#hybrid publisher

[amandacanwrite]

there is one exception, which is hybrid publishing. But in Hybrid publishing you are still screened/acquired through a vetting/querying process, the money you pay goes to your team (editor, cover designer etc) and to printing costs, and you retain almost all of your royalties. They also have distribution networks (which is the primary perk of traditional publishing.) So certain hybrid pubs will have the means to get you into brick and mortar stores.

There is more information at the independent book publisher’s association here :

https://www.ibpa-online.org/page/hybridpublisher

Theres a whole list of requirements that let you know what you should expect from a reputable hybrid publisher.

Essentially, they would provide you with the team and distribution you would have to secure yourself if you self published.

This is a friendly reminder to never, ever publish your book with a publishing company that charges you to publish with them. That is a vanity press, which makes money by preying on authors. They charge you for editing, formatting, cover art, and more. With most of these companies, you will never seen a cent of any royalties made from sale of your book. A legitimate publishing company only makes money when you make money, they will never charge you to publish with them. If a company approaches you and says "Hey, we'll publish your book, just pay us X amount of money," tell them to go fuck themself and block them.

[cleverfoxpublishing-blog]

The Art and Journey of Publishing: Bringing Stories to Life

Publishing is more than just turning manuscripts into books; it’s a transformative journey where ideas are nurtured, polished, and shared with the world. At Clever Fox Publishing, we take pride in shaping this creative process, making it an empowering experience for authors. Here's an inside look at publishing activities that breathe life into stories and connect authors to their audience.

1. Manuscript Evaluation

Every book begins with a manuscript, the author's raw expression of their ideas. The evaluation process involves professional editors who assess its potential, ensuring the content resonates with readers. This step is crucial for identifying areas of improvement while maintaining the author’s unique voice.

2. Editing and Proofreading

Great writing demands meticulous editing. Our editorial team works closely with authors to refine the narrative, improve structure, and enhance clarity. Proofreading follows, ensuring that every comma, word, and sentence is polished to perfection. This attention to detail ensures a seamless reading experience.

3. Creative Design

The saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” might hold truth, but in publishing, an attractive design is key. From crafting eye-catching covers to designing visually appealing layouts, our design team works to create a book that stands out on shelves and online stores alike.

4. ISBN and Copyrights

Securing an ISBN and copyrights is an essential administrative activity in publishing. It ensures your book is uniquely identifiable and protects your intellectual property. These technicalities might seem small, but they play a big role in establishing your book in the global market.

5. Printing and Distribution

Once the content and design are finalized, the book enters the printing phase. We ensure quality in materials and binding to create a durable and visually appealing product. Our global distribution network ensures that books reach readers in over 150 countries, providing unparalleled reach.

6. Marketing and Promotions

Publishing doesn’t end with printing; it extends into the realm of marketing. Through social media campaigns, author interviews, and book launch events, we ensure that every book gets the visibility it deserves. Tools like Clever Lens AI help authors identify platforms and geographical locations to target their marketing efforts effectively.

7. Author Dashboard Insights

Empowering authors is our mission, and our author dashboard offers unique insights into their book’s performance. With features like sales tracking, marketing tools, and earnings statements, authors stay informed and in control of their publishing journey.

8. Connecting with Readers

The ultimate goal of publishing is to connect stories with readers. Whether through book fairs, online platforms, or book club discussions, we focus on bridging the gap between authors and their audience, creating lasting impressions and fostering loyal readerships.

Conclusion

Publishing is a collaborative and multifaceted process that transforms an author’s vision into a tangible masterpiece. At Clever Fox Publishing, we don’t just publish books; we craft legacies. Every manuscript we touch is an opportunity to bring a unique voice into the world.

If you’ve ever dreamt of publishing your story, now is the time to take the leap. Let us help you turn your words into an extraordinary journey.

[sewgeekmama]

Back to Work, Book Update, Hybrid Publishing and a Kickstarter

I took a bit of a break from blogging and constant social media posting over the summer. I kept things going at a minimum and popped online here and there when needed so things didn’t completely fizzle. But overall, it was really nice to get offline and spend time with family. My son starts preschool five days a week today and I plan to jump back into blogging and my book project, plus a pile of…

[pwrn51]

What type of Publishing did you use

  Cool Your Heels Host, Lillian Cauldwell, interviewed Abigail Wild, owner of Wild-Ink-Publishing. Wild-Ink-Publishing is a traditional publishing company that mainly publishes young adult manuscripts. The company is closed for submissions until January 2024. Abigail asks that the author get their manuscript edited before submitting and to make sure their manuscript meets all submission formats.…

[weeeeeekly]

the inheritance – hybrid!ot5 txt x human gn!reader

🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾 ・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾

blurb !!! Your grandmother left behind her home to you in her will. As a recent college grad, you take on the responsibilities – you never expected to find 5 hybrids living in your new home

info !!! gender neutral pronouns for reader, no reader body shape mention, no use of y/n, non-idol au, hybrid au, strangers to lovers, ot5 txt x reader, kinda a/b/o, inspired by the monster’s bride webtoon, ppulbatu, & txt lore (please do not ask me about it bcuz I don’t know anyyyythingg)

WARNINGS !!! SFW but MDNI 18+ blog, swearing, not proofread just pure free flowing thought, wouldn’t recommend reading if you were close to your grandmother, she passed away, & are still grieving, mentions of physical abuse

wc 1.1k

author’s note !!! if you don’t like it – don’t read it!

🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾 ・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾

CHAPTER THREE

(warning for mention of physical abuse)

Waking up is usually a pleasant thing for you, but being in a new environment doesn’t allow your body to calm down and sleep properly. It also doesn’t help that the second you gain consciousness and feel someone touching you startling you awake.

Your right eye twitches as you realize Soobin has, yet again, thrown his leg over your legs in his sleep when he decided last night, for some reason, to sleep in your bed. Yeonjun is nowhere to be found and Beomgyu is sleeping in an uncomfortable position with most of his body laying horizontally with his legs dangling off. You push Soobin off your body while also trying to not hit Beomgyu by accident. Despite the movement, they don’t stir in their sleep. You tiptoe across the wooden floor trying to not step on any creaky floorboards. The second you reach the doorframe; you close it and walk normally downstairs.

As you reach the kitchen, you’re face to face with the shocking sight of Yeonjun – shirtless – eating the rest of the leftover pizza you were saving for lunch tomorrow. It’s not shocking that you’re seeing him shirtless, it’s the fact that his skin is covered in various scars.

You can’t help but stare at it as your heart sinks to the floor. You know that Yeonjun knows you’re behind him now since he stopped eating. With his back still turned to you, he opens his mouth.

“Is it that bad?”

You can’t get a single word out as you walk closer to him to look over his back. There’s healed scars scattered alongside the bigger scars that you couldn’t see from across the kitchen.

“I always forget they’re there.” Yeonjun lets out a sad laugh as you stand next to him and open the mini cooler box.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Yeonjun shakes his head.

“Okay.” You say as you grab coffee in a can and start to drink it. “I have a trusted friend coming over to do health exams. It’s for everyone’s wellbeing.”

When he doesn’t say anything else, you turn back to head back upstairs.

🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾 ・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾

You greet your best friend that had recently became a nurse.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

“It’s no issue. Thanks for being my practice patient so I have my kit with me.”

Giving your bestie a forced smile as she gives you a puzzled look back. You bring her into the kitchen where your new 5 roommates sit.

“Okay, so hear me out.” You begin, “I wasn’t sure if I should call a doctor or a vet, but you were my safest option. I don’t want them to be taken away or sent back to an abusive facility and I can’t be arrested.”

“Arrested?”

“Um… what is your knowledge on… hybrids.” You mumble the last part.

“Huh?”

“Hybrids.”

“Hybrids?”

The guys take beanies you gave them off to show their ears as your friend freezes up, pulling you off to the side.

“Hey! What the fuck?”

She’s known you for a decade now and knows that you have a big heart. A heart too big for body and overtakes your judgment sometimes.

And this was one of those times.

Your friend rests her hand on your shoulder. “I know that you can’t help but be sympathetic and that your grandma would do the same thing, but you know how bad this could get.”

Nodding at her as she continues, “You’ll get put in jail and I’ll get in trouble for not reporting this.”

The weight of her words sink into your skin. “Could you forget I ever asked?”

She shakes her head.

“I’m only going to do a wellness check on them this one time.”

You hug and thank her relentlessly as the guys in the next room look at each other nervously.

🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾・・・🐾

Your leg won’t stop bouncing as you sit on your bed in your room, waiting for your friend to report back. It’s been 2 hours since she began and every negative thought is swirling in your mind. When you’re about to stand up to walk downstairs to check again, your door opens.

You immediately stand up as she looks at you with a straight face.

“So?”

“There’s a lot to say and they’ve given me consent to tell you. They’ve all spent the last year mainly in their animal form but surprisingly no lasting effects that I could see. A vet or hybrid doctor would have a better answer if you were to ever find that option. Yeonjun and Taehyun have the most signs of abuse with apparent scars on their backs. They’re all healed so this must have happened at a hybrid facility. Other than that, they’re all relatively healthy.”

Nodding your head, you follow her downstairs to the kitchen where they’re all sitting at the dinner table and chairs you brought in. Your friend bids goodbye as she heads back to her apartment. As you shut the door behind her, you sigh as the 5 guys stare back at you.

“Okay, let’s go out.”

You ignore their confused looks as you head to the closet underneath the stairs to see if the winter clothes were still there, which they were, and start picking out beanies and jackets that would fit them. It’s starting to get cold outside again so strangers wouldn’t have a second thought about it. You decide to also grab a sweater for yourself to match them.

You need to go to the grocery store anyway. This could be the perfect opportunity for them to feel more comfortable with you and to then, hopefully, talk to you. Then, you could get a better idea of their situation and what to do. Should you just keep them as your roommate or was there anything you could do that would allow them to live normally?

The grocery store was one of your favorite places. Despite the mundaneness of it, it allowed you to mindlessly walk through aisles of stuff to look at and ignore your current problems (only if your problems don’t include money). The store was empty at this time, which was a blessing for everyone.

“Can you grab a cart for me?”

Taehyun nods as Beomgyu and Kai stick close to you. You ignore the feeling of their breathing on the back of your neck as you look at the options for canned tuna.

“Does Taehyun like fish? Or am I generalizing?”

Kai answers, “He loves tuna.”

“Great!” You say as you randomly pick up 6 cans of your favorite brand.

masterlist | previous | next

authors note sorry for the late update been dealing with writer’s block

[upside-garden-of-dreams]

In A Late Afternoon [Hybrid!Jake x Reader]

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none, just some mentions of undressing, kissing, and maybe a suggestive ending? But that ending interpretation is up to you

General info: Reader is kept gender neautral, Jake is a golden retriever dog/puppy boy, English isn't my native language excuse the typos

[More puppy Jake]

Aaaah.... I honestly didn't think this idea would extend like this Anyways, hope you enjoy! 🐶💛

Ears perked at the sould of keys fumbling with the doorknob.

A tail wagged, a nose sniffed, a heart beat faster at the prospect of what will happen next.

As soon as you opened the door to your home, allowing your bag to sling off your shoulders and pop down on the small shelf by the door, your greeting was interrupted by an excited voice:

"Jakey, I'm ho-"

"Honey! Hi, hello! Did you have a good day? I missed you!"

You were instantly hugged by your over-energetic golder retriever of a boyfriend, face nuzzling deep into your neck as he familiarized himself with your fresh scent once more.

Sure, the house was surrounded by your scent, but nothing compares to the one on your actual skin, you know? Or so he says.

Tiredness startled out of your mind, it took a couple seconds to process what excatly happened just now. Instinctively, your arms went to wrap around him in a confused hug.

"Darling, remember what I said?" You pat him lightly on the back to call for his attention.

"Oh! Yeah! Ah-ahem...Sorry, babe." He let you go, a tinge of bashfullness and shame coloring his face. His excitement bubbled down slightly by what his ears and tail showed, flattening against his head and slowing down its wag, respectively.

Jake fumbled with his hands in nervousness, eyes downturned but still taking peeks at you.

He was way too adorable for his own good. A small smile settled itself on your face as you admired the cutie in front of you.

The brunet's entire demeanor changed back to his characteristic joyful self once your hand went on to pet between his floppy ears. Jake stared at you with bright brown eyes, while an equally as bright smile shaped his lips.

Pushing the door closed, you talked again, "While I adore your hugs as a greeting, do allow me to fully come inside next time, luv." Once done with the reminder, you opened your arms expectantly.

The hybrid chuckled and dove into your arms, "Understood!"

"Hello, Jake. I'm home." You completed your greeting from before, burrying your face into his shoulder. The comforting warmth of his embrace permiated your soul, finally relaxing your tense body for today.

Jake turned to place a sweet kiss on your temple, "Welcome back, my love."

You remained in place for a while, neither of you willing to separate.

Alas, it was the puppy boy who broke the hug. Still, he kept his hands on your waist to keep you close.

"Let's get you comfortable, yes?"

Taking one of his hands and walking to you room, you agreed, "I'd love that."

Golden ears perked up once more, an excited yet shy smile coloring his lips, "Do...I get to help you?"

Turning around to answer, you could see his tail wagging slowly and picking up in speed as you talked, "Of course, silly puppy! I have tea to spill! You won't belive what Yuna said to the manager, like O-M-G my girl gives ZERO shits!"

As you talked and completed your after-work routine, Jake listened attentively. Occasionally, he would let out small hums of agreement and sounds of disbelief as he listened to the tale about your friend Yuna and her fight with that nightmare manager your team was cursed with.

His gentle hands helped remove some clothing articles, taking the time to sooth the skin with leftover marks from where your clothes hugged you a bit too tight. Your lover brought you close to his chest, circling your waist from behind, head dropping down to your shoulder to trail tender kisses all the way to your neck and jawline.

Giggles erupted from you due to his affections, hand going up to play with his hair and rub at the base of his left ear.

"Baby~" Jake whined in delight at the petting.

"Jakey~" You mimiked his tone, a breathless laugh at the end. "C´mon, put a shirt on me so we can cuddle on the couch for a while. I need my puppy to truly relax."

You could see the lightbulb atop his head from where he got an idea, "Wait here! I won't take long!"

With a sloppy kiss to your cheek, the dogboy quickly ran to his room.

In a matter of seconds, he came back with a black t-shirt in his hands, "Arms up! I have your favorite~"

Doing as told, you allowed your boyfriend to dress you up in one of his oversized shirts. It smelled just like him.

Bown eyes scanned you up and down with myrth, he loved how you looked in his clothes.

"You're so beautiful," he said, with a lovestruck look in his eyes.

Pecking his lips quickly, you answered, "And you're the cutest ever." Tugging on his hand, you led the way back into the living room.

Finally, the moment you desired most arrived: a moment to wind down and cuddle, catch up on Jake's day, and enjoy some time together.

Plopping down on the couch, you turned on the TV and let the random channel from last night play on the background.

A look thrown Jake's way sent you both into motion: the golden retriever laid down sideways on the cushions as you unfolded the light blanket hanging on the armrest. Your sweetheart gently guided you down near his chest while you flicked the soft cover over both your bodies.

You sighed happily while nuzzling into his toned chest, humming in delight at the calming atmosphere surounding you two.

Jake carded his fingers through your hair to help you destress even more, tail tumping against the sofa with every volume spike in your hums of enjoyment.

"Missed you so much, Jakey," You mumbled into his chest.

"Missed you, too, my love," He answered back.

As you looked into each other's eyes, the same idea crossed your minds. In silent agreement, you leaned towards the other and gave in to your desire...

With loving passion and delicate sweetness, you locked your lips and indulged in one another to your heart's conentent

[ END ]

Thank you for reading ~!

Feel free to like, share, reblog, and leave comments in tags or under the post (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+🩷

[manysketchbook]

Firffels: the Wuzzles Competitor That Disappeared

Recently, I found this toy at my local thrift store. I thought it was an oddly cute nativity toy, but upon closer inspection the tush tag read "FIRFFELS. I'm glad to be a SHAMEL." I did a quick search online and the first result was this page on Ghost of the Doll, a toy collector's site that archives information about 80s/90s toys and includes a forum where anyone can seek help with identifying toys. This lead me down a rabbit hole of figuring out just what Firffels were: a failed line of toys promised to be the next hot phenomenon, with minimal documentation online and a handful of toys floating around in thrift stores.

Other than Ghost of the Doll, I found info about Firffels in this 2010 blog post by Trish Babbles (written in an edgy, mean-to-be-funny style that I think is too uncharitable, but it was a different time to be online lol) and this blog post by AF Blog. My other info comes from Othello Bach's website dedicated to the book itself (her personal site is no longer functional) and from a handful of youtube videos I found of a Firffels commercial. Many thanks to these sources, without them there'd be like, nothing online about these creatures.

Firffels are based on the children's book Who ever Heard of a Fird? by Othello Bach, first edition published in 1984 by Caedmon Childrens Books (upon Googling, it appears that Caedmon is owned by HarperCollins now and focuses on audiobooks). The story follows Fird, a fish-bird hybrid, as he travels the world to find other firds. Along the way he encounters a goofy, lovable cast of other hybrid animals who have all never heard of a fird. The story ends with fird learning to love his uniqueness and find peace with being who he is. As is apparent in the Amazon link above (not sponsored, just showing my work), a used copy is $86 dollars right now. An audiobook narrated by Joel Grey (an actor that I'm unfamiliar with who is apparently known for his role in Cabaret) was also released on cassette, listed on Ebay for $75+. Luckily, there is a youtube video of someone doing a complete read through of the book, but the camera angle is poor. This is the only visual record I could find online of the interior illustrations by Michelle Dorman, other than a brief look at a few in a low quality VHS promo rip I'll get to in a minute, and the image below from an Ebay listing. There may be a few more photos in some Etsy listings that I missed.

In Trish's blog post they complain that Shamel is an ugly monstrosity and there were a few comments on Ghost of the Doll's forum of the same nature about Shamel, but I think Shamel is the cutest one! It just looks like a new breed of camel, meanwhile Fird in the background here is...he's so cartoonishly goofy. Idk how else to describe him. He's so fuckin' goofy. He'd make squeaky Spongebob-esque sound effects when he walks, I imagine.

The book was allegedly a hit and Remco bought the merchandising rights. They went all in, as is detailed in the 5 minute promotional video below. Based on a cast of 6 characters, plush toys and posable action figures hit the market with a promise that Hanna Barbera would develop an animated tv show starring Firffels, housewares would be made, there'd be a clothing line, and Design-a-Firffel contests would be held. A few housewares seem to have been made and plush toy sewing patterns were released, but I was unable to find evidence that anything else moved forward.

Absolutely fucking insane fact: according to this video, Caedmon Publishing was owned by Raytheon at the time. Thanks Raytheon for these cuddly children's toys and also, uh, horrific weapons of war?

After I bought Shamel, I went back to the store to see if there were more. There were! I found Bertle and Elephonkey, who still had the original tags. I swear the day earlier I had seen a frog toy with butterfly wings but it wasn't there anymore. I remember passing over it and thinking "eh, butterfly wings on a frog aren't cute," and did not bothering even looking at the tags. My mistake. Turns out that toy was worth a decent amount of money and was part of this whole story.

Bertle's pink belly super bright in real life, like neon. There is a sunbleached spot on it's front.

Elephonkey is the only one with original tags. I also included an image of the tush tag. For each toy the tush tag is the same but displays the character's name.

Hybrid animals are not a unique concept. Wuzzles, a line of plush toys that were animal hybrids with wings and likely made to compete with Care Bears, are brought up in most posts and forums where Firffels are mentioned--usually to disparage Firffels as being knock off, less successful Wuzzles. Wuzzles weren't exactly successful either, though they definitely lasted longer and had more reach, likely due to the backing of a Disney/Hasbro budget. AF Blog in 2015 makes a good point that I agree with: it's unlikely that Wuzzles and Firffels were ripping each other off due to production timelines. Toy lines can be in development for years before any information is made public. It takes a long time to design toys, then get them to a manufacturer, then go through the revisions process. Not to mention the time it takes to ship things out, negotiate contracts at every step of the way, etc. And, as AF Blog notes, Whoever Heard of a Fird? was released in 1984, a year before the first Wuzzles tv episode aired, and Firffels hit the market a year later.

People draw hybrid animals all the time. For example, furry adoptable artists draw hybrids all the time (take a shot every time you find a closed species that is a feline with a fish tail or deer feet or some other animal's defining trait), the Lego movie had Unikitty, and I literally went to Walmart today and in the toy section there was a miniature rabbit-like rainbow animal with wings and a unicorn horn there. The thing that makes these toys potentially appealing, in my opinion, is that they choose safe and popular traits: sparkly horns and feathery wings, for the most part. Things that are easily marketable.

The thing with Firffels is that they combined animals with traits that are less immediately appealing. Image below from Ghost of the Doll.

Some of them are cute but the others miss the mark. Personally I like Shamel and Bertle (the plush version only tbh).

Worth pointing out is that the character illustrations do not match the toy designs. If you go back and watch the commercials included in the 5 minute promo video, you can see that the Bertle plush and action figure are brown and green rather than pink and blue, and that Shamel's hair is brown instead of purple. I saw varied photos of the Butterfrog plush: some were lighter green while others were darker. Could be an issue with differing cameras, but I don't know for certain. And then there's Elephonkey, who is the most inconsistent of the bunch:

The first image is the prototype toy as it appears in the commercial. It is grey and flesh colored, with odd looking plastic hair. The second image is from Ghost of the Doll, of how the Elephonkey action figure actually appeared in stores. Third is a photo of my Elephonkey plush. Compare it with the official character art...well, he's not my favorite design in any incarnation.

I think the toys in the commercials were prototypes that were changed to brighter colors so as to appeal more towards girls. In the 30 second plush commercial there are 4 girl actors and 1 boy actor, with the camera shots getting closer to and focusing more on the girls' faces, so it would make sense. In contrast, the action figure commercial features 1 girl and 2 boys, and most of the camera shots are of the kids' hands playing with the toys, giving off a more boyish, gender-neutral vibe. Classics of gendered marketing, am I right? lol. But I think the change was a good one. I wouldn't have picked up Shamel if I hadn't seen the purple hair, and I definitely would not like Bertle if he wasn't pink. It gives the toys more of a cohesive style, a unique identity, and they fit in more alongside the Wuzzles/Care Bears visuals with the vibrant, happy colors. There's more of a toy-like quality to them, which increases the cuddle-ability and inspires more of an urge to play.

Discovering and logging all this inconsistency has been pretty fun. But it makes me think that these toys were probably doomed by a chaotic, unorganized development process behind the scenes. And given that the book was published in '84 and toys hit the market in '85...the signs seem to point to production being rushed.

To be fair to Firffels, it was probably a little harder in the 80s to hit it big with kids. You had to be lucky, you had to have connections with the right distributors, you had to anticipate what is universally appealing to children--one of the most unpredictable audiences out there--and you had to pay to air your commercials during prime child viewing hours. These are all things that are still true, but we have the internet now and the advertising power of the internet is scary. Going viral on TikTok has the potential to skibidi someone's toilet career. iPad babies are growing up into grade school kids who throw birthday parties every year and get toys as gifts. We are living in an era where mass-producing cheap little polyester plushies and plastic figures is easier than ever and corporations have massive budgets to pump into kids' eyeballs through every advertising avenue they possibly can. They don't even need to come up with the designs anymore, they can just partner with whatever Roblox game is popular right now and capitalize on that. Maybe Othello Bach should get on Roblox.

Actually, it appears that Bach was given the short end of the stick by the time Firffels were pulled. Though her personal website is no longer up, her other website dedicated entirely to Whoever Heard of a Fird? has some info:

At the height of Fird's success, with over 100 licensees cramming the store shelves with children’s merchandise and an animation contract with Hanna-Barbera, the book and all the merchandise suddenly vanished from the shelves.  Although she lost the rights to several other published children’s books at the same time, Othello has never received a reasonable explanation for what happened.

So this passage actually clears something up for me. This whole time something that hasn't really lined up is that I had assumed that Othello Bach published the book first and then was approached for merchandising rights after the book sold well. I actually think now it's possible that from the get-go the book was written with the intention for it to become a worldwide sensation. Not so much Bach's intent, though. I have some professional familiarity with licensing and other such creative publishing contracts, particularly with books. Based on what I know, I believe it's more likely that Bach pitched her manuscript to Caedmon Publishing and Caedmon, seeking to create popular IP, was like, "this has potential and we are going to sign you on not only for the book, but for more." That might be why the character designs are so strange: they were trying too hard to get famous quick and had instructed the illustrator (it is regular practice for publishers to pair authors with an illustrator and given how much was on the line for this IP, Bach might not've had much input here) to design characters that could also become toys. It's unlikely that Michelle Dorman, a kids book illustrator, had product design skills needed to make standout, awesome toy designs. Not a knock on her, illustrators just have niches within their field that they're best at it. It's why you see so many illustrators complain about how often they get approached to design logos--that's not what we do, thank you.

What's sad is that clearly Bach had signed a bad contract that gave away most of her rights as the writer to the publisher. She openly says so above. My guess is that Caedmon told her they needed more rights than usual to be able to conduct so much merchandising (like signing contracts with Remco, much easier to do when you don't have a third party also involved), and because they were pouring so much effort into it on their end. Bach is just the writer, so while the original idea is hers, Caedmon would have matched her with an illustrator and taken charge of all the licensing and merchandising. For a publisher this is a huge commitment financially and personnel-wise, so it makes sense why they would have put forth a contract that gave them so many rights. If Firffels had become as popular as they'd hoped, they don't want to not own the IP. They would have poured all those resources into it and not be able to reap all the rewards because that pesky author would own it. It's almost like contracts like these are predatory and only serve the interests of the publisher. Almost like publishers are companies existing in a capitalistic system and therefore only serve profit, not people. Almost like companies will never truly have artist's best interests at heart, and if you are ever to sign a contract with a big publisher you need to have a good lawyer by your side.

It makes me so sad to read that they didn't even give her a reasonable explanation as to why everything was cancelled. She does not even appear to have any of the merchandise on hand, as all the photos on her website are from Ghost of the Doll. In hindsight we can guess, obviously, why the cancellation happened but I'm in the moment it was probably upsetting. It's still upsetting, given that she has included this in her website for the...revamped book!

However, like Fird, Othello refused to give up. For the next 20 years, she tried to regain the rights to her work. Entertainment attorneys assured her it would never happen.  They said, "It can't be done!" But... it could be done and Othello did it, regaining the rights back to all her work.

Yeah, so, I actually think this is the saddest part about the whole thing. She managed to get some of the rights back and republished the book with...new art...that looks so fucking BAD. Image from her website:

Sorry to this illustrator, but got damn. There is no sauce to this art whatsoever. It is unseasoned, not even salt and pepper. This looks like ass and would never fucking fly with any editor worth their chops. It took me ages to figure out that the long yellow curved line is Fird's tail. Like, this is so unbelievably sad to me. I don't even really like the original art a whole lot, but compared to this...

My informed guess as to what happened is that Bach lawyered up and fought. As we know, Caedmon is now owned by HarperCollins. I can't say for certain but there was probably some case to be made that Caedmon being sold breached the contract, or nullified parts of it, or perhaps the contract expired. It could even just be that HarperCollins didn't care about an old, unprofitable IP and granted Bach her rights back. There is also Remco to consider: they also hold some of the rights, but probably just for the merchandise? Given how prominently their logo is displayed on the toy tags, they might actually own a significant share. Perhaps they were happy not to have anything to do with the book so long as the merch rights weren't touched. I don't know! There's no info about it on the site and this stuff is usually under NDA.

So Bach got her rights back, but she's just the writer. She doesn't own any of the art, so in order to republish the book she had to hire a new illustrator. She likely did not have a huge budget for it, maybe even paying for it out of her pocket because the Choice Books logo she has in several spots on the Fird website appears to be for a distribute on demand service, in place of a traditional publisher.

As the writer, she also would not have gotten the rights to use the original audiobook, so she had one re-recorded. It also appears like she does not have the rights to the name "Firffels" either, as the only places it appears on the site are in photographs of merchandise and in titles specifically referring to the work that is still owned by Caedmon. She carefully refers to her own work as "Fird" for short or the book's full title, probably because she cannot legally imply that she owns or made anything else.

I dug into this thinking it would be a quick look at some strange, forgotten toys from a bygone era. Instead I found a story about how an artist can so easily be shafted by publishers. Everything always loops back around to workers' rights, it seems. Stories like this about shitty publishing contracts (see: Webtoon if you want to get into something current) still appear so often, man. It's depressing, and indicative that the publishing industry needs some reforming ASAP. Like, Illustrators, when are we getting a proper union?

But I'm glad Bach got her rights back and got her book republished within her lifetime. I'm sad she didn't have the budgets for a better illustrator. Sorry to bring that up again, I work as an illustrator irl and I have opinions about craft, lol. Also I just think that given how hard Bach had to fight, she deserved to have better art made. That being said, here's another link to her current website. There's not much there but what is there is a monument to a battle she fought and won, and is proud of.

The lack of detailed, clear, centralized documentation of these toys frustrates me. One of the most frustrating things about the internet for me is that there are few easily accessible, publicly available archives of toys--even for modern toys. I've had to use Amazon reviews and Ebay listings and broken online stores to decipher publication years. With this in mind I decided to do a write up and provide clearer pictures of the toys that I have (I'll take hi res pics in natural lighting too someday). Archives are important to me and the internet kinda sucks for it, I say as someone who started this blog for that purpose. If Tumblr goes down, so does everything I've posted here. As an artist who works primarily digitally, one of the scariest things is knowing that I'm laboring over an ephemeral body of work. It's just not going to exist for very long unless I print it out on archival materials. Data is not the same as a physical object. My Firffels have survived for 39 years but the digital art I draw every day is unlikely to last past 10 years because websites die and files get deleted.

I bought the Firffels from my thrift store thinking I'd resell them. I'm low income so I sell many of the things I thrift. I prefer to buy the older toys or the ones that need cleaning because it makes me feel better about being a reseller (I don't want to take away options from low income kids in my area, ya know?). But I'm putting in the labor to freshen them up and I'm putting in the effort to make unavailable toys available again, at least for one person. And I don't have a whole lot of shelf space to display the toys in my collection...but for now I think I'll keep them.

[heart-forge]

Hiiiiiii. Now you know I absolutely adore this blog, the author and the games.

So no pressure when I ask this but I was just wondering about hybrid. I remember it being one of the very first IFs I ever played. I still remember where I was where I played it. Lmao on my way home from a trip with my husband in the car with my feet up 🤣

So I just was wondering if it's still in the works..o absolutely loved what was released and it just came up. I loved the characters so much.

Ja abso. It might have been a while back that I said this (what IS time) but Hybrid's getting an update after Bad Ritual because everyone waited really patiently and I saw a huge influx of Hybrid love last year.

The only special thing about Hybrid is that it's not formally in update order. On an official level I update BR, I update MH, then I update BR again, and on and on. Hybrid was released as an attempt to like, kill the burnout: as such, it gets an update when I feel the burnout dkjfsd. But like I said the latter half of last year really felt the Hybrid love and it's my stomping grounds for figuring out new mechanics (not that I need any right now but since it's only like two chapters long, it's easier for me to figure out stuff like progression and save states there instead of on the monstrous-sized BR).

[regicidal-defenestration]

One thing about China Miéville is that he loves a city

[kaikikyoufu]

HORROR ANTHOLOGY COMIC SHIKAKU: CAGED BIRD

By Osada Not

[cookinguptales]

a few times I've had anonymous asks like "you should start a patreon!" and I am always like "what would I even make one for" and those anonymous people never tell me so idk if they're interested in my meta or my tarot readings or my fiction or my essays on religion/folklore/history or what

that said I did actually make a placeholder patreon a thousand years ago before they upped their fees (because they said that anyone who made a patreon in like the next day would get grandfathered in lmao) and I just never. used it. because I was like "well, patreon is for people with talent SO."

but I have to be honest like -- with this new story I'm writing, I really love it! and I fully intend to release it for free like I do all my stories, but I find myself wanting to write all these little extra scenes and essays on historical context and artistic influences and stuff as well as just wanting to be able to give like... basic writer's commentary...

and I keep thinking "maybe this is actually a good use for the patreon? you could release a base version for free and if people are interested in extras they could go to the place where you're posting them?" and then I think "no, no one would ever pay for early access to your work or to your ramblings about how the story of the minotaur is really likely just propaganda reflecting the historical attic frustration towards (and eventual triumph over) a semi-foreign naval power they'd been paying tribute to"

and then I think NO there are plenty of people with no talent who have thriving online presences you have plenty of talent!!!! and there has to be someone who wants to learn about ancient greek sacrificial customs as couched in h/c romance.

and if no one does want that, well like. it's not like you'll be out anything for trying. you're writing it either way because you've got fucking brain worms, so you might as well experiment with a new way of posting it.

and yet I do kind of have a weird mental block when it comes to charging money for much of my work, and I don't know if that's because I spent most of my life writing fanfic or it's because I have an aversion to the life of a professional writer or if it's just garden-variety imposter syndrome!

...so idk, that's what my brain's been doing lately lmao.

[cleverfoxpublishing-blog]

Roles and Responsibilities of Modern Book Publishing Companies: From Manuscript to Market

Book publishing companies play a central role in bringing an author’s work from manuscript to market, helping shape and refine books and ensuring they reach the right audience. They are responsible for a wide range of tasks that cover editorial support, production, marketing, and distribution. Below are the key roles and responsibilities of book publishing companies:

1. Manuscript Selection and Acquisition

Evaluating Manuscripts: Publishing companies receive numerous manuscripts and proposals from authors and literary agents. Their role is to assess these works to identify potential marketable books that align with their brand, genre focus, and audience.

Contracting Authors: Once a manuscript is selected, publishers negotiate contracts with authors. This typically includes agreeing on royalties, advances, and rights, such as translation, film, and merchandising rights.

2. Editorial Development

Content Editing: After acquisition, editors work with authors to shape the manuscript, focusing on structure, plot, character development, and clarity. This process often involves multiple rounds of edits to refine the content and ensure the book’s quality.

Copyediting and Proofreading: Once the manuscript is structurally sound, it moves to copyediting, where editors check grammar, punctuation, and consistency. Proofreading is the final stage of editing, ensuring a polished, error-free manuscript before publication.

3. Design and Production

Cover Design: The cover is the book’s first impression, so publishers invest in professional design that resonates with the target audience and stands out in the market. They may also create custom graphics, illustrations, or typography based on the book’s genre and themes.

Typesetting and Layout: For print and digital formats, publishers manage the layout and design of the book’s interior, ensuring readability, consistency, and an engaging presentation. This includes decisions about font, spacing, and chapter layouts.

Printing and Format Options: Publishing companies choose print options and formats, such as hardcover, paperback, and ebook, considering production costs and reader preferences.

4. Marketing and Promotion

Developing Marketing Strategies: Publishers create tailored marketing plans to build awareness, targeting the book’s key demographics. They may engage in digital marketing, social media campaigns, and partnerships with book influencers.

Organizing Book Launches and Events: Book publishers often organize launch events, author signings, and appearances at book fairs to generate buzz and connect authors with readers.

Advertising: Publishers may invest in advertising, both online and in print, to reach a broader audience. They may also use pay-per-click ads, book promotions, and genre-specific advertising.

5. Sales and Distribution

Building Distribution Channels: Publishers have networks with major retailers, independent bookstores, libraries, and online platforms, ensuring books are accessible in both physical and digital formats.

Inventory Management: Publishers handle inventory, working with distributors and bookstores to manage stock and avoid shortages or surpluses.

Ebook and Audiobook Platforms: With digital formats rising in popularity, many publishers distribute ebooks and audiobooks through platforms like Amazon Kindle, Audible, and other digital libraries.

6. Rights Management and Royalties

Intellectual Property Rights: Publishing companies often handle licensing and rights sales, such as foreign translation rights, film and TV rights, and merchandise opportunities, helping authors reach new markets and generate additional revenue.

Royalty Management: Publishers calculate and distribute royalties to authors based on book sales, providing regular statements that offer insight into the book’s performance.

7. Long-Term Author and Title Management

Career Development: Many publishing companies aim to foster long-term relationships with authors, offering guidance and support for future projects. They may help authors develop a series or suggest new genres and topics based on market demand.

Backlist Management: Beyond the initial launch, publishers manage backlist titles (older publications), ensuring they remain available and relevant to new audiences.

The Evolving Role in the Digital Age

The digital era has introduced new responsibilities and opportunities for publishing companies. They now leverage data and analytics to understand reader preferences, track market trends, and identify high-potential genres or themes. Additionally, digital platforms allow publishers to explore new formats like serialized content, interactive ebooks, and AI-powered content recommendations.

In summary, book publishing companies play a multifaceted role, working closely with authors to produce, distribute, and promote books that capture readers’ imaginations. Their responsibilities go beyond the book’s launch, supporting authors throughout their careers, nurturing the art of storytelling, and ensuring literature continues to thrive in an ever-evolving industry.

[hotwraithbones]

4D/5D portraits of the alien wraith self from x( )-id</3 by Ami J. Sanghvi (Trickhouse Press ‘22) 💚👽💙

[little-elena]

From Stefan

"This is so cute. Princess peach smoothie banana rama is in good hands I promise!!"

[witchern]

wait omg sorry, i'm still thinking about the debut author fuckup and after looking at the goodreads page i went to the website for her publisher because i'd never heard of sparks press and i'm YELLING because it's a VANITY PUBLISHER

girlie paid almost $10k to publish this thing!!! lulu dot com is free, y'all!!!

[volucerrubidus]

this guy is the inspiration for my monster au and i just wanted to post pictures of him