Sad News from Dark Eden Press

As of 1 April 2008, erotica publisher Dark Eden Press will close its doors.

In an email marked for forwarding and sent to the EPIC groups, owner Debra Durham announced that due to personal health reasons, her publishing house will be shutting down. Her email details the specific reasons why, and also outlines her plan of action for bringing her business to a close.

All of you deserve an owner who is going to be here, who is able to get the things done that need to be done. I don’t want my authors trying to figure out why I haven’t answered emails for a couple of days, or why royalties are late, or wondering when the things that need to be taken care of are going to get done, when the reality is that I will be too sick to do it.

I will spend the next two weeks preparing letters to release your book rights to you, doing March royalties, and closing the readers group. I will then begin shutting down all the DEP email addresses except for my own and forwarding all mail from that to my personal email address.  By May 1st, I would hope all payments have cleared the bank, and on that date I will also close the author group.

Best wishes to Ms. Durham for a speedy and complete recovery.

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  1. Elaine says:

    Sounds like Ms Durham is a class act, winding up her business so the publications involved aren’t in limbo.  I hope she recovers quickly.

  2. Rachel says:

    Yikes!  That sounds like quite an illness—I hope she gets better soon!

  3. Laura K says:

    Seeing this makes me feel a lot better towards the epub industry.  Ms. Durham sounds like a class act. I for one will be keeping her in my thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery.

  4. I am so sorry to hear this, but Ms. Durham is showing a great deal of class and professionalism.  I wish her a full and speedy recovery.

  5. Wow, it’s possible for an ebook publisher to close up shop without leaving its authors in the lurch, making excuses for incompetence and generally besmirching the reputation of other epublishers in the process? 

    Good for Durham and everyone else involved in Dark Eden Press for leaving the business with professionalism and without controversy!  Hopefully, she can make a full recovery and resume her business.

  6. Debra Durham says:

    Ladies,

    I want to thank you for proving that there are blogs out there that will spread the news without the usual nastiness and snarkiness that goes along with these kinds of things.

    Since the letter was only partially posted I will say the health issue in question is a returning of cancer.  Cancer, and the long term treatments involved, is why I chose to close it rather than having staff take up the slack which would affect my authors poorly.

    The authors will not be held in limbo with their rights or royalty payments.  I fully expect that by May 1st, all business will be handled for the authors so that they may move onto other houses.  And that business will be handled quietly, professionally, and with deep regret as I love my authors and my company.

    Debra Durham

  7. This is sad. My heart and prayers goes out to Ms. Durham.

    She is definitely a class act and showing that she is not only thinking about her authors but that she cares about them and their careers too.

    I hope she makes a full recovery.

  8. Renee Rocco says:

    Debra is a wonderful woman who has earned the respect and love of everyone who is lucky enough to know her.

    My friend is strong. She’ll beat this disease, and I’ll be at her side every step of the way. I’m sure Debra will appreciate everyone’s well-wishes. She is an inspiration to me and one of my best friends, so I thank you for this kind and supportive post.

  9. Kismet says:

    Ms. Durham,
    The grace, strength, and professionalism you have shown is a credit to the entire industry. My thoughts and prayers are with you in this difficult time.

  10. My first published work, currently only published work, was just released by Dark Eden.  Although it’s not ending the way I would have liked, Dark Eden and Deb were very nice to work with all the way around.  Given the closings of other publishers that were handled quite differently, I’m grateful to have met up with Deb and her staff.

  11. oakling says:

    aww! I so appreciate both the professionalism of the owner and the clarity of people’s responses that help me understand how different this is from how authors are often treated. But I do wonder why not just sell the business. I guess it takes time and energy to find an appropriate buyer, for one thing.

  12. Nora Roberts says:

    This is so hard. Much sympathy and many good wishes to Ms. Durham.

  13. Gennita Low says:

    You’re in thoughts and prayers, Ms. Durham.

  14. Wry Hag says:

    Seemed like a good place, Dark Eden did.  And I suspect it was Debra Durham who made it that way.  I’m truly saddened to hear this.  The industry needs more, not fewer, good e-pubs.

  15. em dash says:

    Ms. Durham, you are truly a class act.  My thoughts and good wishes are with you.

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