In the midst of the chaos surrounding the publishing industry, Castalia and Arkhaven soldier on. And while Arktoons hasn’t been publishing as many episodes as we’d like – mostly for technical reasons rather than lack of creator interest – and Arkhaven hasn’t been publishing much on the print side, that’s not an indication of either infrastructural weakness or a lack of commitment to the cause.
So, first of all, congratulations to the Arkhaven devs, creators, backers, and subscribers, as Arktoons hit 15 million views today. That’s a significant accomplishment and one that merits pointing out.
Second, our lead dev at Arktoons is going to be stepping back for a while for personal reasons, but we have a very capable replacement stepping forward to shoulder the load until his predecessor is able to return. The primary focus is going to shift, however, from the user to the creator, since that is the primary bottleneck at the present.
And third, due to our focus on building our own platforms, rest assured that the panic in the independent publishing industry will have zero effect on our activities, since we have built our own distribution platform and are in no way dependent whatsoever upon the now-defunct SPD Press Distribution or any of its competitors.
An email sent by Ingram Publisher Services to former clients of the shuttered SPD Press Distribution is causing more panic in the independent publishing community. The email directs publishers to fill out a form by April 17, providing Ingram with instructions about where to send their titles—at the presses’ own cost. But what has publishers most anxious is Ingram’s plan to “recycle” any inventory remaining at the Ingram warehouse after 60 days.
Given the current state of confusion and uncertainty about future distribution arrangements, some publishers worry that two months isn’t nearly enough time to complete the process of finding a new home for their titles. Others on social media pointed out that some of the 300,000 books that were at the SPD warehouse likely belong to publishers that are no longer operating, and, without anyone around to claim them, will simply be destroyed.
We’re very fortunate to have so many star performers in the greater community who are willing to contribute their time and their expertise, from programming to shipping, which is why we are not only going to survive, but thrive, as the current chaos continues to expand throughout the economies of the West.