In July of 2010 Science Fiction Writers of America, responding to member complaints against Night Shade Books, put the publisher on probation. At that time John Scalzi, the organization’s president, wrote the following:

This week, we became aware of three recent instances of Night Shade Books acting against the contractual and legal interest of authors, specifically by not reporting royalties when contractually specified or reporting them inaccurately and/or distributing books in a medium for which it had not legally secured rights. (Details here)

Since that time Night Shade has made an earnest effort to get back into the graces of SFWA and its members and today was rewarded with full restoration of its former good standing.  The text of SFWA’s announcement follows:

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Dear SFWA members:

As many of you are aware, on July 8, 2010 the SFWA board of directors voted unanimously to place Night Shade Books on probation for a period of one year, following concerns about contractual issues with their authors.

SFWA asked Night Shade to meet a series of benchmarks as a measure of a good faith effort to return to a solid standing. After a review of Night Shade Books and after requesting information from our members about the publisher’s activities during the period of probation, based upon the information currently available, the board believes that Night Shade has met the following conditions for it to remain on the qualifying list after its probation period:

* a. That it examined its catalogue to ensure it is no longer offering fiction in formats for which it has no rights, and makes whole those authors whose rights it has violated;
* b. That it instituted procedures and hired sufficient staff to ensure accurate record keeping for contracts and payments, both for previously published and future authors;
* c. That there are no instances of contractual violations on the part of Night Shade Books against authors signed to publishing deals after the start of the probationary period.
* d. Night Shade Books fulfills its contractual and financial obligations to the authors it has already published, including full and accurate accounting of royalties per contract, with payment of any royalties outstanding.

Therefore, the term of probation for Night Shade is lifted. Fiction contracted during that term is acceptable for qualification for SFWA membership. It may remain on the list so long as it continues to fulfill its contractual obligations to its authors and meets SFWA’s qualifying market standards. SFWA remains interested in the health of Night Shade books and will act at any time to deal with a member complaint against Night Shade.

We look forward to working with them and are glad that SFWA is able to retain Night Shade Books as a SFWA qualifying market.

One year ago the Science Fiction Writers of America placed Night Shade Books on probation, citing a variety of concerns about the publisher’s practices. Since then Night Shade has made earnest efforts to address the issues, and SFWA has been monitoring them. Today an officer of the organization issued a statement that restoration of the publisher’s approved status is near at hand.

The following statement was issued by Mary Robinette Kowal, Vice President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
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Dear Members,

Last year, the SFWA board of directors voted to place Night Shade Books on probation for a period of one year. Night Shade Books responded by agreeing to work with SFWA to address the issues that our members had with their business. During the past year, Night Shade Books has been cooperative and open with their communication to SFWA and the Board appreciates their efforts.

After a review of Night Shade Books and after requesting information from our members about the publisher’s activities during the period of probation, based on the information currently available, the board believes that Night Shade Books has met the following conditions for it to remain on the qualifying list after its probation period:

a. That it examined its catalogue to ensure it is no longer offering fiction in formats for which it has no rights, and makes whole those authors whose rights it has violated;

b. That it instituted procedures and hired sufficient staff to ensure accurate record keeping for contracts and payments, both for previously published and future authors;

c. That there are no instances of contractual violations on the part of Night Shade Books against authors signed to publishing deals after the start of the probationary period.

The remaining benchmark that the SFWA board of directors set for Night Shade Books requires more data to assess. The board asked that Night Shade Books fulfills its contractual and financial obligations to the authors it has already published, including full and accurate accounting of royalties per contract, with payment of any royalties outstanding.

The reports from our members indicate that Night Shade made great strides toward meeting that goal during the past year. However, through no fault of Night Shade Books, the initial probationary period ended before the publishing industry’s July royalty statements are due. This made it difficult to determine without doubt if Night Shade Books has met their commitments. The Board of Directors of SFWA discussed this with Night Shade and decided to grant the publisher an extension on their probationary period to give them time to send the July royalty statements.

The extension shall be until the statements have been sent to authors or for three months (October 8, 2011), whichever comes sooner. Until that time, Night Shade remains on probation.

After the term of probation for Night Shade is lifted, fiction contracted during that term will be viewed as acceptable for qualification for SFWA membership. As with the initial probationary period, no fiction contracted and paid for (by initial advance payment) before the term of probation will be affected by Night Shade’s probationary status.

During the probationary extension, and depending on member participation, SFWA will remain in contact with those members who have outstanding Night Shade contracts. If you have any questions, new information, or concerns, please contact me at vp@sfwa.org or by phone at 503-308-1127.

Through this entire process, Night Shade Books has been open and communicative with SFWA, responding swiftly to any concerns that were brought to their attention. We look forward to their continued cooperation and hope to see them restored to full qualifying status in the future.

Sincerely yours,

Mary Robinette Kowal
Vice President, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America