Comments on: Readers of New Concepts Publishing Books Beware

By: Cher Gorman

Cher Gorman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:19:44 +0000

This is in regard to New Concepts Publishing. I am apparently one of many authors who is being treated badly by this publisher. If anyone out there who has a current contract with New Concepts Publishing or is considering signing a contract with New Concepts Publishing please e-mail me privately.

Thank you,

Cher Gorman
http://www.chergorman.com
cher@chergorman.com

By: Kathryn Taylor

Kathryn Taylor — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:13:50 +0000

I was one of the first authors published by NCP. Andrea DePastuer was the editor and she was fantastic to work with. The whole publishing process was a great adventure. But I was new to the game and easily duped. When my novels were published without any editing I was mortified. I had made mistakes and thought the editor would volunteer suggestions. This never happened. I asked for help and never received it. I was eager to learn and to change and did everything asked of me – but editing and making changed did not enter into the agreement. Since the early days NCP has moved toward publishing novels with a high level of sexuality. I don’t write this genre and I am happy to have my novels withdrawn from the backlist. Good luck to them – they made e-publishing a force to be reckoned with and I wish them well.

By: Ellen Ashe

Ellen Ashe — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 03:05:25 +0000

Just what are they all smoking at NCP?? I don’t ever want to be standing down wind.

By: AnonymousNCPer

AnonymousNCPer — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:05:44 +0000

And the fact that NCP wants to “streamline” its backlist to get rid of titles by “troublesome” authors just shows they do not understand how the business works. If they hung on to and better-promoted the backlist by the authors who have moved on the NYC it would be a good revenue stream for them.

Just shows how the owner Madris has lost touch w/ reality. She is vengeful, irrational, and mean, IMHO.

By: Jana

Jana — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:48:00 +0000

48 hour to approve the edits. Geez… Don’t get me started…

By: Jana

Jana — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:47:02 +0000

Fortunately, not all small presses are upset when their seasoned authors move on to NY. My publisher knows I will take that step eventually and actively encourages me to do so. She’s knows that’s how things work in this industry. The series I’ve created for her will benefit as my “star” rises. Backlist does sell. It’s short sighted to ignore the truth. Besides, I hope to continue penning the occasional book for my current publisher. She gave me a start after all.

By: AnonymousNCPer

AnonymousNCPer — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:45:09 +0000

I should add that my NCP titles DID get thorough edits. But I was given less than 48 hours (!) to approve them—-when my contract stated I got 90 days to approve edits. They threatened to pull my book if I didn’t comply.

By: AnonymousNCPer

AnonymousNCPer — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:39:54 +0000

The issues at NCP are definitely a sign that the company is about to implode. They weren’t always this way. And the owner Madris appears to be mentally ill based on my recent interactions w/ her. That may be the reason the company is in so much trouble. (Or maybe she’s mentally ill b/c her company is collapsing—who knows, it’s a chicken-and-egg question).

Madris & co. have recently been very upset that many of their top-selling authors (me included) have been jumping ship and taking contracts with big NYC print houses. The fact that the NCP (non-negotiable!) contract is so crappy is probably a good indication why so many of their top-selling authors have left. (I know I got screamed at via email when Madris & co found out I had gotten contracted by a large print house—-she said something along the lines of “you ungrateful print authors are destroying my company!”.)

I think in the early days, NCP published the kind of novels that mainstream print publishers weren’t interested in (i.e., paranormal, urban fantasy, erotica) so those types of authors had nowhere else to go. Now that the print houses can’t get enough paranormal/UF/erotica, those authors have learned that there are better contracts/royalties/editors to be had than what NCP has to offer. NCP is only getting second- and third-tier new authors as a result. And NCP is scrambling for revenue and screaming bloody murder at the fact its sales are declining and their top authors are abandoning them.

I think they must be having a lot of trouble paying their bills because of all this, and are probably too busy dodging collectors and landlords to pay attention to their authors.

FWIW, I have a couple titles w/ them, and have earned respectable royalties by ebook standards. But their editing/administration has deteriorated beyond repair. I think they will be out of business by the end of the year.

By: Lena Austin

Lena Austin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:03:45 +0000

I cannot believe any reputable publisher would totally forego editing, no matter how clean a manuscript gets turned in to them. Every manuscript must go through some sort of change. No one is perfect.

I personally adore my editors. They may slice and dice my work as needed, because I’m selling a product to them that cannot be perfectly suited to the changing needs of my publishers. I accept the need for editing as part of the process of doing business.

Oh, well. Not my problem. I’m going back to work. Deadlines. Gotta love ‘em.

By: Bad Apples « The Not-so-deep Thoughts

Bad Apples « The Not-so-deep Thoughts — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 07:30:47 +0000

[...] 2008 at 12:00 am (Writing) (E-publishers, Ellora’s Cave, Small Publishers) With the dust-ups over New Concepts Publishing and Torquere Press going on at Karen Scott’s blog and Dear Author, Emily Veinglory put out a [...]