To those who have submitted and have been wondering about the status of your submittal, or wrote to inquire about whether we will be publishing again, but to whom I haven’t yet had a chance to respond: thanks for your messages from these past several months. I apologize for the delay; it was unavoidable as I became very ill last March and was eventually diagnosed with a rare cancer in May. It is stage 4 and is not curable but I have been responding to treatment and in the last few weeks have had enough energy to finally try to pick up the threads of the Press. My health had been deteriorating for a long time prior to that and the prognosis is not great, but it looks as if I likely have a few years left so long as my body tolerates the medications.
Going forward, we will quite obviously be operating at a much reduced output and things will look a little different. For instance, our Bookstore will be moving to Bookshop.org – both for the convenience of customers and so I can concentrate on our obligations to our Writers. I cannot say yet when we may open submissions back up. We are still working with those whose work had been accepted before I became ill. I am committed to handling each one in turn, and that will take time.
As I figure out how this new normal works, I will post updates. You can follow this blog and get an email when that happens. Thanks again for your understanding, kind thoughts, and interest. Be well, and believe in yourself. If you can’t wait, please do withdraw your submittal. I know you will find the right home for your work. But for those who do decide to wait, I do read every submission, and I will respond.
For those who wonder why I don’t just throw in the towel, it’s simple: I love books. I’m a voracious reader, and I read relatively quickly. But more than that: I have an obligation to those who have placed their trust in me, in Propertius Press. We’ve done some amazing, wonderful work here – our books win prizes and receive great reviews. Our Authors, designers, editors, and production folks are just the best. Turning out books with them is a thrilling experience. I’m just so proud of all of them. So I’m going to keep doing it, for as long as I realistically can.
And yes, there will be a plan for when it’s time to stop. Our contracts run for three or five years – after that, unless the author decides to keep going and renew, all copyrights return, and the author is free to go elsewhere. It’s always been that way. But if something happens and I need to step away, there will be a responsible party to contact each author and get things taken care of. This was a wake up call, in a sense.
I look forward to turning out a few books this year, and next, and hopefully the next. Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with us. More soon 🙂
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