Wednesday, September 9, 2009

QUARTET PRESS CLOSES BEFORE IT OPENS

Bad news in the world of ebook publishing. Just got the news that Quartet Press has disbanded. I have no idea what happened, and we might never know, but pay no attention to my reissue release dates in the left column. Very sad, because I know everyone at Quartet Press put in a tremendous amount of work and effort into building what they'd hoped would be a quality ebook publishing house.




GOODBYE FROM QUARTET PRESS

update: PW article. I suspected it was a shaky business model. I worried that they'd created too many paying positions before the launch:

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY


I strongly suspect the editorial department killed them.

Here's my idea for a startup:

Begin with reissues only. In that way you completely eliminate the need for an expensive editorial department. Maintain rights one year, two years max, with option to renew. Pay writer 40 - 50%. Build business, then release a couple of amazing new titles that everybody is going to be talking about. Hire outside freelance editors and copy editors.
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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 9, 2009 at 1:02 PM

    I don't suppose you would consider self-publishing your backlist?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anne FrasierSeptember 9, 2009 at 1:14 PM

    Anon, I'd originally planned to self-pub my backlist and then Quartet came along, so I'll go back to Plan A. I did the line editing of old material, and the cover designs belong to me, so everything is basically ready to go.

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  3. Jaye WellsSeptember 9, 2009 at 3:26 PM

    Anne, I'm sorry to hear you're one of the authors affected. The whole thing stinks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 9, 2009 at 3:27 PM

    I would do a free start-up biz if I had the creds. Would be worth having books I want to read available. ;-)

    Heather Dearly

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anne FrasierSeptember 9, 2009 at 3:41 PM

    thanks, jaye. luckily i have a new agent who really likes my memoir, otherwise i would probably be a little freaked out by the whole thing.

    heather, now you have me thinking... maybe i should start my own indie label for myself, then a few friends. must think of a name for it. kindle has a spot for publisher.

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  6. AnonymousSeptember 9, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    Sounds like a plan, Anne.

    Heh. I rhymed.

    HD

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  7. AnonymousSeptember 10, 2009 at 2:12 AM

    I'm so sorry for this blow, Anne. :(

    ReplyDelete
  8. Stephen BlackmooreSeptember 10, 2009 at 3:35 AM

    Oh, that sucks. I'm so sorry to hear that.

    I know it'll turn around, but still. Good luck. Keep my fingers crossed for that memoir.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anne FrasierSeptember 10, 2009 at 4:42 AM

    jason, thanks so much. when i started gnawing on ebook numbers 2 months ago, i realized this wasn't going to be much income for me. max units i expected to sell: 1000. 35% of prob 6 bucks brings my max cut to around 2K. that would have been a GOOD figure. at that point i thought how can this work for any of us? for them, it had to be about the number of titles offered each month, and that figure would have to be high. just overwhelming to even think about. i i self pub, i really am thinking of using a pub name. i'll probably blog about that. something i've had in my head a while, but thought the idea too small. but this turn of events makes me reconsider the idea. small might be good.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anne FrasierSeptember 10, 2009 at 4:47 AM

    thanks, stephen!
    yes, thank god i have the memoir. and i am over the moon about my agent. memoirs are her focus and she really really really knows her stuff, so i'm still trying to process what i see and feel is a massive good turn of events in that area of my writing.

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  11. AnonymousSeptember 10, 2009 at 7:33 AM

    I'm glad to hear that you're thinking about self-publishing. I shall watch your blog to see when they are available.

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  12. AnonymousSeptember 10, 2009 at 12:34 PM

    thanks, anon! I hope I can at least get Bad Karma out soon.

    Anne

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  13. AnonymousSeptember 10, 2009 at 3:08 PM

    If you need a lawyer for your startup, I might be able to recommend one. :p

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  14. AnonymousSeptember 10, 2009 at 5:23 PM

    jason, i'll keep that in mind. :)

    anne

    ReplyDelete
  15. kirsten saellSeptember 11, 2009 at 1:16 PM

    If you're looking to self pub, here's something I'd recommend reading:

    http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  16. AnonymousSeptember 11, 2009 at 3:39 PM

    kirsten, yeah, joe is definitely the dude in the know when it comes to many things. :)

    anne

    ReplyDelete

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