Those of you who have been around for a while will know that Hard Shell Word Factory was a pioneer of ebook publishing/retailing founded in the mid-90s. Hard Shell had gone decidedly quiet over the last few years and I was beginning to wonder if they would make a successful transition into the brave new work of epublishing that they had helped to create.Now it seems that Mundania Press (parent company of Phaze) has acquired Hard Shell Word Factory. I will admit to personally having some mixed feelings about this. But this seems to be a period of industry consolidation. I hope that Hard Shell will remain as an imprint and continue the kind of business practice standards set by founder Teri Lea Chandler and long time owner Mary Z. Wolf. However one also hopes that their cover art might improve a little....
2 comments:
I remember some really wonderful out-of-the-box reads from Hard Shell in the early years. If I ever find another battery for my Palm IIIc I'll be able to re-read 'em.
Wow, I used to dream of getting accepted by Hard Shell when I first discovered e-publishing (their office was practically one of my neighbors), but by then they'd already put the kibosh on submissions.
Damn, I hate seeing great little companies gobbled up by larger competitors. Things always change, and usually not for the better.
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