That thumping sound you heard? Was Triskelion crashing to ground.
That’s right: Triskelion publishing is no more, and according to Dear Author, they’re filing for Chapter 7, which is liquidation of assets, rather than a reorganization.
If you’re a Triskelion author, what’s your next move? Readers: What’s your take?
Thanks to Kalen Hughes for forwarding on that news tidbit to us.
Some contracts have a bankruptcy clause. That designates the rights automatically reverting back to the author.
Let’s hope they had one.
That clause had never occurred to me but you can bet I’ll be looking for it in the future! Thanks for the heads-up, Teddy-Pig.
I just feel so bad for all the authors who believed Trisk when they said there were no real problems and may now have to deal with this nightmare.
I honestly do feel sorry for the authors who are getting caught in this.
What really pisses me off is the whole scene with Gail last month and how “She” and “that company” kept saying nothing was wrong. Anyone who said different was jealous and seeking to cause problems.
Think that was all a lie?
I don’t know if it was a lie as much as it was wishful thinking, but even that speaks to the unprofessionality of the entire fiasco. Suggesting that people are “jealous” when they complain – this is business, not high school.
*speechless*
I knew this blog was good for something!
Here’s my public statement
To Kristi Studts and Triskelion Publishing
I request return of rights to
The Chemistry of Evil
Eternal Beauty, Eternal Darkness
The Haunting
Rubies of Fire
Diamonds of Ice
You do not have a signed contract for Liquid Crystal, so rights revert to me.
I cite clause 13
Publisher may, at its discretion, remove the Work from publication or distribution for reasons of poor sales or other reasons deemed by the Publisher to be injurious to Publisher’s or Author’s best interest. Publisher shall notify Author of its decision to withdraw the Work and upon receipt of such notice this contract shall terminate and all rights will revert to Author.
K. Studts made such notification on June 20th, 2007, when she announced Triskelion Publishing would cease trading on July 2nd 2007.
Therefore from 3pm, USEST, June Twentieth 2007, when I received such notice, all contracts have terminated and the rights have reverted to the author.
This is a public announcement that I acknowledge that termination of contract and have reclaimed the rights to my works.
Now to the other stuff.
The bankruptcy clause alone might not do it.
The real deal?
While Gail Northman was at Triskelion it was a good, thriving company.
But Gail was only ever an employee. She was never an owner and never privy to the ‘inner council’ stuff. She left due to burnout and family issues. I’m sure the people who met Gail and wished her well would like to know that she’s a lot better now, but she was worked into the ground for very little reward.
When she left, there was still a chance. The owner of the company, Kristi Studts, could have stepped up to the plate and provided leadership, promotion and all the other things you see the successful companies doing. A good owner/manager is there every day, encouraging and promoting. It’s all about confidence.
I left when Gail left. I have a few books left there because I was asked to leave them there for ‘goodwill.’ As a favour. I would have thought goodwill might have given me my rights back before I left, but really, in this business, nobody is safe and nothing is sacred. You have to accept that, and move on.
I love that notice Lynne it has got to be a first.
Canceling contracts in a comment section.
Lynne,
I got to say though it has only been a dang month and supposedly Trisk was this big family that felt comfortable enough to talk about family issues in the threads.
I think this would have been a reasonable topic to bring up with the authors at some point.
Like um hey guys, things are a bit rough right now here is what we plan to do etc etc
Filing chapter 7 in a business is like the owner saying “See ya!” and slamming the door in your face.
Unfreakinbelieveable. Just when I believed the unprofessional behavior couldn’t get any worse.
They do have that clause, but it would still be up to the bankruptcy court and whomever they designate as excutor to determine if the clause if viable after this annoucement date and on how the “assets” of the company are distributed to creditors. Which REALLY bites for any authors with rights still owned by them since the court could go back to this date and still hold those rights hostage as part of the company’s assets with any royalties going in as part of the company’s assets as well.
I’m esctatic I got a full reversion of my rights two weeks ago to The Spellbound Bride (which I had to ride them a month to get) and feel absolutely heartsick for the authors who thought they were being loyal when the company was clearly lying about their intentions.
Yes, I went down with the Triskelion ship too, and it truly sucks. I agree with Lynne…the owners are the ones at fault. Not Gail Northman, who worked herself into the ground in an effort to keep the company solvent. She was and is one of my good friends and I appreciate all she did for me and my fellow authors. Once she left Triskelion, I had a feeling there would be trouble…but nothing like this.
Just FYI, we do have reversion clauses in our contracts, but that doesn’t mean the bankruptcy court will uphold them. We can only hope.
It’s sad for the authors who did stick by them through all the shit. Now they’re being punished for being loyal.
Wow. What a mess for everyone involved, especially authors who stuck by Triskelion. I hope authors are able to recover their rights soon.
I know nothing about bankruptcy law, especially as it pertains to publishers, but it seems like that industry would have special rules for unpublished manuscripts in the case of publisher bankruptcy—i.e., rights to unpublished manuscripts revert automatically to the author, because they have no royalties accrued and therefore don’t have “concrete” monetary value the way a published book does.
Since Triskelion authors are also considered creditors, I don’t see how the court would sell off contracts to others. Triskelion owes the authors money, too!
I think the rights will just revert back to the authors as part of the settlement process…but that will take time.
Who did Kristi owe the most money to? I’m sure it is the authors. That is why she is filing. She couldn’t pay anyone their royalties….
My contract had the bankruptcy clause in it. But I’ve been hearing varying things…from the idea it might not be ‘legal’ to have such a clause to the idea I already have my rights back b/c of the clause.
So, I’m completely confused. And I have made NO money so far, so to hire a lawyer for one contract and a few dollars of compensation does not seem worth the trouble.
Luckily for me, I only had ONE contract with them for a short story that had only been released for 3 weeks. For others, this is a real disaster. Lots of hard work flushed down the toilet.
What really burns me is that even up until Monday morning, Triskelion was working on sending me a contract for another story! Thank GOD I never received the contract. If Kristi was on the verge of bankruptcy, why would she continue to sign people on?
Not giving legal advice here, and you should seek a professional opinion by a qualified bankruptcy lawyer, but there’s a look-back period in bankruptcy where transfers during a certain period (I think it’s 90 days, but I only know the very basics of bankruptcy law), which were not “in the ordinary course of business” are subject to being brought back into the assets over which the court has control. What qualifies as “ordinary course of business” is the subject of much litigation.
Bottom line: If you’ve gotten your rights back in the last couple months, DO NOT ASSUME they’re free and clear. They may be, they may not be. Before you do anything with them, you’d be well advised to get a professional opinion.
My sympathies to those who have been harmed by this, and my cyber-buttkicks to those who could have prevented it.
I suppose it may be a bit different for Romance publishing, but if I’ve learned anything from that, it is to confirm what I already thought was a good move:
Get an agent first.
Gabriele, there were agents who dealt with Triskelion as well. I know a few authors who were agented. 🙂
Lol, but those authors can at least lean back and let the agents deal with the mess – and agents are probably better at it. *add a wink smiley here – I can’t make them work*
Lol Gabriele, very true!
I’m not personally involved.
I think it’s a little odd to hear that people think that, prior to Gail Northman leaving, Triskelion was a viable company.
I’m no expert in bankruptcy matters, but doesn’t a company have to take a little more than a month to be able to legally file for bankruptcy? Wouldn’t that then mean that this had been in the works for a while?
Does the RWA offer authors any kind of counseling/information on their intellectual property rights? If not, IMO authors should press their professional writing organization to provide that kind of service. Beyond bankruptcy, which has complex implications for authors, there are so many other instances I can think of where an author would benefit greatly by understanding more completely the rights she holds and releases in the publication process. And do agents provide this type of information/counseling? How savvy are agents in terms of all relevant legal issues potentially impacting authors?
Here is part of the official word from Kristi Studts, publisher:
“We had hoped to recover and gain a foothold but the stigmatism against Triskelion from former authors and those claiming to be in “the know” is simply more than any small company can take.”
First of all, here they go again blaming everyone else for their problems but themselves. Has Kristi Studts ever considered the fact that if she’d done a professional job, she’d have fewer detractors? Less complaints? More fucking sales that would not have necessitated a bankruptcy?
And second of all…“stigmatism?” WTF? Is that even a word? If it is, is it the proper use of the word?
This was my biggest red flag on working with the editors at Triskelion. They (Gail Northman being the chief offender of this) wrote garbled, unintelligible, typo- and grammatical error-riddled English. And their business is supposed to be the written word?
I don’t care how many fans Gail Northman had. The woman couldn’t write a fourth grade essay to save her life. Even if you’re a fan/supporter, don’t tell me you haven’t received an email from her where you haven’t needed to scratch your head and take a moment to decipher what she meant.
Good riddance, Triskelion. The publishing world (and authors in general) are better off without you. I have books with them but I’m not even going to take the time to ask for my rights back. The sooner I divorce myself from any dealings with them, the better.
I believe the word she meant was “stigmatized”. When I read that quote it gave me a “huh?” moment as well.
Don’t know ‘bout you guys, but I suffer from some powerful stigmatism. Makes getting comfortable contact lenses a nightmare.
Darlene—no. The correct word should be plain ol’ “stigma.” Not “stigmatized,” and certainly not “stigmatism.”
stigma, stigmatized, stigmatism
My stigmatism is acting up today.
The authors were stigmatized when Kristi Studts had promised to pay them their royalties but instead blew them off to purchase a new car.
The stigma against Triskelion, not to mention the measures taken by the RWA, the reports given by responsible authors concerning the inept mismanagement of the company seems to have been quite valid.
Former Trisk and Teddy, you are absolutely correct. I wasn’t paying attention to the entire sentence, just looking at the alternatives to “stigmatism”.
Clearly, I need new lenses to deal with my own vision difficulties.[g]
Lasik surgery took away my astigmatism. I once was blind, now I can see.
Condolences to all Triskelion authors.
Maybe some of the authors did “feel” crucified which might explain the stigmata they developed “against Triskelion”.
Unfortunately, this thing is a long way from being over. No one knows for sure if the bankruptcy clause or even the straight-forward expiration of rights will be upheld.
Communication on the loops never went to discussing the status of the company. If Triskelion is truly filing for Chapter 7, they were in a dire situation long before Gail Northman left.
Gail is quite personable and many of the authors considered her a friend and so her departure brought around the second exodus.
Many of us, when asking about the extentsion of our contracts, or asking for our rights back when our contracts expired received curt notices and ALL our rights back. Of course, now we don’t know if this bankruptcy thing will go back a full year, so even if we thought we were acting professional and doing the right thing we still may be in a deep pile of garbage.
It is a huge, and will continue to be a huge mess for a long time.
God, this is terrible. I’m so sorry for all the Trisk authors. I wish I could say this news was surprising, but as I said the last time Trisk was up for discussion, I’ve heard too much to really think they were financially healthy. Bottom line, it purely sucks for all the authors who signed with Trisk in good faith, upheld their end of the bargain by turning in manuscripts and edits on time, and are now getting screwed.
EPIC and RWA seem like the best resources for most of the Trisk authors right now. If you’re not an EPIC member, I think it’s $30? The opportunity to network with other Trisk authors and pick the brains of the knowledgeable people at EPIC seems worth it to me. RWA is more expensive and I’m not sure they’d have more info than EPIC.
Again, deepest sympathies to the Trisk authors who’ve been so horribly surprised by this terrible news.