went out of business claiming family problems. I’m not made of stone; I can understand family issues. But the contract expired in the fall and I was owed royalties for a very long time. I’ve yet to be paid and now she seems to have vanished from the face of the earth?
I think she’s referring to Chippewa Publishing who went down the toilet towards the latter end of 2007.
She continues:
This kind of scenario has unfortunately become the trend in the industry. An embarrassing trend, with no sign of ending any time in the near future. We hear all the time of publishers going under and leaving authors unpaid, and sometimes, even worse, holding their books hostage. It is all a very poor portrait of what, I feel, could be an industry marked by general esteem.
Currently I await overdue royalties from publisher, New Concepts Publishing. Many authors have come publicly forward this week with the admission that they, too, are waiting payment due from this company. Their complaints echo my own: overdue royalties, insufficient or non-issued tax forms, and the refusal on the part of the owners and the author liaison to communicate on author questions and complaints on these very matters.
With NCP, we authors have time and again been told to address our questions and problems to the author liaison. This person I am really exasperated with as he promised to send me a check out the week of February 19th of this year; a check which was already overdue. Since this promise I’ve yet to receive the check, and yet to receive a reply from him to my concern that it hasn’t arrived.
My annoyance with him is not as weighty as my annoyance with the owners. The one I dealt when I signed has failed to respond to my decision made this last week to just terminate the contract.
She concludes:
But the experiences with e-pubs has been overall very disappointing, and I simply have no interest, time or energy to devote in promoting an e-title just to turn around and have to beg for royalties, beg for statements, beg for replies, beg for publisher obligations to be met, beg for simple decency.
This is not why I became a writer. E-book publishing is an industry that has always held the potential for great things. Look around and we see glimpses of it every day from one or another publisher. But it is a tragic statement on the industry that all too many publishers have let the potential slip away like the proverbial thieves into the night.
So basically, Des wont be writing for e-book publishers because she doesn’t want to get shafted anymore.
How sad is that?
My advice to aspiring authors? You need to think twice before submitting to NCP. My advice to readers? Spend your money at Samhain Publishing.
Posted by Karen Scott · 
