Noble Romance Publishing

I don't know - I'm pretty sure not, but I don't know. I think that with the happenings this week you would be on firm ground to offer elsewhere. I haven't read their sub guidelines - are they "no simultaneous submissions"?

Statement received here.

Is Jill Noble also known as Jill N. Noble-Shearer? I received an unsolicited email last night from a Jill N. Noble-Shearer, an e-pub agent with the L. Perkins agency, wanting to talk to me about representation.

Don't need representing, but I'm curious if this is the same person.

Nevermind, I found my answer from the agency's website. It is her.

http://agentinthemiddle.blogspot.com/

Posted Friday, August 10, 2012:

So I am thrilled to report that Jill Noble, the founder and former Editorial Director of Noble Romance, will be joining us as our senior ePub agent. As many of you know, she is an epub author herself, and as an editor and epublisher, she really knows this marketplace inside out. We are all so lucky to have her on our side!

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madmumbler said:

Is Jill Noble also known as Jill N. Noble-Shearer? I received an unsolicited email last night from a Jill N. Noble-Shearer, an e-pub agent with the L. Perkins agency, wanting to talk to me about representation.

Don't need representing, but I'm curious if this is the same person.

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It looks likely, given the statement from Faith Fredin on page 3 of this thread (posted by Erastes) that calls her "Jill Shearer" instead of "Jill Noble."

ETA whoops! you'd gotten your own answer in the time it took me to type.

LOL Thanks, Laylah. Yeah, I posted first from my iPad, then did more digging once I was vertical and on the laptop. LOL

Some payments are getting sent, but if half of the reports about Gombart's patronizing approach to handling authors are correct, well, pass. I don't need an editor to 'teach me how to behave'.

Wow. Really? That would definitely make me take a step back.

madmumbler said:

Is Jill Noble also known as Jill N. Noble-Shearer? I received an unsolicited email last night from a Jill N. Noble-Shearer, an e-pub agent with the L. Perkins agency, wanting to talk to me about representation.

Don't need representing, but I'm curious if this is the same person.

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Interesting.

Not sure whether this is ethical or not; poaching off your old authors for your new boss.

Gonna have to think this one over.

Sheryl Nantus said:

Not sure whether this is ethical or not; poaching off your old authors for your new boss.

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I share your concern. It definitely seems iffy to me--though I wonder whether these contacts played a role in her being taken on at the Perkins Agency.

I'm hearing from a number of Noble authors who have had and are having major problems--shoddy production, lack of communication (especially with the current CEO), poor sales, inaccurate royalties, lack of payment. Most of the authors say they are owed royalties and are still waiting for payment.

- Victoria

- Victoria

I've never had any dealings with either Noble or that agency. I'm unagented and see no reason to look for one at this time.

It's just I always start seeing red flags (real or not, I suppose) when I'm contacted by someone in an industry position that is usually the one inundated by queries from authors. Usually (not always) means they are new or something's shady.

Yes, a strong warning to newbie authors, don't jump at something just because you're a newbie author. No one "needs" an e-pub agent.

Sheryl Nantus said:

Interesting.

Not sure whether this is ethical or not; poaching off your old authors for your new boss.

Gonna have to think this one over.

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Correct me if I"m wrong, but didn't she refer to those very same authors she's now soliciting as trash via FB not so long ago?

And yes, Jill Noble-Shearer is Jill Noble. I've also seen her call herself Jill Shearer on and off in the last couple of years.

victoriastrauss said:

I'm hearing from a number of Noble authors who have had and are having major problems--shoddy production, lack of communication (especially with the current CEO), poor sales, inaccurate royalties, lack of payment. Most of the authors say they are owed royalties and are still waiting for payment.

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I've been chatting with a Noble author and she's said that this new CEO has told authors he plans to 'teach them how to behave'.

He also has zip for cred in publishing. Ran an Import/Export business.

I seriously doubt he 'gets' publishing at all. Authors aren't like the vendors you can jerk around with, delaying payment ad nauseum or 'punishing' for not toeing whatever 'line' you decide to impose. Any author who can get published at one house can easily find another house ready to take them. I also suspect they don't know how to find new talent, and I can bet they're not going to be getting new books from their more established authors. Not after this rolling train wreck.

As I posted in the other thread, it was VERY satisfying to be able to send an agent a reply along the lines of, "Sorry, but your services do not meet my needs at this time."



Irony goooooood.

madmumbler said:

As I posted in the other thread, it was VERY satisfying to be able to send an agent a reply along the lines of, "Sorry, but your services do not meet my needs at this time."



Irony goooooood.

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Authors tend to remember every slight they've been dealt. I suspect Ms. Noble-Shearer may live to regret her 'trash' comment on FB. A lot of people saw it and saved it for posterity.

And even those of us who didn't see it or weren't personally involved remember the kerfluffle. Does she not know Google-fu? That her words will live on in infamy (literally)?

I remember I got an offer from them, but the contract was poor and I just didn't feel right about it. Glad I went with my gut. It's a shame what they're doing to their authors. And man, Jill Noble is an agent now? That's a twist.

Wow, all interesting stuff. I actually did hear back from Noble on my submission--my original query sent in February--asking for a full, a full Jill requested (but never acted on) and I sent months ago. Apparently Jill didn't update their queue or something to indicate I'd already been contacted.

I responded with a polite decline and an explained exactly what happened to me and why I assumed my submission was dead. I told the editor I had already sold a salvageable part (submission was a short story collection) to someone else and thus no longer had the original product referenced in my query available. She sent a very nice response back.

I do feel sorry for the innocent, hard-working employees of Noble who you never know may land somewhere else.

So it's my ugly business with Noble that brought me out of lurker-ville on this board. I mostly write adult romances (erotic romances) but when I wanted to pub a YA series, I wanted a pub that also publishes adult content... thinking about making lasting relationships, blah, blah, blah. When i submitted my YA book to them, it was also accepted by two other publishers, but I chose Noble because they seemed to be the best fit.

*sigh* Where to start?? My book came out on their site at the beginning of December of last year and it took me until the end of January to get them to post it to other sites. My most recent royalty statement came in today and as of December of last year, I have made a grand total of $19.84... which means I still have $80.16 to make to earn out my $100 advance. To help put this into perspective... I'm an RWA PAN member. My last release earned me enough in three weeks to make PAN status (I was eligible before, this just FYI for comparison). I got great reviews, so I just chalked it up to YA not being as popular as erotic romance.

The thing is, I did everything I could to market the book and my emails to admin got ignored. I tried participating in YA blog hops... one even asked everybody to list their books at $1.99 or less. I emailed asking about this and I got ignored. This was all before Jill left. Since Book 2 (and book 3 for that matter) was already drafted and my original contract gives Noble ROFR, I had no choice to submit to them.

Then I hear nothing, then Jill leaves, then the authorized author loop gets shut down, then Jill starts calling people names. BIG f'n mess.

The authors that got left out in the cold created a new (private) author loop to help share whatever information we learned about what was going on at Noble. Several people (including myself) sent certified letters asking for our rights back. We were told that the new CEO was "ignoring" such requests and he was going to teach us to behave.

When still hadn't heard anything on my submission, I emailed for a status (I didn't want the new CEO to use an excuse that he didn't know about it to require me to wait another 90 days for them to decide). I was told he didn't even know I existed (which was proof that he hadn't acknowledged my certified letter). But that he would look into it.

Then, one of the other authors gets a letter from their attorney (not going to say who or why) but in the letter there was a screen shot of chat from our private author loop (a chat I had started by the way, so my name was on it). This means he had a mole in our private group (and apparently doesn't care about Yahoo's TOS).

To make a long story short. I finally got a contract offer for my sequel. I emailed him my issues with it, and then for three weeks I emailed for a status. He finally replied that we were so far apart in what they were offering that he didn't think we should bother. Um, really? Isn't contract negotiation a part of the process?? It was like pulling teeth to get him to try to talk about it. Oh, but he did make a point to tell me they had the right to my book, that my modifications to the contract were rejected, and that I was to sign the one provided. Oh, hell no. I told him if he wouldn't even try to negotiate with me, then I was tabling this series.

He is clueless. In fact, I even asked about offering the first book in the series for free when the second one releases. His words were, "I do not believe at all in the effectiveness or appeal of any free market, sales and marketing approach." Really? Then how come one of my other publishers listed the first book in my paranormal series as free on Amazon yesterday and it's already ranked at #14 in Erotica?

My advice... stay away from Noble. We can always hope things will improve... and nobody knows the future, but as of today, I would highly advise against signing anything with them.

MandyHarbin said:

Oh, but he did make a point to tell me they had the right to my book, that my modifications to the contract were rejected, and that I was to sign the one provided. Oh, hell no. I told him if he wouldn't even try to negotiate with me, then I was tabling this series.

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That's not how ROFR works. There's no need to table the series altogether. If you failed to reach an agreement with Noble, then you're free to do whatever you want with the series, free and clear. I mean, unless there's some weird clause in the ROFR part of the contract. Right of first refusal means just that, they have a right to see the book, to open negotiations, but if they don't provide the contract you want, you don't have to say yes. You only have to let them look at it first, not give it to them if you don't want to.

I'm no lawyer, but really, unless they have some warped version of ROFR clause, there's no way you have to do anything further, you've fulfilled the clause by offering it to them and offering to negotiate.

Wow. I'm so glad I've watched this thread. At one point I was considering Noble. I'm glad I didn't.

Fae Sutherland said:

That's not how ROFR works. There's no need to table the series altogether. If you failed to reach an agreement with Noble, then you're free to do whatever you want with the series, free and clear. I mean, unless there's some weird clause in the ROFR part of the contract. Right of first refusal means just that, they have a right to see the book, to open negotiations, but if they don't provide the contract you want, you don't have to say yes. You only have to let them look at it first, not give it to them if you don't want to.

I'm no lawyer, but really, unless they have some warped version of ROFR clause, there's no way you have to do anything further, you've fulfilled the clause by offering it to them and offering to negotiate.

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Yes, this. I have never seen a ROFR clause in a contract that says you HAVE to give them the book. It just means you have to give them a chance to offer on it first, but you are not obligated to give them the book if they offer.

Have a lawyer look at that clause to confirm, of course.

I just got a request through a listserve I belong to for a full on a mss that isn't a romance but it's YA. I'm glad I found this thread. I was confused about why they wanted to look at mine since there is no romance in it. I'll let the people in the listserve know about their issues. Thanks for the updates.

Stacia Kane said:

Yes, this. I have never seen a ROFR clause in a contract that says you HAVE to give them the book. It just means you have to give them a chance to offer on it first, but you are not obligated to give them the book if they offer.

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I've seen many small press contracts where the option clause has more ambiguous language--the publisher doesn't claim right of first refusal, but right of first offer. In this case, the clause often doesn't provide an option for the author to refuse if an offer is made, the implication being that if the publisher does make an offer, the author is bound by it. Often the language will include something to the effect that the new offer will be "on the same terms and conditions" as the old, giving the author no opportunity to negotiate better terms for a second book.

Whether this would stand up to challenge is an open question, but the publisher can certainly claim it will and make life unpleasant for an author who wants to get free.

- Victoria

victoriastrauss said:

I've seen many small press contracts where the option clause has more ambiguous language--the publisher doesn't claim right of first refusal, but right of first offer. In this case, the clause often doesn't provide an option for the author to refuse if an offer is made, the implication being that if the publisher does make an offer, the author is bound by it. Often the language will include something to the effect that the new offer will be "on the same terms and conditions" as the old, giving the author no opportunity to negotiate better terms for a second book.

Whether this would stand up to challenge is an open question, but the publisher can certainly claim it will and make life unpleasant for an author who wants to get free.

- Victoria

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Thanks, Victoria! Good to know.

Again, MandyHarbin, have an attorney take a look to be certain.

It's possible, too, that the clause may just apply to sequels, so...see above. And best of luck to you.