I have been a fan of Nobrow and their picture book imprint Flying Eye Books for a good few years now. I have reviewed a number of their titles (you can find the reviews here and here). I have written about them for the Federation of Children’s Book Groups here. I have interviewed their authors and illustrators and championed their books for years as they produce works of quality and beauty that catch the eye of readers of all ages. I have used them to turn reluctant readers on to the joys of reading many times over the years.

Over the past few days on twitter I found several threads accusing them of exploiting new and upcoming authors & illustrators and acting in a less than ethical manner against other small press publishers. Several years ago at a publisher event in London I was chatting to a publicist and mentioned that I was a fan of their work and the publicist (off the record) asked if I had heard the rumours about their low payment of creators and claiming rights to works created by authors and illustrators they published. I said that I had not and thereafter dug around but was never able to find anything about this so I marked it as unproven and moved on.

Below is a screenshot of an email allegedly sent by Alexander Latsis in 2013

Source: https://twitter.com/deadtreesanddye/status/1253762564032520195

Illustrator Lucy Haslam has been creating an epic twitter thread about ELCAF (the East London Comic Art Festival) and Nobrow. It is definitely worth a read for detailed background information about what has been happening for a number of years.

👀 ….what does…elc*f…spend their money on…..

— Lucy Haslam (@LucyJHaslam) April 22, 2020

Illustrator Eleni Kalorkoti tweeted this about an offer from Nobrow in 2018:

For what it’s worth, here‘s an offer I received from Flying Eye/Nobrow in Nov 2018. It was not hard to turn down as they were offering a total of £3000 for a somehow mysteriously unquantifiable number of illustrations. pic.twitter.com/Hl8basB5ub

— Eleni Kalorkoti (@elenikalorkoti) April 25, 2020

This discussion was not a total pile-on, several creators spoke up positively about their interactions with Nobrow, including CILIP Kate Greenaway winning illustrator William Grill:

I can only speak from my point of view, I’ve had a positive experience working with them and feel this thread has gotten a little carried away along with some misinformation. Good that you’re concerned for artists rights but I don’t think this is all completely fair or balanced

— William Grill (@williamgrill) April 26, 2020

Astrocat creator Ben Newman:

Is publishing easy to get into and make a living?
No. It isn't. I wish it was but it takes a long time, a mountain of hard work and a huge amount of patience.

I drew my first book with a friend in 2009 for @NobrowPress. It was a screen printed edition of 100.

— Ben Newman (@bennewmanillo) April 28, 2020

Kellie Strøm:

The quoted tweet is in response to an ongoing Twitter thing of criticising publisher Nobrow. My own experience of Nobrow was positive. I have become more understanding of the challenges of publishing having lived long enough to see several of my publishers go bust. pic.twitter.com/TVXtOPNoHB

— Mr Kellie Strøm (@kelliestrom) April 27, 2020

and a few others.

Nobrow has also released an official statement that can be read here:

A Statement from Nobrow

It should definitely be read in full. In the statement they challenge the claims that their contracts are unfair and have promised to do research into comparative advances and royalties. They also go on to deny that they do not prevent their creators from working with other publishers and state that the screenshot of the e-mail was released without permission and out of context although it is hard to imagine what the context was without further information about that discussion as the e-mail alone appears to be pretty damning.

The full statement rather than allaying the fears and allegations seems to have inflamed opinion in more areas, with Paul Duffield‘s take being worth a read:

Lovely to see Nobrow respond to accusations of aggressive gaslighty behaviour with *checks post* aggressive gaslighty behaviour.

— P.Duffield🔥KickstarterOn🔥 (@paul_duffield) April 28, 2020

When this type of situation erupts it is not always easy to identify who is in the right, I support small publishers and creator rights but I think in this instance the number of dissenting voices that have been raised about unfair treatment as well as those raised in defense show that this situation is not clear cut to outside observers. I think that Valerie Pezeron‘s views as laid out in the thread below most closely match up with mine – they are definitely worth a read.

Regarding Nobrow controversy – there really is a wider problem with the creative industries at large. I’ve worked in fashion, publishing, film…the trend of businesses building their reputation off the back of graduates who work for free or bare minimum wage is an not new 1/

— Valerie Pezeron (@ValeriePezeron) April 28, 2020

The vocalization of the long-term unhappiness of many of the authors and illustrators is an indication that people are no longer going to be quiet if they perceive themselves to be treated unfairly, this is good as it can act as a warning to others that may find themselves in a similar situation and can strengthen collective bargaining if enough creators band together. We may be witnessing the birth of unionisation in the author/illustrator world beyond what the Society of Authors and other groups that already exist.

I remain a fan of many of the authors and illustrators published by Nobrow, but this fandom is now tinged with a concern over what they may have experienced during the creation of their works for their publisher. Is it a fair and rational feeling? I don’t know, but it is human to have concern for the welfare of others and I am also concerned for those currently furloughed by the publisher and for everyone else impacted by the Covid-19 shutdowns across the world.