rumours, alyson, film night

[erastes]

So there's rumours floating around that Alyson has gone out of business - don't know if anyone else has heard anything?

Went to see Hellboy II which was great. Not quite as good as the Mummy 3 imho but the baddie was worth the ticket by itself, an evil looking Lucius Malfoy lookalike who really shouldn't have been hot, but was.

Until I found out that it was Luke Goss.  Didn't I feel stupid.  BUT HE WAS HOT!

Comments

[rbm00.livejournal.com]

I'd be very sad to see Alyson go out of business. They've been around for sooo long and has put out some excellent books. I hope it's just a rumor.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think it might just be a rumour - my bad for spreading it!

[kathleenbradean.livejournal.com]

This isn't a surprise to me.

Aylson's parent company is Planet Out, which had to sell it's ownership in the Advocate and other gay magazines earlier this year to stay afloat. Their only earning asset is a hookup website.

Alyson had no presence at Saints and Sinners this year, and they let Joe Pitman go a while ago. It wasn't a particularly well-run publishing house, and many writers I knew who worked with them once swore never again. Their contracts were, well, (evokes the Thumper clause and changs the subject). Still, despite all that, I hate to see yet another GLBT publishing house fail.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I hope it's just a rumour - I think they could probably step into the 21st century though. I suppose some GLBT publishers will go, (have gone) for the same reason that so many gay bookshops have, more publishers are including GLBT in their catalogues and the availability of shops online.

*loves the Thumper Clause*

[stacia-seaman.livejournal.com]

The rumor a while back was that Alyson was being sold by gay.com to here network. Not sure if that fell through; it would have been finalized right about now according to the original announcement.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Their books are on the gay.com page, so I'm assuming it has already gone through?

http://www.gay.com/content/guide/splash.html?sernum=7039&module=0&navpath=/channels/entertainment/

[stacia-seaman.livejournal.com]

I think you misread my comment--gay.com was to have sold Alyson, not bought it.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

my bad, yes you are right - but that's the deal I meant - the one announced around April.

[haydenthorne.livejournal.com]

Man. I remember when Cleis nearly went under years ago. I don't even know how well they're doing right now. It's awful seeing these long-established GLBT presses closing. We're running out of options here.

Re: Hellboy II ... Selma Blair can't act if her life depended on it.

[kathleenbradean.livejournal.com]

Cleis is actually doing pretty well. (As far as I can tell without analyzing their financials.) They had a rough time of it when their distributor went BK nearly two years ago now. It meant that they didn't get paid for most of their book sales for the last quarter of the year, which for many publishers is a make-or-break quarter. (Imagine not receiving your salary from October 1 to December 31, but still having all your regular bills to pay.) Many small presses closed because of that. But Cleis survived and seems to have expanded their presence, which is always a good sign.
[I have just outed myself as a huge financial geek. Yipes. Pay no attention to the woman with the spreadsheet.]

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Both women were pretty weak, I thought. The guys made up for it.

[sacchig.livejournal.com]

I don't know how Cleis is doing, except that they're trying to expand (or re-establish) their lesbian line after an unfortunate experience with an editor who had formerly worked for Alyson. I have two anthologies in their spring catalog, D.L. King has one, and there may be more. I do know that they were taken by surprise when Alyson came out with their Ultimate Lesbian Erotica series in 05, and a certain amount of drama ensued when the same writers were appearing in both ULE and BLE.

For what it's worth, I've seen the Amazon ratings for erotica anthologies fall slowly but steadily through the decade that I've been writing for them. Maybe it's my fault! But novel-length work may be holding up or even gaining.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I have to say that I'd rarely buy an anthology, I'd be more likely to buy an anthology of short stories like Saki's than erotic stories however hypocritical that makes me. I must prefer to buy novels.

[scottynola.livejournal.com]

after an unfortunate experience with an editor who had formerly worked for Alyson.

That editor was poison. I was shocked when I found out said editor was working there...that same editor almost put Alyson under to begin with.

[clarelondon.livejournal.com]

*lololol*
I have to admit to the same reaction about Luke Goss.
But he was damned good, wasn't he?!!! And virtually unrecognisable, I must say. Made me wonder if it was *another* Luke Goss *lol*.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm ashamed. I'll never live it down.

However, he's a decent actor, now. I remember he played The Creature in the miniseries of Frankenstein and was intrigued by him in that and fell about laughing when I found it was Luke Goss. Plaudits to him for working damned hard at it.

I doubt all the cool moves were him though...

[melspenser.livejournal.com]

They were talking about Alyson at the Lammys. Yes, they were bought as part of a package deal. The company who bought them didn't even know that they had bought a publisher as part of the deal.

At BEA, their booth was not LGBT. It had to do with a dog series, or something like that. I'd have to look it up. Apparently, they are going in a different direction.

It is sad.

They were also talking about publishers not producing as much LGBT books in general.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It's an unfortunate thing all around - it's bad enough to try and get a GLBT book sold to a paper publisher as it is.

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

Luke Goss...*snigger*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Shut up, you!

I'll never live it down....