My last words on the TQ thing

[valarltd]

I've been very conflicted for the past week or so.

Torquere was the house that gave me my break.

They publish on time, and with set dates.

They pay on time and honestly.

These three things weight the scales very very heavily.


And my superego is saying, "Why are you making waves? You're getting published and paid. You know writers who would love to have that problem. Stop kicking! Just because you're incompetent at female social politics--as you have proved at the SCA, the library, numerous places on the net, etc etc--is no reason to give up steady work. And why do you think you'll be better anywhere else?"

And we're still tied to the press for at least 2 years until everything reverts.





As things stand, we have several more shorts forthcoming.
I have every confidence they will be treated as they would have been before this kerfuffle.
I have complete confidence I will be paid accurately and promptly for my work.
Because that is how professionals operate. And TQ has always been professional on that side of it.

The forthcoming:
Talk Like a Pirate Day
Racing the past
The Sounds toybox
Five-time Loser, the Five of Pentacles
Color of Magic Color of money: Emeralds
Crossroads (the Bareback Angels menage imprint)
Collar toybox (submitted)

Alive on the Inside will be undergoing harsh edits before being resubmitted anywhere. We should not have submitted it so prematurely, and so took the chance to pull it before it could escape.

Comments

[nbrooks.livejournal.com]

Lord Withycombe approves this message.

[kitzheng.livejournal.com]

I'm really lousy at the social side, too, so I feel your pain there.

I like your writing, so I'm sorry if this means you won't be submitting to Bend Over Big Boy--I think you'd mentioned working on a story for it.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Actually, I gave up on the Bend Over anth two weeks ago. The story wasn't coming togethe,and I needed some stress relief.

However, I have one in Another Fine Mess


I'm not stopping writing. You can always find my stuff at http://www.angelsparrow.com
(I also have a mailing list, very low traffic, very low pressure)

[princesslanie.livejournal.com]

is TQ closing?

lanie

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

No, no.

I've just been conflicted and getting some stuff off my chest.
Read the previous two entries for my backstory.


I encountered some information that made me reconsider my choice of publishers and threw all my bits of discontent into a sharper light.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

And Nick approves Lord Withycombe

[samcdermott65.livejournal.com]

I haven't been on-line much lately, but it looks like shit has hit the fan. Good luck to both you and Naomi.

Shari

[hlglne.livejournal.com]

You cannot speak of 'my publisher' when it comes to e-presses, in the singular. Let it not obsess you so. The lttle guys would love to have your works with us, whatever you deem worthy of us. Don't sound too needy do I?

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Not exactly.
On a personal level, I had to decide how happy I was.

On a professional level, it's been worked out.
I only left the house scrambling to fill one slot, instead of the half-dozen they feared.

[mychael-black2.livejournal.com]

I wish you good luck, wherever the road takes you.

[kitzheng.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't realize! :)

I'll have to pick up Another Fine Mess--It's got a lot of people I like in it.

I'm on your mailing list... I've been stealthing it for about a month. Heh, well, I'll probably always be a lurker, that's more my nature.

The D-Man checks in

[(Anonymous)]

Old saying that I am sure you are familiar with: Better the demon you know than the one you don't. TQ apparently has their problems, but indeed... what publishers don't. At least with TQ you know what to expect, and you have a history.

[jodi-payne.livejournal.com]

Hey hon,

I've been quiet and reading and waiting for a lot of the emotion to die down a bit before I said anything. I enjoy your writing, I think you know that, and I am sorry that you won't be considering future TP projects.

Just a couple of observations:

I know other people have given you other advice, but I think it's very professional of you to honor your current contracts. That speaks of integrity, and that rep gets around in this business.

I believe that the "closed" anthologies you talked about are generally author-proposed and submitted anthologies. For example, I wanted to see a lesbian Taste Test out there, I got to talking with CB and Elisa, and we proposed it. It was never on the open call list because there was no call, we made a proposal of a full anthology.

I hear a lot of crickets when I post on the LJ, too. ;-) But remember for every comment you get, several other people have read and NOT commented. A lot of readers don't like to participate.

And lastly, I just want to thank you for what you said in this post. I have spent some time following the rumor mill over the last week (here and elsewhere), and it struck me that people don't seem to understand how professional TP really is. You can count on being paid, on time and fairly. You can count on your work being published when they say it will be. You can count on contracts being honored. And they are always looking for new authors and new talent. I'm quite certain that I would never have been published, and given the opportunity to learn the business, if not for TP, and most of my lesbian work would never have seen the light of day elsewhere. Very few houses accept submissions for it anymore.

I hope you find what you're looking for in a publisher - and I look forward to reading more of your work.