Now It Can Be Told

[dr_pretentious]

Now that my publisher's difficulties are being openly discussed at the Absolute Write Water Cooler and Writer Beware's Facebook page, I won't be telling tales out of school if I mention them here. (For the record: What has gone wrong at Drollerie is, by all accounts, an honorable collapse, not a scam.)

Now that thunderpigeon and I have emailed all the authors in our anthology with an update about the troubles at Drollerie, I don't have to worry about any of those folks being put out about seeing something on my blog that they should have heard about from us first.

The short version:
The publisher has offered a blanket reversion of rights and termination of contracts to all authors who request them, with apologies for the long delays in publication and payment. We have decided to take Drollerie Press up on that offer. We've pulled the anthology, and we hope all the authors whose stories we accepted will allow us to keep our lineup as we shop the book around to other publishers. Once we hear back from all our authors and know what our table of contents looks like, we'll be in a position to start querying. We're brainstorming up a list of prospects. I believe something good will happen. I just don't know yet exactly what it will be.

Now that I've formally terminated my contracts for the Rugosa Coven novellas...

Damn, I wish I'd seen a better option. I'm pretty sure there wasn't one.

Okay, I'll talk about the implications of all this for the Rugosa books in a later post.

It's nobody's fault, ultimately. The proprietor of Drollerie Press, and my editor for the Rugosa stories, has been struggling all along with a chronic illness. Many months ago, it knocked her into the hospital, and though she's been home a while, she's been unable to work. One thing I have observed over the past couple of years is that everybody is just one health crisis away from incapacitation. Deena had a grand vision. She made it happen, for a while. I just hope she can recover.

In more than one place online, I've seen it said that Deena is hoping to sell Drollerie Press. I have that from a reliable source, too, though I've been unable to confirm it with Deena. I hope it's true, and I can think of a few small press publishers I like and respect whom I'd love to see expand by picking up Drollerie. (And to the ones who read this blog, please take this as a hint!) For the right new management, with a credible plan, I'd seriously consider bringing my books back. Many of the Drollerie authors who are taking Deena up on her offer of rights reversion would say the same.

Comments

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

Oh man. Good luck with everything. Good luck trying to find a new publisher for the anthology. I know first-hand how hard that is. I think I hit, what, 15 publishers while trying to bring my anthology to life. Mind you, if you're not terribly wedded to the thought of paying the authors a whole lot, or don't necessarily want to go print as opposed to ebook, you might fare better.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your kind wishes. The current situation is a bummer for all concerned.

How is Scheherazade's Facade doing, by the way?

Nobody gets rich in small press, so the authors weren't going to make a whole lot before. We do want to make sure that they get paid something. We weren't guaranteed to make it into print there, either, though that's something we hope to improve if we find the antho a new home. David and I are actually good at handselling, and that's a lot easier if we have tangible goods to sell.

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

While I haven't really spread the word far at the moment, it's looking like the best possible route involves a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds so Lethe Press can back the anthology. That way, we can actually pay the authors the bare minimum of 2 cents a word, and have the option of print or ebook. It's still in the working stages, as I get together a few essential components. I've been pretty busy with other projects picked up in the interim.

And hey, only lost one author so far. Could be worse.

[dqg-neal.livejournal.com]

Health issues affecting publishers have always been a problem with small press. It is a stressful place.

It is one of the reasons I've slowly been putting more and more duties in the hands of different staff members and increasing the staff.

I wish Deena health and a much speedier recovery from the issues that hinder her.

[cascade-writers.livejournal.com]

Also wishing Deena good health and success. I'm so sorry this has happened, but I know you have the courage and stamina to see it through. Good fortune to you!

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Drollerie is not the first small press I've seen founder when the founder took sick. Heck, if the global market worried that this could happen to Steve Jobs, it's hardly a surprise that it happens to smaller businesses than Apple.

Deena's second in command could probably run a seminar now on what to do to set your small press up to run without you. If I were running a small press, I'd cross state lines to take her out for coffee and pick her brain, after all this is over. Selena Green has been awesome, gracious, and on the ball under some very challenging circumstances. I hope she lands on her feet, and I hope I have a project that's a good fit for wherever she lands.

[thunderpigeon.livejournal.com]

Hey there, oneminutemonkey! You're one of the people we've been planning to hit up for advice, once the dust has cleared. We've just been too busy dealing with the immediate stuff to write extensive correspondence off-list.

Do you have any thoughts on when the Kickstarter campaign for Scheherazade might start? I'm not the greatest networker in the world, but I should be able to drum up some interest. And if you're interested, I might have a suggestion or two to give you off-list, if you'd like it.

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

By all means, you're welcome to hit me up for advice and fire suggestions my way. I'm happy to help share my experiences to date, though hopefully your anthology, not being quiiite as niche as mine, might have better luck with some of the publishers I was considering. It really does boil down to print vs ebook, and rate of pay/how much backing you're looking for. And, as I've learned, it also depends on who you have in the table of contents.

I'm really hoping to buckle down and get the Kickstarter campaign underway next month. The idea has been approved by Kickstarter, so now I just need to finish filling out the project, determining potential rewards (and making sure Lethe is cool with them and still willing to back me on the publishing end of things, because I don't know squat about getting a book out on my own...)

Details, details, nothing but details.

[thunderpigeon.livejournal.com]

I've just sent you an e-mail off list about some ideas that might work for the Kickstarter campaign. I'm only vaguely familiar with Kickstarter, so I don't know if the things I suggest are even allowed under their rules.

I'll follow up with questions about your experience, once I've had time to think about those questions (and maybe confer with Sarah, so we're not bugging you separately).

I don't know much about getting a book out either. I think good marketing and an ISBN code are really big things that have to happen. But I don't know much about either, I'm afraid.