Calling all Sports Publishing LLC authors

Sure. But that doesn't mean they're going to pay it. It's a mistake to automatically think there's a better price, and that it's just a matter of using your negotiating skills. It isn't like haggling for a used car.

There's a real good chance they've budgeted a certain amount for the book and they'll either do it at that price or not do it at all.

 

I know several of you posters as I have worked with you, and your complaints are legitimate. SP screwed its authors. No ifs, ands, or buts. I was caught in the middle of that process as a communicator, and it sucked. Now I don't have a job. But that's okay, as I'll hopefully start over with a better run, more stable publisher with a real commitment to quality.

A few asides to clarify things from SP's end. First, if you don't think Kent Hrbek's book can sell 5,000 copies, you are nuts. It sold twice that and then some. Regional sports books, if well executed and distributed, can sell very well. Our titles with celebrities sell better than our non-celebrity titles, nine times out of ten. (Sorry, DS, but our Rob Ray book is a great example of a hockey title that performed incredibly well due to a celebrity on board. That's no knock on your efforts, just the way it is.)

Second, if you think SP was screwing its authors by giving them smaller-than-average advances for regional titles, so be it. But our average series book doesn't take anywhere near the time or commitment to write as a well-researched, lengthier sports book distributed nationally by a major house. That's why SP could sign up sportswriters with day jobs instead of authors who will take months off work to complete a manuscript. Less work + limited sales potential = smaller advances. A majority of SP's regional titles didn't cover their expenses (despite the lower royalty rate or smaller advance), which is largely why it's in the hole right now. It sucks for the authors whose books did well to now be penalized by all the books that didn't do so well.

Third, book publishing mirrors the newspaper industry to a T. Both are in the dumpster, with cutbacks and losses and much scrambling to try to stay afloat. The big boys buy the small boys, who are all going under. It's a bad time to be peddling printed words, and that's the honest truth.

The only other thing I want to add is: the entire staff of SP doesn't deserve such a harsh assessment. One person led the company into the ground, a few followed along, and a few others tried their best to turn things around and change tactics. If you ask the typical SP author what they thought of the editorial process, for example, they will likely have good (or great) things to say. Copyediting, maybe not. Marketing, maybe not. But our editors have always cared for the product we release, and their efforts reflected that. We got the best out of what was given to us.

Moving forward, I hope this situation is resolved soon, because I know how long some of you have been suffering. I would encourage you to accept the settlement, because you'll be bleeding a stone if you go to court. Finality is necessary, even if it's not the finality you seek. (Take it from me, jobless.)

Down the road, I hope that a new company can fill this necessary sports niche and perform above the board, across the board.

 

editor0101, one criticism of SP for at least three years was the number of books it was churning out at any one time. What was the high for books in production? And did Bannon ever stop to consider that fewer books properly promoted could have kept the company afloat?

 

Clerk--good point about the # of books SP was publishing, anything and everything, just cranking them out right and left. I always got the feeling that SP's ultimate goal was to publish every sports book conceivable before anyone else could get to them.

Everything editor 0101 said sounded very reasonable and sincere. 0101--question I have for you is how SP survived so long being in such steep debt to a number of printers, such as one I know of firsthand that is based in Wisconsin. Bannon basically told the co. to stick it and was defiant.

I don't get it.

 

125+ was the high for one year. SP did 75+ on average. Yes, that strategy failed miserably, and even the pres would admit as much. The concept of quality over quantity was discussed from time to time by editorial and presented to others, but when the top of the ladder doesn't understand quality, it's no matter.

As for the debt, you'd be surprised (terrified is more like it) by the tactics one can employ to sweep debt under the rug. After a while, however, someone who has more to lose (or less to lose, depending on the circumstances) will yank that rug off the floor and expose the dirt. Then the person left holding the broom has some questions to answer.

 

Wow. 125, even without the plus, is a book -- a finished, ready for the world to see and admire book, something designed to last through the generations -- every 2.08 working days in a calendar year. If one was finished at noon on Monday, another had to be finished by 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, and the next by 2:30 p.m. Friday. And I'm not taking holidays into account.
It's a wonder they were as good as they were, considering the timetable. Geez, putting out a daily is hard enough, and we don't have to worry about binding.

 

In all fairness, a lot of those books were parts of a series, like "Tales from the ----" or "Little Known Facts about ----" that can be produced very quickly with minimal editing and marketing. As others have said, there's a place for those books, and some adequate freelance money for writers who view the income as cash to pay the orthodontist or buy a new pool table. Clearly the strategy didn't work for Sports Pub, but it can (and does) work for others.

To Editor0101, great post, and how sad that you had to write it. People get into the book business--a contradiction in terms if every there was one--because they love books and writers and ideas, and the thrill of holding that finished product when it comes off the press. I hope you find another venture soon.

 

Ditto, swenk

 

"If you ask the typical SP author what they thought of the editorial process, for example, they will likely have good (or great) things to say. Copyediting, maybe not. Marketing, maybe not."
Well, editor0101, aside from copy-editing and marketing, just what is there to the SP experience aside from getting stiffed?
All I know is from my own experience and that of several fellow SP authors, the words good or great were never used. In my experience, the SP person you were dealing with was either ill-suited to the job, to put it mildly, about to be fired or both. My feelings about them were reflected in the number of SP people thanked in the foreward of my book.
As for the Rob Ray book selling great in a small market, it sold and is selling because it is a good book, not because of Ray's star-power. He was a popular player but not a big enough star to sell tens of thousands of copies on just his name. You might also want to ask him and his fellow author how much fun it was getting paid.
You seem as ignorant of the Leaf market as the SP folk. Books with the name Leafs on them sell even without a celebrity listed as an author. The Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario is the most densely populated region in Canada. There are upwards of 8 million people here and most of them are Leaf fans.
Before my book came out in November, 2007, I worked hard promoting it. I plugged it regularly on Bob McCown's Prime Time radio show, which has a large following and is simulcast on Sportsnet, a national sports television network. I also pimped it on other radio shows and television.
There was no help on this front from SP. Then, when SP stiffed me on the second advance payment and the third, I stopped. Call me selfish but I believe in getting paid for work. That's why I did the book, not because I needed my name on one. But I happened to pick the wrong publisher.
Also, editor0101, when you recommend that all authors should accept SP's 10-cents-on-the-dollar offer, you make me wonder if you shouldn't call yourself publisher0101.

 

Sirs, Madames,

A sure sign of the coming apocalyspe.

YD&OHS, etc

 

DS -- Your FOREWORD is not of concern to me. And I strongly disagree with your assessment of the ability of most SP editors and feel that a long list of qualified authors would agree that they received a fine edit from SP's staff. I worked there long enough to work with over 80 different authors, and I can count on one hand the number that would speak poorly of the job I did for them (and that was usually because of a lack of a healthy working relationship or outside factors); you are apparently on that list. Whatever ... you're entitled to your opinion and you're obviously pissed off.

Maybe you are correct in saying that you could publish a crappy book with Leafs in the title and it would sell well. But you clearly don't know the Buffalo market if you are going to insist that Rob Ray's name doesn't produce results in that city. He was their popular enforcer for many years, and now is a broadcaster in the market. As for the authors of that book, they are in the same boat as you as far as payment goes, and that stinks.

 

Sirs, Madames,

You're FOREWORD

Better to throw yourself on the mercy of the court.

YD&OHS, etc