A Publisher Plans To Close Its Doors

About three weeks ago, I did a post here on the difficulties Triskelion Publishing was experiencing.

This morning, visitors to the Triskelion site were greeted with this message:

Sadly, Triskelion Publishing will be closing its doors on July 2, 2007. We'd like to thank our readers for all their support and our authors for providing endless pleasure and memories that we will treasure forever.

I felt so sad to read the news. I can still remember how pleased I was to write a post here a little over fourteen months ago announcing that Triskelion had been made a RWA-approved publisher.

The news of Triskelion's pending closure spread like wildfire. There were comments on blogs everywhere.

I'm a member of one of the Trisk reader loops. Late this afternoon, author Lynne Connolly posted the following on the loop:

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
Precious Cargo

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.

Within two hours, another writer--Samantha Gentry--posted a similar message.

Lynne also posted her public notice message on the Dear Author site.

Jane on Dear Author indicated that she had heard from a source that Triskelion will be filing Chapter 7 (Liquidation) rather than Chapter 11 (Reorganization). If true, that essentially kills the hope that the company will attempt to create a plan to pay off their debtors and stay in business.

In 1623, John Donne wrote his famous Meditation XVII. Included in the sermon were these words:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less . . . any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Every writer, published or unpublished--whether a Triskelion author or not--is diminished in ways great and small by this news. I feel a sadness for my friends who are pubbed by Trisk and for the members of the Triskelion team. I wish all of them well.