Answering More Questions About the SFWA Qualifying Process

So, much of the Internet’s time, at least on the spec-fic side of things, was taken up this week by recent convulsions surrounding Night Shade Books.

Night Shade Books is a small press run by Jeremy Lassen and Jason Williams. Among the books they’ve published are Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl, Iain M. Banks’ The Algebraist, the novelizations of the Girl Genius books by Phil and Kaja Foglio, and on and on. In short, they publish excellent stuff.

Night Shade’s been having problems for years. SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, got involved in 2010. Within the past few months, the authors have been asking SFWA what’s up with Night Shade. Here, I get a little confused. I find it difficult to believe that any publisher is quaking in their boots at the threat of being delisted by SFWA. All that being delisted does, as far as I can tell, is prevent that publisher from being considered a “professional market” that people can use to qualify to become a member of SFWA. Big whoop. If this is the biggest club an author has in their arsenal, we are all in terrible trouble.

But perhaps I am misunderstanding that part. Anyway, what’s come out is that Night Shade has sold its list to another publisher, or rather a confusing combination of publishers Skyhorse and Start Publishing, but for that sale to go through, all of the authors involved must sign new contracts. And by all accounts those new contracts are shit. Some writers report that they are in the process of renegotiating those contracts, and that it’s a good sign that the publisher is open to amending them at least. However, those contracts ask for rights that were not included being in the original contracts, are substantially lower terms, and are presented in a way that forces authors who are willing to sign to pressure authors who are not willing to sign. And that is backed up by a letter from SFWA that apparently underscores that if the deal does not go through, Night Shade will most probably declare bankruptcy and everyone’s rights will be in limbo.

In all of this, no one seems to be clear what exactly SFWA accomplished, nor is the organization (and in the interest of full disclosure, I am a SFWA member, with access to its internal boards, and without betraying confidentiality, information on those boards has come pretty much entirely from people posting links to outside discussions) itself disclosing what’s up and whether they negotiated the terms from an even shittier state to the current crapfest or even what, exactly, they did, or why there is this Impenetrable Veil of Secrecy surrounding the proceedings. The first piece of information that came out during the period that the SFWA board was saying “Any day now we’ll have a statement,” was an ill-timed and now, it turns out, somewhat inaccurate tweet from Lassen:

Jeremy Lassen “@jlassen 2 Apr
My exciting news is that Night Shade is being bought by a larger publishing company! NS authors are recieving formal notification now. #nsb

Other people have analyzed the controversy better than I. Here’s some of the links:

• io9’s coverage of the deal and Lassen defending it.
• Some insight into Night Shade’s business practices.
• Joshua Bilmes discusses the dissolution of Night Shade and SFWA’s role.
• Night Shade author Michael Stackpole provides initial reactions to the contract and then further reflections.
• Night Shade author Kameron Hurley talks about considering the Nightshade deal.
• Night Shade authors Phil and Kaja Foglio talk about the pressures of the contract.
• Some insight into the publishing houses acquiring the rights.
• Andrew Zack on the deal and what needs to be asked about it.

One of the nice things about having a lot of pots bubbling away, particularly when other people are supervising some of them, is knowing what’s coming up on the menu. So here, in no particular order, is a deeper look at three pet projects that are manifesting.

SFWA Ed will be online education via the web: an array of classes aimed at a range of writers, from new to professional. We’ve got a lot of members who teach, and I know our coordinator has been reaching out to as many as he can. That’s been rolling along splendidly thanks to the undauntable and indefatigable Jonathan Brazee. I believe it will be a mix of paid and free classes; we’re still figuring out all the details.

First Chapters is my attempt to answer the question: how can I know what to vote for in award season without reading every single book? That’s the biggest complaint I hear about any of the awards. Or one of them, now that I think about it. At any rate, this compendium will have a first chapter from eligible books, with the info you need to figure out what category or categories it fits in for awards like the Nebulas, Hugos, Norton, the Dragon Awards, etc. Using it should help someone find the books they want to read in their entirety. If you’re interested in making sure you’re contacted when we start taking chapters, please drop me a line. (If you have been asked not to contact me, please mail your interest to office@sfwa.org.) This project is rolling along thanks to the efforts of Dan Potter and the Publishing Committee.

The Preserve Your Legacy Campaign. So to talk about this one, I have to talk about a SFWA volunteer, Bud Webster, who was frickin’ tireless in working with the SFWA Estates Project, which works to connect authors’ estate with publishers, editors, scholars, etc. Bud was smart and funny and above all, kind. One of the good-hearted people that help keep the world running. This campaign is aimed at helping writers learn how to preserve their literary estate and archive their works. This one’s being driven by the excellent Lawrence Schoen.