Cemetery Dance Talks With IDW’s Jeff Conner Scream/Press..future of Signed Limiteds

[carlosdetweiller]

so, bob.... I'm guessing your pissed off about that $4.00 shipping you paid to - sounds like mail fraud.

UPS fraud, I guess. But, yes, I consider the $4 I paid for shipping part of the dispute. Let's see.....$154.00 at 5% simple interest for 24 years comes to $338.80 per book ($184.80 interest + $154.00 principal). I bought two books so that is $669.60.

And I convinced a friend to buy a book. I'd like to collect for his book too. So that is 3 books for $1016.40.

So, Jeff "Mr. Publisher" Conner, if you are reading this would you please send me a check (or PayPal would be fine, but please use the "gift" option) for $1016.40 and we'll call it even. Thank you very much.

[Brian James Freeman]

I'm still asking some questions and will post the answers as soon as I have enough information to fully understand the situation.

Bob, can I share your email address and mailing address with him? Also, can you email me or PM me the name of your friend who ordered a copy? Thanks!

Best,
Brian

[carlosdetweiller]

Brian,
PM sent. This could get interesting!

[Brian James Freeman]

Brian,
PM sent. This could get interesting!

Got it, thank you!

[Patrick]

No response's since this A.M., not a good sign!!!! Guess the "Spin Doctor's" are burning the proverbial midnight oil!!!

Bill, why are you so impatient for a resolution to an issue in which you have no stake?

I sure love my S/L of SKELETON CREW.

Like Brice and Merlin, I am curious to hear the rest of the story on prepaid-but-never-delivered, limited edition of INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE.

[Brian James Freeman]

No response's since this A.M., not a good sign!!!! Guess the "Spin Doctor's" are burning the proverbial midnight oil!!!

Bill, he works a day job. He's been answering my questions. His Scream/Press files have been in storage a long time, but he's working to get me certain numbers I asked for, such as the number of prepaid preorders -- which I think certainly was not 1000 copies at $150 like has been posted in this thread. (As he said to me, if he had sold $150,000 worth of preorders, he could have published the book and had $100,000 in the bank to keep his company going!) I'm trying to find out what happened and how to get it resolved for anyone who didn't get their money back, which may not be resolved in 24 hours like you'd like, but I'll get some kind of solution for anyone I can, even if it takes 2 days -- or 3!

Brian

[Brian James Freeman]

He's working on a detailed explanation about how the book fell apart and how (I presume) that caused the end of his company, but I wanted to post some of his answers here in the meantime.

I asked about whether he had refunded any of the orders:

"Over the years (after a long dark period) I've issued refunds, and the S/P PO box never changed if anyone needed to reach me."

Obviously, Bob contacted him and did not get a refund, so I've asked about that.

I mentioned the $150,000 figure to him and he replied:

"If I'd taken in $150,000 I'd have put the book out and kept $100,000. The real figure is around $20,000. As I mentioned, I just ran out of operating capital due to production delays with the art. Reached my level of incompetence, as it were."

Based on my math, $20,000 would be around 135 copies pre-sold.

I asked if he had been expecting this sort of backlash:

"I really thought this matter had been resolved on a case-by-case basis over the past twenty years, so its distressing to know there are still collectors who didn't get resolution."

I asked if he wants to post and he replied that he's working on a detailed response "as thing come back to me--long-surpressed memories of failure and despair."

So for those of you who want the "inside story" of how a Limited Edition collapses and takes down a company with it, I think you're going to get what you want.

I don't think anyone in this thread other than Bob ordered the book, but if you did, please feel free to PM me or email me, as I'm making a list because I do want to make sure you get your refund.

I may not have realized all of this went on years ago (or I could have asked about it sooner), but since I'm in contact with him and I have a chance to help here, I'd like to do what I can for the collectors.

Brian

[Robert Fulman]

I am not a a lawyer, and that might all be true, but I imagine that there is some threshold of fraud in order for there to be criminal liability. The civil liability would be handled through the bankruptcy proceedings, but if a company literally has no assets, then nobody is going to get anything in return for their troubles. Rather than jumping directly to the fraud conclusion, I think it makes sense to go with the simpler explanation: he played a cash flow game and lost. As I said in my first post in this thread, it's fairly apparent that Jeff Conner was a bad businessman (or at least hit a string of bad luck 25 years ago) and possibly a bad publisher, but there's no need to disparage him as a criminal.

[Shannon]

I find all of this very interesting, as a young publisher myself. I don't think the issue was that people gave him money and didn't get their books. I think the main issue was that people sent him money and then he seemingly disappeared without a trace.

Brian Freeman, you are a gentleman and a scholar, thank you for taking the lead on this, and I'm sure everyone here, especially Bob, appreciates it.

[Room 217 Caretaker]

Brian

I agree with what Shannon said above in post #48. You helping out a collector to get possible resolution shows volumes for you as a gentleman and as a trusted publisher. Thank you for going above and beyond.

Ralph Mulleins

[killbourne]

Brian

I agree with what Shannon said above in post #48. You helping out a collector to get possible resolution shows volumes for you as a gentleman and as a trusted publisher. Thank you for going above and beyond.

Ralph Mulleins

Agreed.

[Randall Flagg]

The decision was made to archive several posts and resume this thread with the request that members post relevant comments and resist the urge to do a "public thrashing" and gang up on someone, or make comments that are inflammatory and don't contribute to the discussion.
I like to think of our members and board as being civil, and want to avoid being a "flame board".

[carlosdetweiller]

"A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."
----Mary Poppins----

[Brian James Freeman]

I also have that INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE offer, but I never sent for it. I was digging through my SCREAM PRESS correspondence and found a book list with the zipper SKELETON CREW offered for $1000. I put a pencil mark next to it but never bought it.

I think it's awesome that you still have a folder of small press correspondence from the 1980s! That in itself is really cool. Of course, the SKELETON CREW would have been nice, too.

Brian

[Brian James Freeman]

I'm also hoping he'll share more about what brought down his company. This is far from the first time a small press has fallen apart, even one that had been doing well in years previous, and I guess there is a side of me that hopes to learn those lessons and avoid them in the future.

Most of all, I want to make sure the collectors who are owed refunds get those refunds. I obviously had nothing to do with Scream/Press back in the day, but since I happen to work at a place that is buying books from IDW (where Jeff is working now), I've been in contact with him and I'd like to see this through as far as I can.

Brian

[Randall Flagg]

Thank you Brian. There is no requirement that you take this on and try to resolve a decades old problem; yet you are trying to help. Although I have no money owed me by SP, I certainly understand someone such as Bob being bitter about the situation. Hopefully there will be a fair resolution for Bob and any/everyone else who paid in advance and were never reimbursed.
I suggest that any other members here who paid in advance contact Brian via PM with your purchase info, and contact information. Feel free to post about your experience with SP.

[Brian James Freeman]

Although I have no money owed me by SP, I certainly understand someone such as Bob being bitter about the situation. Hopefully there will be a fair resolution for Bob and any/everyone else who paid in advance and were never reimbursed.

Absolutely, I think that's the most important thing here. I suspect I would also be bitter. I mean, I'm still a tad bit bitter toward a local electrical/plumbing company that ripped me off when I bought my home six years ago, so I'll let you know how I feel about that 20 years.

Brian

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

I must honestly say I never had any problems with Scream Press. I have heard the stories over the years, but all the books I bought from them (all Matheson except for SC), always arrived eventually. Of course, that was just my personal experience with them. I recall them changing the titles of some of the books before they were published, but that's all I remember. It was, after all, a few decades ago.

[Patrick]

Brian, thanks for stepping in as mediator. It's a nice thing you're doing.

First, I look forward to Bob letting us know the final resolution of his issue and whether he is satisfied with that resolution.

Second, if Mr. Conner chooses to share the story, I'm interested in reading his view of what happened with Scream/Press.

[Brian James Freeman]

Jeff Conner asked me to post this. He isn't really "on" the Internet, but he has an email address that he has included for further questions and for any past customers to get in touch with him.

------------------------------------------- From Jeff Conner ---------------------------------

Responding to posts about the Interview with the Vampire failed book.

Making me out to be some sort of small press version of Bernie Madoff is to anoint me with powers that are beyond my grasp, unfortunately. If I had really raked in an easy $150,000 via pre-orders, it would have been easier to produce the book for $50,000, enjoy the subsequent accolades, and then put the rest in the bank. If only that had been the case! Scream/Press would still be alive today. No, the actual truth lies in the old joke: If you want to make a small fortune in publishing, it’s best to start with a large one.

Clearly it’s my lack of communication that is at fault for such rumors and I take full responsibility for that. Here is the full story of what happened for those who are curious.

As many long-time observers know, Scream/Press germinated after a visit to the 1981 World Fantasy Con in Berkeley, CA.; specifically an impulsive response to the criminal lack of Dennis Etchison titles, and in general the sad state of current small press books (except for the Don Grant and Underwood-Miller releases). In 1982 Scream/Press debuted Etchison’s THE DARK COUNTRY at the 1982 World Fantasy Con. The book subsequently won several awards. So this book thing seemed pretty easy, which validates the notion that you learn more from failure than you do from success. (I had a full-time job at the time, being a partner in a record store in Santa Cruz, where I was also writing for the local newspaper and doing other fun stuff, like getting married.)

Cut to ten years later. What had been a joy is now a duty, meaning that the work involved in the day-to-day running of the press has taken over from Scream’s initial goal—namely collaborating with cool writers. Now it was a “business,” and if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that I am terrible at business. But I didn’t want partners (my last experience with them had not ended well) and foolishly persisted in the belief that I could do it all myself.

The small press landscape had changed quite a bit, reflecting both reading trends and the general economy. Due to budget cuts the libraries were no longer ordering like they used to (removing a significant and reliable source of revenue), the horror boom collapsed under its own weight (Scream had some success in selling paperback rights to NYC mass market publishers), and the independent books stores and specialty dealers were getting hard and harder to work with (translation: they were broke, too).

This was the tipping point: either give it all up or double down and get more serious. Having had good experiences with Ramsey Campbell’s SCARED STIFF, R.C. Matheson’s SCARS, John Shirley’s HEATSEEKER, and Michael Blumlein’s THE BRAINS OF RATS, I figured that instead of going from book to book in random fashion, a slate of titles would provide a better chance to surviving the ups and down of the mercurial marketplace. Jumping in with both feet, I leased a professional Compugraphic typesetting station and taught myself how to write code in order to use it. (This was so I could have more control over production. Professional typesetting was expensive, and desktop publishing wasn’t up to the level of quality that I wanted—professional typesetting software has since become competitively priced and easier to use.)

INTERVIEW was going to be one of those projects, along with DARKER by Richard Matheson, an expanded version of Campell’s INCARNATE, a special version of NIGHT OF THE HUNTER by Davis Grubb, and a Bill Relling Jr. collection. Did I bite off more than I could chew? Clearly, for none of those projects ever saw the light of day. Why? I ran out of money and lost my mojo.

Desperate, I had solicited pre-orders, something I hated doing (risky), but which had proven successful in the past. Though I was working harder than ever, it soon became clear that good intentions and ambitious plans were not going to save the day. I had to admit defeat and quietly start refunding orders as best as I could, while looking for a real job. Over the ensuing years I’d issue refunds as well as I could, but in hindsight, I obviously could have been more diligent. There was a denial syndrome there, for sure.

The specific plans for INTERVIEW called for a corrected version of the text (yes, there are a handful of typos in the first edition, which I had carefully proofread). I spoke with Anne Rice exactly twice, once at a book signing, and later on the phone to clear up an inconsistency in the text. My big vision was to have hand-silkscreened color plates bound into the book, like in the olden days. Jeff Jones did some original pen & ink art (small pieces) and I’d hooked up with a fantastic serigraph printer to handle the coloring and printing. He produced some amazing test prints that really blew my mind. Wow! Was this book going to be great! But it was not to be. That expensive lease was crushing me, chasing down bookstores for payment was taking a lot of time, and my wife wanted to have a kid, with or without me. And thus a debacle was born.

I hated it when small press publishers “cry poor” and I vowed not to be one of them. But the fact is that this was always a hobby, not a real business, yet it turned into a half-way real one with real world problems. Good intentions are not a valid excuse (I hear some place is paved with them), but that was the motivation, not the desire to cash in. I really just wanted to make an impact on the quality of books in the small press world, which I like to believe we did. But on the money side—the metric that most normal people use to measure success—it was a different story. (Yes, as some people know, I really did lose money on the King book.)

INTERVIEW was never a cash-in proposition. That book really had a powerful effect on me at the time and it was beyond comprehension that there wasn’t a limited edition of it. The Scream version was going to honor Anne Rice’s achievement, not just make money off her name. I failed at that, and if I still owe you restitution, please contact me immediately at j.jeffconner@ca.rr.com so I can make it right.

Thanks -- Jeff Conner

[Shannon]

I enjoyed reading that letter.

[Brian James Freeman]

I enjoyed reading that letter.

There is some really good advice for you in there given your new venture. Hundreds of small presses have tried to make a go of it in the last 20 years or so, and very few have succeeded. Overextending yourself is a real problem every press ends up facing at one point or another if you're not careful. So maybe this will help you take your first project, which I know is going to be very successful, and carefully plan where to go from there!

Brian

[Roseannebarr]

No response's since this A.M., not a good sign!!!! Guess the "Spin Doctor's" are burning the proverbial midnight oil!!!

Bill, he works a day job. He's been answering my questions. His Scream/Press files have been in storage a long time, but he's working to get me certain numbers I asked for, such as the number of prepaid preorders -- which I think certainly was not 1000 copies at $150 like has been posted in this thread. (As he said to me, if he had sold $150,000 worth of preorders, he could have published the book and had $100,000 in the bank to keep his company going!) I'm trying to find out what happened and how to get it resolved for anyone who didn't get their money back, which may not be resolved in 24 hours like you'd like, but I'll get some kind of solution for anyone I can, even if it takes 2 days -- or 3!

Brian

Now that all this is brought up, I remember ordering 10 copies of Interview with a Vampire with Ann Rise. I paid full price and contacted them numerous times. I even tried calling Tom Cruze and asked him where my books were. Please send be $1500 ( I can then purchase SK books!!!!!). Maybe it was 20 books. I dont have my receipts. I was 12 when all this happened. My lawn care $$ was really rolling in back then!



Very interesting story though and wouldn't be neat if after all these years some of you really got some $$$ back!

[Brian James Freeman]

I was 12 when all this happened. My lawn care $$ was really rolling in back then!

You were a MUCH better lawn mower than I was then! HA!

Brian

[Randall Flagg]

That was a fascinating, and sad read. I am glad that Conner has elaborated on the issues that resulted in SP's failure. Presuming he reimburses those who he owes for advance payment(s), then he deserves a second chance.
Thanks Brian for facilitating this.