The text of the press release follows:

Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. and Start Publishing are pleased to announce the acquisition of Night Shade Books, an award-winning independent publishing house dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Founded by Jason Williams in 1997, who was joined by partner Jeremy Lassen shortly after, Night Shade Books has over 250 titles in its catalog, including some renowned genre fiction—written by multiple nominees and winners of Shirley Jackson, Bram Stoker, World Fantasy, Nebula, and Hugo awards. In 2003, Night Shade Books won the World Fantasy Special Award for Professional Achievement. Both Williams and Lassen will continue to be with Night Shade in a consulting capacity.

The agreement was reached following a spirited and public debate among authors, agents, fans, and publishers, which resulted in a deal approved by Night Shade’s authors. “This agreement brings together Night Shade’s distinctive editorial voice and Skyhorse’s business savvy and market reach, for the benefit of all involved, including authors and the great community of SF/F fans,” says Michael J. Martinez, author of The Daedalus Incident, slated to be the first title from the new Night Shade. “I’m honored that my first book will help kick off the next chapter in Night Shade’s ongoing story.”

“We’re absolutely thrilled to have added Night Shade to our various other imprints and look forward to working with Start Publishing to build it into the strong science fiction imprint that we feel confident it can become,” said Tony Lyons, Publisher of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

“Nightshade has been at the forefront of science fiction and fantasy for years. Start Publishing, alongside Skyhorse Publishing, welcomes the opportunity to provide Night Shade and its authors a platform to continue that tradition,” added Michael Maher, CEO of Start Media.

“I am very excited to have found a buyer that is such a good fit for Night Shade, one that will be able to take us further than I was able to on my own. I look forward to building up Night Shade into the powerhouse of science fiction and fantasy for years to come,” said Night Shade founder Jason Williams. Night Shade had net sales of roughly $1.5 million for the 2012 calendar year.

The fate of books by authors who did not sign the deal and assign their rights to Skyhorse/Start is not entirely clear, but we will continue to report as we learn new information.

Tony Lyons of Skyhorse says, “We look forward to publishing 10-20 new books a year, to re-promoting the Underland backlist, and to finding new readers for these terrific books.”

Skyhorse (a print publisher best known for non-fiction titles) and Start (a digital publisher) have recently committed to building a genre list; they are also in negotiations to acquire at least part of the Night Shade books inventory. For more information, see the Underland Press website.

For details, see the announcement at Night Shade Books.

By now most of you had have probably heard that Night Shade is in the process of being bought out.  As many of you know, for a long time, Night Shade has been struggling financially. In evaluating our long-term outlook, Jason and I determined that those struggles would continue for an indefinite period of time. During that time, authors would continue to be paid late, and Night Shade’s reputation would continue to be dragged through the mud because of late payments, which would in turn make the day-to-day process of publishing books in a profitable manner all the harder.

In looking for a buyer, our first priority was to find someone who would make sure all of our authors got paid in full.  That was my first priority. I have always promised that while we might be late, authors would eventually get all the money that was due to them. Our second priority was to find buyers who could do justice to the diverse and talented stable of writers that we have at Night Shade. And we wanted someone who would ensure that books under contract would come out and be sold and promoted well, and that books already out would continue to be sold and promoted.

Those were our requirements, and we feel that we found buyers who could fulfill those requirements. One of THEIR requirements is to make back their investment. And part of that is to put some things in place that authors need to sign off on.  I always knew this would be difficult, but Night Shade worked closely with SFWA to ensure that the terms our buyers were asking for were fair and equitable to the authors involved. And frankly, this is the best I could do. I tried very hard, and this was the best solution I could come up with to ensure that ALL authors are paid ALL of the money they are owed.

Let me be clear.  Under the terms of this deal, all current and back royalties will be paid at the originally contracted rate.  All outstanding advances and sub-rights monies owed will be paid at the originally contracted rate.

Let me also be clear… the buyers need a certain amount of the authors to sign off on the deal, or the deal doesn’t happen.  I can’t say exactly what will happen if the deal doesn’t go through, but if it doesn’t, there will long period of uncertainty, for Night Shade, and for our authors.

I also want to be frank. There are many authors in the community who do not like Night Shade — some for reasons that are perfectly legitimate (we paid them late, or still owe them money, or their book didn’t sell enough copies), and some for reasons that continue to baffle me. I wish this was not the case. I have always tried hard to be open and friendly and honest, and I have always tried to do right by my authors.  And even when authors are, IMO, irrationally angry, or publicly lambast me for things that I do not think I have done, I have never taken shots at them or contradicted them. I have stoically accepted criticism of Night Shade, and of myself personally, and as a rule, do not respond to those criticisms publicly.

Many of these people are using this deal as a whipping rod, publically lambasting Night Shade, in public forums and in private. That’s fine too. I simply ask that you view their opinions in the proper context. Are those opinions about the relative merits of the deal, or is there a personal axe that is being ground?

I have lost friends, because business gets in the way of what used to be a solid personal relationship. This simple fact has caused me grief that I can not begin to convey to you. I wish I could make it up, in some way, to all the people who feel that I have let them down. Partly, that is what this deal is about. Making sure my friends and former friends get taken care of financially.

This business has taken a huge toll on me personally, professionally, and financially. But I have never asked the genre community for sympathy, because it as a road that I chose to go down, of my own free will.  Right now, I’m asking for sympathy, and I’m asking for help.

This deal is the last chance I have to keep my promise. This is the last chance I have to make sure that ALL OF MY AUTHORS GET PAID ALL OF THE MONEY THEY ARE OWED.  Right now the deal is in the hands of the individual authors, and their agents. I am asking you. Please. Sign off on this deal. Help me make sure all my authors get paid.

If you are one of my authors(or their agent), you have my direct email address and phone number. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you might have, and if you want the view of an in impartial group who is intimately familiar with the details of this deal, please contact SFWA.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Lassen

Co-Owner,

Night Shade Books

From SFWA.org, “As of Apr 3, 2013, Night Shade Books is no longer a qualifying venue. This action refers to Night Shade Books, the company owned by Jeremy Lassen and Jason Williams. We are aware of current negotiations by Night Shade with other companies to continue the brand name under other ownership. If in the future that new company meets SFWA requirements, we will be happy to consider it becoming a SFWA qualifying market.”

Link to the Publishers Weekly article.

iO9 also published a portion of the letter sent by Night Shade Books to authors.

See the complete article with developments in the May 2013 issue of Locus.

With this acquisition, Amazon now has a stake in all the major social cataloging sites, with its own site Shelfari and a minority ownership share of LibraryThing.

Reactions to the announcement have been mixed, with some Goodreads users excited by the possibilities of the partnership, and many others  worried about potential changes to the site.

For more, see the announcement of the sale at Goodreads (and the hundreds of comments from users).

While details on the exact nature of the disagreement remain confidential, insiders say that Barnes & Noble is trying to use its status as the last major retail book chain to gain more favorable terms, including steeper discounts on book prices and charging higher prices for co-op advertising and advantageous in-store placement.

For more, see the article in the New York Times.

The imprints drew criticism for what SFWA called ”onerous and unconscionable” contract terms, including acquisition of all rights for the duration of copyright, no payment of advances against royalties, and requiring authors to bear the costs of production and marketing through deductions against sales.

Under the new terms, authors may choose between a no-advance profit-sharing model where net proceeds are split 50/50, with most set-up and marketing costs borne by the publisher, or a more traditional advance-plus-royalty model, with 25% net royalties, and all set-up and marketing costs paid by the publisher.

Under either model, the imprints still require worldwide rights in all languages for the length of copyright, subject to “out of print” clauses “which provides for the author to request reversion of his or her rights three years after publication if the title fails to sell 300 copies in the 12 months immediately preceding the request.” The imprints no longer demand all subsidiary rights.

The complete statement from Random House can be read on the digital imprint website: atrandom.com.

Random House’s other imprint continue to be qualified markets.