Jill Noble Has Left Noble Publishing?
Wednesday, July 25, 2012Posted in: arseholes abound, authors being treated badly, e-book publishers behaving badly?
Tags:Noble Romance Publishing, Trouble at the mill
Wait – I thought she owned the company?
Apparently there have been rifts between her and “the owner”, (yeah, I’m doing air quotes every time I mention the owner) and they’ve had major differences of opinion on how to move the company forward.
So who owns Noble Romance?
It all seems a bit fishy to me. I’ve heard reports that a lot of their authors haven’t been paid for a while. Is this a creative way of saying sayonara and blaming the ‘owner’ for people not getting paid in the long run?
I’m assuming that the authors who write for Noble know who the other owner is? If so, do tell. (I could Google, but I can’t be arsed)
Do any of you guys have any more details?
Thanks to Anon for the tip-off. You know who you are.
Amarinda Jones
July 25
8:39 am
Well, I’m not allowed on the Noble authors loop because I’m naughty – I question things – but I do know I was told by Jill to email someone called Jim – sort of like the ‘Smoking man’. Jim doesn’t answer emails. Jill never answered emails. Connection? Hmmm… I do know there are a lot of pissed off/worried authors awaiting royalties that have not been paid and some who have signed contracts on books that are due to be published or just published. And yes, ‘creativity’ abounds in epublishing.
KT Grant
July 25
11:13 am
Jill took a chance on me and published my very first book, Lovestruck. She actually was my editor on it and taught me so much that has helped me now with my writing. I’ve been paid on time every month from Noble and Jill always answered my emails. I do wish her the best of luck and I hope it’s not as bad as it appears to be.
Lo
July 25
11:58 am
Apparently, her brother, James (Jim) Noble owns the company. Authors who called Noble Systems (parent company that owns Noble publishing imprints) were told Jim wasn’t taking calls. Last night, the authors loop was shut down (by someone at Noble?) after authors started asking questions and comparing notes. Authors are flocking to a new loop to try to sort out this epic clusterf*ck.
Lori
July 25
2:06 pm
Jill did do a damned good flounce there though.
We shall watch this boat sink now….
Amarinda Jones
July 25
6:18 pm
Word is Jim Noble will ‘release a statement’ today…very dramatic and apparently Jill Noble shut the loop down which doesn’t make sense if she left the company…
AztecLady
July 26
12:46 pm
I wonder who is going around to NP’s authors blogs and posting trash on those who are talking about this.
Any guesses?
An Ig-Noble Letter « J.S. Wayne
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Anon 76
July 28
4:37 am
It sucks when stuff like this happens. Sadly, I think one important step in the publishing journey is basically unknown by today’s fledgling authors.
I learned it by (luckily) stumbling onto eharlequin’s site almost from the get go. They have a huge number of forums there for both readers and wannabe authors.
First and foremost before you ever make the decision to send your work to a publishing house – read some of their books, especially those in the line you think your work might fit into.
This is especially important in today’s “instant gratification” publishing world. If you read 4-5 works and go, wow, these kinda suck, beward. Don’t kid yourself into believing that your work is so “awesome special” that you will become the instant star of the show. You may very well do so, but a “B movie” is still a “B Movie.”
Instead, your thoughts after reading the samples should be, wow, I hope my work is comparable or will eventually become comparable.
The only time this wouldn’t apply is with the opening of a new publishing house. If you want to be a launch author you can only research the individuals involved and decide whether or not to take a leap of faith. Hopefully a large fluffy cloud will catch you. If not you just have to brace for the impact of the hard, barren ground below.
Anom
July 28
5:42 am
“Because her reputation and her ability to play the poor, misunderstood, beleagured, put-upon, and hard-done-by tragic heroine (did I hit ALL the appropriate notes and cliches with that one, editors? 😉 ) is being directly endangered by a handful of mere minions who are finally fed up” ~ J.S. Wayne
“ I didn’t put Jill or Noble on blast any more than was strictly necessary” J.S. Wayne
“But if that’s how the game’s going to be
played, then I’ve got three words:
>Game fucking on.” J.S. Wayne
“How nice for her. I suspect her rep. will be ruined before this is all said and done.” Brita Addams
“So, she’s going to Anaheim? I’m assuming then, she’s going to the RWA 2012. She’s got some balls, then, I’ll give her that.” Erastes
Perfect example of the new tasteless, tacky authors loop that was created by the select few that caused the very reason for termination of the first loop in the beginning. Most of the authors in this loop have taken it upon themselves to purse vengeance against Jill for most personal reasons and belligerency. Their actions are clearly malevolence and hold no real truth behind them. Rumor has it that one author stooped so low as to post a photo of her three year old grandson on an Erotic blog site. Despicable, disgusting act, if you ask me. True intention and true colors adequately shine through in be the case of the authors intentions. Legal ramifications may be in the works if they continue to harass or defame her in anyway. JMO and Observations.
Anon 76
July 28
6:01 am
@Anom:
“Rumor has it that one author stooped so low as to post a photo of her three year old grandson on an Erotic blog site. Despicable, disgusting act, if you ask me.”
If that rumor turns out to be fact I’d be one of the first to rage against the act. Speak on it all over the net.
But the rest of your post? Well, my dear, I frankly don’t give a damn. Publishing is a business, not a touchy, feely, like me, game. No flouncing.
If you bend an author over a table and say “here, take this” he/she has every right to speak out. The fact you don’t agree is rather sad.
When things like this were said ““So, she’s going to Anaheim? I’m assuming then, she’s going to the RWA 2012. She’s got some balls, then, I’ll give her that.” Erastes” you think that is over the top?
Perhaps you should take lesson 101. This biz requires a thick skin. If you truly wish to see no more harm to Jill’s rep…put a sock in it. Nuff said.
Anon 76
July 28
6:21 am
PS to all the authors that created a private blog loop. You have a mole. I’m sure you know that, but just saying.
Been there done that. Took us a bit to figure out who it was when it came to my pub. During that time everyone was suspect. Turned out to be an author with the house who was still feeling all sunshine and rainbows.
Change your loop again and only send invites to people you truly trust.
Erastes
July 28
8:24 am
@Anon 76:
Oh I love cowardly people – you think you are so clever – I say nothing in an author’s loop that I am afraid to say in public – that comment that I made on that loop I also tweeted and mentioned on my blog too. I have nothing to hide – unlike you, obviously. Anon is such a tired cliche: grow up.
Anon 76
July 28
8:34 am
Ummm, Erastes, I was actually defending you. Please read my comment again in response to Anom.
I was citing one of his/her quotes of your comment and the chastising later as, WTF.
Sorry for any confusion.
Anon 76
July 28
9:04 am
@Erastes:
You know, I responded with an apology you have not yet read over the confusion you garnered from my post. But now I’m not feeling all that generous.
I understand this type of crap from a publisher has you pissed to the bone. However, don’t take a response I made to a sock puppet of that pub look like I was answering you.
Take a deep breath, cuz that’s what I’m doing right now.
Anon
July 28
9:45 am
@Anom: Hi Natasha. Your voice is quite distinct, I must say, and the spelling mistake in ‘Anon’ made me laugh–but that was par for the course.
Still laughing.
KT Grant
July 28
11:35 am
Anon, you are tackless for being a mole and sharing in public in what is supposed to be a private author loop by those who feel they were taken advantage of by someone who is expected to be a professional. Feelings are hurt and should be expected.
I also have a screenshot of what Jill said on her Facebook about the authors of Noble who she feels is attacking her and it’s not tasteful on her behalf either.
At least I’m not tasteless hiding under “Anon” and use my real name to share my opinion.
Barbara Sheridan
July 28
12:44 pm
I do my best to keep my opinions to myself and stay in the background of public situations and general rabble rousing but this one gets me.
I doubt it’s any secret I knew Jill prior to Noble Publishing and I placed things with her start up because of that connection.
My books were put out for people to read or ignore, whatever suited them. The royalties were paid monthly and in a reasonable amount of time until this past week when there were no statements or payments.
Did I have prior knowledge of Jill’s resigning? No. Did I like how she did it? Double no. Did I tell her that? Indeed I did.
Did I just find out about the goings on here with this morning’s email digests? Yep. And I’ve sent Jill an email at the last address I have (the one she gave us in her resignation) telling her if Anon76 is her, she should know better; and that if it’s not her, she needs to rein the person in at once because it makes her look like an immature schoolgirl.
And now I plan to go back to minding my own business and waiting to see where things go from here.
Lex Valentine
July 28
2:50 pm
Jill always put herself forward as the owner of Noble Romance Publishing. Her face is on their Facebook page. She said her brother James was the “money man” backing her. Apparently, though, if you read her letter to authors correctly, she has disassociated herself from the ownership of the company and portrayed herself as management staff who could no longer work under the conditions created by the owner.
A later comment on her Facebook page appeared when she started unfriending Noble authors. It referred to cleaning up the trash or some such thing. When the Noble authors took offense to her referring to them in such terms, she made the comment private, but someone got a screenshot before that happened. The entire comment also referenced her going to RWA12 to try to meet people who were more professional than the trash she referred to.
I’m not making this up. It’s all out there on the net, which is where I read it. I can understand authors being upset at being left in the lurch with no answers from a woman who made herself out to be the owner of a publishing company but then bailed on it under the guise of just being the hired help.
The swift and unexpectedness of her departure overnight instead of giving notice and clearing up loose ends prior to departure(the usual practice in the working world), leads me to speculate that perhaps the Noble siblings had a falling out. Especially since Jim Noble, who was to make a statement yesterday, has not been heard from publically and is not taking calls or answering emails. That’s just my guess as to what may have happened since an overnight departure from a company she said she was the owner of seems really bizarre.
In the corporate world if an “owner” did that, someone would be looking to see if the person who left did so with company money and/or assets to which they aren’t entitled. Not saying she did. Just saying that’s what people suspect in the corporate world when an owner takes flight from their company.
Lori
July 28
3:26 pm
Anom who is either Jill or her daughter Natasha is hitting multiple blogs and throwing in that standard “say nice things or we’ll send lawyers….maybe” line.
Such an empty threat. And all it does is make the situation worse.
I sincerely hope Jill gets her act together before she completely loses any credibility in the business. And Jim Noble’s refusal to make a statement about the company is a screaming loud statement on its own.
Carolyn
July 28
3:59 pm
Let’s try to keep our Anom’s and Anon’s staight here, ladies.
Anon 76
July 28
4:37 pm
@Carolyn:
EXACTLY. Thank you.
Emotions are running high and for good reason. But I will state for the record for anyone new to the situation, I am Anon76. I have used that psuedo for years in many forums and blogs, including this one.
I do not and never have had any connection with Jill Noble. Didn’t even know of her until this publishing fiasco.
AztecLady
July 28
5:02 pm
Just for the record:
Anon76 has posted from the same IP here for years, with the same email.
Anom and Anon are a different story.
~ * ~ * ~
Seems to me that Anon76 assumed that the authors in the new loop want(ed) to keep their discussions to themselves. I don’t see why making that assumption makes her a coward, but whatever.
And if using the same pseudonym for years (even if it happens to have the word Anon in it) is cowardly, then pot meet kettle, Erastes.
Anon 76
July 28
5:19 pm
@AztecLady:
Thank you, my dear. You have an excellent way of cutting through the bullshit and getting to the chase.
Barbara Sheridan
July 28
6:23 pm
I apologize for creating or adding to any Anon76/Anon (no number)/Anoms confusion. Totally my fault for reading the posts too quickly and using the wrong name.
Anyway, I’d like to repeat that the random sharing of emails turning an already confusing and disappointing situation into a “this one said / that one said” schoolyard argument helps no one.
J.S. Wayne
July 28
6:54 pm
Dear Anom:
Clearly you need to consult a dictionary. By making the contents of a private discussion loop (where authors are justifiably angry, I might add) public, you YOURSELF are engaging in harassment and the unauthorized transmission of privileged communications.
Yes, I said what I said. No, I’m making no apologies for it. Like every other author at Noble, Jill’s sudden departure created immense problems for me, and I’m angry about it. I also take great exception to being referred to as “trash.” Just to put the remark about “game fucking on” in context, that and every other remark of mine posted in Anom’s comment came from an email I wrote immediately after reading the FB post in question.
I’ve calmed down some now, because I’ve already done everything I need to do and there’s nothing to be gained by anything but watching and waiting at this point. But rest assured I will keep my readers (also Noble’s…ponder that) informed as to what’s going on and I am aggressively pursuing the reversion of my rights. You don’t have to like it, but I’m cautioning you: everyone knows what stepped-on toes are often connected to.
I don’t say anything in private I’m not perfectly willing to back up in public. I didn’t start this dance, but if you’d care to have another go, be my guest.
Jody W.
July 28
8:51 pm
I just want to know more about this purse vengeance Anom is talking about!!! That could REALLY ruin some people’s days. It scares me if that’s what the publishing world is coming to. I mean, I have sought long and hard to find just the right purse, and to have that perfectly sized, easy to clean, comfortable, cute, kitchen-sink holding item taken away from me? It would be horrible.
Anon 76
July 29
1:18 am
@Barbara Sheridan:
Barbara, I, for one, accept your apology.
However (and damn, don’t caveats suck) your flyby perusal of the situation didn’t help matters either. This is an important situation, through no fault of your own.
Again, emotions are high. Your flyby listed me as the person you were going to speak with Jill about. In reality, it’s not that very different from some NP authors who are Verra disgruntled parsing each word spoken about the subject by commenters like myself (yeah, I’m looking at you, Erastes. Still waiting to see if you will at least accept my apology, that is, before I changed my mind a tad.)
People are misquoting and throwing venom at individuals who have no horse in this race. That’s how far the evil has leaked.
My advice, breathe, just breathe. You didn’t cause this hornets nest.
Amarinda Jones
July 29
1:22 am
“My advice, breathe, just breathe. You didn’t cause this hornets nest.”
Correct. Good advice. Way too much emotion going on. Yes, be angry but fight smart.
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