Hi! I'm sorry if this is long. I don't know what to do about this, so I thought I'd ask those with more experience than I.
I wrote a novelette for an anthology, which was published by a small press in April. I'll call the press "KP" and my story "SK". The owner of the press will be titled Owner. SK was my first published work and first experience with publishers and such, so please forgive me if I missed something I clearly should've avoided.
In October I submitted the abstract for SK to KP. They wanted the full story. So, I wrote it out and sent it in. Again they accepted it, then told me the Editor in Chief would be in contact with me to discuss any edits needed. He did; I fixed them and sent SK back for a look-through by their beta readers. Four betas looked over it and only three comments were left, one of which read something like "Cool story, bro." I tended their complaints and promptly enlisted the help of my husband and best friend to make sure it was in tip-top shape for its alleged late-January release.
Then, radio silence for several weeks.
Out of the blue I get a message from Owner asking, with no context, if I still want to be published with them. I said, "Yes, why wouldn't I?"
Later, I came to find out on Facebook (!) that Owner had fired Editor-In-Chief, who apparently was Owner's best friend, over a personal spat. With the Editor in Chief went the Artist and Assistant Editor. In hindsight this should've been my signal to abandon ship, but I hoped for the best and stayed on. I was assured a new editor would be found and everything would be fine.
The anthology came out in April.
Now I have in my lap a mostly unedited copy of SK within the anthology. The other submissions aren't in great shape, either.
I was appalled when I saw it. It does not look professional in the least. The copyright page has formatting mistakes, for Pete's sake. I understand I have a responsibility to make sure my own work is in good shape beforehand, which I did to the best of my ability. But, there were several things KP did to SK that I was not aware of until I had a physical copy in hand. They did not send us final proofs.
For example, the section supposed to be titled "Death Magick" is instead "Death Magic" while not four paragraphs prior it's spelt "magick". There are missing commas, uncapitalised words when they should be capitalised, and the formatting is poor. It looks like a amateur, unedited, self-published work.
I messaged Owner about it and offered to fix grammar and spelling for not only my work but everyone else's as well, for free, because I want it to look professional and its current state was unacceptable (though I put it in kinder words than that).
This a direct quote from Owner: "I think we're going to have to just roll with this version and do better in future anthologies. I don't really want to have to do a third version of this book."
Am I wrong in thinking it's his job to make sure it's well-done and to do a third version if the second isn't up to par? I don't want to "just roll with this version," that's absurd! As Owner and now effectively the Press itself since he's literally the only employee, it falls on him to do that work.
Even more infuriating was they asked us, the authors, to write highly positive five-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads to make sure the anthology is presented in a good light. Not only am I ethically opposed to that since I'm in the darn thing, but I don't give five-star, positive reviews to works with obvious mistakes that could have easily been fixed in editing.
I don't think Owner performed what can be reasonably expected of an LLC publishing company. If possible, I'd just like it to be edited. If he won't allow that, I want it pulled. It's causing me quite a bit of shame and embarrassment since it's my first published work and a lot of friends and family members who didn't believe in my writing agreed to purchase a copy.
There is a clause in the contract that says mediation must happen before any matter between KP and the author becomes a legal matter. I don't know how to approach this, what to say, or if I can realistically do anything.
I just want it to look professional and well-put-together.
I wrote a novelette for an anthology, which was published by a small press in April. I'll call the press "KP" and my story "SK". The owner of the press will be titled Owner. SK was my first published work and first experience with publishers and such, so please forgive me if I missed something I clearly should've avoided.
In October I submitted the abstract for SK to KP. They wanted the full story. So, I wrote it out and sent it in. Again they accepted it, then told me the Editor in Chief would be in contact with me to discuss any edits needed. He did; I fixed them and sent SK back for a look-through by their beta readers. Four betas looked over it and only three comments were left, one of which read something like "Cool story, bro." I tended their complaints and promptly enlisted the help of my husband and best friend to make sure it was in tip-top shape for its alleged late-January release.
Then, radio silence for several weeks.
Out of the blue I get a message from Owner asking, with no context, if I still want to be published with them. I said, "Yes, why wouldn't I?"
Later, I came to find out on Facebook (!) that Owner had fired Editor-In-Chief, who apparently was Owner's best friend, over a personal spat. With the Editor in Chief went the Artist and Assistant Editor. In hindsight this should've been my signal to abandon ship, but I hoped for the best and stayed on. I was assured a new editor would be found and everything would be fine.
The anthology came out in April.
Now I have in my lap a mostly unedited copy of SK within the anthology. The other submissions aren't in great shape, either.
I was appalled when I saw it. It does not look professional in the least. The copyright page has formatting mistakes, for Pete's sake. I understand I have a responsibility to make sure my own work is in good shape beforehand, which I did to the best of my ability. But, there were several things KP did to SK that I was not aware of until I had a physical copy in hand. They did not send us final proofs.
For example, the section supposed to be titled "Death Magick" is instead "Death Magic" while not four paragraphs prior it's spelt "magick". There are missing commas, uncapitalised words when they should be capitalised, and the formatting is poor. It looks like a amateur, unedited, self-published work.
I messaged Owner about it and offered to fix grammar and spelling for not only my work but everyone else's as well, for free, because I want it to look professional and its current state was unacceptable (though I put it in kinder words than that).
This a direct quote from Owner: "I think we're going to have to just roll with this version and do better in future anthologies. I don't really want to have to do a third version of this book."
Am I wrong in thinking it's his job to make sure it's well-done and to do a third version if the second isn't up to par? I don't want to "just roll with this version," that's absurd! As Owner and now effectively the Press itself since he's literally the only employee, it falls on him to do that work.
Even more infuriating was they asked us, the authors, to write highly positive five-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads to make sure the anthology is presented in a good light. Not only am I ethically opposed to that since I'm in the darn thing, but I don't give five-star, positive reviews to works with obvious mistakes that could have easily been fixed in editing.
I don't think Owner performed what can be reasonably expected of an LLC publishing company. If possible, I'd just like it to be edited. If he won't allow that, I want it pulled. It's causing me quite a bit of shame and embarrassment since it's my first published work and a lot of friends and family members who didn't believe in my writing agreed to purchase a copy.
There is a clause in the contract that says mediation must happen before any matter between KP and the author becomes a legal matter. I don't know how to approach this, what to say, or if I can realistically do anything.
I just want it to look professional and well-put-together.
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