Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Extasy UpdateI know that many of you are writers, or aspiring writers, or simply readers interested in what's up with the company that publishes my books, so I'll give you an update on the internal conflicts at Extasy. As I said before, yes, my favorite editor (Stefani Kelsey) has left the building.
I understand she's received offers from three different publishers so far. And I, for one, am anxious to see where she goes next.
This is how I see it...she made me. She acquired my books, saw them through the editing process and supported me from the moment I signed on with Extasy. She spoon fed me like a baby on a lot of things I didn't understand about publishing. She answered my questions, literally, at all hours of the day and night. She exhibited more patience than I can convey. (Because sometimes I'm a little thick headed.) Bottom line...I am loyal to her and grateful for all she has done for me.
I understand that three Extasy authors got released from their contracts yesterday, and another emailed me this morning to say that she was going to ask for a release--even though her book had not yet come out--which is why she is unhappy. Hers was contracted last year.
You may have noted that the book releases at Extasy have been slow in coming for a few months. i.e. Hood was supposed to come out months ago, and it didn't show up until the last of April, first of May.
Company says...They had so much turmoil over the ebookad fiasco--where the man didn't pay, and the website went down--more attention was spent on that than anything. And getting a new website up and running, of course. Lots of input to get all the titles in correctly.
The owners of the company, Tina (who had the falling out with Stef) and Diana (who is handling the author releases) are hoping to salvage the company, and its reputation by stemming gossip. Word of mouth can be terribly damaging, as you well know. And all it does is hurt the authors whose books are with Extasy. The site is up and books are available for purchase: http://www.extasybooks.com/
Tina ran the company for two years before Stef came on board, from what I understand, and is sure that she can run it now. She says she's in negotiations with editors.
Of course, those of you who know Stef, know that she gets a corner of the market--the one I like to write, and you like to read!--the one that has been supporting Extasy--vampires, werewolves, and twisted stuff, oh my!--and it will be hard (maybe impossible) to replace her.
I feel sorry for the editor who steps into her shoes. Stef has done an awesome job of engendering mutual fanship with the authors she has nurtured.
All of this has been distracting to me as a writer. I can't focus. I've got this inner turmoil and anxiety thing going on. What to do? What to do? Ya know?
So, like all basket cases, I'm sitting here, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the dust to settle, asking myself, "What should I do?"
I'm taking all suggestions. How about a poll here? Should this rat leave a sinking ship? Or pretend she's a captain and try and steer it out of rough waters? Should she walk the plank? Sink or swim? What do you think?
7 Comments:
First of all, I think Stef is pretty dang cool. She was fun to visit with at the OWFI conference and she helped me out A LOT in getting the autograph party set up.
Now then....
I think you need to keep your options open. Don't jump ship just yet, but have all your ducks in a row to be ready when/if it does come down to that.
In another entry, you had mentioned something about wanting to be sure your readers can get the whole series from one place. In that vein, is it possible for the rights to revert back to you so you can have them published elsewhere sometime down the line should it come down to that?
I'm not sure my opinion actually counts for much since my only publications so far are in the OWFI Report and a couple press releases to local papers.
Don't desert yet. Sit back and watch the situation for a while.
In answer to Jen's question--Yes, if I pull my contracts, all rights would revert back to me within thirty days.
It is my thinking that writers should not pull contracts willy-nilly. There is a list at publishing houses--of people who waste their time. They share it among editors.
Personally, I think it's smarter to leave books in place until you have somewhere to take them. But that's just me.
By 
CarysWeldonblog, at
6:34 AM
Sexmuse, you sound like you know what you're talking about. Could you explain what happened with RFI? I'm not familiar with that. I haven't been writing professionally very long.
By CarysWeldonblog, at
6:35 AM
I don't think you should pull contracts willy-nilly. I hope it didn't sound like I was advocating pulling anything. I was only saying it seems like the best option is to keep your options open but have things ready if (and only if) it comes down to it.
The webdite for Extasybooks is incredible. I've tried a number of times to buy bppls there, and it's just impossible.
When I click on Purachase, the book I want appears as 1 in the cart, but no place to purchase ut, U click on Purchase again abnd get 2 if tge biijs ub tge cart. Where us tge cart? I certinly can';t find it.
I run the arrow all over the front page and things pop up bo click on but you never know what you're going to get; something not useful.
I'm trying dewsparately to buy these books somewhere else but it's pretty difficult to do.
Suggestions? Belle
By 
, at
10:37 PM
I had the publisher check on this, Belle, and she says that all the links are working...now. Try again?
Let me know if you have problems again, and I'll stomp my feet or something.
By CarysWeldonblog, at
6:09 AM
