New Concepts’ Owner Speaks… And Speaks…And Speaks..ZZZzzzz
Tuesday, March 18, 2008Posted in: e-book authors posting under the influence, e-book publishers behaving badly?, New Concepts Publishing
I was forwarded this e-mail by Bitch Envy. It’s a letter from NCP’s publisher, Madris DePastures addressing all the terrible accusations that have been levelled at NCP.
It starts like this:
A letter from the publisher:
I’m going to address remarks circulating the web regarding this company. This is not for republication elsewhere, so those of you who decide to do so should know that, unless permission is given, and it is NOT, copying any part of this to another site is violation of
privacy and copyright laws.
Erm…ooops? Oh well, in for a pound, in for a penny I guess:
Ellen Ashe approached me for the reversion of rights to Sorcerer’s Mark when the contract expired. I told her there was no problem with that, however, the book went to print and the company reserved the right to dispose of the print books. It would continue to be offered for sale in print form until the copies in our warehouse were sold or disposed of and that she would, naturally, receive any royalties accruing from the sales.
I also pointed out that she could buy the remainders herself at fifty percent off and we wouldn’t have to leave the book up at all. She declined the offer. I directed the person currently working on the page to remove the ebook version of Sorcerer’s Mark from sale. She complied with this by
breaking the link, which left it on the page but not for sale.Ms. Ashe returned later to check to see if it was down and wrote a screaming letter that it was still up for sale. I explained that the link was broken and the book could not be bought and that the entire staff was currently working on tax season materials and the quarterly reports and end of the year reports and royalties, that I would have someone work on the page when we could spare the time.
At this point, reminded that the book had been sent to distributors, I reminded the webpage person to contact them and request that it be removed from all listings. The author liaison also searched the web and notified all of the bookstores that the rights had reverted and that the book should be taken down.
I don’t know about you guys but I need a break already. Feel free to grab yourself a coffee or tea, or a some of those handy pills that help you stay awake. You may need them.
Ellen wrote repeatedly during this time, demanding to know why we couldn’t give her our undivided attention and explained that she didn’t understand why it took the entire staff to handle the tasks I mentioned.
I didn’t bother to explain that the end of quarter, end of year tasks are in ADDITION to regular tasks-updates, artwork, order fulfillment, editing, etc. and that we were really busy. After doing a quick scan-not a careful in depth look-but a quick glance at her other books, I told the webpage person to go ahead and take the other listings down since they would be expiring soon and it was clear to me she didn’t want to renew any contracts.
I explained to Ms. Ashe that all rights would be reverted to her whenever we had time to contact distributors about removing the other listings and had allowed them time to get around to taking care of it. We don’t update our distributor’s webpage or the bookstores that carry the books. And, like us, they are small companies with limited staff and it often takes them a while to get around to everything.
The short version is, Ms. Ashe’s assertion that we are ‘holding’ her rights and not offering her books for sale or paying her is a LIE-she was paid by Paypal, per her request. Her books, with the exception of the print version of Sorcerer’s Mark, are no longer for sale on the NCP site, because I had them removed PREPARATORY to remanding her rights back to her.
They are still for sale through our distributors and, once the books are removed from those sites, all rights will be reverted to her. I did explain this to her, so it’s not a misunderstanding on her part. It is an outright LIE and the only explanation that comes to mind is that she is OUTRAGED that I had the books removed and told her that I would return her rights before she had the opportunity to DEMAND them back.
Anybody fancy a game of monopoly?
Having said that, I will also add that we do not hold author rights hostage. This comment is ALSO a LIE. We DO expect authors to honor the contracts they have made with us. Ellen Ashe’s rights are in process of being remanded to her because she has reached the end of her contractual obligation to this company-within months-and also because none of her books
have performed well enough in sales to warrant any efforts to coax her into continuing with us.The other authors who had demanded their rights back, but have not in any way honored their contractual obligations were refused on the grounds that we have contracted in good faith and expect to MAKE MONEY with the book before we release it. No one held a gun to their head to sign. They were offered the contract and they took it, and we now expect them to honor their obligations.
One wonders if she feels as strongly about authors getting paid?
Oh this is interesting:
Editing-the focus of editing in this company has shifted with the times. We spent years trying to help new authors perfect their writing skills by paying editors to tweak the books. Some authors actually appreciated this. The vast majority did not or they just didn’t have enough understanding to comply with suggestions. Beyond that, the salability of the books is so unpredictable, I felt uncomfortable requesting authors to put a lot of time into making changes that might not pay off in the end.
Either way, the flightiness of authors also encouraged us to stop wasting time and money on trying to tweak the books to increase their marketability. We rarely do anything to the books beyond corrections of errors any longer. This considerably streamlines the edit-to-release time frame and allows us to adhere to the schedule more closely without having to continually reschedule books.
Hey she just called her authors illiterate fucktards. You gotta love that. Erm, was I the only person who read it that way? *g*
Communication with authors-I hired an author liaison to handle the constant requests for information because no one else on the staff has the time to stop and look these things up or to keep up with the emails from authors. I directed the author liaison to give authors several weeks notice about their releases by notifying them the month before release that the book was ‘tentatively’ scheduled for release or, if asked, he could give the author an approximate release date, meaning season or month-not the day and hour of release.
The reason this policy was changed from before when we posted the schedule is because authors didn’t seem to understand ‘tentative’. We had authors making demands to know why the book didn’t go up on schedule when they hadn’t even returned their edits.
I love her professionalism, I really do. Think she’s pissed?
On that note-NCP is primarily, almost exclusively, an internet company. This means the company is heavily reliant on the internet, service providers, and electronic equipment to do business. This means whenever servers go down, EMAIL DOES NOT GET ANSWERED. I should also add that, although being an internet company means that the website is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks out of the year, we do not WORK every hour of every day. The author liaison is not a machine. He has days off, works only 30 to 40 hours a
week, and is occasionally out sick.
The author liaison may not be a machine, but he’s most definitely an unprofessional idiot who couldn’t do his job if it came with instructions and diagrams.
Preferential treatment–the objective of this company is to sell as many copies of every book we contract on as possible. Like any other company, however, we have some authors whose books sell better than others, and we do whatever we can to highlight these authors to potential buyers. Part of this is because we want to make money. Part of this is because the ‘stars’ bring the customers to the site and increase the sales possibilities of the unknown authors. This is called marketing–every publisher uses it.
If we have a release week which does not include one of the ‘stars’, then the rush to buy is smaller and the sales lower across the board. If we have a ‘star’ releasing a book, all of their fans charge over to the site, flooding us with orders for their ‘favorite’ author and they generally look over the other offerings while they’re at the site and buy some of those, too.
Hey, wake up there, it’ll be over soon!
There have been a LOT of comments about Kaitlyn O’Connor, so I’m going to use her as an example although we have many other authors who are also popular and have a similar effect on sales. On a typical release week, which features all new authors or mostly new authors and one or two who are just beginning to build a fan base, shopping cart sales take up five to eight hundred pages per day. When we release a new Kaitlyn O’Connor book, the invoices generated are in the neighborhood of 1200 to 1500 pages per day.
The other authors whose books are released at the same time have that many more chances at sales and it usually, not always, results in higher sales for all of the authors who had a book released. In general, once we have a release featuring one of her books, ALL of the books that are still on the front page, generate more sales because they have more people looking at them. This is the objective in ‘favoring’ certain authors, using them to help us bring more customers to the site to increase the sales possibilities of ALL the authors.
Erm, whos’ Kaitlyn O’Connor again?
As for the ‘great secrecy’ behind Kaitlyn O’Connor–I don’t allow any of the staff to announce publicly who any of the authors are who write for us under pseudonyms. Confusion does, unfortunately, occur occasionally as to what name a new author plans to publish under- particularly when they change their mind several times or don’t tell us until they see their cover–
but we correct these errors as quickly as possible.Since I don’t go out of my way to announce the legal names of ANY of our authors, I can’t fathom why not announcing Kaitlyn O’Connor’s identity constitutes a ‘deep, dark secret’ when not announcing everyone’s else’s legal identity is expected and accidentally giving this information out has authors screaming that they’ve been exposed.
Oh, I get it, she’s one of their authors who nobody knows anything about, yes?
I realize I could explain marketing until I’m blue in the face and a good number of the authors STILL will not understand. They will STILL be complaining that some people are treated better than others. The plain fact is that if these people actually understood marketing they would be the ones receiving preferential treatment and getting all the sales.
I’d love to see all of our authors doing this, but like so many of our established authors who’ve tried to help newbies, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a waste of my time and I don’t have a lot to
spare.
I wonder what else she has to do that’s more important than reassuring her authors that things are ok at NCP?
I do want assure those authors who appreciate the money they make with NCP and NEED the money they make with NCP that, regardless of all the vindictive hopes of the ‘slighted’ NCP is not on shaky ground. Sales are very strong.
We will be working on cleaning up the page and removing some of the backlist books over the coming year. I want to assure everyone that this is neither a punishment nor a reward–so those trying to get out of their obligations should not see this as ‘preferential’ treatment, and
those who were happy to leave the books for the sales–this isn’t intended to punish you for slights real or imagined. We just need to remove some of the deadweight and make room for newer books. A lot of these books have seen years of exposure and they are really outdated–either in content or the author is just much more experienced now and writes more professionally–or writes something else.I’m in no rush to remove books that continue to sell well, but if the contract has expired and the author wants the book removed, notify the author liaison and we will add it to the list of books coming down.
I now have 20 minutes to get out of his hotel, I hope she’s going to wrap this up quickly.
Do NOT expect all of this to happen at once. You’ll be disappointed and probably outraged. The house keeping will be performed in an orderly manner, and I do want to emphasis, again, that remainders of print books will continue to be up for sale until the books are disposed of even if the ebook is no longer available and the author has moved on to greener pastures.
We will be absolutely delighted with any of our authors who decide to buy the remainder to sell themselves and, although we will charge shipping, the author of the book can buy her remainders at the author discount of fifty percent–even though the contract actually limits the
author to twenty five copies and we generally only offer fifty copies at the full discount.For marketing purposes, I will be posting cumulative sales at some point on the author loop. The main objective of this is to try to demonstrate marketability–by looking at the books that have sold consistently well over a period of years, and STILL sell well, authors can study and learn the
elements that make a book highly marketable if so inclined. Another objective is to inform our authors of the potential for sales to help them make more informed decisions on what projects they should, and should not, take on.
Good god, this woman can talk, no?
This is a letter to our authors and is NOT for republication elsewhere, so those of you who decide to do so should know that, unless permission is given, and it isn’t, copying any part of this to another site is violation of privacy and copyright laws.
Madris
Erm… oops again?
Right, there you have it, in black and white. Any of you NCP authors feel better now? *g*
I realise that the quotes need neatening up, for easier reading, but I simply don’t have time right now. I shall edit properly once I get home tonight. I wont be leaving London till about 4pm tonight, so it wont be till much later.
Have a nice day now!
Alyssa
March 18
8:29 pm
Dead weight? Unbelievable. Yeah, that’s the kind of publisher I want buying my stories. Someone who will call them dead weight at their discretion. Nice.
kate r
March 18
8:36 pm
Meta tangents continue and they are fun.
azteclady, yeah, I get that it’s true, the part that I think is interesting (and I’m NOT defensive, just interested) is that everyone seems to feel it, not just know it and it’s not explained anywhere, just. . .just KNOWN.
Therefore this qualifies a knee-jerk response–and despite the usually negative connotations of the phrase, I don’t think knee jerk responses aren’t necessarily the wrong responses. Hey, when the doctor hits you with the little hammer, it’s not WRONG to kick out. But I’m always interested in them because they operate at such a basic emotional level.
I love that kind of stuff. Not very good at expressing it without sounding snarky or judgmental, but I’m not feeling either.
Ellen Ashe
March 18
8:38 pm
“those trying to get out of their obligations”……????
Guess that’s a one-way street. Authors are obligated; NCP is not.
kate r
March 18
8:48 pm
and what you label as common sense, is this whole complex system taught from baby-hood.
That’s kind of cool to think of such a huge bunch of nearly universal (for a particular culture anyway) signals and basic hierarchies–and there really are hundreds maybe thousands–that people can hold in common and then use throughout life for new situations00like a publisher weighing in on the issue–but we couldn’t really explain beyond “it makes sense” or “it’s obvious.”
AztecLady
March 18
8:50 pm
kate r, after I posted the comment I thought some more about it, and you are right.
Some of us hold certain things to be true and self evident, but then someone else comes along and asks, why? And we are left there scratching our heads.
Mind, I still think that for writers/authors image is extremely important, but that is because I am aware of how I react to it.
I know that when an author implies that I’m an idiot because I didn’t like her book (example here, hope no one starts getting paranoid), it’s highly unlikely (read: no way in hell) that I’m going to spend what little book budget money I have in buying another one.
Or if someone keeps telling me that I’m not her audience because we disagree on something *coughnotnamingnamescough* it’s likely I’ll remember and make sure to fulfill that prophecy for her.
Conversely, I know that when I’m impressed with someone’s behaviour online, I’m more likely to seek out their work *waving to Shiloh* (and she’s not the only one, by the way)
Does this make sense?
kate r
March 18
8:52 pm
Oh and btw, I do agree. I think Lauren Dane should teach “Professionalism 101 for Publisher and Writers”
Now I will retreat to a quiet corner of my cage and babble to the bananas.
kate r
March 18
8:55 pm
No I lied: one last note.
If Lauren holds the class, I’ll pay Madris’s fee (and I’ll even swap class notes with her).
Nora Roberts
March 18
9:14 pm
It seems fairly straight-forward to me.
Reading is not a profession (in this context), so a reader may elect to say whatever she wants. She may be deemed a fuckhead, she may be blasted by others. She may incur resentment. But she risks only that.
An author or other publishing professional IS (obviously) in a profession. I strongly believe authors and others in the business can and should be able to express their opinion. Even an unpopular opinion. But when one chooses to do so by insulting others, with rudeness, with name-calling or blasting out on line, one risks damage. And deservedly so.
CJ England
March 18
9:29 pm
Kudos, Nora. I couldn’t have said it better. It’s not the saying that should be curtailed, it’s the way of saying it that should be examined before it goes live.
Anon 4.0
March 18
9:34 pm
Amen, Anon 3.0.
And Debra, please do recall that saying about people in glass houses. At least NCP did, at one time, have a good reputation, which is more than DEP can say.
Dark Eden Press
March 18
9:41 pm
I am sorry, but two curse words does not make it a obscenity-laden post. Nor was I bashing her or NCP, she did that all by herself. The one person was right, we are not even in the same league. NCP is bigger and has been open way longer than DEP has been.
I am also sorry Lauren if my grammar and syntax were not correct, I am not a writer and my editor was not available this morning to look over my response.
Where does it say that I as a company owner am not allowed to post a response, even one dripping in sarcasm as this one so obviously was? I am, and always have been, very aware of what I and my authors say in public. Very rarely will you even see me post anywhere. I have given numerous lectures on my author loop about this very subject.
Nor do I think it unprofessional to say if you are going to screw your authors over at least be honest about it. I posted exactly what I thought of Madris’ post, in all it’s sarcastic, and what I thought funny, glory. Like it or dont, it really makes no difference to me.
Debra
Dark Eden Press
March 18
9:48 pm
Anon 4.0
Please explain this comment as you seem to know something I do not, or seem to think you do anyway.
We are open and honest with our authors every step of the way, they can always reach me, they are treated more than fairly, and we have some very good names among our authors. So how is it that we have a bad reputation, one that we are not even aware of? Surely there would have been a hint of it somewhere before now yes?
Debra
writerdish
March 18
9:55 pm
OMG! That is a whopper of an email comparing to the shorties I get…Karen I am so jealous….Friends of mine has tried to get into NCP, and these are friends that writes for some amazing epubs that publishes the best work. They promptly told her that her work was hot enough…let me translate that for you guys – it didnt read like a penthouse fake letter or in other words “sexsexsexsexsexsexsex” *Rolls eyes* They’ll get over it. With every intention of going off topic, does anyone know how to contact that author Nalili Singh?
Kate
March 18
10:16 pm
I feel the issue with your comment representing DEP, Debra, is that it’s not “just an opinion” when you’re posting it as a publisher berating another publisher. It’s like you’re coming out and saying, “Man, that pub is SO BAD. COME SEE US! We’re amazing! PROMO! PROMO!” rather than calmly taking a step back and analyzing your choice to comment.
To me, it’s not that you’re saying the practices of NCP are bad, it’s that you’re using their bad practices to promo yourself and your company. Nothing officially wrong with it, I guess, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I, as a reader, will remember both.
Alicia
March 18
10:43 pm
I liked seeing Dark Eden’s response because, not being part of the publishing industry, it gave me a reference for perspective. It said that this email was off the wall, even to another publisher.
Jude Mason
March 18
11:01 pm
Phew, I read this entire thing, plus the comments, and my lord this is crazy. I’ve never had anything to do with NCP, and after reading some of the comments made above, I can honestly say, I’ll be steering clear of them in future. As an author, I’m going to try to be very clear on what worries me about the post.
This part about they don’t edit, and the flighty authors terrifies me:
“Editing-the focus of editing in this company has shifted with the times. We spent years trying to help new authors perfect their writing skills by paying editors to tweak the books. Some authors actually appreciated this. The vast majority did not or they just didn’t have enough understanding to comply with suggestions. Beyond that, the salability of the books is so unpredictable, I felt uncomfortable requesting authors to put a lot of time into making changes that might not pay off in the end.
Either way, the flightiness of authors also encouraged us to stop wasting time and money on trying to tweak the books to increase their marketability. We rarely do anything to the books beyond corrections of errors any longer. This considerably streamlines the edit-to-release time frame and allows us to adhere to the schedule more closely without having to continually reschedule books.”
Okay, now, when you get a new author, they may not understand a great deal about the editing process. It’s not something you automatically become aware of when you have a book/story accepted. The EIC/editor/publisher/liason, may have to explain what’s expected and who is reponsible for what. Yes? Make sense? Doesn’t mean anyone’s a twit or stupid, just means they’re new. When it comes to authors who ‘think they know it all’ you have a different set of problems, and I feel sorry for the editors who get stuck with that kinds of trouble.
But, to come out and say, we’re all a bunch of morons who don’t accept or appreciate the hard work of an editor, that’s INSANE! To admit you don’t edit, that’s even more INSANE. I’ve dealt with a publisher who didn’t. And I’ll never deal with them again. The book needed an edit. I knew it, I expected it and when it didn’t happen I was heart broken.
I could go on, but I’m going to quit before I get in over my head.
Ellen, I’m truly sorry you’ve had to deal with this crap and hope you find a publisher who will treat you with the respect you deserve.
Jude Mason
sistergoldenhair
March 18
11:14 pm
Wow. Just… wow.
This person clearly has no understanding of business, marketing or simple common courtesy.
Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit if you are in any way associated with this business. This is not a drill.
Anon v5.0
March 18
11:14 pm
I agree Kate. I’m not sure if DEP intends their comments that way, but it is *very* common that I see posts from them (commonly on EREC and forums) or comments from them and at every opportunity sliding in how wonderful DEP is as opposed to whoever the current pariah is. I get that they’re excited about their new company, but I find it very off-putting when they boast about themselves and have very little history to back it up with, being so new. Come talk to me about how stable and wonderful you are a year or so when there’s some track record to back all those claims up.
Dark Eden Press
March 19
12:51 am
Kate and Anon 5.0,
No where in my reply having to do with NCP do I try in any way to promote DEP. I stated my opinion as a publisher, basically saying yes, even for a publisher this is way off base.
I occassionally do post on EREC site to various topics one of them puts up, but I do not post on any other forums. I can probably count on one hand the times I have posted on any subject anywhere other than EREC site. I think one of those times was posting here concerning another matter entirely. So stating that it is *very* common to see, is incorrect. Maybe it was one of the other owners or possibly an author? Or possibly in the very beginning of DEP last year?
My post that said this is how we treat authors was in response to one of the Anon posters who said DEP has a bad reputation. A reputation that I might add no one here at DEP, or any of our authors, has heard anything about, not a hint of it anywhere. I asked for an explanation, and stated fact, which was this is how we treat our authors, this is how we do business, so how is it we can have a bad reputation. That was not promoting, just stating fact against a poster’s comment.
For the most part I understand why most people post anonymously. But when you make a statement such as ‘DEP has a bad reputation’ with no evidence to back it up that you have shown, and you post it Anon, it makes the poster suspect. It smacks of someone being pist off, and unless you at one point in time worked for us, as an author or a staffer and was let go, why make a comment like that under Anon without any reasons behind the particular comment, why would you even have reason to?
Either way, it doesnt really matter. I do not think my original post was unprofessional, yes I used two curse words, big deal. What should matter to all of you is how I run my business and how I treat my authors and readers. What should matter to you is how well done the books I put out are, and how we handle customer service situations. Me putting two curse words into a post shouldnt have anything to do with that. Since I have never put out some rant filled raving lunatic post anwhere, since I would assume I seem to be reasonably sane, and since there isnt any reason to suspect that my company isnt run as I said it is, or that my authors arent treated as I say they are, then how could we possibly have a bad reputation and why would you possibly have a problem with me or my company?
But I will take all of your advice, and in the future refrain from posting my thoughts. I will however continue to post when the need arises to defend my company or my authors.
Debra
Ellen Ashe
March 19
12:53 am
Debra- you can post on my blog any day!!
http://ellenashe.blogspot.com/
Dark Eden Press
March 19
12:54 am
By the way Anon 5.0, I will come talk to you about how wonderful and stable we are in a year, which would be in three months.
Debra
MB
March 19
12:59 am
Apologies for the tangent here, but Debra your company does not have a good reputation with me for the simple fact that I sent you three seperate emails asking for clarifications of a portion of your submissions guidelines and never recieved a response. Not even an automated one. If you can’t respond to a simple question before I submit to you, how can I be certain that you’ll be responsive if I do submit to you or did sign with you.
~MB
Dark Eden Press
March 19
1:08 am
MB,
I apologize that you did not receive a response. If I received the emails in question, then you would have gotten a response. I can only assume that it was suspected spam, which we have a huge problem with on the blue host servers for some reason, and it was filtered into that. Please do let me know which email address you sent it to so that I can check the filters for that particular email addy.
All of the emails I receive in each of the email addys is answered promplty, usually within a couple of hours unless it comes in overnight which it is then answered the next morning.
My authors know this is a number one pet peever of mine so I will usually stop whatever I am doing to answer an email right then and there.
Again MB, I apologize and if you will let me know which email and what portion of the guidelines was in question, I will check it out and possibly try to make the submission page a bit clearer in that area.
Debra
MB
March 19
1:18 am
Debra,
I sent it to the questions email address (questions@darkedenpress.com) that’s at the bottom of the Submissions Guidelines page. I wanted to know a bit more about a now closed submission call, the time travel one, and about the “Just Sex” line. I sent the messages from my Hotmail email in November and December 2007 and again in January 2008.
Thank you for the response and for trying to find them.
~MB
Dark Eden Press
March 19
1:22 am
MB,
The hotmail might be the issue as I cant seem to get any of the hotmail addys, I have the same problem with earthlink also, cant send to them, get a failure notice every time.
If you will email me at my yahoo address, I will answer whatever it is you want to know if you are still interested in knowing. The address is renae1269@yahoo.com. Usually the email addys I have problems with I direct them to this email address which is my personal one.
Debra
Shiloh Walker
March 19
1:40 am
It kind of seems like unfair, but it does boil down to professionalism.
An example… I’m not happy with my doctor, so I move, go see another one. And the new doctor asks who I’ve been seeing and when I tell the new doc, this new doctor launches in a tirade about how crazy my other doctor was, what a quack and how that doctor never should have graduated medical school. It could be that what the new doctor is saying is 100% true…but it would reflect very badly on the doctor and I think I’d be searching for yet a third doctor.
Now on the flip side, there’s almost away a way to voice criticism without seeming insulting. Almost always a way to voice disagreement without coming off as unprofessional.
I’ve seen/heard things that would make eyebrows go waaaayyyy up. I could share them, sure, maybe score a few points for snark-age, but it accomplishes nothing. It doesn’t paint a positive image of me, and it doesn’t fix whatever the problem is. All it does is damage to a reputation I’ve worked hard for.
Shiloh Walker
March 19
1:51 am
Unfortunately DEP, when you’re saying it as one publisher to or about another, sarcasm is a risky road to tread.
It reflects poorly.
Moira Luz
March 19
1:57 am
I’ve been following all this with a heavy heart. I feel so sorry for the NCP authors. What bothers me most is that all the authors and not just those who are in a fight with the company are going to suffer for this. When readers say they will bypass a company because they don’t like what the owners are doing, the authors are the ones being penalized. That is such a shame. I buy a lot of NCP books because I absolutely love some of the authors there.
You don’t have to support the company but please don’t penalize the authors.
Mrs Giggles
March 19
2:06 am
You don’t have to support the company but please don’t penalize the authors.
But how on earth does one penalize the author?
No one is saying that they will never buy any book from any specific author. Some authors said that they wanted to stay clear from NCP, which is fair, given that they are presented with evidence straight from NCP that NCP doesn’t edit their books anymore, while some readers said that they didn’t want to buy NCP books, which is also fair given that the lack of editing means that the books are most likely inferior in quality.
I’m a fan of Celia Ashley and Ellen Fisher who write for NCP – you can bet I will buy their books if they publish with other companies that aren’t NCP.
Another anonymous
March 19
2:11 am
“When readers say they will bypass a company because they don’t like what the owners are doing, the authors are the ones being penalized. That is such a shame. I buy a lot of NCP books because I absolutely love some of the authors there.
You don’t have to support the company but please don’t penalize the authors.”
The difficulty is that the authors are, to a large degree, the company. It seems that the owners’ pennames are the authors making the most money, judging from the old Sizzling Sellers list and the distribution of paperback releases. Certainly there are some authors who aren’t affiliated with the company who are making money– but it would appear that a substantial percentage of the bestselling authors are NCP management.
With any luck, NCP will do as the note above suggests and cut the “dead weight” authors loose, and then their loyal fans can follow them to other, better publishers.
Another Editor
March 19
2:14 am
I’m an editor elsewhere. I can’t really say where because it would break confidentiality clauses and that is also why I have to stay anonymous.
But I have to say that more than once I’ve seen books that I rejected turn up at New Concepts. I bet editors from other houses could say the same.
They have a reputation and have had it ever since they started up. In the early days they were one of the good guys, because in comparison with houses like RFI West, they were. But readers demand more from ebooks these days. They haven’t moved with the times.
Interesting that Dark Eden pipes up. Another house I would treat with caution. Go and read a few excerpts.
Another anonymous
March 19
2:26 am
“But I have to say that more than once I’ve seen books that I rejected turn up at New Concepts. I bet editors from other houses could say the same.”
Well, who among us hasn’t been rejected by one house or another at one point? Rejection is part of writing. I honestly don’t think the fact that some NCP authors have been rejected by another publisher reflects on the authors’ quality. Different editors like different things, after all. As an author there myself, I’m obviously biased, but I have read plenty of good books by NCP authors.
However, all of us benefit from good, solid editing, and that’s one thing authors are obviously not getting from NCP. That’s one reason I think a lot of us “dead weight” writers would be happier elsewhere– and yes, I do think most of us are good enough to find other homes with good publishers:-).
Nora Roberts
March 19
2:27 am
I don’t read e-books. I don’t have a reader and don’t want to read at my computer. Just my personal preference.
I would be the last one to want to penalize authors for the flaws of their publisher.
However, when a publisher states outright they can’t be bothered to take the time or make the effort to edit the books they publish, I wouldn’t spend my money there. Every writer needs an editor. Every single one.
If there are good writers with a house that doesn’t think editing is worth the time and money, I sincerely hope they land at another house, one who respects them as writers, and respects the reader.
Shiloh Walker
March 19
3:00 am
Eh, I’m going to have to climb into the boat with those that like reading books that have been edited.
I’ve butted heads over something or other with every editor I’ve had but they’ve all made my books better. Editing is necessary, not optional. Or at least, it should be.
L.E. Bryce
March 19
3:21 am
I’ve been with another e-publisher that didn’t edit (no, not Phaze), but they didn’t behave like this.
Teddypig
March 19
4:05 am
Huh? Some of the authors have already stated NCP is selling books they do not want sold.
So there you go. How do you tell?
Personally I do not want to spend the time doing that so no more NCP purchases from me and I am sure the authors will understand if I wait for them to get their rights back so they can move elsewhere.
There has be a point where you as a reader just have to say no more.
I am not hurting the authors I am staying away from doing business with a company I feel mistreats their writers.
Thirteen GREAT Things About Epublishing « The Redneck Romance Writer
March 19
4:12 am
[…] aspects of electronic publishing. Her suggestion arises since there has been quite a bit of negativity that spreads from blog to forums. So here’s a Thursday Thirteen for all of us published in […]
K. Z. Snow
March 19
5:35 am
Just to switch things up a bit:
Yikes! I don’t think the “booted” authors should keep their mouths shut. That’s tyrannical!
kate r
March 20
3:13 pm
KZ, My guess is every publisher occasionally boots someone for personal issues. I’ve seen it happen (not to me) and not just with epublishers.
Fair, unfair, it makes sense.
No one’s hurting for good writers. For every writer who’s nabbed a contract, there are dozens out there who are just as good and haven’t had a shot yet.
Obviously a publisher will put up with a lot more from a writer who brings in the money, but why keep giving deals to someone who gives you a pain in the tuchus and who isn’t a proven seller?
I don’t suppose a publisher would even have to say “I’m not giving you a new contract because you get on my last nerve and I don’t like your blog” they’d just stop answering correspondence or maybe start sending form rejection letters.
Ellen Ashe
March 21
10:13 pm
Yesterday Madris wrote to my lawyer stating:
“What I’m going to require from Ms. Ellen Ashe at this time is a
retraction of the lies she told all over the internet–AS PUBLICLY as
she lied and maligned my company to start with. She can start with the
first blog site and move to the others and as soon as I’ve seen her
retraction and her explanation that she MISUNDERSTOOD to begin with and
there was never any question about us holding her rights beyond the
length of time it would take us to remove the listings, THEN I will
immediately, and very gladly, terminate all association with this woman.
Is English her first language?”
hmmmm, and she said I lied about my books being held hostage? Gee, I feel terrible…My response is on my blog.
http://ellenashe.blogspot.com/
Chrissy
March 24
7:58 am
It’s absolutely ridiculous to whine and rage about how poorly people are treated and how hard it was to see the crash coming THEN BITCH OUT THE PEOPLE WHO OUTED THEM.
Sorry, yes, I was shouting. Ahem.
Since “taking the high road” seems to be trendy, if not particularly helpful, I’ll pay very close bloody attention to those willing to wade through the crap on the low road. They get many blessings from me for showing me where NOT to step.
Every weasel who knew what was going on and refused to say a word because they were afraid the mean lady wouldn’t let them sell their book… well, I suppose payback is being rather bitchy about now.
Keeping quiet and letting this crap stay buried is how this ugly BS builds up and explodes.
AnonymousNCPer
March 26
1:52 pm
(I’m cross-posting this comment I also posted on Dear Author)
The ongoing issues at NCP are definitely a sign that the company is about to implode. They weren’t always this way. And the owner Madris appears to be mentally ill based on my recent interactions w/ her. That may be the reason the company is in so much trouble. (Or maybe she’s mentally ill b/c her company is collapsing—who knows, it’s a chicken-and-egg question).
Madris & co. have recently been very upset that many of their top-selling authors (me included) have been jumping ship and taking contracts with big NYC print houses. The fact that the NCP (non-negotiable!) contract is so crappy is probably a good indication why so many of their top-selling authors have left. (I know I got screamed at via email when Madris & co found out I had gotten contracted by a large print house—-she said something along the lines of “you ungrateful print authors are destroying my company!”.)
I think in the early days, NCP published the kind of novels that mainstream print publishers weren’t interested in (i.e., paranormal, urban fantasy, erotica) so those types of authors had nowhere else to go. Now that the print houses can’t get enough paranormal/UF/erotica, those authors have learned that there are better contracts/royalties/editors to be had than what NCP has to offer. NCP is now only getting second- and third-tier new authors as a result. And NCP is scrambling for revenue and screaming bloody murder at the fact its sales are declining and their top authors are abandoning them.
I think they must be having a lot of trouble paying their bills because of all this, and are probably too busy dodging collectors and landlords to pay attention to their authors.
FWIW, I have a couple titles w/ them, and have earned respectable royalties by ebook standards. But their editing/administration has deteriorated beyond repair. I think they will be out of business by the end of the year.
I should add that my NCP titles DID get thorough edits. But I was given less than 48 hours (!) to approve them—-when my contract stated I got 90 days to approve edits. They threatened to pull my book if I didn’t comply.
Messages « Road to Print
March 26
9:38 pm
[…] Read*. Memorize*. Do NOT Repeat. […]
Amber
August 12
7:40 am
Well, I know I’m looking at this from the outside looking in, but I think what she meant by marketing is that you’re supposed to write what people are interested in reading. I figure that, of course, because I had a friend who told me once that I should write from my heart and everything else will come along on its own. I disagree. I believe you should write what people are interested in reading. Otherwise, you’re not going to make any money, which is pretty much the point of writing isn’t it? Frankly, I’ve seen a number of books that, while they may have been ‘written from the heart,’ held no interest for me or, turns out, the majority of people. (Such as the one about the used trailor saleswoman and the trailor manufacturer. Romance is all fantasy, and that’s just not the kind of life I would want or want to fantasize about. I’m sure it was a great book in it’s way, but I passed on it anyway.)
If the book is great, it does sell itself, because everyone who reads it will tell all of their friends about it. If it’s really bad, it won’t sell for the same reason.
Anyway, one of the problems with talking to people over the internet is that, like reading a leter, you can’t see their face or read their body language. You tend to take what they say and twist it around depending on your own mood. Some of you who read this will think I’m mad, some will read irritation, some… well, I think you get the idea. As a matter of fact, I’m really only bewildered. I’ve heard a lot of good things about that company, but I tend to take everything I see and hear with a healthy helping of salt since every story has a few hundred sides and I have no doubt that’s the case here too.
Karen Scott
August 12
4:41 pm
Amber, here are a few sides to the story.
A thousand flies on shit generally aren’t wrong, as my dear mum likes to say.
Tuscan Capo
August 12
5:20 pm
If it were a case of isolated incidences I could see taking things like this with a grain of salt. Such was my reaction the very first time I heard about an employee complaint against retail giant Wal-Mart. But when complaints pile up, up and up that grain dissolves.
I have to disagree with the thing about making money is the point of writing. If writers made $$$ their priority I really feel the reading world would be missing out on a hell of a lot. Readers are more than vapid consumers.
Karen Knows Best » Dorchester Publishing Is Dead…And Up For Auction… And Screwing The Late Dawn Thompson
March 11
10:45 am
[…] and I’ll say the same as I would had it been a small press or a dodgy publishing company like New Concepts Publishing, Google is your friend, if you chose to sub your work despite the rumours that authors […]