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Icasra Will Soon Need a New Publishing Home
a year ago
It came to my attention (I wasn't even notified about this, I had to inquire MYSELF) that Thurston Howl Publishing is coming under the publishing umbrella of Fenris Publishing. The Rubber Princess was not on track to be brought over into this new label, which is fine, I guess..? The editor-in-chief was the one who got back to me. But it would have been nice to actually have been told about what was going on from the person directly in charge and why I could no longer access the Thurston Howl webstore, or why my book wasn't even on there any longer. I've yet to actually hear back from the person that ran the publishing house; they say they've read my email asking for inquiries, but that was several days ago, and as it's been like pulling teeth to hear back from them regarding anything else, I don't think I'm going to hear anything about this, either.
Some people have been quick to ask "Did you get scammed?" or "Did you have to pay anything to get it published?" To which I reply no. I don't feel "robbed" or anything, not of my money; maybe more of my time. I did NOT have to pay anything to see this book brought to life, so in that aspect things are fine.
So as it is, the Thurston Howl websites are seemingly "under construction", but based on their Twitter posts I don't even think they'll be coming back and are just falling under Fenris Publishing now. For one reason or another, The Rubber Princess is still on Amazon and up for sale there. I don't know where the money made is going to or who is continuing to print it, but it's honestly such a moot point (and I made so little on the book, getting rich off it was NOT my intention) that I don't really care. The contract I signed with them would basically appear null and void at this point, as I heard from the editor-in-chief that it's not going to be published under the Fenris label, so how much longer it remains on Amazon is to be seen. Building off that, I'm certain if they're no longer printing it that the rights will probably revert back to me and it'll be to where I can take it somewhere else and resume publishing with another entity.
Getting paid was also a whole song and dance that I don't want to get into, but to sum it up it would ALWAYS take me multiple emails to ask when I could my cut of sales deposited to PayPal, no matter how small they were. As mentioned in the past paragraph, getting rich or wasn't my intention with this book, it was more about the message, but it was all a matter of principle in that it felt like my payments were being withheld, or I couldn't even be shown the sales figures to see how it was doing. All I had to go on was its sales position in popularity on Amazon. I'm also certain my illustrator (you all know who she is by now and how awesome of a job she does <3) was only paid once.
Long story short, I'm certain my book will be out of print soon, and I'm sort of glad it will no longer be under this label because it's been a bit frustrating as far as communication goes. I'm grateful that THP got it out there and brought my story to life, but I think it's time for me to pursue greener pastures.
The editor-in-chief told me there is potential for him going off to do his own thing in the distant future, and that the Icasra universe would be something he'd entertain for renewed publishing of The Rubber Princess and its near complete sequel. But I'd also be open to pursuing this with somebody else or another publishing house, and if you have any advice or suggestions on who would be good for this, it would be most appreciated.
At worst, it just doesn't get republished anywhere and my books will just remain on my Furaffinity page only. I'd just at least like to have it in physical print somewhere and for sale, so as to permit fellow furries and rubberists the opportunity to at least own a physical manifestation of the message I was trying to convey with the story of Aegerter and Isarte.
Some people have been quick to ask "Did you get scammed?" or "Did you have to pay anything to get it published?" To which I reply no. I don't feel "robbed" or anything, not of my money; maybe more of my time. I did NOT have to pay anything to see this book brought to life, so in that aspect things are fine.
So as it is, the Thurston Howl websites are seemingly "under construction", but based on their Twitter posts I don't even think they'll be coming back and are just falling under Fenris Publishing now. For one reason or another, The Rubber Princess is still on Amazon and up for sale there. I don't know where the money made is going to or who is continuing to print it, but it's honestly such a moot point (and I made so little on the book, getting rich off it was NOT my intention) that I don't really care. The contract I signed with them would basically appear null and void at this point, as I heard from the editor-in-chief that it's not going to be published under the Fenris label, so how much longer it remains on Amazon is to be seen. Building off that, I'm certain if they're no longer printing it that the rights will probably revert back to me and it'll be to where I can take it somewhere else and resume publishing with another entity.
Getting paid was also a whole song and dance that I don't want to get into, but to sum it up it would ALWAYS take me multiple emails to ask when I could my cut of sales deposited to PayPal, no matter how small they were. As mentioned in the past paragraph, getting rich or wasn't my intention with this book, it was more about the message, but it was all a matter of principle in that it felt like my payments were being withheld, or I couldn't even be shown the sales figures to see how it was doing. All I had to go on was its sales position in popularity on Amazon. I'm also certain my illustrator (you all know who she is by now and how awesome of a job she does <3) was only paid once.
Long story short, I'm certain my book will be out of print soon, and I'm sort of glad it will no longer be under this label because it's been a bit frustrating as far as communication goes. I'm grateful that THP got it out there and brought my story to life, but I think it's time for me to pursue greener pastures.
The editor-in-chief told me there is potential for him going off to do his own thing in the distant future, and that the Icasra universe would be something he'd entertain for renewed publishing of The Rubber Princess and its near complete sequel. But I'd also be open to pursuing this with somebody else or another publishing house, and if you have any advice or suggestions on who would be good for this, it would be most appreciated.
At worst, it just doesn't get republished anywhere and my books will just remain on my Furaffinity page only. I'd just at least like to have it in physical print somewhere and for sale, so as to permit fellow furries and rubberists the opportunity to at least own a physical manifestation of the message I was trying to convey with the story of Aegerter and Isarte.
I, unfortunately, don't know much about the deep inner workings of self-publishing, but there are some folks on the Furry Writers Guild discord who would definitely be willing to help guide you if you wanna go down that route.