Thursday, August 02, 2012
TeleRead is imploding
TeleRead, one of the leading sources of eBook news on the web, is
imploding. Long-time editor Paul Biba resigned a week ago last Monday,
and he apparently gave publisher North American Publishing no notice of his departure.
Then, late last week, NAPCO appointed Dan Eldridge editor--Eldridge just
joined NAPCO a little more than a month ago, is working on multiple
publications and has no eBook industry experience. That was followed on
Tuesday by the resignation of senior writer Chris Meadows, who
contributed almost as much content as Paul Biba and kept the site afloat
after Biba left. Meadows is joining competing site The Digital Reader.
Finally, today, Eldridge posted "Interested in writing for TeleRead?",
but in response to a question, he said that writers wouldn't be paid.
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2 comments:
Len, TeleRead is far from imploding. It's going through a brief transitional phase, not entirely unlike the publishing industry itself.
I really do wish you would have called me for a comment--or even emailed--before running a post as incendiary as this. I'm afraid you don't really have your facts in order.
The full story behind Paul Biba's resignation, for instance, is rather complicated, as these things often are. I would have been more than happy to discuss it with you-- off the record--if you'd simply asked.
As for Chris Meadows, his resignation was not a surprise; he was thoughtful enough to discuss his decision with the NAPCO editorial team weeks before filing his final post. Speaking of which, please re-read the second paragraph from that post:
"It’s important to note that there are no hard feelings between me and NAPCO or new editor-in-chief Dan Eldridge, who I’m confident will do a great job keeping TeleRead true to the vision of founder David Rothman. I just don’t have the time to write as much as I used to anymore. Still, you may see the occasional bit of content from me pop up here from time to time, and I’ll certainly be reading and commenting to the site just like the rest of you."
(Chris explained to me in an email that his workload at The Digital Reader will be significantly lighter than the workload he was contracted to carry out for TeleRead.)
And as for your comment about TeleRead's financial arrangement: That hasn't changed. TeleRead has always employed one editor and one senior writer, both of whom are compensated. As for the contributors who occasionally submit posts to TeleRead, they've historically been active and passionate members of the TeleRead community--not professional writers. And because the site is currently operating without a senior writer, we thought it would prudent to put out a call for new contributors. Or for that matter, old contributors: TeleRead fans who haven't written for the site lately, but who might appreciate learning that the new editor is still interested in hearing what they have to say.
Going forward, Len, please feel free to contact me for a comment before publishing posts about TeleRead's operations, its management, etc. My email address is deldridge at napco.com.
Dan, thanks for your comment! Let me note that you didn't challenge the accuracy of anything in my post:
* Paul Biba's resignation is "rather complicated", but you fail to say what happened--and a discussion "off the record" is as good as no discussion at all. The fact remains that Biba posted his resignation around 6 a.m. on Monday, and nothing more was posted to the site for a day. That indicates that his resignation was unexpected.
* I never stated any reason for Chris Meadows' departure--but I think that the timing of his departure, and where he went, speaks for itself.
* As for the point concerning payment of writers, despite your long-winded explanation, what I wrote is correct. Any writer who writes for a commercial website or publication and believes that they're doing so for publicity is a fool. Writing is a career, and professional writers should be paid.
So, given that everything I wrote is correct, and you took no issue at all with my characterization of you (which came directly from your own introductory post,) what, exactly, in my post was "incendiary", and for what reason would I want, or need, to pass it by you first? Of course, in your view, TeleRead isn't imploding, but it certainly appears that way from the outside.
Nevertheless, I wish you luck, and I have one suggestion: Convince NAPCO to pay your contributors. Otherwise, you may be doing all the writing by yourself for quite a while.
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