Please be aware that Nathan Barker dba Scrybe Press has repeatedly neglected to respond to emails from me and other authors whose chapbooks have been published there, over the course of the last 3 years.
Please be aware that I do not know of a single author who received a signed copy of their contract back from Nathan Barker or Scrybe Press, but I do know many who did not.
Please be aware that I have requested NUMEROUS TIMES the statement of sales and royalties per the contract* he (Nathan Barker) emailed me to sign and return. He has not responded to my emails since November 2005, despite my repeated requests that he comply with the contract.
Please be aware that he told me via email in late 2005 that he no longer had time for Scrybe Press because of the Kayleighbug bookstore keeping him so busy and that was why he hadn't been responding to the slush--some of which was reportedly 8 months old at the time!--and accepted authors; he did not foresee it getting better in the future. He chose to ignore my suggestion that he be writer-friendly and post something on his guidelines to reflect and thus save countless writers the heartache of waiting in vain.
Please be aware that I have been contacted more than once by customers of Nathan Barker/Scrybe Press who had purchased my chapbook direct and never received it or any response to their emails (one even paid extra for express shipping.) Luckily (?) I had some extra copies I had bought from Clarkesworld and Lisa's Lair (who Nathan Barker was busily ignoring as well) so I sent them the copies Nathan Barker failed to provide out of my stock and paid for the postage as well.
Please be aware that my own second chapbook with Nathan Barker/Scrybe Press was--like many other books "accepted" by Nathan Barker / Scrybe Press--never published. About two years after the initial publication date passed, and with no contract in hand signed by Nathan Barker for Scrybe Press, I considered that contract unratified and withdrew it from his consideration.
Please be aware that Nathan Barker has no compunction with offering a writer's story on Fictionwise, Amazon, his own site and elsewhere for sale, all the while merrily refusing to inform the author of sales figures or to pay the author. (But I repeat myself.)
Please be aware that Nathan Barker doesn't just shaft writers and people who try to buy their books from him. Check out Matthew Warner's post about Scrybe Press (Nathan Barker) from March 2007. Or just read this handy summary: "They hired my wife for a web design that was partially completed before they went AWOL. They owe her several hundred bucks...)"
Please be aware that there is so much more I would like to say in this warning, but I am sticking to the things which are objective and that I consider to be crucially important for newer writers and those unfamiliar with Nathan Barker/Scrybe Press to know before they become involved with this "market." (which kinda sorta rhymes with "racket" the way I'm pronouncing it.)
To that end, I heartily encourage linking to this post from whatever writing communities you frequent. It would be dandy if you also made sure to use the phrase "Scrybe Press" in the text you link back to this page. Just sayin'.
* My email of January 10, 2008 as of yet unanswered:
Dear Nathan Barker,
You have not forwarded royalty statements as promised in the email copied below, nor have you forwarded any payment for books/ebooks of "Midnight in New Promise" that have sold since 11/15/2005.
This email is my written request to examine your accounts per section 6 of our contract. I have also still not received a copy of the contract ratified by you. Please advise me as to when, within 30 days, I will have access to your accounts for auditing purposes and I can plan my trip to NJ.
Sincerely,
Lon Prater
Article 6 of the contract I signed below this line.
******************************
6. STATEMENTS AND PAYMENTS
The Publisher shall forward to the Author or his agent royalty
statements to be computed as of June 30 and December 31 of each
year of this agreement within thirty (30) days following such
respective dates along with any payments indicated to be due
thereby. Payments may be advanced monthly by the Publisher to the Author
at the discretion of the Publisher and so noted on the semi-annual statements.
The Author shall have the rights to examine or cause his duly
appointed representatives to examine the accounts of the
Publisher at any time after written demand by the Author. In the
event discrepancies between royalty statements and the
Publisher's accounts shall total more than one hundred dollars
($100.00) in the Author's favor under this and any other
agreement between the Author and the Publisher, the Publisher
shall tender such monies due to the Author within ten (10) days,
along with reimbursement in full for any duly verified expenses
incurred by the Author as a result of the auditing procedure.
Should such discrepancies total less than one hundred dollars
($100.00), in favor of the Author, the Publisher shall tender
such money due to the Author within ten (10) days, but shall not
be liable for reimbursement of the Author's expenses.
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Now as for why it took me so long to finally get fed up and withdraw that second book ... I'm mostly inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt, and at that point in time was also quite inexperienced with the business of writing and professional expectations in publishing. (This was a very early sale for me.)
For a long time after the first was published, I was an advocate for Scrybe Press whenever someone emailed me about them (becoming aware of the non-delivered books was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.) I think my support in that in-between time was driven by my own pathetic hope that Scrybe's issues were transient and he would get his house in order before too long.
I've gotten a little smarter about people and business since 2003.
When I think about how many folks I led astray early on while I was snuggled up in denial, I feel quite ill. So no way am I going to just be silent while more new writers get snookered and neglected.
Thanks for posting this.
Bad them.
I was the same way, and had the same hopes. Now, fuck. And thanks for posting this.
--CDM., author of "Camdigan", editor of THE BOOK OF MONSTERS, both published by Scrybe Press.
Too bad he flaked out.
Back when Katrina hit, I decided that, for 2 months, I'd give everything I made from CAMDIGAN and BOM to the Red Cross. I emailed him. He never emailed me back. I emailed him again. And again, he never emailed me back. Finally I just called him up and said this is what I want to do. He said sure sure sure, he'd put up a notice on the Scrybe website. I don't remember if he ever did. I do remember, however, asking him sometime between CAMDIGAN and Book of Monsters, if he was ever gonna pay me the upfront money for CAMDIGAN. "I already sent that," he said. "You did?" I asked. "Yeah, I sent it to your PayPal." In that case, I told him, I know you didn't pay me, because I don't have a PayPal account.
Nice.
I bought The book of Monsters at a convention, that's where I got the idea to submit there. Then after not recieving a reply to my emails I asked about them at the HWA forum. That's when I first heard (through Lon, ironically) about their problems. Oh well, off to another market.
Good to see you, btw.
Byron
Hey man, good to see you.
That's what strikes me as odd. The website has been drastically changed three times since October - three times. In the same amount of time I haven't been able to get around to even getting my website back running. Sounds like they've got priority problems.