Calling all Sports Publishing LLC authors

Ha! I'm human. At least I caught it right away when I edited the post. You must have read it within a few seconds of it posting...

 

Mr 0101,

Your welcome.

YD&OHS, etc

 

I rest my case.

 

Before resting your case, you may want to remember:
1) We all need editing; and
2) I have your non-edited manuscript for proof.

 

Mr 0101,

Now you're showing your true breeding. A cross-breed, cat and weasel. You're a fine addition to SportsJournalists.com but I fear if you reach double figures in your postings, SportsJournalists.com might go bankrupt.

YD&OHS, etc

 

This isn't ending well.

 

Hey, lay off editor 0101. DS, you make some good points, but cracking the whip on this guy is a bit much. He's out of a job---whatever beef you have with him should have been aired six months ago and one on one, not in here.

The fact you signed with SP could be a sign you didn't do your own due diligence. SP's problems and lowball offers with one-sided contracts have been legend for about 10 years. I speak from personal experience and secondhand experience----I once had a well-known national college writer I barely knew send me a copy of the contract SP had offered him, circa 2001-2002, and asked me for my assessment as I have been published a number of times and also been top editor at a couple of mid-level publishers. It wasn't a great offer, but he also wanted to do the book badly. Again, I warned him off as objectively as I could with no bitterness toward SP---I never signed a book deal with them (came very close once).

This was old news with SP, but from Bannon's point of view it was a business model to grow his company, whether or not you agree with him. When you are spending YOUR own money and building a company, let's see what you do.

All throughout this SportsJournalists.com web site, I see a frequent theme of blaming, bashing, dissing, whatever of publishers with a common arrogant sentiment that you are smarter than them and could do a better job of budgeting their money. Well, go ahead and give it a try. Show your stuff. Go round up come angel investors and get a couple million and go find some small daily to buy, or a small book publisher, and show how it's done. Also, watch how quickly you become the "bad guy or gal," as you are now the target of disgruntled journalists' venom.

 

Swenk, I'd imagine some books need minimal editing. Surely not anything I'd write if I took the plunge. But what book would survive with minimal marketing? That's where, according to friends published by SP, the company really fell down. They might have gotten some help with getting on talk shows, but were expected to arrange book signings on their own. And what sportswriter knows who runs the bookstores in their area? Or where all of them are? That, you'd think, would be where the publisher could really help.

 

Bingo. Nail meet head. FYI ... the sad thing is that over the past few months we'd made good progress to this end, and some smart hires.

I've said enough on here. Good luck to you all in publishing. We all need some of it.

 

What the hell have they done to make us believe we can't?

 

Sirs, Madames,

Marketing is an issue in this case but just a side issue. I have limited sympathy for DS and others in the same liferaft
on that count--I'd guess we'd all like display ads & cardboard cut-outs in bookstores. As I've said and with swenk to back me up, the author is ultimately responsible to promote and create buzz as best he can. Unrealistic to know where the bookstores are? I could tell you how many copies each of the outlets in the major Canadian chain ordered and had on hand at any given time. Yup, Coles in Swift Current, ordered four, sold two. If you can report a story, you can draw up a list of contacts. If you can work a source, a bookseller is easy.

I've never been in a position to command guarantees on marketing and promotion. I've had headaches on books before but if you sign for an advance and you deliver professionally the cheque should be cut. End of story. Who needs to hear about an editor's best intentions? In this case that's like claiming to be a fellow victim when, in fact, you're much closer to a co-conspirator.

YD&OHS, etc

 

Editor, thanks for a good post. What you wrote lines up with some of what I've heard - that the editorial staff was wonderful to work with, but that payments were slow. I'm sorry to hear you've been cut...

(And hello, all - it's my first post. I found SportsJournalists.com through a Google search, looking for information on SPLLC.)

I did a little research myself today, and pulled the company's Dun & Bradstreet profile. While a D&B report isn't 100% accurate, it does show the general trends in paying vendors, and it didn't look good from what I saw. Many smaller vendors don't report to D&B because of the subscription cost. There was enough to catch my attention, and make me look elsewhere for now, and with a lit agent.

I own a couple of SPLLC books about one of my local teams, and I enjoyed them. The good editorial reviews I heard make this a shame - there is indeed a place for a second- and third-tier publisher, but the authors have to be paid.

And thanks for a great site - it's exactly what I've been looking for.

best...