• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

The Zharmae Publishing Press

Samsonet

Just visiting
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
1,391
Reaction score
184
Location
See my avatar? The next galaxy over.
Joan Robinson: "The purpose of studying economics is... to avoid being deceived by economists."

I just thought this quote seemed relevant. As an economics student.
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
I keep coming back to this from HapiSofi:

Zharmae's been in business for years. During that time, Travis Grundy hasn't bothered to acquaint himself with basic book layout. He hasn't figured out what distributors do (they're extremely important), or how per-unit costs vary in relation to the size of the print run, or how many copies his competitors sell of what kind of books.

At this point, it doesn't matter what he promises, or what he intends/intended, or whether he's a good person, or what hazily speculative ideas he thinks it might be interesting to try in the future. None of those things matter. What does matter is that he's had years to learn how to be a publisher, and he hasn't learned a blessed thing.

It's bad enough that he started ignorant, given that he's gambling with other people's books. If he's stayed ignorant, there's no hope.

No one should entrust their writing to Zharmae. If they've already done so, they should get it back. My advice is to start working on that now.

My bold.
 

zmethos

from words to worlds
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 22, 2016
Messages
692
Reaction score
242
Location
California (Bay Area)
Website
mpepperlanglinais.com
FWIW, I received an offer from Zharmae on one of my books but ended up declining. The editor was lovely, but when I tried to negotiate some of the terms of the contract I was basically told "take it or leave it" so . . . I left it. (Sorry that I don't remember exactly what I was attempting to negotiate; this happened over a year ago now.) Seems like I dodged a bullet.
 

thothguard51

A Gentleman of a refined age...
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Messages
9,316
Reaction score
1,064
Age
72
Location
Out side the beltway...
So in the months and months I have been gone, Travis is still ignoring prudent advice. Five years I have followed this thread and you would think the guy would have learned something. Not...
 

Evil Overlord

Registered
Joined
Jun 8, 2014
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
I first looked at this thread when it was only two pages long; I'm astounded it's still going. At the time, I was in the process of selling a story to them for an anthology. We went through several rounds of contract negotiation, but Zharmae did make substantial changes, and I did eventually sign. A year later, no sign of publication or payment, I canceled the contract. From the look of this thread, things haven't gotten much better.
 

Denevius

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Messages
2,474
Reaction score
337
Location
Seoul
Hey guys!

I'm actually a new author with Zhamae. I've been working with them for a year, and my debut novel comes out next July. I saw this thread, and figured I'd reply.

I won't try to defend Zharmae, or apologize for them. However, here and there throughout the next year on this site, I'll mention my progress and announce when my novel will be released, and I'll let the end product speak for itself. This is definitely a great thing about the internet. Shared content allows for informed decisions, and companies get a firsthand look at what the public thinks of their products and their reputation. You can't bottle up the flow of information, but you can take the criticisms/critiques leveled at you and make the end result so much better than it was.

Anywho, as a new guy on this site, I don't want to get drawn into some sort of flame war, so here in this thread this will be my only comment, as tensions here are a bit high. Cheers all, and as always, best of luck on your writing!
 

Helix

socially distancing
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
11,695
Reaction score
12,079
Location
Atherton Tablelands
Website
snailseyeview.medium.com
Hey guys!

I'm actually a new author with Zhamae. I've been working with them for a year, and my debut novel comes out next July. I saw this thread, and figured I'd reply.

I won't try to defend Zharmae, or apologize for them. However, here and there throughout the next year on this site, I'll mention my progress and announce when my novel will be released, and I'll let the end product speak for itself. This is definitely a great thing about the internet. Shared content allows for informed decisions, and companies get a firsthand look at what the public thinks of their products and their reputation. You can't bottle up the flow of information, but you can take the criticisms/critiques leveled at you and make the end result so much better than it was.

Anywho, as a new guy on this site, I don't want to get drawn into some sort of flame war, so here in this thread this will be my only comment, as tensions here are a bit high. Cheers all, and as always, best of luck on your writing!

Thank you for your openness, Denevius. Good luck with your book.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Good luck, Denevius. I'll be interested to hear how your book's sales are after it's been released for a few months.
 

EMaree

a demon for tea
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
4,655
Reaction score
839
Location
Scotland
Website
www.emmamaree.com
Zharmae Pulishing House is closing its doors on the 31st August 2016. This is shortly after them posting a roster of new work running well into next year, so I imagine that's a real shock for all authors involved.

Honestly, as much as this is a blow, I'm confident in the future of the authors involved. Having read quite a few of the books on their lists, I was really impressed by the talent and imagination, despite lackluster formatting work and some dreadful bundled DRM. Those writers deserved much better treatment, and now they have a chance to find homes for their books elsewhere.

Onwards and upwards, you talented people. :)
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Wow. I can't say I'm surprised. I feel nothing but sadness for the authors, and hope to God that Zharmae reverts all the rights quickly and without question.
 

JulieB

I grow my own catnip
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
2,403
Reaction score
213
Location
Deep in the heart o' Texas
Wow. I can't say I'm surprised. I feel nothing but sadness for the authors, and hope to God that Zharmae reverts all the rights quickly and without question.

^
| This.

And yet, I don't see anything on their web site or Facebook page. Have I missed something?
 
Last edited:

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
According to his LinkedIn page, Travis Grundy is no longer the CEO/publisher at Zharmae.

[h=4]CEO & Publisher[/h][h=5]The Zharmae Publishing Press, L.L.C[/h]October 2010 – March 2016 (5 years 6 months)Greater San Diego Area

He apparently left that position in March of this year.

Travis, if you're reading this and Zharmae is closing, make sure you revert all rights to all books in writing before you close your doors. If you don't your authors could lose the rights to their own works for ever. Please do not do that to them.
 

traveo2343

Publisher at TZPP
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
140
Reaction score
0
Location
Saint Paul
Website
www.zharmae.com
Hi Everyone,

It has been a while since I last posted here, and I am sorry that it is under these circumstances.

To the immediate questions and concerns that were presented, it is my understanding that all authors will have rights reversion letters no later than the end of August, many will have them this week. Zharmae is still obligated to make a final royalties accounting and payment in November 2016. Sales through the end of this month will be reported and paid for at that time.

If there are any questions that any of you have for me, I will be happy to check back and answer them.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Travis, you've always been very transparent with the AW community. We often hear from authors who've been burned when a publisher folds, but rarely (if ever) do we hear what caused the publisher to close its doors. Would it be asking too much for you to exercise that transparency one last time and tell us why Zharmae is closing?
 

Round Two

Behind the door of a small house.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 26, 2009
Messages
190
Reaction score
27
I'm still hoping that Travis will come in and give some insight (though, assuming that some combination of the things brought up earlier in this thread ultimately doomed the longterm future is not hard to do), but the news has now been confirmed on the Zharmae Facebook page in a very short post.
 

traveo2343

Publisher at TZPP
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2011
Messages
140
Reaction score
0
Location
Saint Paul
Website
www.zharmae.com
Good Afternoon AW,

Thank you for your understanding as we move forward in closing. I expect that after 5 years this came as somewhat of a shock for some of you who, I suspect, half expected me to to forge along. The closing wastatement by far unexpected. TZPP is bound by the terms of its contractsize with Authors, Artists, and Staff, so some of the key reasons I am unable to discuss publicly without being sued.

That being said, the reason we were able to float along for as long as we did, is the same reason we determined the best option for everyone involved was to close: people.

As some of you may be aware, the Board of Advisors, in March, determined that I needed to transition into a different role and a new CEO (from the Board) was installed to make significant changes. Over the last several months we had made massive overhauls to include a very strict quality control program resulting in TZPP'selling reversion of ~80 authors bringing the total list from 120 down to about 40 authors. We had begun easing the publication timeliness from weekly to every other week and pushing publications out by 1-2 full fiscal quarters. On the production side, all work was now being run through a meticulous process by which the editorial department and the Managing editorial department were placing an added emphasis on quality. The new Publisher (different from the new CEO) was in the midst of anew audit of our work in production and the art. I was in the midst setting aside funds for marketing and working with our Marketing Director on developing a far more comprehensive and detailed marketing program.

All this is to say that we were making the right changes. But people are our lifeblood.

We had actually not had long-time core staff members drop out on us until last week. It was determined that the areas supported by those people were not recoverable in a reasonable time frame that would have allowed us to maintain our rate of turnaround without opening us up to significantly increased risk of tort.

We are very lucky in that TZPP'social closure is orderly and will take several months. We are not filing bankruptcy nor are we in any such risk. All authors have, at this point received reversion letters which are effective 31 August 2016. A select few have asked us to broker a sale of their contracts to other publishers which we are supporting, at the author's request.

The only assets that TZPP has left is artwork, which we aren't profiting from, as all of the proceeds are going to the artists and designers for those covers.

Would I like to get back into Publishing? Yes. At some point in the future perhaps. But not until I can afford to do it a bit differently.

@EMaree - TZPP actually had work slayed as far out at 2019 at the time we made the decision to close. We had in fact signed an author as recently as 2 weeks prior.

As always, please feel free to send me any questions that your might have.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
Thank you, Travis. Could you please elaborate on this statement (bold mine):

Over the last several months we had made massive overhauls to include a very strict quality control program resulting in TZPP'selling reversion of ~80 authors bringing the total list from 120 down to about 40 authors.


What does that mean?
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
Thank you, Travis. Could you please elaborate on this statement (bold mine):

Over the last several months we had made massive overhauls to include a very strict quality control program resulting in TZPP'selling reversion of ~80 authors bringing the total list from 120 down to about 40 authors.

What does that mean?[/COLOR]

My interpretation is, "Over the last several months we started to realise that a lot of the books we'd published were badly written or badly published, and weren't making us any money at all, and that we had taken on far more than we could possibly manage. So we've reverted rights to a huge number of books, have cut our lists by two thirds, and we're still losing money so now we're closing."

I might be wrong.
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,884
Reaction score
7,172
Location
Virginia
It's the word "selling" that is puzzling and concerning me. It sounds as if TZPP is charging authors a reversion fee.
 

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
They might well be doing so. It would be a cynical and exploitative move if it were so.