Night Shade Books (on the ropes)

[gbm]

Looks like Night Shade Books is close to going under if not already there.

Another indie publisher on the ropes: Night Shade Books plans an asset sale

Night Shade editor-in-chief Jeremy Lassen tweeted: "My exciting news is that Night Shade is being bought by a larger publishing company! NS authors are recieving formal notification now."

bernie

[jgaiser]

Seriously too bad. Liked a lot of Night Shades books.

[gbm]

Originally Posted by gbm

Looks like Night Shade Books is close to going under if not already there.

Another indie publisher on the ropes: Night Shade Books plans an asset sale





bernie

Some more information.

bernie

[fjtorres]

They are looking for approval from their authors to sell off their catalog and name.
If they don't, they'll be forced into Chapter 7 Liquidation.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...sset-sale.html

After several years of financial struggles, the science fiction and fantasy publisher Night Shade Books is preparing to sell its assets to Skyhorse Publishing and Start Publishing. That is, if its authors will sign off on the deal.

The indie house sent a letter to agents and authors—excerpts of which have subsequently been posted online—in which it notes that, as an alternative to bankruptcy, a sale of assets to Skyhorse and Start would allow authors to get "paid everything they are due, as well as find a future home for their books.” The asset sale though, as the letter points out, hinges on a “sufficient number” of approvals from authors, who would also need to agree to “certain changes to their contracts.”

...allowing the indie publisher to go bankrupt could be the worst result for authors. As the SFWA lays it out: “If [Night Shade files for Chapter 7], you may be unable to have your rights reverted. Your contracts could be purchased during the bankruptcy process by another publisher as an asset. That can mean purchase for pennies on the dollar. Bankruptcy could also mean that the contracts would remain in limbo during the bankruptcy proceedings.”

I've bought quite a few Nightshade titles via Webscriptions so this hits close to home. They have good authors.
Hard to tell if the new contracts will be good for the authors but years of Chapter 7 wranglish over the rights won't be good for anybody.

(Via: http://www.thepassivevoice.com/04/20...es-asset-sale/

Whoops! Missed the earlier similar thread.

[DiapDealer]

Author Mike Stackpole's detailed take on the NSB/Skyhorse proposed deal.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Author Mike Stackpole's detailed take on the NSB/Skyhorse proposed deal.

Sounds like Nightshade had a friendlier author contract than the new outfit proposes.
The built-in parallel to Harlequin (with the potential for similar problems) seems pretty scary at that...

[usuallee]

Too bad. I'm familiar with Night Shade via their author Will McIntosh. His book Soft Apocalype is excellent. I bought Hitchers as well, but haven't read it yet. I just hope the authors don't get f@%!ed on their rights as was outlined in the bankruptcy scenario. Hopefully the sale mentioned will indeed avert that awful fate.

P.S. In Will McIntosh's case, I just checked & his next book is being released this summer on Hachette. So he at least has a new publisher & has moved up to the big leagues.

[DiapDealer]

And author Kameron Hurley's take on the situation (Language warning).

http://www.kameronhurley.com/dealno-...otally-stupid/

[usuallee]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

And author Kameron Hurley's take on the situation (Language warning).

http://www.kameronhurley.com/dealno-...otally-stupid/

Wow, she is pissed. With good reason if even half of what she said is true. Her books look interesting so maybe I'll check them out.

[fjtorres]

More from Stackpole:
http://www.michaelastackpole.com/?p=3306

...they want a return on their investment. I get that. I respect it. I applaud it.

That same desire for a return on investment tells me that authors have to be very careful in analyzing what will make the best business sense for Skyhorse/Start. To me, the plan that makes the most sense is to squeeze the ebook market for all its worth, sell audio rights in bulk for quick cash and then cherry-pick the projects that have a high return potential going forward. Any property that doesn’t, I sell as literary scrap. I don’t know that this is what they are going to do. This is what I would do were I in charge. You know, to get my money back.

It seems the new contract shares a lot of features with the recently-decried Hydra contract and the legally-validated Harlequin contract. So a critical reading results in a lot of ways the authors can be potentially... mistreated...

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

So a critical reading results in a lot of ways the authors can be potentially... mistreated...

As is apparent from the Harlequin case, it's is essential to read contracts assuming the worst.

Especially when they are not time-limited contracts (i.e. life of copyright).

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by usuallee

Wow, she is pissed. With good reason if even half of what she said is true. Her books look interesting so maybe I'll check them out.

Indeed.
It seems the Nightshade terms were better than average but their delivery on those terms was... "less than perfect".

One point she makes is worth remembering:

I’ve been asked by readers if they should keep buying my books from Night Shade. The answer is YES. If the deal goes through, I get paid that money. If it doesn’t, then those sales numbers will contribute to my sales record and help me find a new home with another project at a stronger publisher. Do please continue to support Night Shade’s authors. We love our readers and fans, and we wouldn’t have survived this without you.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

As is apparent from the Harlequin case, it's is essential to read contracts assuming the worst.

Especially when they are not time-limited contracts (i.e. life of copyright).

Essentially you need to *expect* the worst possible interpretation of the terms. And then expect them not to be honored anyway.

I'm reminded of the reports from the days of the pulp magazines when there were publishers that paid upon acceptance, publishers that paid upon printing, and publishers that paid upon litigation.

Given that these horror contracts are coming from both the smaller publishers as well as the BPHs, it looks like they are simply the new normal. Hail Hydra!

[Lemurion]

Yeah, it's an ugly mess - and Mike Stackpole lays out the details here.

Real pity because NSB published some really good books.

[Elfwreck]

Bare-bones link roundup; I'm debating if it's worth continuing to collect links, especially since several of the newer ones are "there's this Night Shade thing going on; have some links to what other people are saying about it."