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Top Execs Dismissed At Black Belt Press
Bob Summer -- 3/27/00
Although 10-year-old Black Belt Press, in Montgomery, Ala., recently garnered a SEBA Book Award nomination for Charles Ghigna's Plastic Soup: Dream P ms and, according to founder Randall Williams, was in the process of "an encouraging organizational turnaround" designed by publisher Suzanne La Rosa (News, Aug. 19, 1999), Williams and La Rosa have been fired by the company's investors. The dismissals and resulting downsizing came in February at an investor's meeting, which was attended by only a few of the investors, but who claimed to have proxies for 60% of all shares.
Daily operations were placed under the interim direction of investor Wayne Greenhaw, with Dr. Alfred Newman, the majority investor, overseeing finances. "Randall is an old friend and has published some of my books," Greenhaw told PW, "so I really hated that this was necessary. But the investors were constantly being asked for more money, and the bleeding had to stop." Williams, the president and editor-in-chief, had been warned often about managerial misdirection, he added, and a request for additional funding in January forced the firings.
Williams currently retains a 30% ownership, pending future discussion of a mutually acceptable buyout. The nine-member staff has been reduced to five, and of the 14 titles previously planned for spring publication, only three will proceed--first novelist Fred Bonnie's Thanh Ho Delivers, p t Thomas Rabbitt's Enemies of the State and the full-color Alabama Art 2000, edited by singularly named artist Nall. A couple more titles from the spring list may be released in the summer, and some others may be pushed back to the "reduced" fall list, said Jackie Payne, formerly publicity manager but now associate publisher for sales and publicity. "We are reviewing all commitments, which may mean some contracts may be renegotiated and others canceled."
Williams told PW he and La Rosa were "stunned" by the decision, were not allowed to defend themselves and were prohibited by police order from returning to Black Belt's premises after the meeting. "We felt very positive about our progress and increasing sales, even though we had a dicey cash flow typical to small publishers. But we ran a tight operation, and the charge against our management is groundless. The additional funding requested was primarily for technological innovation.
"Neither did 14 out of 17 investors who weren't present at the meeting know what was happening, I've learned, which may mean that our firings were not only unjust but illegal," Williams continued. "The central issue in all this is one of control by the few investors who for whatever reason were unhappy with us."
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