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[jensuki]

So we haven't heard a word from Iris Print since they announced that they were cancelling BL Twist, but today we got a letter-- and anyone else on Iris' e-mail list did as well --from editor/owner Kellie Lynch, explaining the situation of her company.

You can read the full letter here, but the basic sum-up is: the company has run out of funds (or

Comments

[jukebox_csi]

Oh wow! I hate to hear that :( I was actually interested in the Home on the Range book, but had been waiting for it to be available. Maybe there will be enough pre-orders to make the print run.

I sometimes wonder if the small publishing houses just starting out wouldn't do better with an online thing first (like Netcomics or a download thing like e-books) until they've built up sufficient operational funds? I don't know what the answer is. It's such a shame that it costs so much to print books.

[a_grumble_cake]

wait... isn't this a normal publisher trying to make money? Why would people work there without getting paid? It seems so odd.

[jensuki]

At this point, I think Iris is hoping to break even at best, not make a profit. And it isn't really odd at all for people to try and get others to work for free-- just look at 95% of the writing gigs on Craig's List. (Of course, those publications are a lot skeezier than Iris, generally.)

That said, Lynch is hoping that a few peoples' desire to see some high-quality BL comics on bookshelves will inspire them to help out here and there if possible. And it IS something that could be put on a resume, at any rate.

[fluffymaru]

Yeah, but one really shouldn't start a business unless they know they have the required funds in the first place. There are a lot of us that would love to have a business, but starting one without having what you need ends badly 9 out of 10 times.

So I'd have to agree that asking folks to chip in for free is questionable. I realize they're just trying to make something happen, but...::shrug::

[jensuki]

I personally make it a policy not to do work for other people for free. But if other people want to help out, I've got no problem with that, either.

As for starting a business...the movie director Kevin Smith threw $27k on a pile of credit cards to make his first movie, and it worked out pretty well for him! People like that are few and far between, though.

[jukebox_csi]

Hey! This is on IrisPrint's blog today. Thought you might want to post it in the LJ as a new post in case some of your followers who were straddling the fence want to take advantage. I'm personally hoping enough pre-orders come in for Home on the Range, as I'm interested in it.

From http://www.boyslovebooks.com/blog/30-pre-orders :
"For the next 24 hours only, you can use the following discount codes at checkout to get a whopping 30% off your pre-order of Home On the Range or Queer Magic. All I ask is that if you run into any bugs, you contact me to tell me what happened.

Use hotr30percent to get 30% off Home On the Range
Use qm30percent to get 30% off Queer Magic

These codes should be valid until noon Pacific time tomorrow (Jan. 25); however, since this is a testing run, they may be disabled earlier than that. Consider yourself warned--order early!"

[jensuki]

Yup, I'm on their e-mail list too. :)