Have you heard? Well now you have! If you haven’t a clue, let me recap since one biased version or another is slapped across a gazillion blogs or pages by now.
Recap: Jill Noelle Noble left Noble Romance Publishing. Reasons?
She had em.
Hell, we all have em. We have em when we start a job and we have them when we end one. Reasons at this point, really don’t matter. They are vague, as they should be, and probably wouldn’t make a bit of difference to those involved.
The fact is, she left and like any person in the Publishing world, she had her friends, her hero-worshippers, and she had, most unfortunately, her enemies.
Again, don’t we all.
I was not and am not an enemy. I do have two books with Noble, but most importantly, I was the Cover Artist for their Young Adult line. Now I know there is a lot of bad out there on the internet concerning her right now . . . every single one of those people saying it, have reasons . . . some are personal reasons, some are business related, some are valid, and some are just plain dysfunctional.
Me? I had a very good business relationship with Jill. I sent in my bill each month (if I remembered or made the deadline) and I received payment. Sometimes I didn’t charge for things and she stepped up and said, “Hey, you need too.” She even offered to pay for my internet because I have to pay for bandwidth, etc. thanks to them crooked Verizon people. lol
She never tormented me like many Employers do. I’ve worked for some real devils too.
She did have me move things around or change them on my Covers, but that’s normal as Noble had certain standards. She did encourage me to work with Authors (so they could get covers they felt proud of) and sometimes, a few rare times when Authors weren’t so nice, I really hated that rule, even though I respected it and her reasons.
Did she email me right back or was she slow to respond at times? Yes, and at times things became lost in the slush pile but I assumed that was normal because she was running a pretty hefty company. Plus, Authors who are with Traditional Publishers once told me it took way longer for those people to get back to them.
Did I know she was leaving?
No and I was very upset. I felt like the office party got busted up and the end was now just beneath my heels. That’s how we feel when the party turns the music off. That’s how we feel when someone shouts LAST CALL.
I was surprised Jill left Noble. While I didn’t know anything really about her personal life (no more than her Bio told), I did know she tried to do everything, and lost a lot of sleep. I knew she had a background in Publishing, and for this reason I respected and pretty much hungered for any advice she threw my way.
That being said, if we stood in the same spot forever, we’d never get anywhere. And sometimes, no matter how much we bring to the table, we can only bring but so much. The eating is done, and the best thing we can do for ourselves and everyone else, is to move on . . . grow a little bit more someplace else.
I think that’s what Jill has done. And I know there are many bad things being said about her right now. And there are a lot of people who will grab onto this situation, and go after her, even though they have nothing to do with this, or truly care about those who are affected.
Was she perfect? Good grief, no. Is anyone? Should we even have to ask that?
Jill Noble was only human and yes, she made mistakes. I never saw mistakes but she wasn’t Wonder Woman. That I am sure. The difference between her making mistakes in a small publishing house verses those who make them in big publishing houses . . . .in bigger ones–usually there are hundreds of people around to catch it and fix it before anyone else knows.
Should she had hired more people or tossed the chores around to others more? Who knows if she even could?
Who knows what was going on which brings us back to, why did Jill leave?
We don’t truly know. It would be hard to know unless we were in her shoes or was faced with her dreams or hopeful opportunities.
Do Authors have a right to be mad? People don’t get mad over night no more than people just decide to pack up and leave. Things lead to whatever explodes and then, suddenly something happens to trigger the explosion.
So, this article isn’t saying people don’t have a right because obviously, some do. Some just want to be free from a road they see as a dead end. Noble will have to clean all that up now. (Glad I just did Covers.)
At the end of the day though, some people have no right to be mad. I bring this up, so those who do have grievances can stay clear of the Misery Junkies out there. Misery Junkies run hate blogs, and want to rage about everything and everything. Misery Junkies don’t want to take responsibility for their own lives and want to blame the world for their troubles. These people can hit the lottery and win one million dollars but will still bitch and moan that it wasn’t three million. So I pray, we all avoid the Misery Junkies.
And keep in mind, that the problem with this situation is, you have to now sort out WHO has real issues and WHO doesn’t. And, which is very hard for me . . . let Jill go. The future for her and Noble is uncertain but one thing is for sure . . . there are a ton of talented Authors there, and a ton of loyal readers, and a ton of possibilities waiting to happen.
So save the pitch forks for a roll in the hay, or to fight off a lusty Were, or to chase the monster in law out of the house . . . and hopefully soon, all of this will just blow over. *sighs*
I wish Jill the best, and I wish the Authors who have true grievances, the best. Hell, I wish everyone the best. (Except those Misery Junkies. *shivers* Maybe I will send Wyntress Nyght out into the real world so that she can slay those things once and for all? Hmmmm….
Casey Harris
aka C.H. Scarlett
Well said, Casey!
How you been Mz, Barbara? What books you promoting right now?
Casey, I appreciate you taking the time to write this. Thank you for the kind words and insight. I know my mom will more then appreciate it.
I know it must be hard for you, Natasha, to hear people say negative things about your mom. I think they forget she is your mom. I think they forget that they would do the same for their mom, or their kids would and probably have done the same for them. I hope people keep that in mind before they argue or insult further. You will have to keep in mind that some people do have issues, whether or not your mom could have done anything about them or anything different, those peeps just flat out have issues. It will be hard to see what is worth seeing though, with all of the venomous ugliness going around. For that, I feel for ya. Now would probably be a GREAT time to go on a vacation where there is no internet lol.
Thank you for this post, Casey. In a way, I wish I could say more regarding the business, why I left, and so on – and yet, on the other hand, I don’t want to keep reliving it. But regardless of how I feel, I will *never* do that. From a business standpoint, that would be totally inappropriate.and unprofessional.
Speaking only for myself, and from a personal perspective, I will say this experience has been interesting. I’ve learned a lot. Especially about a few of the men and women I’ve worked with over the last few years.
Ah, well…live and learn and look to the future. I’m keeping busy, taking time to regroup, getting organized, and exploring my options.
Casey, I know we’ll work together again some day. Until then, we keep in touch and we stay friends, And thank you for all you did while we were together at Noble.
I figured there was more to it, Jill because that is the way the world works. Nothing is simple. Nothing is black and white. People just forget that though, and unfortunately, its easy to sacrifice the scape goat. And even if you could spell out each and everything that went on or why things were the way they were, it wouldn’t do any good. Humans are real good at saying what others should do or shouldn’t do. They are good at saying how things should or shouldn’t be done. But we don’t really know unless we are in the person’s shoes. We just don’t know. And yes, I will hold ya to the working together again part. DON’T FORGET ME!!!!!!!!!!I I hope in the end everyone gets what they want, need, and deserve. Hopefully this will all pass soon.
People are mean and they suck! Sorry, but it’s the truth. I’ve been informed that they are still searching for ways to attempt damaging my mother and myself. Even though I don’t even communicate with the crazies. There have been two times that I have emailed them. Once asking them to take down the photo of my child and another in response to them email harassing myself. Other few times, they have simply been responses. I’m one of those people that believes, Right is Right and Wrong is Wrong. If you’re going to tell a story, tell the entire story. Not bits and pieces to make yourself look better, because then you end up looking stupid. I’m sure by now we are all aware of the Blogs being posted, (supposed) to be aimed towards NRP, but the way its looking, they are more interested in our personal lives. There are over 250 Authors with NRP and when I do a google search the same blogs come up from a select FEW authors with Hate Blogs, because those are harassing what they are. Not the good and the bad, only the bad. They share others blogs on their sites as well, but not everyone, only biased opinions. Casey, I value your blog. Times like this I wish I had one so I could ask, When is ENOUGH, ENOUGH? When do you quit harassing the ex employee and her daughter and focus more on what you claim to be the big upset? Seems to me they are more worried about what we are doing then addressing what they CLAIM to be real concerns.
A couple things to keep in mind, Tasha….you and I both know the truth. I lived it, and you had a front row seat and helped as much as you could. We have nothing to prove and we owe no explanations. Negativity breeds negativity, and the opposite is true, as well. I know at least three of the more vicious rumor mongers would be much better off spending their time studying their craft, attending a writing workshop (or 12) and hanging out with authors who are more successful than they are. I see no purpose in stalking you or me; it’s not like either one of us can do anything for them, or are in on any of the decision-making.
I was thinking of writing a detailed response to some of the crazier lies, but I’ve changed my mind. 1) they don’t deserve another minute of my time, and after I hit “enter” on this post, they wont get another minute of my time. 2) The professionals – especially many of the publishers who have walked in my shoes and dealt directly with certain kinds of authors – will see this for what it is. 99.99% of the e-publishing world hasn’t even heard of most of the authors who are stalking us and telling lies. Same with the readers. They are only important to themselves — legends in their own minds.
Happiness – yours and mine – is the absolute best revenge, and KARMA will take care of the rest. I intend to move forward, from this moment on, separating myself from “those people,” and focusing only on positive things and improving my skills, learning something new, volunteering my time to mentor a few people who I believe show potential, “giving back” because I know what it’s like to wish I had someone I could go to for advice and information. Most of all, I intend to have fun. Matobe get some sleep now and then.
Write! Freelance.
Try to ignore the garbage you hear. Focus on something else. Delete emails you know are going to upset you without reading them, if you have to. Everything will be okay. I promise.
I agree. Delete, Delete, Delete!
Ignore them Natasha. Its your mom and you know who she is. That is all that matters. And I bet, that is all that matters to your momma. *Big Hugs!*
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I’m just sad about this, and a little worried about the stories. Jill left her job, people do that. It would have been better if we’d all known it was going to happen and if we had a plan in place so we’d feel more prepared.
I wouldn’t mind getting my rights back, I’ll be following that to the letter.
I’m thankful to Jill for giving me a shot, though. Hopefully moving forward will bring her what she’s looking for. She will be missed.
I agree Clancy. Now we have to figure out what to do from here and how to go about it. I wish you tons of luck.