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Torquere Press

az shea

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As of 2014, they have new owners (Partners Kristi Boulware and Joanna Talbot...) per the About page.

This doesn't make them bad people or anything, mind you. But as a freelancer, I think I'll hold off on querying them for work for a time. Management shift to new folks -- who do not list any experience outside this company. Mrm.

I do not know how long Kristi Boulware has been already part of Torquere. I'd rather listen in here and see how a couple more authors talk about the press...

-- Saw a postcard advert for one of the Prizm authors at Readercon 26 fwiw. Hence: research. :D
 

EvolvingK

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How are people finding Torquere under their new leadership? I like what I'm seeing on the website and what I'm hearing on my social media channels, but wanted to ask here as well.
 

Alan Yee

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I'm wondering the same thing as EvolvingK, given that most of the problems I've read about Torquere were from several years back under the previous/original ownership.
 

EvolvingK

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The authors I've spoken to on Twitter about them were enthusiastic, so I'm going to accept the offer they made on a novella. I adore that they include their basic contract terms right in their offer letter; makes it much easier to say "yes, send me the contract info."
 

caromora

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The authors I've spoken to on Twitter about them were enthusiastic, so I'm going to accept the offer they made on a novella. I adore that they include their basic contract terms right in their offer letter; makes it much easier to say "yes, send me the contract info."

There's been a lot of turmoil in the past few weeks about them not paying royalties to several of their authors. Here's one example: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=535503183283471&id=100004713810507

There are others. Note: I'm not making any assertions about the veracity of these statements; I'm just pointing them out.
 

Anna_Hedley

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The former owner of the press weighed in on this too.

ETA: I have no experience with Torquere Press beyond a short story in an anthology. I chose not to submit anything longer to them because their sales for most authors looked tiny, often low double figures. But that was a couple of years ago now.
 
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oceansoul

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Oh no. This doesn't bode well. Sean's post was in the beginning of February. I wonder if they've sorted this issue out or it's still ongoing / getting worse? Can any of the authors comment?
 

lavender40

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Torquere currently owes me money that was supposed to be paid no later than February, per the terms of their contract. It's a tiny amount, but.... sigh.
 

shizu

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Just received an email saying Torquere will be shutting down.

They're blaming industry saturation, financial hardships, the health of the owners and the "negativity we've had hurdled our way."

:Hug2:
 
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AnneMarble

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Just received an email saying Torquere will be shutting down.

They're blaming industry saturation, financial hardships, the health of the owners and the "negativity we've had hurdled our way."

:Hug2:

Oh rats, another one playing that (those) cards. :(
 

TamMac

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Oh crumbs. A hearty dollop of sympathy to the folks for are still dealing with this. I hope folks get the money owed them, and the rights to their books back too. Oy.
 

Eva Lefoy

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I just had one short in an antho with them. Still I'm sorry to see them go. It makes me worry about other publishers but there's not much you can do but keep the faith.

I read somewhere online that they are reverting rights back to authors within 90 days. Has anyone gotten their rights back yet automatically?
 

Zombie Fraggle

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Through a weird series of following internet breadcrumbs, I just made a surprising discovery.

If Torquere Press closed up shop in December 2016, why in the world do they still have 241 ebooks for sale in the Kindle Store on Amazon?

Paperbacks, I can understand. Paperbacks live on Amazon forever because used copies can be resold, but that doesn't apply to ebooks. The last books released have a publication date of October 25, 2016. The main website is still up, although the banner now reads "Torque Repress" and contains unrelated (to books and to each other) blog posts on the landing page. The About Us, FAQ, Special Calls, and Submissions pages are still intact, however. The link to their bookstore now leads to the Wayback Machine (last capture on November 6, 2016).