Scribe has Fallen and Can't Get Up

(or: The Big Blog Reboot, 2023)

On May 25, I opened my computer, expecting to get to work writing copy for upcoming books from Scribe Media's authors.

I checked in on the company Slack feed, and discovered that most of the freelancers there were asking about a missed paycheck. I double checked my bank transactions -- sure enough, I hadn't been paid for the previous week.

That missed paycheck was my first inclination of anything wrong.

Only later (much later) did I discover that the company I worked for was in its death throes. The day before, on May 24, our much-lauded CEO, who clearly believes his own press, had posted some dreck on Linked In about why he's so excellent and why he has to work so much harder than everyone else shortly before firing the vast majority of Scribe's employees via Google Meet without any severance, PTO, or healthcare... and then resigning his position.

The few full-timers remaining (most of whom have since exited the company) tried valiantly to keep calm and carry on, but the iceberg of inevitability had already breached the hull.

In the past few weeks, much has been written and podcasted of Scribe's demise. I've heard many things that I can neither confirm nor deny. I wasn't privvy to the working of Scribe's Inner Circle. I was just a freelance copywriter. I showed up, wrote my copy, and moved on. And I LOVED my job.

I was not alone.

I can absolutely confirm that, once we learned the awful extent of how badly we were all screwed, the #1 topic freelancers worried about on the Scribe message boards was who would take care of their authors. No lie. Almost without exception, the writers wanted to continue working -- even if they didn't get paid -- at least long enough to contact their authors and let them know what was going on. Their commitment to excellence went far beyond their expectation for compensation.

"Don't contact your authors," freelancers were told. "We'll make sure they know what's going on. No one's going to miss their publishing deadline. Things will go on as usual."

All that was about as fact-based as the average AI-generated magazine article.

In fact, as of today -- more than three full weeks later, after Elvis has left the Scribe Media building (and the doors have been padlocked by the landlord, if reports are to be believed) -- many authors who had contracted with the company to do their books have not yet had anyone in a position of authority tell them the truth:

It's over.

It's been over for weeks.

In 2018, Entrepreneur Magazine rated Scribe the #1 Company Culture in America. The Scribe Culture Bible is still available online, for anyone who wants to compare their happy-dappy "we are family" words with their take-the-money-and-run actions.

Working at Scribe Media was, without exception, my favorite freelance gig ever. Every single person I had the pleasure of working with was an absolute pro, supportive, talented, and genuinely nice to work with. As I posted on LinkedIn: If you ever have the opportunity to hire anyone who worked for Scribe Media and who was summarily axed, you should jump at the chance.

In the past few weeks, as we've all been reeling at how quickly our airship went down, I have been endlessly amazed and inspired at the resilience my fellow Scribe-siblings have shown. 

They have finished courses and gained certification in new skills. They have dived head-first into entrepreneurship, opening their own businesses, reinventing themselves, and bringing tons of needed value, experience, and energy to the wild and wonderful world of hybrid publishing. And through it all, they have continued to worry about the authors who were caught up in the gill net of the collapse.

I predict that the fallout of the demise of Scribe Media will affect much of the hybrid publishing industry. I also predict some hefty lawsuits, as authors who have pre-paid get testy about little things like contract fulfillment, and former employees start to kick the tires of Texas' WARN Act. 

It's been a very long time since I've blogged. I've been doing lots of writing for other people, but put some of my own things (like this little slice of interwebs real estate) on hold.

Welp.

It's high time I fired the ol' girl up again. 

And I can think of no better way to kick things off than to introduce you to some of the fabulous things that former Scribe employees, freelancers, and authors are up to. I can't wait for you to meet some of the most driven, talented people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

Good things are coming...

Onward and upward, my pretties.