JeVon McCormick, CEO of the beleaguered book-writing and publishing startup Scribe Media LLC, said in a June 2 LinkedIn post that he has resigned.
The announcement came more than a week after the company informed the Texas Workforce Commission that it had essentially shut down and was laying off about 90 employees — the vast majority of its team. That generated widespread outcry from former employees who say they are still owed money and were dumped without any continuing benefits, such as health insurance.
In his LinkedIn post, McCormick said the company's collapse was his fault.
"Not my partner. Not the co-founders. Not the economy. And definitely not the people of Scribe, 'The Scribe Crew,'" he wrote. "It all falls on me."
McCormick didn't provide many additional details as to how the company reached the point of essentially shutting down May 24. But his post hinted at mismanagement.
"I apologize for not seeing the other problem in myself sooner," he wrote. "I know my poor decision making started back in March of last year, after my Mother died. I was in the office, but I wasn’t present. I was in meetings, but I wasn’t present. I saw challenges and concerns that I needed to weigh in on, but I didn’t. Quite simply, I was not the CEO the company needed and trusted."
The statement marks a dramatic turn for McCormick, who was a regional EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2022 and was one of Austin Business Journals Best CEOs in 2021.
"As the majority shareholder and former CEO, the communication on all of this was my responsibility, and I apologize," McCormick wrote.
Neither McCormick nor other company representatives have responded to Austin Inno's inquiries. But on May 31, Chief Experience Officer Meghan McCracken posted on LinkedIn a long response to rumors and questions about Scribe.
McCracken said Scribe Media is "fully operational, and we remain steadfast in our commitments. We have taken proactive measures to retain essential operational staff. All books and marketing projects will continue."
She stated that the company is working on a restructuring plan with a goal of reuniting its team and rehiring people under new ownership but did not provide details or a timeline for the plan.
The startup was founded by author Tucker Max and entrepreneur Zach Obront in 2014 as Book in a Box. The company — which helped people become authors with ghostwriting and other writing services — made headlines for a radically transparent culture that allowed employees to talk all aspects of their lives, including trauma and grief.
McCormick also foreshadowed a possible revival of the company.
"The Scribe Crew has been and will continue to contact each Author to ensure their book is published," he wrote. "Scribe Media will continue to thrive even as the company works through the restructuring plan."
He suggested the company could have positive news to share next week.
"The Scribe Crew, Scribe’s lenders, Scribe’s counsel, authors, and friends in the industry, have been working tirelessly over the last week to identify a buyer for Scribe and Libra," he wrote, referencing Scribe's sister company, Libra Press.
The statements from McCormick and McCracken offer a different take than the May 24 letter the company's director of people, Jes McAvoy, sent to TWC, which stated "Scribe is forced to shut down its operations" and planned to lay off about 90 employees.
Several former employees and customers took issue with the company's communications. One person, who described himself as a Scribe Media author, said he has paid thousands of dollars to the company with little in return.
"You have broken every cardinal rule of crisis communications including owning the story and controlling the narrative," the person commented. "People will eventually find out everything, the good, the bad and the ugly, so you might as well be open, honest and transparent with your communication from the beginning. That will at least buy you a little goodwill. Your employees and consultants should have been receiving updates from leadership. And us authors shouldn't have found out on LinkedIn with the first #opentowork notice from an editor that Scribe had 'shut down.'"
Meanwhile, an online petition called "Petition for Financial Justice at Scribe Media" that was created by remaining Scribe employees has gained steam. On the afternoon of June 2, it had 314 signatures calling for two months of pay via severance packages, funding for therapy and ownership and unrestricted access to their hardware.
One of the company's former audiobook producers said that McCormick's apology wasn't enough.
"This falls on deaf ears for the 80+ laid off left to pick up the pieces after being let go without severance and with benefits terminated immediately," he posted in a response to McCormick's LinkedIn post. "People with children. People going through loss. People with medical issues that are now scrambling to figure out how to survive. This isn’t transparency or an apology, this is trying to garner public favor to move onto the next step."
