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Ravenwing

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"Ally Robertson -- CEO/OWNER of Eternal Press.

Ally is also a multi-talented artist who lives in Burnaby British Columbia Canada. She paints using acrylics and canvas, is skilled with digital photography and dabbles with digital art and cover art. Her novel Psychic Passions, a paranormal erotic romance was released through Eternal Press August 7th 2008. Ally writes and performs her own standup comedy. She is also an Empathic Indigo Adult.

Ally is a Bipolar survivor, she is an active advocate for mental health and is the founder of several online groups to support those whom suffer and are in need. She has been diligently seeking out staff and authors whom suffer from physical and mental health issues who need to work from their homes due to their conditions.

Although living alone now Ally raised her two sons and two step-daughters and is the proud Granny of five. She is constantly rediscovering her self and broadening her horizons.

"We have an amazing team of people here at Eternal Press and in no other environment have I seen such a large group of people work so hard, collectively and cooperatively to help each other succeed. I truly feel blessed to have you all on the Eternal Press Team."

http://knol.google.com/k/ally-robertson/-/1j05d835jc9t9/0#
 

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Right up on the website she blethered on about her mental illness. That's right. She's manic depressive. She obviously had no sense of boundaries, or proprieties to do such a thing.

I don't see that this is a problem. Mental illness is just like diabetes or cancer or anything else: it's a disease, not a stigma or punishment for personal failures. If she's letting people know that she may sometimes be unavailable due to an illness, I figure that's good communication, just as I'd want my publisher to let me know if he was going to drop off the radar periodically while he underwent chemo.

That aside, though, this doesn't sound like a press I'd want to work with.
 

luvreading

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I don't see that this is a problem. Mental illness is just like diabetes or cancer or anything else: it's a disease, not a stigma or punishment for personal failures. If she's letting people know that she may sometimes be unavailable due to an illness, I figure that's good communication, just as I'd want my publisher to let me know if he was going to drop off the radar periodically while he underwent chemo.

That aside, though, this doesn't sound like a press I'd want to work with.

If she wanted to tell the authors, fine. But it's not appropriate right up there on the website for the world to see. That's not the correct venue for something like that. It's unprofessional. Of course, that's par for the course with Ally. I used to be an EP author, and I can tell ya I'm not proud of it. Ally should never have taken on something like that. It wasn't fair to the authors.
 
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triceretops

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I just checked my records and couldn't find the Word file for the contract. It appears I was so disgusted with it, and them, that I tossed it out of my system. So I don't know if it did have an audit clause. I just know that when I negotiated for cover price and author's copies, they wouldn't budge a micron. I was also accepted instantly. I've since sold that same book to a press who bettered all the terms, in particular, 12 author copies, and 12% on cover--game proposal submission, the book's own pro webstie, and all interior graphic character artwork gratis.

Tri
 

luvreading

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AUTHOR CONTRACT
Contract
AGREEMENT made this between hereinafter referred to as the AUTHOR, and Eternal Press, unit 2, 20a Sloan Street, Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia, 3677, hereinafter referred to as the PUBLISHER, with respect to the work entitled hereinafter referred to as the WORK.
Section 1. Publishing Rights
AUTHOR agrees to grant to PUBLISHER exclusive worldwide English language rights to publish, distribute, and sell the WORK in:
· Printed Trade Paperback Edition (Word count must be 65,000 plus)
· eBook Edition (readable-text digital format provided in electronic download, disk, CD/CD-ROM, eBook Reader or similar media of presentation.
· Audio (if offered in the future)
There is no grant of subsidiary rights sales defined under this Agreement. PUBLISHER may not offer for license or reproduction any portion of AUTHOR’s WORK. AUTHOR agrees that AUTHOR will retire any extant contracts with any other publishing entity AUTHOR has outstanding for the WORK immediately upon acceptance of this Agreement.
Section 2. Length of Contract
This Agreement shall be for a minimum initial period of Two (2) years from the actual date of publication.
PUBLISHER Termination: At any time prior to the publication, or during the publication, or after the publication of the WORK, PUBLISHER may, at its discretion, cancel this contract and remove the WORK from publication or distribution for reasons of poor sales, excessive returns, or any other reasons. PUBLISHER shall give notice to AUTHOR 30-days prior to requested removal from distribution. When the PUBLISHER removes the WORK from sale, this contract shall terminate and all rights granted shall revert to the AUTHOR. AUTHOR understands that books that have already been purchased and are stocked by bookstores, such as Amazom.com, may be continued to

been made between the parties other than expressly herein set forth, and neither PUBLISHER nor AUTHOR shall be, nor are they bound by, any warranties, representations, promises or agreements not set forth herein. The Agreement supersedes any previous agreement or understanding with respect to the WORK and cannot be modified except in writing by all the parties hereto. Upon execution, this Agreement shall be absolutely binding and fully enforceable and shall inure to the benefit of the parties hereto, their successor, personal representative, heirs and assigns.
Section 15. Signatures:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, AUTHOR and PUBLISHER have executed this agreement on the day and year below, to be effective immediately if the dates are the same, or on the date of the later signature if the dates are not the same. If either AUTHOR or PUBLISHER have electronic signature capabilities and both agree to accept an electronic signature as valid, that electronic signature will be considered of identical weight to a handwritten signature.
AUTHOR: _________________________________________________________ Date: ________________ Print Name ____________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________
Pseudonym (if applicable) _______________________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________________________________
City, State, Postal Code, Country _________________________________________________
Daytime telephone number _____________________________________________________
Evening telephone number ______________________________________________________
Email address: _____________________________________
PUBLISHER: Julie D’Arcy/ETERNAL PRESS, AUSTRALIA November 12, 2007
Eternal Press, Unit 2, 20a Sloan Street, Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia 3675
_________________________________________________________________
K. Celeste Bryan, CEO, ETERNAL PRESS (this represents her signature by electronic format). Sign, date and make copy, then return FIRST AND LAST PAGE to K. Bryan, 22918 State Highway 371, Nisswa, MN 56468 or return via e-mail.


As you'll notice from Section 2, it jumps to 15, so yeah, it rambled on for around 15 pages. It was the longest contract I'd ever seen, and all for the publisher, of course. I should never have signed it. Neither should anyone else. It is so long that as you'll see authors are instructed just to send back the first and last pages. :)

EP was by far the most officious nasty and disobliging publisher I ever had the misfortune to end up with. Rules, rules, and more rules. Ally actually demanded that everyone join their on line author chat. "This is compulsory" she said. She should have been a warden in a maximum security jail, and Kim and Celeste could be the guards. Horrible. Bet they're just coining in the dough, though. And hey, it all spends, regardless of the morality of how you got it.
 
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luvreading

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When I wanted out, here's what I was hit with:

Page 1 of 2
CONTRACT TERMINATION AGREEMENT
According to the various contracts and contract agreements you have signed you will be charged the following fees before any books are removed from publication and rights returned.
Title:
Fee for Print Formatting $25.00
Fee for editing and staff compensation: $127.08
Total due for contract termination: $152.80
If you wish to keep the cover art for your book you will need to pay an additional $25.00 fee for each of the covers to pay for the artists work and price of stock art. This fee is totally optional, if the fee for covers are not paid the cover art rights will revert back to the artist and you will need to remove all artwork and covers from your various websites and advertisements where ever possible.
Total Fee for cover rights purchase (if requested) $25.00
The Publisher will grant that all rights are returned the author via the signed document on page 2 once the termination fee’s are collected in full. After which the publisher has Thirty (30) days to have the books pulled from the shelves and terminate the public sale of the works. *note, some other retailer websites may take time to remove the books from their systems as they only do updates once every two to four weeks for such revisions. The publisher will do everything in its power to see that the works will no longer be made available as soon as possible. The Publisher will also also deactivate all isbn numbers associated with these titles at the time of removal from the Publisher’s distribution.
CONTRACT TERMINATION REQUEST AND SIGNATURES
ALL conditions and agreements within this document are considered legal and binding. Should a legal dispute arise, the laws of the State of California, USA shall apply.
I the undersigned (AUTHOR) am hereby requesting to prematurely terminate the following eBook and Print contract
with the publisher, Eternal Press. I understand that my rights will not be returned until all fees have been paid in full to the publisher.____(author’s initial) Once payment is received the publisher will then sign over and return full rights to the works. Thereafter the author may use the works as they see fit in their current edited text at their own discretion and with the right to resubmit such edited work for publication anywhere.
Total Fees from formatting and editing departments: $152.80
Fee for cover art $25.00 (if purchasing cover art…*optional*): $25.00
Author Name:
Book Title:
Signature: __________________________________
Date: ___________ ______________
Send two copies of this signed form via email in a JPEG or PDF format as proof of signature or mail printed and signed copies via the postal service. Payment of fees can be made through Paypal at [email protected] or a US dollar money order payable to Eternal Press P.O. Box 3931 Santa Rosa, CA 95402-9998
Page 2 of 2
The (Publisher) Eternal Press hereby grants that all rights are returned to the author mentioned below for the following titles.
Author Name:
Book Title:
ETERNAL PRESS
Kim Richards Gilchrist
CEO, Eternal Press and Damnation Books LLC
P.O. Box 3931
Santa Rosa, CA 95402-9998
(707) 543-6227
Publisher Signature: _________________________________
*only to be signed by the publisher upon payment of fees*
Date: ___________ ______________
The Publisher will send the copied and signed forms via email in a JPEG or PDF format as proof of signature upon payment of fees after which the publisher has Thirty (30) days to have the books pulled from the shelves and terminate the public sale of the works. *note, some other retailer websites may take time to remove the books from their systems as they only do updates once every two to four weeks for such revisions. The publisher will do everything in its power to see that the works will no longer be made available as soon as possible. The Publisher will also also deactivate all isbn numbers associated with these titles at the time of removal from the Publisher’s distribution.
 

luvreading

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This was sent out last November 9. There were always long missives about book sales, and how very complex it all was, but SURPRISE! never any sales. :)

Hello Everyone,

I am happy to announce it’s been another quarter with growth, even though sales on the EP website are down sales are up in other areas.



For those who are fairly new to EP with releases July to Sept, you will need to know that the majority of the royalties this 3rd quarter is based on the monies we received this 3rd quarter from sales actually made in the 2nd quarter from our various E-retailers. So if your sales reflect next to nothing don’t be too disappointed you should see a difference 4th quarter when you see the bulk of your sales from your release dates.



Example: Fictionwise pays EP quarterly. All sales in 1st quarter are calculated then sent to EP in the 2nd quarter. When EP does its calculating of 2nd quarter is when it pays out. Thus for a sale made in January the author doesn’t see a penny from that sale until the end of the month in July when the 2nd quarter is paid by EP. I know it’s confusing. But EP cannot pay you royalties on funds we haven’t received yet.



I was able to figure out the Amazon purchases that were giving me a hard time last quarter and I am sad to say the retailer and printer take a pretty big chunk. Here is how it is figured out. Amazon is paid for a sale. It takes half. Then that half goes to Booksurge (the printer) where they take off the cost of production and their fee. Then with the remainder we are taxed 30%. The remainder comes to us. Sadly enough it is pretty minimal. I have added a chart below to show you your best route for making your royalties and remember-the more money that stays with the company the better because it pays the staff for their hard work and the rest can go into advertising and overhead. If most of the funds continue to go to Amazon it would not be cost effective for EP to continue with print as the loss of time in manpower just isn’t worth it if no one is getting paid.



All Amazon sales are up to date and were paid out from February to July.



As you can see below on the chart You are really screwing yourself and all the staff out of royalties by buying Print copies of your books direct from Amazon. Sad to say but I have several authors who this quarter lost out on quite a bit of money by going this route, as did all the staff who is also paid a royalty based on EPs net income.



Thus I humbly ask that you please purchase any print copies direct from us. I have lowered the minimum order to 5 books so that those with higher priced titles can afford to order from us. I only limit it because we simply do not have the time to place one by one orders and shipping costs for one book would end up leaving you with no profit at all. The more you order the less the cost of shipping. As you can see below the cost of shipping for an order of 10 books still leaves you with a nice profit per book.



If you understand spreadsheets and would like a more detailed report on how royalties and profits work for each venue please ask and I will send you the excel spreadsheet that is very detailed and includes how staff is paid so you can see the effect on them as well.



Below is an example of royalty pay ratios based on 10 print copies at $9.95 each and 10 eBook copies at $6.95 each



This chart is based on 10 Print books sold for $9.95 each

Place of purchase
Cost with shipping and any charges
Profit per unit for Author

Author purchased print copy direct from Amazon
99.50
$0.09

Author purchased print copy through EP
87.00
$1.25

Consumer purchased eBook from EP
69.50
$2.43

Consumer purchased eBook from FW
69.50
$1.22

Consumer purchased eBook from ARE
69.50
$1.46

Consumer purchased eBook from B&N
69.50
$1.22





Ally Robertson/CEO
Candace/Assistant to CEO
Eternal Press Liaison
http://www.candaceclayton100.wordpress.com
Do you twitter?
http://twitter.com/candaceclayton
How about Plurk?
http://www.plurk.com/candaceclayton/invite

http://www.eternalpress.ca

http://shop.hollylisle.com/jamaffiliates/jrox.php?id=399
 

Ravenwing

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(LOL) Is EP an imprint of Publish America?
 

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As a contracted author with Eternal Press, I'm deeply bothered by the breech of confidentiality shown by sharing an email sent by Ally Robertson to the author's loop. This loop is restricted to Eternal Press authors, and what is posted there is for their eyes only. I have several work published there, and as someone who isn't considered a new kid on the block, I walked in with my eyes wide open, signed the contracts, and if books aren't selling, it has nothing to do with EP, but my lack of health at the moment to promote myself. I've been treated fairly, with respect, and during the transition between Ally and Kim, was given the option to stay or go. I choose to stay because the energy, innovation and caring I encountered with Kim as a peer instilled in me belief she would work on behalf of the authors. So far, I've found this to be true.

And for people to make Ally's personal health issues public for the purpose of degrading EP just smacks of retribution. How would you feel if you were in here shoes and discovered that things she felt comfortable sharing with her "employees and friends" through a supposed private venue were now being bandied about in such a vicious way? Not good, I'm sure. This degree of trust on the loops just exhibited the family feeling I found there.

This is just my two cents worth...and every one has a right to express theirs. Since I don't know the details surround the bitterness, I'll just say I'm sorry that you couldn't have managed it in a more professional light. There are many of us who hope EP stays in business for a long and profitable time, and it's forums like this that undermine the successes and plant seeds of doubt. It's a shame!
 

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And for people to make Ally's personal health issues public for the purpose of degrading EP just smacks of retribution. How would you feel if you were in here shoes and discovered that things she felt comfortable sharing with her "employees and friends" through a supposed private venue were now being bandied about in such a vicious way? Not good, I'm sure. This degree of trust on the loops just exhibited the family feeling I found there.

The info on her health is on her public bio, out there for everyone to see if they read the site.
I personally don't think it's anyone's business unless it starts affecting her work with authors/readers, but that's just me.
 

luvreading

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The info on her health is on her public bio, out there for everyone to see if they read the site.
I personally don't think it's anyone's business unless it starts affecting her work with authors/readers, but that's just me.

I agree. It is nobody else's business. Why Ally chose to post it all over the Internet defeats me.
 

luvreading

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I've been treated fairly, with respect, and during the transition between Ally and Kim, was given the option to stay or go.

You don't know how lucky you are. I'm amazed they didn't put the arm on you for one hundred and fifty big ones. :)
 

Ravenwing

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Sympathy? Regarding why she would post that info publicly. I'm glad for this thread, as I am for this whole Bewares forum. It for one, will steer me clear from this publisher.

Amen to that. This whole EP business is beginning to stink as bad as last week's fish. Why are they trying to hold onto books they say are not selling, and then when the author wants out, attempting to extort hundreds of dollars from him?
 

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That contract termination agreement is bizarre. Was there a termination clause in the original contract you signed with EP? There should have been.
 
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Kensington

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When the EP authors saw all the outlets the EP books are offered in -- fictionwise, etc., and realised their titles from other publishers, smack beside them were doing just great, they wondered why the EP title wasn't selling.
 
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Kensington

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And for people to make Ally's personal health issues public for the purpose of degrading EP just smacks of retribution.

Sorry, no sale. Ally chose to make those public herself, right on the EP website. You can't change the rules halfway through the game.


I don't know the details surround the bitterness

It appears that the "bitterness" may be justified.
 
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mizging

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Steering Clear

If you choose to steer clear of EP, then that's of course, your decision, but I beg to differ about the promotion. EP has done far more to assist their authors with promotion than any of the other publishers I've been with. Yes, things have slowed down a bit, but the business is in a state of transition and I think it only fair to give Kim a chance without blackballing her new venture from the get go. I know several authors choose to leave, but their reasons were not shared for confidentiality. All I can say is that if Ally choose to share her illness, perhaps it was something she felt she need to do. I certainly don't condemn her for that and I applaud her for not letting the business go under when it became more than she could manage. I've had my say, and I didn't mean to stir up the pot, just add a new perspective.
 

Ravenwing

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I know several authors choose to leave, but their reasons were not shared for confidentiality.

The question is, did they have to shell out almost two hundred smackers for the privilege? Or, is Eternal Press allowing some to go without strong arming them for moolah? By what I've seen of the contracts and so-called "termination" contracts, I doubt they'd stand up in court.


Anyone who has paid this outfit money to get out needs to step up to the platform here and be counted. You got took. Don't let them get away with it. Fight back. We might not be able to close them down, entirely, PA is still in business, but we can slow them down.

Also, the EP Contract Addendum for Print Production is pure Ally, and only fit for one thing. :)
 

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They aren't the only epub with a kill fee like that. Mojocastle Press also has one. It's supposed to pay the editor for their time if a book is pulled before end of contract. From my experience the only person who edits there is their editor in chief, Stefani Kelsey.
 

Kensington

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You'll always notice that the classier publishers let you out without any "fee."
 
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luvreading

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In all fairness to the publisher, I can understand them wanting some sort of financial compensation if an author suddenly decides to jump ship right after the editing, cover art etc. have been done. BUT, if an author has been with them for years, and he hasn't made a dime in royalties, then to hold him up for a further two hundred bucks when he wants out, is ugly, really ugly, and inexcusable. But it's standard practice in the disreputable author mills, I'm afraid.
 

luvreading

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I must admit I do hope this outfit goes belly up in the water. That way all those poor authors they're holding up for ransom, and trying to extort big bucks out of, will be free at last.
 
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