Alright.
I guess there's not much point in keeping this a secret anymore.
The odds of there being another Supervillain book any time soon are low. I am learning more and more what a miracle it is that the series got to finish.
It's not my willingness to write, and it's not the fan reception. You people are beautiful, and you buy every book with gluttonous fervor as if you understand me for the writing god I truly am. I love that world, and there are plenty of characters to write in it, even if I'd like to space things out with the kind of exotic weirdness that is my first love.
My publisher is a mess. 'Stealing my money' a mess. I cannot be sure they're going to ever pay me again, I'm going to be consulting a lawyer when I get Heartfelt's book finished and have that emotional room, and I'm never going to send them another book. The problem is, I've talked to agents and no publisher is going to touch a book that Curiosity Quills can make even the most laughable legal claim on. That is any book in the Supervillain world. Until my publisher closes down, and hoo boy are they obviously on their deathbed, I can't write more of those.
Has this year and a half process of my publisher disintegrating, getting no support for them and having to fight again and again for my royalties been stressful, depressing, and interfered with writing and my whole author schtick? Why, yes. Yes, it has. I resisted telling the public because I felt at first that it was unprofessional to air my publisher's dirty laundry, and then because it would interfere with getting the thousands of dollars they still owe me. I've run out of patience on both of those.
I don't know who my next publisher will be. I've been told there's no point in shopping for an agent until I have a new book ready to go. I'm writing the second to last chapter of A Rag Doll's Guide To Here And There, so that will be soon. Celestia only knows where things go from there.
So, that's what's been happening. I was going to ask a very important question of you folks, but I think I'll put that in a separate post so we can put this behind us and focus on the positive!
PS - Yes, I'll need beta readers in a few weeks, but wait for it. A cross country trip is going to slow things down a bit.
:(
ReplyDeleteFor "no more super villain" and more significantly for the s**tbag businesses that exist and screw other people.
I read your books on Kindle, so it makes me wonder if you'd be able to self-publish
I can testify that self publishing works great...as long as you have a way to advertise. My boss self-publishes, and releases it directly on Kindle.
DeleteDrat. And other, stronger, imprecations.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd just noticed that I don't have all your books. Since they're all Curiousity Quills, I'll hold off on buying them to avoid feeding the beast.
Best-case, if you can get your rights back I'll buy them all all then. And buy anything new you put out, which sounds likely to happen sooner.
My profound sympathy.
No, don't hold off. I might get the money, and I want people to read and enjoy more than I want to get paid.
DeleteDone!
DeleteWhile I have yet had the pleasure of reading any of your other books, I have just found the super villain series, consuming all five books in the last week. I can honestly say it's my favorite super hero book so far. Its sad you went through that issue and still am I assume, I look forward to one day reading more. Untill then I look forward to reading all your other books.
ReplyDeleteHoly gorram crud! Makes me feel a little better about never getting that RPG conversion done...but DAMN.
ReplyDeleteI second the suggestion of looking into self publishing. Its easier and more viable now than it has ever been.
ReplyDeleteJust tweeted you. Would love to compare notes as another author who has left CQ. PM on Twitter if you’d like to chat.
ReplyDeleteFellow CQ author here. I got my rights back six months ago. May have lucked into another publisher I have a personal relationship with, but no one else wants to do reprints. I published with CQ just as they started turning downhill. I feel your pain. The non-payment of royalties, the lack of marketing support, the communication blackouts, the error-ridden covers, the shit editing, the staff turnover, the bizarre pivots into other business models... the list goes on and on. The good news is, whether you decide to self-pub or find another publisher, you'll make more money and have a better experience than you did with CQ.
ReplyDeleteI only recently discovered that your "Supervillain" series is no longer available on Amazon in Kindle format. Ouch! I'd always figured there was no rush, and so I only got to read books 1 and 2. I hope that they will return at some point.
ReplyDelete