Struggling SF Press, Night Shade, Pushes Asset Sale

[Angalin]

Folks, while the loss of a publisher is sad and potentially frustrating as book buyers, we can't condone talk of DRM-stripping on the board. Thank you.

[Darth Richard]

On no! Courtney Schafer's final book was likely due out this fall. This does not bode well. She has been a must buy author for me.

That's the one I'm most worried about too.

[kcf]

Folks, while the loss of a publisher is sad and potentially frustrating as book buyers, we can't condone talk of DRM-stripping on the board. Thank you.

Understood, however don't you thing that's it's fair to leave up warnings that books with DRM could be locked or even removed from devices in the event of bankruptcy or sale? It has happened before, so it's not like it's an unreasonable warning.

[Angalin]

Understood, however don't you thing that's it's fair to leave up warnings that books with DRM could be locked or even removed from devices in the event of bankruptcy or sale? It has happened before, so it's not like it's an unreasonable warning.

It went well past that. The point that ebooks can be affected by the publisher's bankruptcy or sale has now been made; time to move on.

[RedEyedGhost]

Skyhorse and Start have also purchased Underland Press - whose author list includes Joe R. Lansdale, John Shirley, Elizabeth Hand, Martin Millar, Jeff VanderMeer, et. cetera.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Skyhorse & Start Acquire Night Shade Books :

Monday 3 June 2013 @ 1:43 pm PDT

The text of the press release follows:

Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. and Start Publishing are pleased to announce the acquisition of Night Shade Books, an award-winning independent publishing house dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Founded by Jason Williams in 1997, who was joined by partner Jeremy Lassen shortly after, Night Shade Books has over 250 titles in its catalog, including some renowned genre fiction—written by multiple nominees and winners of Shirley Jackson, Bram Stoker, World Fantasy, Nebula, and Hugo awards. In 2003, Night Shade Books won the World Fantasy Special Award for Professional Achievement. Both Williams and Lassen will continue to be with Night Shade in a consulting capacity.

The agreement was reached following a spirited and public debate among authors, agents, fans, and publishers, which resulted in a deal approved by Night Shade’s authors. “This agreement brings together Night Shade’s distinctive editorial voice and Skyhorse’s business savvy and market reach, for the benefit of all involved, including authors and the great community of SF/F fans,” says Michael J. Martinez, author of The Daedalus Incident, slated to be the first title from the new Night Shade. “I’m honored that my first book will help kick off the next chapter in Night Shade’s ongoing story.”

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have added Night Shade to our various other imprints and look forward to working with Start Publishing to build it into the strong science fiction imprint that we feel confident it can become,” said Tony Lyons, Publisher of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

“Nightshade has been at the forefront of science fiction and fantasy for years. Start Publishing, alongside Skyhorse Publishing, welcomes the opportunity to provide Night Shade and its authors a platform to continue that tradition,” added Michael Maher, CEO of Start Media.

“I am very excited to have found a buyer that is such a good fit for Night Shade, one that will be able to take us further than I was able to on my own. I look forward to building up Night Shade into the powerhouse of science fiction and fantasy for years to come,” said Night Shade founder Jason Williams. Night Shade had net sales of roughly $1.5 million for the 2012 calendar year.

The fate of books by authors who did not sign the deal and assign their rights to Skyhorse/Start is not entirely clear, but we will continue to report as we learn new information.

http://www.locusmag.com/News/2013/06/night-shade-books-acquired-by-skyhorse-start/

[Seli]

If I read the post by Kameron Hurley* correctly the huge majority of the authors published by Nightshade were involved in negotiating the deal making full use of the power of the collective, minimizing the effect of the prisoners dilemma they were caught up in. Good for them :).

...

I’d like to thank the SFWA for advocating for authors from the beginning, even if on our end we initially felt a bit thrown to the dogs. It became clear once the news broke that the situation at Night Shade was pretty much a roiling shitstorm, and navigating that is not something I’d ask my worst enemy to do. The SFWA did push hard on several key things in the contract (which is clear from their letter to authors) that Skyhorse/Start would not budge on. It took the internet storm of authors and agents and continued push by the SFWA to get everyone better terms. So thanks to all the Night Shade authors and agents (and fans! Especially fans of the Foglios’) who took to the net to advocate for better terms for everybody, not just Night Shade’s top authors. No author likes to lose their shit on the internet, but this was one instance where going public proved to be the only way to get things done.

As for my part in this, all I did was moderate a forum for discussion about contract negotiation and curate information – an exercise which would have been useless if nobody showed up. So I’m really humbled by fellow Night Shade authors, agents, and numerous other members of the genre community for all the support and advice shared there. Skyhorse expected to negotiate with 20-30 of Night Shade’s top authors, not 200, and it was that collective push that helped move the mountain. So thank you to everyone for pushing.

...

http://www.kameronhu...-shade-imprint/

* Herself involved through her great Bel Dame books.

[polishgenius]

Just a post for the Courtney Schafer fans up there because I had the same thought yesterday and went looking for info: she's not caught up in this mess, or at least the third book isn't. NightShade only had the option for book 3, which obviously they fell apart before they took up, so she can publish it where she wishes. She says if there's no other option she'll go the kickstarter route and self-publish, but any which way the book's coming out (when it's done, which it's not). Post here.

She also posted a new one today saying she's one of those who signed the deal with Skyhorse, meaning she finally gets paid for The Tainted City. Which is good.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Just a post for the Courtney Schafer fans up there because I had the same thought yesterday and went looking for info: she's not caught up in this mess, or at least the third book isn't. NightShade only had the option for book 3, which obviously they fell apart before they took up, so she can publish it where she wishes. She says if there's no other option she'll go the kickstarter route and self-publish, but any which way the book's coming out (when it's done, which it's not). Post here.

She also posted a new one today saying she's one of those who signed the deal with Skyhorse, meaning she finally gets paid for The Tainted City. Which is good.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

[Darth Richard]

Yay! I think!

[AncalagonTheBlack]

A Letter from Night Shade Books (16 AUGUST 2013)

Dear Night Shade friends,

There have been many changes with Night Shade Books over the last three months including the departure of Jason Williams, but what isn’t different is that Night Shade has many great books coming out.

Trade paperback editions of The Eternal Flame by Greg Egan, Prepare to Die!, by Paul Tobin, Osiris by E. J. Swift, and The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton are now available and in stores. Available in the next few weeks are two debut novels that we are really excited about: The Daedalus Incident by Michael J. Martinez, and Pete Rawlik’s Reanimators.

Other books coming in the next few weeks include The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 5 by Ellen Datlow, Neal Asher’s Zero Point, and Laird Barron’s new collection, The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All.

We have more books coming out later in the year, and are busily acquiring books for the next catalog season. Start Publishing continues to publish Night Shade’s ebook catalogue, bringing Neal Asher’s Prador Moon to the United States for the first time in ebook as well as creating individual ebook collections for both Martha Wells and Kameron Hurley’s Night Shade works which are currently available now on all e-tailers. This is just the beginning of what Start Publishing has in store for all of the Night Shade authors on the ebook front. We are looking forward to a great future with Night Shade Books.

We’re happy to say that Night Shade Books 2.0 is alive and well, and we continue to do what we’ve always done . . . find the right books for the right readers.

http://www.sfscope.com/2013/08/a-letter-from-night-shade-books/

[Calibandar]

Yup. Nice to see that Amazon now has Laird Barron's new collection in stock.

[Bearbert Dondarrion]

So happy!

[Jussi]

One of the Night Shade authors, Courtney Schafer, will self-publish the final novel in her Shattered Sigil trilogy.

http://courtney-schafer.blogspot.fi/2014/05/news-on-release-of-labyrinth-of-flame.html

[Spockydog]

I wonder if Steina Leicht will do something similar with her Fey and the Fallen series. There's been absolutely no word at all regarding the final book in the trilogy since Night Shade got fubar.