Crystal Dreams Publishing / Multi-Media Publications, Inc.

[Paperback Writer]

Does anyone out there know anything about Crystal Dreams Publishing? They're offering a really good deal and it sounds too good to be true.

[Victoria]

Writer Beware has gotten complaints about Crystal Dreams from writers who found them generally unprofessional, both before and after the company got into financial trouble and was sold to a new owner last year. The most recent complaint is from an author who says the company is still selling his books after the expiration of the publishing contract, and has been unresponsive to his requests to cease and desist.

Crystal Dreams' contract, which I've seen, is not very author-friendly. The royalty breakdowns are confusing and unclear, and there are a number of nonstandard clauses--for instance, if the author terminates the contract before the specified contract period is up, Crystal Dreams claims the right to sell off remaining inventory without making any royalty payments to the author, unless the author agrees to purchase the books him/herself.

- Victoria
Writer Beware
www.sfwa.org/beware (http://www.sfwa.org/beware)

[Paperback Writer]

Thank you for the warning! Since I've posted the original question I had one of their current authors contact me and tell me some horror stories. They're supposed to get their royalty checks at the end of each quarter, but they've been waiting 2 months to receive their royalties!!!!!:(

[Sylence C]

Actually....I am an author with Crystal Dreams Publications and this is entirely incorrect.
The ONLY reason the royalty checks were late and NOT by months either, is because the head publisher was attending the funeral of his FATHER.

Crystal Dreams is a fabulous publishing company. Some of the staff were attending Dragon Con this weekend and I was able to sit in on some of the daily meetings and met the head publisher.
Truly wonderful people.

[capitalistwriter]

So, as an author you have an omniscient knowledge of how every other author has been treated by Crystal Dreams?? Give me a break!

You only know how YOU were treated and why YOUR checks were late. You cannot possibly know how other authors were treated unless someone at Crystal Dreams has been discussing the details of their payments to others with you. If they have, that is highly unethical and for that reason alone I would avoid them.

A more likely explanation is...

"Sylence C" is one of the principals at Crystal Dreams and is trying to sell us on what a "fabulous publishing company" this is by POSING as an author who was treated well.

[Sylence C]

Bitter much are we?

I dont pose as anything. I am in fact an author published by Crystal Dreams.
The website is
www.crystaldreamspub.com
look under staff. Im not listed.
Im an Author.

And how exactly are -YOU- involved in Crystal Dreams Publishing? Crystal Dreams has been very professional, it has been growing rapidly and ironing out its bugs.
If you dont want to publish there. Dont. So far what im seeing on this board is people asking questions about Crystal Dreams Publishing and the only replies have been hearsay. Therefor, Im posting as an actual published author there.
Im not interested in Slamfests. If someone doesnt want to publish there. Go elsewhere. I dont care.
Anyone else ever met the head publisher of Crystal Dreams?
I was able to meet him this weekend at Dragon Con where he is a guest speaker.
He was very kind, and the only author that was encouraging to the room full of prospective authors. And he took extra time to talk to us afterwards about any questions we had.
That is my first hand expiriance. Not hearsay.

I find it very disturbing that writers, or potential writers are so vicious to each other on this board. Im sorry i joined it actually. For the person that started this discussion. If you have any questions about CDP and its practices I know some of the former authors of CDP and I can see if they would be willing to talk to you about it.

[SRHowen]

put up the name of your book and your name. Yes it is the Internet--but you are a published author and I would think it is best to put your credentials where your mouth is-- so to speak.

Book Name

Author's Name

I don't know why so many people act like that is some big secret when they have a book out there or an agent--it's not. And we really are not in competition with each other--the story and writing sells, it's not a contest.

So no we won't find you under staff--but who knows you may make a few sales and prove your point.

Shawn

[Vauren Davidson]

Good afternoon everyone. I have been watching the posts to this board all day today and have decided to add my input to it. I am the Marketing Manager for Crystal Dreams Publications. Whether or not you decide to believe what I'm about to say is up to you. Honestly though, what reason would I have to lie to any of you? Crystal Dreams is not a scam. If what we offer seems to be too good to be true, consider this. It is a publishing company composed entirely of writers. Knowing what it can be like to try to break into the publishing world, Head Publisher, TW Miller, has made it as easy as possible for a new author to get their work of art out there. However it is not a "vanity press". We don't just stop with publishing your book, we continue to assist authors in marketing their book to not only make them published authors, but successful authors. Publishing is only the first step, it's selling your book that is the true battle. I too was at Dragon Con this weekend with Mr. Miller, and we spent a great amount of time discussing the future of Crystal Dreams and how we can make it an even better organization than it already is. Just like every book can get one bad review, every company can have one bad critic. You never know the whole story when hearing it retold though, so don't believe everything you read. However, the best information about a company will usually come from someone who knows about it from the inside. Please check out our website, www.crystaldreamspub.com and feel free to direct any further questions to the contact information provided there. We are not out to "get" you and have been honest in all dealings with our authors.

[capitalistwriter]

Thank you, Vauren. That's much more useful information than Sylence C assuming that he/she knows what experience EVERY writer has had with your company.

And no, Sylence, I'm not bitter. I just reject the notion that you know how every other author has been treated by Crystal Dreams, how late their checks were, or why. If you want to defend Crystal Dreams, great, do so. Tell us what a wonderful experience YOU had with them. That's valuable input. When you attempt to extrapolate your experience to every other author, though, you make yourself look foolish (or like an imposter).

[SteveS]

If things are so reasonable with CD I wonder why TW Miller regularly sends out emails blaming the poor state of the company on the writers and vents frustration so unprofessionally? Equally I wonder why as a reviewer when contacted by one of CD's authors a year ago to arrange an interview and review copies Mark H. (the corporate rep) instead send pdf's of his own book and promoted himself over the author who had made the contact? None of this is hearsay. Why may I ask did at least one author not get royalties for sales before Miller's take over despite Sarah's promise that it was a condition of the sale? Why do you have such an author unfriendly contract? You want to treated as a serious professional publishing outfit? You out to edit your mailings list messages that verge on the ludicrous at times.

I will state here, I am NOT published by CD. I am outside of this though I WAS approached as a reviewer/interviewer and am close friends with more than one CD author who I have stood by and watched be treated like dirt by this company.

I for one am glad to see this come out because companies like this prey on the inexperienced. Go on, print your biolerplate contract here, explain how friendly your terms are to the publisher as opposed to the author. Share some of the messages Miller has sent to his authors threatening to close down, maligning his own authors as liars, even suggesting that the bookstore reports from the bookstores themselves are lies. This is all real stuff so share it please.


Steve S.

[Phillip Beebe]

I am part of the management team and the remarks by those attempting to run this company down are mistaken.

I, not only as part of the management team am an author that has been with Cd since the day it was born.

At no time have I been cheated out of any monies that were owed me for book sales or for the part that I'm paid for doing the job that I was hired for.

If the royalties are late this month, so what. If it was your father or mother that passed away, I'm sure you would be the first to cry. Instead of expressing you sorrow for TW's loss, all you have done is show just how much a coward that you really are.

<hr />

TW may state the sad state of affairs with the company, but if you understood anything about negative marking, you would realize that it a way to spark people that take pride and are professionals into trying harder, but it is apparent that you simply don't understand marketing.

You said that you are not published by CD, which is a good thing, as your book isn't anything that we would publish.

Why am I responding to your unfounded claims? Simple---you're not worthy enough to be a pimple on my ass let along claim to be a man.

[roolmarty]

I, not only as part of the management team am an author that has been with Cd since the day it was born.

At no time have I been cheated out of any monies that were owed me for book sales or for the part that I'm paid for doing the job that I was hired for.

Sorry? So.. you're part of the management team. So, does being part of the management team mean you don't get cheated out of monies?

Why am I responding to your unfounded claims? Simple---you're not worthy enough to be a pimple on my ass let along claim to be a man.

You are responding because (whomever you are replying too) is not worthy enough to be a pimple on your ass. You therefore respond only to those less than or equal to being pimples? "Let along" those claiming to be men. Okay. I see.

Have a nice day then...

:lol

[Dave Kuzminski]

At this rate, I'll have to add a new criteria to the P&E rating guidelines concerning inept and obnoxious management teams. However, I recognize that not everyone is capable of anger management, so I'm not going to rush into developing that particular criteria based upon what I've seen here so far. Still, I'm fast approaching the conclusion that there is a problem with Crystal Dreams Publishing. I will express my sympathy for the loss of a family member experienced by a key staff member, but it doesn't hold much water with me in light of the fact that there are other management members available to carry the load.

In regards to the carefully thought out statements made by Mr. Beebe, since when has management ever stiffed itself? With that in mind, your objections are invalid since you are naturally biased toward the "dark side" of publishing. Personally, I would like to hear additional information from more of the authors who may have comments to make. If this alleged problem is widespread, then perhaps Crystal Dreams Publishing should be "not recommended."

[awritermom]

I am a published author with Crystal Dreams. I have been with them almost since the beginning. While there have been problems, I trust TW Miller and the staff of Crystal Dreams. I believe they are honest and are trying to create an author-friendly company. It is a learning process.

It may not be perfectly smooth in execution, but I believe the intent is honest. Crystal Dreams does not charge authors to read or publish their books. They do not charge for editing or other publishing services. I have been paid royalties for the books sold through Crystal Dreams.

I have never been, and am not now, a part of the staff or management at Crystal Dreams Publications. I am just an author.

--Andrea Bikfalvy
Author of THE JUNKYARD CLUB

"A delightful rite of life tale"
"A journey for anyone who opens its cover."
"Andrea has captured the elements that enthrall..."

bikfalvy.tripod.com (http://bikfalvy.tripod.com)

[Sylence C]

I never once said that I knew what every author expirianced. I have given MY expiriance as an author published there.

I answered the question why the checks were late this quarter.
I dont speak for other people.
*lol*

[SRHowen]

are willing to let us know where we can find their books--and I am glad you have had a positive experience.

Sylence C--what name do you publish under and what is the name of your book?

Shawn

[SteveS]

Philip Beebe wrote: "I, not only as part of the management team am an author that has been with Cd since the day it was born. At no time have I been cheated out of any monies that were owed me for book sales or for the part that I'm paid for doing the job that I was hired for."


This in and of its self is a pretty interesting statement, to echo what others have said so eloquently, why would you stiff yourself? Equally, that Crystal Dreams (I refuse to use the CD epitaph as CD in my mind represents the very honourable Cemetery Dance run by Richard Chizmar) publishes so many of its management team smacks of one big slice of vanity - and having read some of the questionable work of the management team I am not inclined to change that opinion but it is only my opinion, and not gospel. I am however glad that you recieve money for your efforts even if TW Miller reportssomething like 10 sales for a six month period across ALL of the Crystal Dreams writers in his Hard Decision mailing and claims in the same mail that the bookstores lie when reporting sales. Yet contradicts himself when quoting the sales of an individual Crystal Dreams author in what is a grossly unprofessional massmailing, claiming zero sales for a period when in a previous mailing on the 28th of May he'd reported sales of that very book :eek Seems to me that if it isn't a case of misrepresentation then it is a no more forgivable example of gross incompetence.

Philip Beebe went on to say: "If the royalties are late this month, so what. If it was your father or mother that passed away, I'm sure you would be the first to cry. Instead of expressing you sorrow for TW's loss, all you have done is show just how much a coward that you really are."


You are a business, you have a management team. That Mr Miller's father died so close to the birth of his son and other events is indeed sad, and for that I do feel an element of sympathy. When he posts to his authors sorry things are late, my father died I'll make sure it doesn't happen again, I stop feeling sympathy with the glibness of his tone and wonder at the fact that such a huge management team who can ably leap in here to put two feet in their mouths are unable to help calculate the monies owed to authors on what Miller himself reports as around 10 books, total. This is not an excuse. If TW Miller was alone then indeed, time to recuperate and consolidate is expected, indeed needed. But then Mark H. should be carrying the ball - after all you said yourself you get PAID for what you do in a timely fashion. Shouldn't the people who facilitate this be treated likewise.

Philip started getting rather funny when he got to: "TW may state the sad state of affairs with the company, but if you understood anything about negative marking, you would realize that it a way to spark people that take pride and are professionals into trying harder, but it is apparent that you simply don't understand marketing."


Ah yes, the power of negative publicity which is going to draw young innocent hopefuls to Crystal Dreams door in droves now. You know, all the people who are so desperate to be published they are happy that the publishing team blame everyone else but themselves for failures - including that one authors books weren't removed from the web because of a database glitch, yet the Crystal Dreams website is a static one. The task hadn't been done and Crystal Dreams were selling books that they did not possess a legal contract for. I also like that Miller claims to give the author a way out of the contract if he or she is unhappy with Crystal Dreams - you can buy all of your own books off them, I believe at cover price, though I cannot remember 100%, perhaps you do get a slight discount. Instead of saying ahhh, perhaps our contracts need improving but it was my first go, considering he already had a contract to use as a boilerplate, he should have looked at any of the many available on the web, including the SFWA ones or even those put up by John Betancourt at Wildside. Ignorance is a poor excuse when it so obviously punnishes the writer in favour of the publisher.

Philip Beebe made me smile with this one: "You said that you are not published by CD, which is a good thing, as your book isn't anything that we would publish."

Oh that is priceless - read it have you? Know anything about me? For instance that for my last two projects I was represented by Richard Curtis Associates? The books? The Black Gondolier and Other Stories and Smoke Ghost and Other Stories, definitive collections of Fritz Leiber's horror stories edited on behalf of the Grand Master's esate. Both books have sold out in hardcover. That the latest massmarkert project I was part of just went through a 50,000 print run and on its official release this month goes straight into the Supermarket Bestsellers list at #2, that's across all of the US, at every check out... That my first massmarket foreign language edition comes out in 2 months in Sweden? Hmmm, maybe it is because I am a professional writer and editor and in turn expect to be paid in a timely and professional manner with an honest representation of my sales.


And Philip Beebe ended up looking like a complete arse when he closed with this devastating riposte: "Why am I responding to your unfounded claims? Simple---you're not worthy enough to be a pimple on my ass let along claim to be a man."


You waste your time on things not worthy to be a pimple on your backside? Highly professional attitude. Speaks volumes about the incompetence of Crystal Dreams - by the way, Crystal Dreams *sounds* very fragile to me - I am not sure I would want to be the pimple on the backside of a man who makes sure he is paid on time and yet doesn't make the effort to respect the people who make that possible. An old addage that people should remember: MONEY FLOWS TOWARD THE WRITER - not toward the management team. Without the creators of the art the bankers and marketers are, well, talentless. Even those who self publish.

David I think hit it right on the head, it may not be a grand conspiracy, you may all just be inept bumbling fools, in which case that new category sounds like a winner to me.

[A Cd Author]

A few quotes... can you guess who from?

"Our sales at a minimum have sucked. We have sold maybe 10 books and these are to authors. I have had nothing but numerous emails of how, this isn't right, this is wrong and how horrible the state of CDP is.
This includes the problems of our books going to the printer and being still screwed up. Our artwork not making the author happy. The editing non
existent and management not following through."


Highly professional, as an author I'd love non-editing and management non-follow through. A new policy?

Or how about:

"I have a few of you saying you are owed royalties. They are not due to go out till today If you are owed royalties, then they will be sent."

So, he has time to write an enormous mailing but not give people what they were owed in a timely fashion, shame on his priorities but that must be part of the new non-follow through clause.

And then there is:

"I have some of you who owe CDP lots of money, but I notice I'm expected to send royalties, but when a bill is owed by an author, its an Oh well, too bad how sad. Heck I would be happy with that, instead of the usual letter saying how well the sales will be next week, which of course never come."

Remember these are all nice massmailing to Crystal Dreams people...

And don't forget the classic:

"I have authors who feel that they are above everyone." which isn't being to kind to any of the writers... or how about:


"Now I have authors complaining that they have had sales to stores, but yet I have yet to see these sales, where are they, who is getting them? It sure isn't here, it sure hasn't been through this office, so who is getting them?"


There are thousands of these... including the classic: I have news for you people.. the bookstores lie!

Beautiful stuff. Long live publishers of this calibre!

[capitalistwriter]

Great job, Phillip! If I had any doubts before, you have removed them. Your obnoxious and unprofessional comments have absolutely convinced me that I would never want to do business with Crystal Dreams.

I never cease to be amazed by the people who think coming onto a public forum and spewing pointless insults is a way to make their company look good. Sheesh!

[Anonymous]

I have been watching this situation from the message board side and an inside view to the company. I am a current writer with CDP and I am NOT part of the management team. I wish to remain anonymous though because I have seen and heard how the CDP group can turn ugly on one of their own that dares to speak up! Quite a few of the gripes listed above are true. Of course the management team doesn't have any gripes because they get their royalties and part of ALL OF OURS!!! I believe that my contract reads that the management get 10% of my book royalties.
I agree with the person that stated that Mark Hauser the asst publisher....when he is supposed to be handling a bookstore contact that the writers themselves have established, he moves in with promoting himself and his books.
We had a writer that had a book signing at a Barnes & Noble and that evening Mark Hauser proudly announced to the group list that the author had sold 11 copies that day and the very next week TW Miller was haranguing the group that no one had sold any books. I am sorry that TW has had so many difficulties in his personal life, but it has been one excuse after another and blaming everyone else for his screw ups. I even saw an e-mail from Mark Hauser where he said that he was getting tired of Mr. Miller's harassing of the writers and that he was acting like a spoiled child.
Recently this has come up- I quote word for word "One large problem we have been having is a million e-mails from authors asking for things to be honest, I hate deleting e-mails but when I'm deluged with them I can't read them all..."
We were told that it was ok to e-mail in a book order to the management and that way was preferred. I know of a writer that was just complaining because they had sent in several book orders by this method, then found out that the bookstores never received the books and Mr. Miller said "WHat orders, I never got any orders." Well if he was deleting e-mails I can see how that would happen. :rolleyes But how does that look to those bookstore managers that were expecting those books? It's our reputation as writers that is on the line also.
Our contracts state that we will receive 40% of the books we sell. And like it's already been brought out it's only been averaging 11-12%
And I am embarrassed that a rep of our company [Phillip Beebe] is making himself out to be such an a-hole. Oh nice professionalism Phillip!
I have had several of CD's writers tell me that Mr. Beebe can't spell and screwed up their books and are still waiting for corrections.
I know that some will reply to this and try to discredit and defend what I have said, but I just wanted everyone to know that not all of us at CDP have been treated perfectly.

[Dave Kuzminski]

Would one of the writers who has been offered a contract by Crystal Dreams share a copy with me by email at prededitors@att.net?

[Sirgtahc]

This is some of the most bizarre dialogue I think I've ever seen on a bulletin board. But at least folks are using this forum to tell their stories.

My question: Why don't you folks just self publish. I published my first book (on periodical management) in 1996 and it has sold in 14 countries to date. Another one (on self publishing) is used in half a dozen publishing courses across the country. Just do it yourself; you'd be surprised how easy it is to get your own copyright and ISBN, and even to do the marketing, if you give it some serious thought.

In any event, I feel for those of you who've been wronged. Just learn from it and move forward with your next project. And to those of you who want to set up a press to publish others' works: Be fair, honest, and kind.

Gary Smith
Chatgris Press

P.S. I apologize if I've used this forum for anything other than its intended purpose.

[SSO]

My name may be Sir States the Obvious, but it's easy to see that the negative posts on this topic are written by the same person. Capitalistwriter, Steve, SR, Marty and Dave have the same writing style, same attitude and same intimate knowledge of Crystal Dreams. Current events knowledge too, so "they" are still on the company's mailing list. No, I bet ya anything there's just one poor victim trying to exact vengence. Well, hey, thanks for the negative advertising.

S S Obvious

[eraser]

I want some of what SSO is drinking.

[Dave Kuzminski]

Well, after reading numerous emails concerning Crystal Dreams Publishing, I honestly believe that this is a situation where tempers and emotions have ruled out of proportion to the problems.

I've read the contract. It's not the best, but it does attempt to be fair. I can even see what the publisher was attempting to do (this is speculation on my part) by listing artists and editors in the profit split. In fact, I thought it was rather ingenious since it appears that they're probably doing their work for smaller up front payments than most would normally receive in hopes that each book will really sell well. That should give them an incentive to do good work, too. If I am wrong in my speculation here, then yell at me. The publisher did not offer this as information or buy me off.

The publisher did offer me a copy of the existing contract which I will still evaluate against the copy that a writer furnished. He also offered a copy of the new contract that he designed using the template from SFWA. Hopefully, I will receive those soon and complete my evaluation of this. If so, I'll probably post more than what follows this paragraph at a later time.

I am not stating that there are not some problems. What I am saying is that those appear to be blown up out of proportion. Lateness of royalties is fairly frequent within the industry, especially among the smaller publishers. One of my publishers was once two months late with royalties and one also once sent checks that bounced. There were valid reasons for both and in both situations, the publishers corrected their problems to the satisfaction of their writers. If this publisher isn't that far behind, then why not stand with him for a few days more?

From what I understand in this situation, the royalty statements are or were only a few days late at most. If I am wrong, please correct me and I will re-evaluate my words on this situation. Also, a lot of publishers withhold payments when those are for two or fewer books so they can save on check fees. I do not know if that's the case here. A lot of businesses have to pay for each check they draw. You can't make a profit if you spend more on the check than the amount of the check you draw.

From the publisher's standpoint, there is one thing that he can do more effectively than anyone else. He can limit what the staff states concerning business policies. I refer to statements such as Mr. Beebe gave. A business must have a consolidated face to give. It's more effective when each of the company members remembers that they represent the company when they speak and that they can't just blurt out emotional outbursts. They have to be professional. By the way, Mr. Miller's emails to me have been precisely that. So have the majority of the emails I've received from writers.

One last thing that should be remembered is that very few small businesses make a profit in their first year. This goes for authors, too. As a point of illustration, my first book sold exactly one copy in the first year and a half it was out before it suddenly took off and made me proud. Now it regularly produces nice royalty checks. I may not be typical, but that is similar to what many other writers have noticed about their own books. Most of us are not big, well-known brand names. We have little to no marketing skills and books sales will represent that until we become known to the buying public. The publisher does his part by placing books with every possible distributor and book dealer possible. The writer does his part by lining up interviews and anything else that might make him better known such as writing articles or short stories that might get published in other venues to spread his name about. What I'm stating is that it's a cooperative venture.

Tentatively, this does not appear to be entirely anyone's fault. I strongly recommend a calmer approach and reasoned negotiation so that both sides can be certain about what they want and make that clear to the other side.

Like I said, I'll post more later.

[Steve S]

My name is Steve Savile. To date I have been a runner up in the British Fantasy Society Awards, on the ballot for the Bram Stoker Award and recently won the Writers of the Future Award. I am currently part of the committee formed by the Horror Writers Association to regulate complaints about publishing houses. I am not and have never been a writer with Crystal Dreams. Neither am I David, the long time force behind Preditors and Editors, nor alas am I capitalistwriter. Nor am I Victoria, or Sybil.

I am not ashamed of who I am, nor am I afriad of the wrath of Crystal Dreams. I have a lot of information about Crystal Dreams partially due to my long standing friendship with one of their authors. More information has come my way since this ugly situation raised its head.

I have been stunned by the level of unprofessionalism exhibited by Crystal Dreams.

I have a lot of evidence that provides a picture of a company I would strongly recommend no writer ever touch, even with the proverbial barge pole. I am willing to post the author unfriendly contract here. I have seen too many companies use weaselling excuses to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. To claim to an author's representative that the request of a registered letter have been done, immediately upon receipt, which have not been done, then to simultaneously blame it upon a glitch in the database on a static webpage and on the fact that (as contradictory as it is) that the web manager tripped over his dog and has concussion and so must never have done the things Miller claims were done, many times, whilst wrestling with database glitches etc, well, the more excuses made the more they trip over themselves.

I am also willing to post every one of Mr. Miller's missives with their contradictions and patent unprofessionalism - I don't feel particularly intimidated by the secrecy demand placed on the bottom of the emails. I am also happy to discuss very openly the fact that when one Crystal Dreams author arranged an interview and feature on SFFWORLD where I was a staff writer Mark Hauser proceeded to deflect conversation toward his own books and promote himself instead of the original writer who had arranged the interview and feature. That is not an assistant editor I would like on my side.

Sir States the Obvious might have taken two minutes to investigate who I was, who David is, and realised that yet again the valiant defence of Crystal Dreams has fallen into the hands of idiots.

I am personally delighted that more Crystal Dreams authors have chosen to post their experiences with this company, because, and lets be honest here, 80% of the Crystal Dreams author roster are also part of the management team. So the fact that 3 Crystal Dreams authors have spoken up means that less than half of the authors that aren't part of the management team are content with the intricate web of incompetence Crystal Dreams management are busily weaving around themselves.

Steve

Still Steve - not David. Not Anonymous... Not anyone but myself.

[Sylence C]

So.. I write under my own name. Sylence Campbell.
My book is called "The Sounds of Sylence"
I had my artwork done by a fabulous artist by the name of Charles Johnson out of Winston Salem NC.

Its my pride and joy and I have been getting some really nice reviews so far. That is so very exciting to read.

Writing is my passion..but i suppose its everyones passion here.

[roolmarty]

Sir States the Obvious

I see your comment, and raise them...

Its fairly obvious to me that you are another (or the same) management team member of Crystal Dreams.

I have *no* knowledge of Crystal Dreams. I am not a published author, I'm a wannabe. I wish I was Dave or Steve or Capitalistwriter, because then I'd BE a published author.

Oh well.

My comments were in reaction to Mr Beebe's contentious and illogical post. That is all.

marty

[SRHowen]

Capitalistwriter, Steve, SR, Marty and Dave have the same writing style, same attitude and same intimate knowledge of Crystal Dreams.

Interesting--since I have no association with CD at all, other than what has been put up here--you can do a name search for me and you will get several hits. Check out the magazine I write for--no I don't always sign in at the BB system, but do here when I post so my info is not always on my post--

We have the same style? Well, I know Dave is an editor and so am I, that may have something to do with it. And whose style really shows up in a post--come on--if you are a professional you are going to sound like other professionals.

I have an agent and publishing credits. You can check that too--unless somehow on top of working for Wild Child Publishing, and working on my next book, I have time to run predators and Editors as well---

Funny, then it would seem that almost every post on the topic was made by the same person. Odd I guess I must just go from topic to topic and have conversations with myself all over the place.:rollin :lol

Shawn

[reph]

There's only one explanation, and it is obvious. Shawn and Dave and CapitalistWriter and the rest of the gang are identical septuplets or whatever, separated at birth and struggling in vain against the force of Destiny that shaped their prose styles and guided them to this forum.

Next week: Channeling the secret wisdom of Neth Urlos, pre-Ptolemaic astronomer and weight-loss guru. ;)

[CharmedMom]

Just a quick response in reference to the royalty checks. As someone close to one of the Crystal Dreams Publishing authors, I have seen no checks from them since TW took over. I can honestly state this as my name is on the bank account and I handle all the money, for I'm studying to be a CPA. Moreover, I saw evidence that sales of my author's books had indeed occurred. Was this in the most recent quarter when the late payments are deflected due to aforementioned deaths/births/dog tripping? NO. It was in MARCH. If in my day job I neglected to pay an employee for hours worked in March until now, we'd have been taken to court justifiably a long time ago!

When I was in the Army, my commanders never ate until the soldiers ate first. Perhaps Crystal Dreams management should adopt that strategy, as my author has not to this day received his royalties that TW himself stated was sold, but it is obvious by the other posts that the remainder of the management team has.

[Rene]

I think all of this debate is unnecessary. I only needed to read the "pimple on the ass" statement to realize that this company is a waste of time. The strident voice of unprofessionalism and disrespect speaks very eloquently all by itself. Why would any self-respecting author, writer or editor waste time on a company like this? It sound like desperation to be published. Have some self-respect people. If you're treated with such vile disrespect in a public forum, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you will not be treated honorably in a business relationship with those who are basically amoeba. Pond scum.

Give it up. Get a life. Find a new publisher. Write. Write. Write. The rest will come. Stay the course. You are worth it.

Peace

Rene Aucoin, editor, RangeleyMedia.com

[Kimbo]

I'm starting a new book..... 'As the Publishing World Turns.' ;)

[Kimbo]

Since Mr. Miller has just accused me of listing negative things on this board I would like everyone @ CDP and on this board to know that I will not hide behind anonymity like some have and will let you know who I am...

Kim M. Brooks
Author of 'The Devil's Triangle'

I saw by some of the earlier comments that some of the others have shared things that were discussed privately between us [regarding Mark's e-mail to me about TW's acting like a child] I apologize for sharing that e-mail with others Mark because it was a confidential discussion between only us. I didn't know it was going to be aired in the dirty laundry.

Real adult comments Phil!

But I do agree with Dave and some of the others, these matters should have been handled in-house and not aired to the public.

I just wanted everyone to know that if I would have had something to say, then I would have posted it.:rolleyes

Kimbo

[Sylence C]

I cannot believe how this is progressing.
I think Vauren Davidson has been the most professional voice on this board so far.

I am sorry i ever read this board, posted to this board and Im not sure i want to be part of any of these companies.
Is this kindergarten or what?

As for my posts. if i offended anyone. I apologize.

I just want to write.

This makes me very unnerved and upset.

[Steve S]

In many ways it would have been wonderful if this could all have been solved in house, but as a caveat to that, the treatment of the writers who have communicated with me over the last few months indicates that they have been trying to do just that for a protracted time and were getting nowhere. My very good friend has been hip deep in just that for over 6 months and recieved only stony silence.

By airing it like this other perspective writers will recieve an impression of what to expect as things currently stand within the management team of Crystal Dreams. To deny that there are problems does not negate their existance. Miller himself has admitted that there are a number of things he would do differently -- including revising the contract. You can look at this situation and release that should Crystal Dreams succeed in restructuring their set-up and focus more keenly on author rights and care, providing professionalism as a keyword to how they handle themselves instead of blaming writers like Kim for comments made by others, then some very real good has come out of the situation for NEW writers entering the fold. It is imperative that writers are aware of their rights within any given situation and that as a group have a strong voice as creators of art. It is regrettable for Miller that those who chose to defend him did so so very unprofessionally. I was gratified to hear that in mails he has acted professionally, however disheartened to read Kimbo's post which seems to validate a lot of the private comments I have recieved about the management handling of affairs at Crystal Dreams.

As David so rightly said it is a very steep learning curve in small press publishing and the instinct is to run before you can walk. With sales apparently so slow the temptation is to add new writers to the roster to try to provide fresh impetus - but internal accounting methods need to be addressed, when company representatives report 11 books sold at a signing those 11 books should appear on the royalty statement. David is again completely right that cheques may be hold over if sales are very slow but complete royalty statements should be dispatched in a timely fashion.

As it stands I still would not recommend colleagues publish there BUT if Miller institutes some promised changes, reworking the contract for instance, introducing someone to work with the authors instead of deleting emails which may contain vital information, and refrains for immotive comments about his authors on the mailing list, all may not be lost.

The comment about self publishing made above has some validity in this instance - if the publisher are not in a position to promote your work in a tangiable way they act as little more than a printer, and the only benefit they offer is an editorial process and a name, so that name needs to be worth something.

[Prof G]

Boy this keeps getting better and better (heavy sarcasm) :rolleyes

I'm not connected at all with the publishing world but I have found this subject very enlightening. I visit these sites to find examples to use in class.
I've been sitting here laughing my butt off at how unprofessional this company appears to be.
I've studied psychology for awhile now, so here's my psychological opinion.....it sounds like the entire management team is suffering from 'Narcissistic Personality Disorder' and has reverted back to childhood. I would recommend that the entire management team go to their local college and take some psychology and anger management courses, because then you would recognize that by some of these comments that most of these writers have a basis for complaining and obviously felt they had to go to a public forum because they weren't getting heard by the management.

This is human nature!

I noticed that there were some accusations being tossed about, let me let you in on a little secret about human nature.....Flinging around accusations carelessly is the quickest way to tear down a company and destroy trust between people.

If I was in the market for a publisher then CD's unproffesionalism alone would discredit them.

Prof. G

[Kimbo]

:eek

:lol :lol :lol

:rollin
:rollin

[Dave Kuzminski]

As I promised, this is a later posting with an update concerning this situation.

Mr. Miller of Crystal Dreams did send me a copy of the proposed new contract for his company's authors. It features much of the boilerplate from the SFWA templates. However, I will leave its suitability up to the authors involved as it's not up to me whether to accept it or not.

He also stated "this contract will be sent out with the royalty checks that are going out this afternoon, all of them." In light of this, I believe that my earlier suggestion of working this out over the next week to two weeks remains viable. After all, if the mail runs smoothly, those statements, checks, and contracts should be reaching the appropriate authors within the next few working days; most, if not all, I would imagine by Wednesday, 10 Sep 03. In the meantime, I will continue to monitor this situation while hoping that it works out to everyone's benefit.

[Steve S]

To echo David (I seem to do that a lot) I have seen the proposed new contract and it shows a marked improvement on the old one but it is up to individual authors to choose to sign or not, but this willingness to change I view as a positive thing. TW Miller has been very open in his discussion with me and much more professional than his representatives here. I hope that this all works out for the best in the long run.

Steve

[Victoria]

I've seen the contract too, and in my opinion it is now a fair one. As Steve said, individual authors must make their own decisions, but I think that TW Miller deserves credit for his willingness to address the issues that have been raised here.

- Victoria
Writer Beware
www.sfwa.org/beware/ (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/)

[nebulab00k]

I found it extremely interesting that so many contributors/authors have such poor spelling and grammar skills.

[Spouse of exCrystal Dreams author]

You should see a book when it comes back from being converted into their PDF file and sent to their printer. :rolleyes

[WriterBum]

I received my miserable royalty check and there is definitely something fishy about this statement. Why would a reputable publisher pay a $1.00 more to have a book printed than he would selling it to a bookstore?

That just doesn't sound like a wise business decision

8o

[Vauren Davidson]

I accidently posted this to the other Crystal Dreams thread, thought I'd repost it here so it's in the correct place:

WriterBum,

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your royalties, I'm sure Mr. Miller or the appointed author liason will be more than willing to assist you. So feel free to contact them as they would have infinitely more information than this board will and are willing to work with both Victoria and Preditors & Editors to ensure that you are receiving a fair deal.

Vauren Davidson
VP of Marketing & Public Relations
Crystal Dreams Publications

[XThe NavigatorX]

This is a really interesting topic.

I'm curious, does the new contract have an audit clause? That is, the authors have the right to hire an independent CPA to come in and look at the books of the company. Usually the clause says if there are a certain number of errors in the books, the publisher has to pay for the audit.

[Kimbo]

My contract doesn't state anything about whether or not I can request an audit of the company's books

:\

[Rupert Crawford]

Some months ago, there was some criticism of CDP. Does anyone have any news of them now? Are they still operating? Have they published any new books recently? Is there any news, good or bad?

[Writerbum]

I've had problems with them myself. I sent 2 certified letters to Mr. Miller back in Sept/Oct 2003 requesting information then a release from my contract I've yet to hear from him or anyone at the company!!!!

MEANWHILE, my contract expired Oct/Nov [He never would give me an exact date when it expired] and my books are still being sold at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Books-a-million, etc etc :teeth

I've consulted a lawyer and they have told me that a publisher HAS to pay you your royalties if they are still selling your book!

[astonwest]

"my books are still being sold at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Books-a-million"

Let me ask...are they being sold as an order from the publisher, or does the wholesaler (or bookseller) have a certain number in their warehouse?

If the wholesaler (or bookseller) made a nominal purchase when the book first came available, and there was no way for them to return the book, I would imagine they'd still be offered up for sale. However, the payment would have already been made (presumably) and royalty as well...

Of course, this is all a theory on my part...so take it for what it's worth (and what you paid for it)...

[Rupert Crawford]

:blackeye
One problem seems to be lack of communication - all is just simply hidden in silence - although there may be deeper issues. Failure to respond on termination of contract or other contractual issues is serious. So are continuing sales of books when the contract has been terminated, unless there are stocks to be disposed of. In the latter case, royalties must be paid. I have heard some stories that calculation of royalties are almost impossibly complicated, that royalty advices are delayed (if they are received at all) and that there are no responses to requests for auditing. Does anyone know anything about this?
What can anyone do to get a true picture - good or not so good?

[Vauren Davidson]

Hello again. I am Vauren Davidson, VP of Marketing and Public Relations for Crystal Dreams Publishing. Yes we are still in business, and improving by leaps and bounds. I realize I may be seen as a 'bad guy' on this board. But I want to clear a few things up. First, the matter of books still being sold after a contract is up. As soon as an author is removed from our list, we contact the distributer who lists it as unavailable. However, usually when a bookstore purchases a book, they purchase at least two. Royalties are paid on those when the store initially purchases them, the store keeps them listed on their website until they are sold out. Then, instead of removing a book entirely, they list it as Out of Stock. I've dealt with the stores myself in ensuring this is the chain of events. Also. The require we provide them with two "reviewers copies" of a book when it is listed. What do they do with these? They sell them. Not fair to publishers or authors because they get 100% profit on these copies. But otherwise, we couldn't list books on these popular sites. As far as communication. We're doing quite well with that actually. We have, for a long time, had an established Author - Management Liason. This is someone who all of the authors know to contact and she can always get in contact with either myself of the Head Publisher. I speak with authors concerning marketing of their book and our authors have signings and events scheduled. We are attending a writers convention soon and have signings, workshops and panels scheduled for that convention. We're progressing and moving forward constantly. If anyone has any questions, I will be happy to answer them for you. I can be contacted at marketing@arishan.com. Please put CDP in the subject line so I don't think you're junk mail!

Vauren Davidson
VP of Marketing and Public Relations
Crystal Dreams Publishing

[Rupert Crawford]

Thanks for your professional reply. Yes, sales can continue for a while - though not for ever - but, of course, royalties must be paid on all books sold, promptly and regularly. We do not have clear evidence that this has been done. One story is that you yourself cut one author off the discussion list, on instructions from Mr Miller and that, apparently in a continuing fit of pique, he summarily cancelled the author's contracts. He demanded payment of large sums without even discussing royalties and then put his claim in the hands of debt-collectors who demanded payment in high-value currency, other than US dollars, to give a huge increase even in the bloated debt claimed - again without any mention of royalties. All attempts to communicate are said to have failed. There are other stories of summary termination of at least one other author's contract and uncertainty about payment of royalties. Legal action may be pending. These stories may be inaccurate but there appears to be documentary evidence supporting at least large and crucial parts of them. For the sake of all authors - and Crystal Dreams owners and staff - you might wish to give a sober account of what has happened and perhaps indicate how CDP, its owner and/or others intend to proceed to sort out whatever problems there may be. At least, communication should not continue to be cut off but should be permitted to the maximum extent to facilitate proper dialogue, leading hopefully to resolution of any differences. Silence can only make things worse.

[Vauren Davidson]

Mr. Crawford,

I fear you've been grossly misinformed about the debt issue and other things. It would be terribly unprofessional of me to discuss these matters here. No, we don't have anything to hide. Everything is being handled in a perfectly legal manner.

The matter of royalties being paid. Again I would like to state that they are paid. Easy as that. When a sale is made to an outside source, such as a bookstore, online, etc. The appropriate percentage is paid to the author. Royalties are not paid however when an author buys books directly. They are given the books at a price that deducts the amount the royalty would be from the total cost of each book. When an author then sells his book at full cover price, at a book faire, etc, he would then keep the amount that would be his royalty and pay CDP the price of the discount. I hope that made sense. That is the only time royalties are not paid directly from CDP because the author would be getting them himself from his sales. Here's an example. Amounts are NOT exact as to what royalties would be for any book. Let's say a book's cover price is $16.00. His royalty would be, say, $6.00 per book. An author wishes to have 100 copies of his book in his possession. He orders them from CDP. He doesn't pay CDP $1600.00, he only pays $1000.00 Therefore, he owes CDP money for his books, yes, but he would make $600 from the sale of his book. That would constitute his royalty, it would not show up on a royalty statement since the money would not be coming from CDP, but from the author's sales.

[DaveKuzminski]

At the point that the author purchases his own books to resell on the market, just where does the publisher get the idea that they're entitled to part of what's made by the author? Is it in the contract? If so, why would an author want to turn around and be your sales clerk? If the publisher is already selling the books to the author at a discount that still allows the publisher to make a profit, then it becomes a situation where the publisher is attempting to double-dip. I find that grossly unfair.

[Vauren Davidson]

I'm sorry, I was afraid I didn't word that right. The publishing company would only be paid once, the discounted amount that the author purchases the books at. After that is paid, all profits from what the author has on hand is the authors. The company only gets paid once. We would never try to get paid twice for any book. so in the illustration I used in my previous post, the money paid to CDP would only be paid one time, either at the time of purchase of the stock of books or at the end of whatever consignment period is arranged. No double dipping

[Rupert Crawford]

The answers above are professional up to a point and are appreciated to that extent.
However, it would be appreciated even more if Ms Davidson would give explicit answers to the following questions:
(1) Did Mr Miller have one of his authors - perhaps more - abruptly struck off the CDP discussion list, without explanation?
(2) Did Mr Miller suddenly cancel the contracts of one author - maybe more - without prelude or explanation?
(3) Did Mr Miller try to charge authors-copies prices to at least one author for copies intended for the market, including mostly heavily discounted books - at 40% or more - to bookstores?
(4) Did Mr Miller demand payment from at least one author in a foreign currency so that he would receive a bonus of 20 to 30%?
(5) Did Mr Miller sell any books of one or more authors that he did not advise to the author/s concerned?
(6) Did Mr Miller furnish royalty advices to all authors in accordance with the contracts, whether or not royalties were actually payable through sales of books?
(7) Did Mr Miller explain how, when royalties were paid, the percentage of 40% promised under the contracts, turned out to be below 10% in actual practice? Did he list the costs, giving dollars and cents to components, explaining how this reduction came about?
A rather substantial slew of questions still remains to be answered but those above might be enough for the moment.
While, Ms Davidson, your attempt to speak for CDP is appreciated, authors may not know to what extent you have responsibility for CDP. Mr Miller appears reluctant to speak for himself, either directly to authors or indirectly, for example, through this facility. He should be encouraged to state authoritatively in his own words just what his answers are to the questiions that have been raised.
Authors would have more confidence in CDP if this were done.

[MadScientistMatt]

Anyone have new information on Crystal Dreams Publishing? It seems like they were taking a few steps to improve. Have things gotten better, or have they become a Crystal Nightmare?

[CaoPaux]

Here's the last incarnation: http://www.crystaldreamspublishing.com/

[Christine N.]

Well, if nothing else, it's a nice site... and geared toward readers, not authors, which is usually the first sign of a scam. I'd like to see a contract and know their distribution before I would sign with them, though.

[CaoPaux]

On WN, one of their authors quotes them as being a "part of" Ingrams and Baker & Taylor. But then, so is PA....

Running their top sellers for Nov 2005 (per their site) through Ingrams:

ISBN: 1591460379 (pub. Mar. 2003) -- Total sales in 2005: 15

ISBN: 1591460379 (pub. May 2004) -- Total sales in 2005: 3

Let's see...Amazon lists 31 titles, and one pubbed in Jan 2005 (yet having NO sales rank) gives us...

ISBN: 1591460190 -- Total sales in 2005: 2

Ouch.

[crystaldreamspub]

This is Sarah Schwersenska, the current owner, founder and Head Publisher at CDP. I realize the last post is two years old but I wanted to cleat things up. There were quite a few problems a couple years back due to the failing health of the owner. Those problems are resolved now, as new management and new staff are in place. Communication is great, books are not sold after any contract terminations. As Vauren stated, any bookstores or even Amazon.com can still sell the books they purchased to begin with. We no longer get paid for them. Royalties are calculated easily and sent out after every quarter. Any further questions or concerns can be directed to myself. You can also check out our new website. I can assure you that I know at least 99% of our authors are happy with us. THank you.
Sarah





:blackeye
One problem seems to be lack of communication - all is just simply hidden in silence - although there may be deeper issues. Failure to respond on termination of contract or other contractual issues is serious. So are continuing sales of books when the contract has been terminated, unless there are stocks to be disposed of. In the latter case, royalties must be paid. I have heard some stories that calculation of royalties are almost impossibly complicated, that royalty advices are delayed (if they are received at all) and that there are no responses to requests for auditing. Does anyone know anything about this?
What can anyone do to get a true picture - good or not so good?

[bloemmarc]

Hello Ms. Sarah Schwersenska

I submitted my manuscript to your office,"Quest for the Fire, the Begining," a few months back, and have heard no mention back from Crystal Dreams as of yet.
I am impressed with your publishing company though, and whish you all the success. I hope to hear from you in the future.



Take care, Marc Bloemers


This is Sarah Schwersenska, the current owner, founder and Head Publisher at CDP. I realize the last post is two years old but I wanted to cleat things up. There were quite a few problems a couple years back due to the failing health of the owner. Those problems are resolved now, as new management and new staff are in place. Communication is great, books are not sold after any contract terminations. As Vauren stated, any bookstores or even Amazon.com can still sell the books they purchased to begin with. We no longer get paid for them. Royalties are calculated easily and sent out after every quarter. Any further questions or concerns can be directed to myself. You can also check out our new website. I can assure you that I know at least 99% of our authors are happy with us. THank you.
Sarah

[BJones]

No expert here, but is a $5 reading fee normal for small publishers?

B

[Toni1953]

No type of fee is normal from any agent or publisher.

[PsychySensei]

Hasn't this company morphed quite a bit over the years?? I remember much of the original staff were replaced at one time with two men who were partners, I believe. They all had photos on the site, unshaven, in leather, one of them was in front of a 1979 Sklar-Pepplar sofa. Didn't impress my "success radar" much. I am 99% positive it is the same company. I checked the Wayback Machine, but they're not on there.

I have had to deal with them twice. The first time was when they were fairly new. I dealt with all women. They seemed pretty disorganized and the woman I worked with initially was very nice, but the owner, Sarah starting e-mailing me and she was not pleasant. My second encounter with them was about 3 years ago. They were still very disorganized and still not very pleasant. I'd never work with them again.

[Aconite]

PsychySensei, if I may ask, in what capacity did you deal with them?

[HapiSofi]

Crystal Dreams Publishing was a fraud to start with, and it remains a fraud now. They've never had normal sales or distribution systems in place. Let me show you how I can tell:First, the matter of books still being sold after a contract is up. As soon as an author is removed from our list, we contact the distributer who lists it as unavailable. However, usually when a bookstore purchases a book, they purchase at least two. ...What kind of a publisher thinks that bookstores buy books? Only one who has no idea whatsoever how books are distributed and sold. This is as basic as gravity: Bookstores never buy books. They take them on credit, and return the unsold copies for credit. Nobody pays for a book between the time it leaves the bindery and the point at which a customer takes it to the bookstore cashier.

It gets worse. What entity usually takes at least two copies? Why, Ingram, of course: the biggest book distributor in the country, and one of the chief engines of the publishing industry. A publisher who couldn't tell the difference between Ingram and a bookstore would be like an editor who doesn't know that English text runs left to right, or a production editor who thinks there's such a thing as a 323-page hardcover.When a sale is made to an outside source, such as a bookstore, online, etc. The appropriate percentage is paid to the author.This is a recurrence of the "selling books to bookstores" error. It confirms that Vauren Davidson really did mean to say that bookstores buy books.

In his last few posts, he's doing his best to sound like a real publisher, with real sales and real royalties, but he's lying through his teeth. When he wrote those posts, he'd never had any meaningful contact with distributors or booksellers. He hadn't even taken a few minutes to do a little websurfing and bone up on the subject.This is Sarah Schwersenska, the current owner, founder and Head Publisher at CDP. I realize the last post is two years old but I wanted to cleat things up. ... As Vauren stated, any bookstores or even Amazon.com can still sell the books they purchased to begin with. We no longer get paid for them.Let's recite this one more time in unison: Bookstores don't buy books. Amazon doesn't buy books. Ingram doesn't buy books. it's basic, basic stuff, but Sara Schwersenska doesn't know it, which means that she, too, has had zero contact with distributors and booksellers.

She's also added another error of her own. If, after two years, a retailer still had a copy of one of CDP's books hanging around, and that retailer sold that copy, CDP would be entitled to be paid for it.

If either of CDP's "publishers" knew squat, they'd be incapable of making these errors.I can assure you that I know at least 99% of our authors are happy with us.That's only possible if 99% of the authors are either Vauren Davidson or Sarah Schwersenska. I believe I can say with considerable assurance that their other authors, if any exist, are not happy with CDP.

[DaveKuzminski]

This is Sarah Schwersenska, the current owner, founder and Head Publisher at CDP.

Founder? Well, well, well. That could indicate that Sarah and the others are trying to play tag and continue their activities without resolving their real problems. If nothing else, it could indicate that Sarah knows more about what went on or was actually involved in what went on.

[PsychySensei]

PsychySensei, if I may ask, in what capacity did you deal with them?

Author promotions, copywriting, web design, promo items for book shows, such as BEA, that sort of thing.


PS

[Aconite]

Author promotions, copywriting, web design, promo items for book shows, such as BEA, that sort of thing.Thank you.

[Kasey Mackenzie]

Founder? Well, well, well. That could indicate that Sarah and the others are trying to play tag and continue their activities without resolving their real problems. If nothing else, it could indicate that Sarah knows more about what went on or was actually involved in what went on.

Yeah. I was under the impression that "founder" implied the person actually formed the business. There's no such thing as a "current" founder. You either are or aren't one of the original people who founded the business. In which case, you were involved from the get-go.

[Janice]

Well. Crystal Dreams is posting 4 editor positions on the State of Wisconsin JobNet site. I came here looking for info on them. I think I'll stick with the job I have for the time being. Thank you all.

[mmpubs]

Effective Nov. 1, 2007, the financially-troubled Crystal Dreams Publishing was purchased by Multi-Media Publications Inc. (http://www.mmpubs.com) (MMP). MMP will continue the Crystal Dreams Publishing name as a publishing imprint.

This was an arms-length transaction, and the principals of MMP had no relationship with the former Crystal Dreams owners, management, or staff.

MMP has been publishing since 1988, and has been quite successful in the non-fiction marketplace, publishing books, audiobooks, and DVDs on general management, careers, project management, and other similar topics. MMP has a solid distribution network including wholesalers in the USA (Ingram, B&T) and the UK (Gardners, and Bertrams) as well as distributors (Quality Books, and Unique Books) and commissioned sales reps. It has been a pioneer in the publishing of ebooks, and has distribution arrangements with Ingram Digital, Overdrive, Mobipocket, and others. Further details on MMP can be found on its web site: www.mmpubs.com (http://www.mmpubs.com)

MMP will continue the Crystal Dreams Publishing name as its fiction imprint, as MMP moves into the fiction market.

Crystal Dreams Publishing has changed hands a few times since it was founded by Sarah Schwersenska around the turn of the millennium. She originally started the company as an author looking to self publish. Soon afterward, she sold the company to T.W. Miller who expanded the operation to take on many more authors and titles. After the difficulties described in this forum thread, T.W. Miller turned the company back over to Ms. Schwersenska who tried to rebuild the company. The company was a financial mess and had serious public relations issues (as has been described in this thread) but she did a commendable job in working with the authors to try and repair the earlier problems. However, she could not pull the company back into a financially healthy state, partly due to undercapitalization, partly due to lack of publishing industry experience (as also noted earlier in this thread), and partly due to lack of promotions and marketing support.

Now, MMP, a well-established publisher, has acquired the company. Some titles were canceled to tighten up the catalog, new contracts were put in place with the remaining authors, and the backlist titles were re-released, many with new covers, new interior layouts, and better editing. This backlist refresh process is ongoing, as there are many titles to "fix" and some were in pretty rough shape; however, rapid progress is being made. New titles are being released in March, and additional new releases will be made in a staggered fashion throughout 2008 and 2009. None of the former CDP management or staff were hired by MMP -- it was an asset (and some debt) purchase only -- with the exception of Sarah Schwersenska who was kept on retainer to help ease the authors through the transition, as she had established very good relationships with the remaining authors.

As an established, "traditional" publisher, MMP pays royalties; does not charge authors a penny for manuscript reviews, editing, or cover design; and puts a focus on promoting and marketing its titles.

So, whatever has been posted earlier about CDP's practices, management, and problems needs to be revisited in light of its new ownership by a legitimate publisher with its own established contracts, practices, and staff.

If anyone would like further information on MMP or this purchase, feel free to call the editorial offices toll free at 1-866-721-1540 (Canada and USA only) or +1 (905) 986-5848 (for those outside of North America).

[CaoPaux]

From: http://www.mmpubs.com/submissions.html

Do you pay royalty advances?

Advances are getting quite uncommon in the publishing world. Only name-brand authors with a following, or follow-on titles from successful authors get an advance these days -- these are titles where the publisher knows with some certainty that the books will sell above a certain level. In this case, the publisher can build in the advance into their financial model for each book. Nothing is free, however: publishers who pay advances typically pay very low royalties, in the 3-8% range. In addition, most publishing contracts allow the publisher to hold back royalties in a reserve fund to adjust for future returns from bookstores. (Returns is a BIG problem in the publishing industry. We can get up to 40% of our sold titles back from bookstores for credit, often damaged and unsellable as new copies.) As well, these publishers tie up the copyright ownership in exchange for the advance. In essence, they are buying the rights from the author, and the author loses most of the rights to the book.

Instead, we've taken a different approach. We offer a much higher royalty (20% of net sales) instead of an advance, and the author retains ALL rights to the book. We just seek a license to manufacture and sell the book through our distribution channels. The authors are free to create derivative works, sell their movie rights, sell copies on their own web sites, make T-shirts about the book, etc. Our authors have the right to cancel our contract at any time after the first year. Since 1988, no one has yet exercised that right. With the author getting a higher royalty and no advance, there is much more incentive for the author to participate in promoting the book, something that benefits us all. People sell books, and author participation in the sales effort is key. By sharing the risk with the author in this manner, we encourage a higher level of sales participation, which (most of the time) leads to a much higher level of sales.


Do you use Print On Demand (POD) printers? And if not, what will be the size of my initial press run?

Nearly all publishers use POD in some situations as part of a capital management strategy. In our case, we use POD technology for generating Advance Review Copies (ARCs) that we send out before the publication date. For some titles where prepublication orders from distributors and bulk buyers are low, forecasting the size of an initial offset print run becomes difficult, so we may begin with POD for a few months while we monitor sales velocity and growth. After 3-6 months of sales data, we can better forecast the book's sales curve over the first two years and make a decision on the size of an offset print run. Some titles that really do not gain traction with early marketing and promotional efforts may stay on POD for a longer period, even indefinitely, though our preference is always for offset due to the higher quality of printed output and lower production costs on larger quantities. For backlist titles, once the sales curve drops off later in a book's life, and offset inventories are exhausted, it may not be financially viable to prepare another offset print run, yet we may also want to keep a book in print because there are profitable sales, even at a lower level. In this last case, we transition a title from offset back on to POD until the end of its life.Pop quiz: unspin the hyperbole, half-truths, and misinformation. Show your work. Extra points for personal examples.

[victoriastrauss]

I'm concerned by some of the content at MMP's website. What follows comes from the FAQ section of its Submissions (http://www.mmpubs.com/submissions.html) page.

Q: Do you pay royalty advances?

A: Advances are getting quite uncommon in the publishing world. Only name-brand authors with a following, or follow-on titles from successful authors get an advance these days -- these are titles where the publisher knows with some certainty that the books will sell above a certain level.

This is simply not true. Advances are certainly not "getting quite uncommon." Most commercial publishers--including independents--pay them. And where publishers pay advances, they are paid to all authors, not just a selected few.

Nothing is free, however: publishers who pay advances typically pay very low royalties, in the 3-8% range.

Also not true. Typical commercial royalties (paid on cover price) are 6-8% for mass market paperback, 7-10% for trade paperback, and 10-15% for hardcover.

As well, these publishers tie up the copyright ownership in exchange for the advance. In essence, they are buying the rights from the author, and the author loses most of the rights to the book.

Um, no. Commercial publishers do not take copyright ownership, nor does an author "lose" rights to his or her book. S/he sells the publisher the right to exploit certain rights for a limited period of time (s/he can do this because s/he retains ownership of copyright), after which s/he can take steps to get those rights back.

We offer a much higher royalty (20% of net sales) instead of an advance

This is not as high as it sounds. Paying royalties on "net" means that they are paid on the publisher's actual cash receipts--retail price less wholesalers' discounts (and sometimes other expenses), which in some cases can be as much as 55%. In dollar terms, therefore, a 20% net royalty can work out to less than a 10% retail royalty (commercial publishers pay royalties on retail).

20% of net, by the way, is what many of the big POD self-publishing companies pay. The rest of the FAQ section makes MMP sound quite a lot like one of these companies--whether or not it charges its authors an upfront fee.

I'm concerned about a publisher that finds it necessary to justify its payment policies by providing misinformation.

- Victoria

[Richard White]

Beat me to it, Victoria.

Even work-for-hire/media tie-in books offer advances for novels, novellas and short stories. I have seen royalties from a work-for-hire contract as low as 3%, but that publisher, (who's no longer with us), was known for being as cheap as he could possibly be and still get people to work for him.

Most everything else I've seen in my contracts has been in the 6-8% range. (Remember, the publisher has to pay a certain amount of the revenue to the license holder also, which tends to take a cut out of everyone else's stash. The joys of playing in someone else's sandbox.)

And, while I agree that people should certainly promote their own stuff, there's a difference between going to conventions, running a web site/blog, giving talks at a local library/school, arranging signings, etc. and serving as an unpaid sales force for a publisher.

[priceless1]

Q: Do you pay royalty advances?
Thank yew, Victoria. My Victoria Secrets were scrunching mightily, and I was prepared to tackle these myths as well.

[Khazarkhum]

From: http://www.mmpubs.com/submissions.html

Pop quiz: unspin the hyperbole, half-truths, and misinformation. Show your work. Extra points for personal examples.

Do spelling & neatness count?

Oh, and is any of this gonna be on the final?

[CaoPaux]

Do spelling & neatness count?

Oh, and is any of this gonna be on the final?Yes and yes.

For further extra credit, define "legitimate" in this context (min. 150 words).

[Khazarkhum]

Dang! My pencil just broke.

[emlynley]

I'm considering submitting a piece for an erotica collection I saw announced at EWRA, but I'm wondering about something I noticed on the MMP site.

In the call for subs they say the first volume collection would be out in July, but on their website it now says "Street Date October 2008" and "Publication Date Jan 2009"

Why is there a difference? It's supposed to be in print and ebook and they pay on "publication" so what does this mean for an author? They don't pay much, but it just seems odd to have a discrepancy like that.

Any thoughts from more experienced folks out there?

TIA

EM

[victoriastrauss]

Thoughts:

1) Have you read the posts above? Assuming you have, and still want to proceed with this publisher,

2) The pub date has been delayed. This can happen for legitimate reasons, but with a smaller publisher it's often a bad sign, indicating logistical, financial, or other problems.

3) Unless MMP uses terminology unique to itself, "street date" is another way of saying "publication date." From what you say, there seem to be two publication dates. I'm thinking that could mean several things--there has been a second delay (from July to October to January), or the publisher is in the grip of scheduling confusion, of the publisher doesn't proofread its website. None of these are encouraging.

- Victoria

[emlynley]

Thanks for the comments, Victoria.

I understand that some of this publisher's practices are considered to be questionable. Payment amounts are one thing, and some authors may be okay with this company's rates, but publication schedules and delays are another, and it's useful to have information on both. I think anyone else considering them would appreciate knowing more.

This is what the website says regarding the first volume they had scheduled for July (see http://www.mmpubs.com/forthcoming.html).
In Your Face Erotica
by Sarah Schwersenska
Published by Crystal Dreams Publishing
Street Date: 1 October 2008
Publication Date: 1 March 2009

Some of the items have street dates the same as pub date, but there are many with two different dates. I thought someone might be able to explain this to me. It's not just this one book.

The call for the second volume was posted in September, but it still had July listed as pub date for the first volume, right in the posting. So I don't think they have much attention to detail, and I'm going to pass on this one unless someone has compelling positive experiences with these people.

[victoriastrauss]

I have no idea what they mean by "street date," then, if it's not the same as the publication date.

- Victoria

[brianm]

A street date is the date retailers are allowed to sell a product to the public.

For instance, when the Harry Potter books were released, they were shipped ahead of the street date to the retailers. The boxes and the product inside could not be opened, much less sold, until the street date.

I believe magazine publishers use street dates, as well. There's one date an issue is shipped out to subscribers and a later date when the same issue is allowed to be sold to the general public off magazine racks.

Maybe they mean the first date is when the book becomes available and the second date is the official release date? Having a street date ahead of the official publishing date doesn't make sense, unless it's preorder sales and no one gets the book until the latter date?

:Shrug:

[triceretops]

Submission Guidelines

We would like to see a written book proposal detailing your book idea and chapter outlines. Successful proposals include a marketing plan for the book that ties it to a specific target market (hint: define your target market in the proposal). Finally, we would like to see your credentials for writing on this topic and any relevant past publishing credits that you may have. For any books you have published, please include unit sales figures, if available.

Okay, I would really, really like to see the specific guidelines for submitting fiction. It seems to have been completely left out. There is no mention of queries, a synopsis or even a sample chapter. The above guidelines are appropriet for non-fiction. I will never again write a chapter outline for a novel. And whenever I see a marketing plan requested for fiction, I start pulling my hair out, because I know exactly where this is going.

Tri

[priceless1]

And whenever I see a marketing plan requested for fiction, I start pulling my hair out, because I know exactly where this is going.

Tri
I realize this is a discussion for a different thread, but where do you think it's going when someone asks for a promo plan?

[M.R.J. Le Blanc]

I realize this is a discussion for a different thread, but where do you think it's going when someone asks for a promo plan?

Unless it's non-fiction, they're probably looking to see how much promotion they can get you to do.

[priceless1]

Unless it's non-fiction, they're probably looking to see how much promotion they can get you to do.
I agree they are probably dependent upon the author doing all the promotion. But I and many of my fellow editors (from houses much larger than ours) all want to have the author's promo plan. So while this particular publisher appears to have many challenges plaguing them, the promo plan goes across the board - especially in these tough economic times.

[triceretops]

Not to discount CD, because I think this is a wait and see scenario, but I do have a marketing plan for every publisher that I or my agent submits to. It was disconcerting to see the request right up front in their submission request as a prerequisite before an actual submission was sent in. In fact, consideration was dependent upon the marketing plan! That's the way I read it, anyway.

I belong to 23 display sites and five major writing groups. I always talk-up a new title on all of them--at the very least, list them. I remember spending 400 hours sending personalized press releases to all the major dalies and weeklies in the U.S. and Canada (1,500 of them) that had book review editors, and obtaining 59 review requests. Yet the publisher slacked and sent off a total of three books (this is a case where the publisher couldn't even keep up with my marketing and promotion plan, and likely, couldn't afford the postage to mail the review copies). I also know who my genre target audience usually is, and penetrate it thoroughly.

What I can't abide is pressure/suggestions to arrange and attend a plethora of book signings and conference attendances on my own dime, where in all likelyhood, I'll sell a handful at each event and not recoup my out-of-pocket expenses.

It all reverts back to that "free sales force" gig that is beginning to dominate the mission statements of every small press I'm seeing lately. It's the old "Ask not what your publisher can do for you, but what you can do for your publisher." As if every author was incapable or lax in the self-promotion department. Every author I've ever known is the first one to scream to the mountain tops, letting the world know about their new releases. They're cheerleaders by default. With publishers, it gets a little bit more shady.

Back on track...

I would like to know if CD, or the new company, has competent distribution, how soon they send out ARCS, where to, how many, if they have catalogs, a sales force, deep discounts, returnability, and competitive book prices. Knowing if I'm going offset or POD is also very helpful; the size of the print run and other factors. But no, we never seem to get the straight dope on this. Until a contract is signed, and it's usually too late by then.

I've adopted my own motto lately: Publisher, push my book--not me. Push my book and see how fast I take over the wheel.

[priceless1]

It was disconcerting to see the request right up front in their submission request as a prerequisite before an actual submission was sent in. In fact, consideration was dependent upon the marketing plan! That's the way I read it, anyway.
Ah, the clouds part. Got it, Tri. Thanks for the clarification. You're right, that is a bit odd.

[IceCreamEmpress]

I agree they are probably dependent upon the author doing all the promotion. But I and many of my fellow editors (from houses much larger than ours) all want to have the author's promo plan.

Yes. I have certainly had that request from houses both large and small.

But "promotion" isn't the same as "marketing" (as I know you know, but just elaborating a bit for the folks who are newer to the industry).

Authors should expect to promote their work vigorously. Authors shouldn't expect to have to hand-sell their work unless they're self-publishing.

triceretops's point is well-taken--a lot of the less competent and less reputable small publishers conflate "promotion" and "marketing" and imply to their authors that every publisher expects its writers to hand-sell their books from card tables outside the local Wal*Mart.