Insomnia no longer publishing?

[locustsofdeath!]

Long and bitter game...I played one of those once with a novella, and I hope hope yours doesn't go like this:

I wrote and placed the novella  in a magazine called Dark Worlds, which had been up and running for a few years and seemed to be really on the ball - a lot of new and veteran writers were published within its pages. Anyway, I placed it, signed the contract that gave the editor first print and electronic rights and then never heard from him again. When I inquired, I received an email that the mag had gone under. I then inquired about my story and I was informed that the editor still had the rights to it and might possibly someday resurrect Dark Worlds or create a mag like it and use the story. After almost a year had passed, I emailed the guy to see what was going on and got a nasty letter back stating that if I cared so much about the story I could pay him 100 bucks for my rights back. I was broke at the time, but so pissed off at this I got a lone from my mom and gave the f'er the money for my own story!

Annnnnnd lucky for you guys you can read that story in Starscape's Storypaper out soon with illustrations by our own mygrimmbrother. Ha ha, how was that for a rant/cautionary tale/pimp?

Hope no one here has to go through anything like that. Luckily for me, I was only in the middle of a rewrite for the project I was in talks with them about...

[Jim_Campbell]

I think not though, as our IPs may come under the heading od assets, so if he wants to play a long and bitter game, he couls choose to not let go of them.

Ah. The thing is, though -- a contract is a two-way street. As a letterer, I was actually employed by Insomnia and my supposed payment actually came as a percentage of Insomnia's revenue on the books, so I don't know what the writers' and artists' contract looked like.

However, in broad strokes, I think the contract says this: creators agree to produce a work for Insomnia. In return for producing this work, and for surrendering certain rights*, Insomnia agreed to publish that work in certain formats and then pay the creators a percentage of the profits.

Since it is highly unlikely that Insomnia will fulfil their side of that contract, I think you could argue that the creators' side is void. With the important proviso that I AM NOT A LAWYER, I would suggest sending Crawford with something like the following in the first instance. If you have a postal address, I would suggest both an e-mail and a letter by Recorded Delivery.

Dear Crawford,

Whilst I am disappointed to learn that Insomnia Publications has ceased trading, this situation makes it imperative that we now resolve the issue of the existing contracts between myself, [your name], [collaborators' names] and Insomnia concerning [name of the work].

Specifically, Insomnia's contractual commitments require the company to publish [name of the the work] as part of its obligations in return for the creators' time and effort in producing [name of the work]. If this is no longer Insomnia's intention, then the contract between the company and [creators' names] concerning [name of the work] is no longer applicable.

Clearly, the company has secured the rights to publish [name of the work] and I therefore invite you to respond with a definite date for publication of this material. I look forward to receiving your response within the next five working days.

If you choose not to provide such a commitment, then [collaborators' names] and I will hold Insomnia to be in breach of their contract, rendering that contract void.

Additionally, any proposed date must be reasonable and not prejudicial to the creators' interests. Given that the book is [complete / six weeks / three months / whatever from completion] we would anticipate a proposed publication date within [six weeks / three months / six months / in time for Thought Bubble / whatever seems reasonable] and will consider any publication date outside this period to also be a breach of Insomnia's contractual obligations, rendering that contract void.

I trust you will find the above to be a fair and reasonable proposition to resolve this unfortunate situation, and I look forward to your positive response. Please be aware that no verbal communication will be entered into concerning this matter, and your written response is respectfully requested.

Yours

[Creators' names]

If Crawford fails to respond, or chooses to be a dick about the matter, I think this would, at least, provide a good starting point if you have to then consult a solicitor.


EDIT: This above is advice born of annoyance and frustration and is NOT good advice. Don't do it.
Cheers!

Jim

*Aren't Insomnia books essentially owned by their creators, with Insomnia essentially acting as a distributor?

[Tweak72]

As Jim has quite rightly said the important part to remeber when sending this kind of letter is
"If you have a postal address, I would suggest both an e-mail and a letter by Recorded Delivery."
You can, with this, then have evidence accepted in court of where the letter has been and who it was delivered too. It may cost more than a first class stamp but the excuse "Lost in the Post" becomes mute.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED.

I would suggest those affected consider the following:-

First, how do you know there is a problem?

You can't believe everything you hear on the internet. Maybe there's no problem at all, or maybe this is just a delay?


Second, has there been a breach of contract?

Does anyone have a deadline for publication? Has it been missed? Have there been other breaches of contract? If not, then what is the problem?


Third, don't act prematurely.

I would caution against leaping to a conclusion and taking hasty action - you don't want to expose yourself to a counter-claim that you are in breach of your agreement. Without having all the facts, you are not able to assess your options.

I am not sure Jim's proposed letter would have any benefit, other than catharsis and the feeling of doing something. Either Insomnia will publish the books, or they will not/ cannot. I don't see how such a letter is likely to change the position.

You may be better served to wait until you know your position and then take a firmer line if one is needed. There are all sorts of variables. For example, if the business was sold, and someone came in and wanted to honour the contracts, would that be a problem?

[Jim_Campbell]

First, how do you know there is a problem?

You can't believe everything you hear on the internet. Maybe there's no problem at all, or maybe this is just a delay?

This is being confirmed by people on the Insomnia editorial team, so I'm assuming it's true.

then what is the problem?

Crawford does not have a good track record for letting people walk away from Insomnia.

I am not sure Jim's proposed letter would have any benefit, other than catharsis and the feeling of doing something. Either Insomnia will publish the books, or they will not/ cannot. I don't see how such a letter is likely to change the position.

As Rich points out, Crawford might try to claim the company's IP as an asset -- he's certainly shown no particular desire to be reasonable over Burke & Hare. As such, it's important to establish whether the creators or Insomnia own the rights to their books. Certainly, no other publisher will touch a project if there's any doubt as to the ownership.

The intention of my suggestion is to put Crawford, a frustratingly uncommunicative individual at the best of times, in the position of explicitly stating whether he intends, through Insomnia, to publish the books he commissioned.

If he doesn't intend to do so, I believe there is reasonable grounds to argue that the contracts are void. Doing so establishes that ownership of the projects rests solely with the creators and leaves them free to approach other publishers, something they are currently unable to do.

Cheers

Jim

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

My point is that either there is a problem (in which case a stronger may be more approptiate) or there is not (in which case the suggested letter or anything like it may cause problems).

But at this point, I don't think there is anything to go on other than the blog to suggest there is a problem?

[Jim_Campbell]

But at this point, I don't think there is anything to go on other than the blog to suggest there is a problem?

MASSIVE EDIT:

His Enigmaticness is correct, and I am merely annoyed to see so many people work so hard and get shafted for their troubles, particularly because the situation as it is would preclude their taking books for which they've signed contracts to other publishers.

However, knee-jerk reactions like mine are probably not the best way forward at this time. In the first instance, it's probably best to see if Crawford has anything to say now that the story has broken, although past experience suggests not holding one's breath.

CHeers

Jim

[M.I.K.]

Insomnia graphic novels suddenly appearing in The Works at a fifth of their original cover price seems a bit too much of a coincidence.

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

Maybe the thing to do is for those affected to, um, y'know... ask nicely?

Contract disputes are messy business. There is no need to launch into one by accident - and making claims about void contracts could be the way to do just that.

Maybe ask the question and wait for the answer, then decide what to do.

[Jim_Campbell]

Maybe the thing to do is for those affected to, um, y'know... ask nicely?

This is the internet, bub! Your reasonableness has no place here!

Fuck you, and the sensible advice you rode in on!

:-P

Cheers!

Jim

[Dunk!]

If this Crawford guy was such a shady C U Next Tuesday, as some think, what was the appeal of placing product in his hands to be published?

Did the other Insomnia guys make it a better prospect?

Or was the back catalogue a lure?

[bluemeanie]

Well we went with them over a year ago.
They'd put out Layer Zero which I had a story in, were just about to publish Cancertown which was done really well. All seemed fine.
Especially as I was dealing with Nic Wilkinson who left a few months ago when things started to get a bit suspicious. As anyone who has ever dealt with Nic knows she is professional and scarily screwed on with all this stuff. Her going was definately the beggining of the end.

As for The Enigmatic Dr X's suggestion... our book was supposed to be launched at this years Bristol Con. It took me weeks of emailing just to get a "no, it wont be" reply and that was only after a "You dont want to see me at Bristol if you dont reply to this" ... not that they eventually showed up anyway.

I know people much higher up the Insomnia chain now and in the past who havent been able to get so much as a simple reply to anything so I'm guessing the odds of us ever hearing from him again are zero.

There's still a part of me hoping this all turns out to be crap as we've had a finished graphic novel sat with them for months now. Pretty fucking depressing to be honest. I had the one book just about to be published, a story for the next anthology book which was excellently drawn by Dean Stahl, and another GN written up with the artist about a quarter of the way through. I can understand if a company goes through, but this "I'll just hide and hope it all goes away" is fucking bullshit as I know people who have been working their arses off the last two weeks unaware the guy they are doing it for (and for free) had reportedly filed with companies house. Even a "We're finished" email would have spared them the time and effort for nothing. And this is people doing admin type work as well, not just us writers and artists who to be fair would probably keep doing our stuff anyway.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/comics/news/a246081/insomnia-publishing-to-cease-trading.html

[TordelBack]

But my Pinkerton book is still in his clutches.

Aw no!  I've been looking forward to that!

[Peter Wolf]

Insomnia graphic novels suddenly appearing in The Works at a fifth of their original cover price seems a bit too much of a coincidence.

No such thing as coincidence.

It does seem to me that there is a certain amount of deception going on on the part of the publisher.

Maybe the thing to do is for those affected to, um, y'know... ask nicely?

Contract disputes are messy business. There is no need to launch into one by accident - and making claims about void contracts could be the way to do just that.

Maybe ask the question and wait for the answer, then decide what to do.

You would think that the publisher would have the decency to notify the creators with a letter explaining the situation regarding the company and how it affects their contracts etc etc.

[Jim_Campbell]

If this Crawford guy was such a shady C U Next Tuesday, as some think, what was the appeal of placing product in his hands to be published?

To be fair, I have never described Crawford as shady, and still wouldn't.

Insomnia started out presenting themselves as a kinder, gentler sort of publisher; it was a partnership with the creators, and so on.

Some time around the Sony deal to publish on the PSP, things started to change with various personnel changes, an explosion of new project commissions... and a sudden tendency towards lack of communication.

There's no doubt in my mind that Crawford had some brilliant strategy that he either couldn't or wouldn't share with anyone, but his "If you're not with me, you're against me" attitude didn't win him friends, and he steadfastly refused to see the flaw in any strategy that involves running a publishing company that doesn't publish anything.

Cheers

Jim