Oh my, what a mess.

Over the years I have praised a large number of books published by Night Shade. Their editorial taste was excellent. They published really great books that no one else would touch. Sadly their business sense does not seem to have been anywhere near as good. Nor do they seem to have been very good at accepting help and advice.

Because I don’t have an actual stake in the situation, I’ve not been paying a lot of attention to the various posts that have been appearing. However, I have been very worried about the various fine writers who are caught up in it. I recommend this post by Kameron Hurley, which explains some of the complexities (and also seems to express some of the same frustration that Kevin and I feel when people with little idea what they are talking about complain loudly about awards or conventions).

I was also interested by this post which explains why the authors are shafted no matter what. Somehow I doubt that any legislators can be persuaded to do anything, but it might help if people understood that sometimes contracts, even good ones, aren’t worth very much.

As a small press publisher myself, I just want to put my head in my hands and sob.