At the end of the business yesterday, Publisher’s Weekly broke the news that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was placing a temporary freeze on acquisitions. No word on how long the freeze might be.
Today, the following piece appeared in Publisher’s Lunch:
No New Books. What’s Houghton Thinking?
It was less than a month ago that Houghton Mifflin Harcourt held an “open house” at their New York offices to celebrate the first combined list of the once separate trade lines, but now that welcome is firmly closed as the trade and reference division has “temporarily stopped acquiring manuscripts,” according to vp of communications Josef Blumenfeld.
As first reported by PW and followed by the WSJ and NYT, Blumenfeld struggled for metaphors to explain the policy: “We have a temporary freeze on. We are working on what we already have.” Or rather, “there is a freeze-lite” he said. “There is a way in so it is not a hard freeze but for right now, there is a temporary — call it a freeze if you want.” Or maybe they are keeping the pipes empty before they can freeze?: “We have turned off the spigot, but we have a very robust pipeline.”
Blumenfeld explains further: “The climate is difficult. It’s about cash outlays, and every outlay of cash in every industry is being scrutinized.” But is it about expenditures, or symbols? “In this case, it’s a symbol of doing things smarter; it’s not an indicator of the end of literature.”
They also suggest that the lite freeze on that spigot might leave room for a trickle, since, while saying they are not acquiring new projects, “there are still things being considered by the acquisition committee.” But now that it’s been made clear to agents they aren’t acquiring, there won’t be a lot of submissions coming in the door to consider. Which is the really scary part about saying out loud you aren’t acquiring.
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Who knows if this will morph into a new business trend or remain an anomaly. It’s definitely a blaring red flag (as if past financial reports weren’t enough).
This alaming news reminded me of a commentary that played on NPR’s Marketplace last week. Let ‘em all crumble, says writer Megan Hustad, we don’t need those major publishing conglomerates. I must admit I was surprised by her views, but she gives us all in this industry some interesting concepts to chew on. Take a look (or listen) and let me know what you think:
Megan Hustad on NPR.
How many times have you read an SM story and thought, “no bottom could ever survive that position” or “nylon rope doesn’t behave that way!”? I’m editing a BDSM erotic romance anthology for Ravenous Romance using stories by authors who are actually a part of the BDSM community. Think collaring/piercing ceremonies written by an author who understands the psychology behind such a moment or sessions with a singletail described with realistic detail.
Deadline: January 8, 2009, but please feel free to submit stories ahead of the deadline.
- I am particularly interested in stories centered on established and committed relationships (any type of pairing or polyamorous relationship is fine).
- No previously published stories.
- Stories should be approximately 2500 – 5000 words (flexible).
Submission Guidelines: Email submissions to mplperkinsagency at gmail dot com as a Word or RTF attachment with “IN THE LIFE ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSION” in the subject line. Please include your name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address, email, title of the piece and word count as part of your document. The footer of each page should include your name and page number.
Please submit an author’s BIO with your work that could be used for publication. Given the nature of the anthology, make sure that that your BIO addresses your involvement in BDSM (do you present at regional organizations, have you personally been an SM player for 10 years? Etc.)
Compensation: $10 advance against ebook royalties AND a pro rata share of ebook and audiobook royalties. Royalties are 38% for the ebook and 15% for the audiobook.
For more information on the publisher, Ravenous Romance, check out www.ravenousromance.com and their blog at ravenousromance.blogspot.com. Further explanation of Ravenous contract terms can be found at http://ravenousromance.blogspot.com/2008/10/our-short-story-rights-and-contracts.html.
Any questions about this call can be sent to mplperkinsagency at gmail dot com.
Happy Writing!
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If you follow me on twitter or get emails from me, you’ll notice that sometimes I’m up working at ridiculous times of the day. That’s not just because I’m a night owl.
It takes a ridiculous amount of time to read manuscripts, make edits, and negotiate contracts. Back when I was doing this part time, I had 5 clients max. As an intern, my only responsibility was to go through the slush pile and pick out the gems.
Now? I’ve jumped to 30+ clients, all of whom are in the process of actively submitting work. So gone are the days of working 9-5 (actually it was more like 10-6) and going home to leisurely make my way through the slush.
These days, I’m up at 2am, giving that partial manuscript or submitted blog that caught my interest a thorough read. All after a day of contract negotiations and client communications that took twice or thrice the amount of time I had scheduled.
And my god, I love it. I can’t think of any other job/career I’d stay up for (and I’ve tried a few).
Just wanted to share the joy.
