Alyson Books: And You Thought ePublishers Were Bad

From: Publishers Weekly ~ Is Alyson Close to Sale?

The financial troubles at gay and lesbian house Alyson Books have been quietly bubbling up over the past few months as stories of unpaid advances and never published books circulated on blogs and in publishing circles. That quiet was officially broken Wednesday when Michael Musto published a piece in the Village Voice about his book being taken “hostage,” as he put it in his headline, by the publisher. Musto, whose scheduled February 2010 book has yet to be released, described how Alyson has been caught in a downward spiral, in part due to the woes of its struggling parent company, Here Media (formerly known as Regent Media), which owns other gay media properties like Out magazine and the Advocate.

From: Village Voice ~ Regent Media Is Holding My New Book Hostage

Have you seen my new book? Neither have I! The pub date on Amazon was February 1, but I’ve still barely heard a word back about the manuscript I sent off a year ago!

I’m not taking it personally, mind you. The publisher, Alyson Books,is part of Regent Media, which also includes here! TV, Out magazine, and the Advocate. Those outlets have long been a vital force in LGBT reporting, but as media—particularly gay media—keep getting hit with the one-two punch of the Internet and the economy, they’ve gotten patchy about paying people and apparently are only selectively publishing whatever they can.