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Dorchester Publishing / Leisure Books

michael_b

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Most of the books were uploaded legally, but there was trouble taking them down or they popped back up after being taken down (which actually does happen on Amazon even when the publisher is not screwing up). Whether it is 'true' or not it is Dorchester's claim and they will chew up billable hours pursuing it. So unless the author is independently wealthy I can understand not trying to solve the problem by throwing lawyers at it.

Some states have great probono legal defense for authors though. If any of the authors are in Georgia, there is a group there that can help. As of when I used the service 'artist' included the creator of any work, including fiction and other artistic mediums.

http://www.glarts.org/GLA/artist.html

They went after Random House (Italy) for me when they illegally published one of my stories which they did not acquire the right to publish. The publisher instantly paid me for the stolen work, and it cost me not a dime.

Other states have similar programs. Authors should check in their area for such assistance. Not all states have them, but those that do are typically very creator friendly and want to help you protect your work.
 

AnneMarble

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I blogged about the boycott on the All About Romance news blog. Just to be fair, I asked for any authors who still wanted us to buy their Dorchester books to comment.

I was also curious about what the Western writers feel about this. They may not have as many options in publishing -- although I see that Johnny D. Boggs is now published ib mass market by Pinnacle. I haven't seen as many of them on-line, so it's hard to tell what they have been thinking about this.
 

jana13k

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Thanks for all the suggestions! None of us have trouble with amazon, bn, smashwords at the moment. We fought and won that battle last year and it would be harder to get pirated books back up on those sources as we've all published our backlists there ourselves since the takedown from Dorchester as publisher.

FYI - for those that haven't noticed, Dorchester no longer lists themselves as publisher of books. It simply says "DP." Sneaky, sneaky.
 

cryaegm

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FYI - for those that haven't noticed, Dorchester no longer lists themselves as publisher of books. It simply says "DP." Sneaky, sneaky.
Well, how else are you going to plagiarize/steal while "trying" to keep a good name? (Being facetious, of course. :D)

Sorry to all the authors who are doing with this. This is just terrible, especially from a publisher who claims to be one of the oldest. Did things start to fall apart with the founder of the publisher (whoever that might be)? Or has it been different people who have been in charge of the publisher throughout the years? (Just curious really. I hope my questions aren't confusing.)
 

jana13k

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Well, how else are you going to plagiarize/steal while "trying" to keep a good name? (Being facetious, of course. :D)

Sorry to all the authors who are doing with this. This is just terrible, especially from a publisher who claims to be one of the oldest. Did things start to fall apart with the founder of the publisher (whoever that might be)? Or has it been different people who have been in charge of the publisher throughout the years? (Just curious really. I hope my questions aren't confusing.)
Without having access to their financial information and internal policies, I don't think anyone could successfully point a finger. I used to be a forensic accountant and could offer a couple of ideas, but they are only my personal opinion. First, Dorchester is privately owned and never had deep pockets, so any blow to cash flow was something they had a hard time recovering from because they probably didn't have a lot of cash reserves.

Given that constraint, several book distributors filed bankruptcy in the past few years and did so without paying publishers. The economy tanked and I know many, many authors (including bestsellers) who are reporting print runs that are down 30-70%. That impacts publishers.

So combine all that with poor administration and a failure to recognize the issues and downsize quickly and you have a mass of debt and no revenue. Then give them a bad reputation - not for being a failing business - but for breaking the law and publicly lying and you have even less revenue. Take a mass exodus of all your authors that have some place to go and you loose your best backlist books.

I'm certain it goes far deeper than that, but really, that's enough to sink them.
 

icerose

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Good heavens! I had no idea any of this was happening. Just bought "Ravenous" at wal-mart for 2 bucks in a bin. Now it makes sense. It was a really good book too, I feel bad for the author now because he's probably suffering under all this mess. I hope he gets paid for the book I bought.
 

SarannaDeWylde

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@IceRose- Are you talking about Ray Garton's Ravenous? I loved that book like cake. It was awesome.

He's posted a lot of his works himself on Amazon, Smashwords and I think B&N too. That's the best way to make sure he gets paid is to buy from him that way.
 

veinglory

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That is specific to the 'Trues'. but I do wonder if they bought the perpetual rights they seem to be trying to resell.
 

Bubastes

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That is specific to the 'Trues'. but I do wonder if they bought the perpetual rights they seem to be trying to resell.

Yes, they did. Trues writers sell all rights to their work.

Note: a few Trues writers have reported that Dorchester published their stories without a contract. They discovered this when they received their contributor copies.

ETA: Payments are continuing to trickle to writers. Lots of checks went out in May.

ETA2: As of June, the only Trues being published are True Story and True Confessions. The other Trues (True Experience, True Romance, True Love) are on hold for now.
 
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RoccoMom

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Does anyone know if Angie Fox ever found a new publisher? I really loved her "Demon Slayer" series. Someone told me she self-pubbed the fourth book on Amazon but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet.
 

Kasey Mackenzie

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Does anyone know if Angie Fox ever found a new publisher? I really loved her "Demon Slayer" series. Someone told me she self-pubbed the fourth book on Amazon but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

I found this info on her website (http://angiefox.wordpress.com/news-events/):

In more book news, I’ve signed on with St. Martin’s Press to write a new series about a group of paranormal MASH surgeons. Right now, I’m calling it The Monster MASH. I’m currently writing book one and having a blast.

And yes, it does look like she self-pubbed the fourth book.
 

xccorpio

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I found this info on her website (http://angiefox.wordpress.com/news-events/):

In more book news, I’ve signed on with St. Martin’s Press to write a new series about a group of paranormal MASH surgeons. Right now, I’m calling it The Monster MASH. I’m currently writing book one and having a blast.

And yes, it does look like she self-pubbed the fourth book.

Congrats!

:Hug2:
 

Bubastes

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Posted on the True Confessions magazine Facebook page:

Dear Trues Writers,

Dorchester Media would like to offer you a new opportunity to submit your writing! We are working on a compilation of Trues magazine material produced especially for e-readers, and we need your stories!

We’re looking for submissions of at least 3,500 words, both based on the usual Trues subject matter but also, especially, stories with themes of inspirations and miracles found in everyday life. We encourage you to resubmit pieces that may not have been appropriate for the magazines in the past, but might be just right in this case. We look forward to re-reading and hopefully accepting many of these previous submissions, as well as receiving new material.

We will pay you $100 and give you a byline for each story we accept for this project. This is less than the current rate for True Story and True Confessions, but unfortunately we have a very limited budget for this project. We have never included bylines in our publications before, but we’d like to include them now to compensate for the smaller fee. Once accepted, we will ask you to sign a release for your story, and you will receive payment 60-90 days thereafter.

Please email story submissions (and any questions) to: [email protected]

Here at Dorchester Media we truly appreciate our writers and thank you for your contributions to our magazines, past and present, and all future ventures!

Sincerely yours,

Dorchester Media LLC
 

Bubastes

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OR, those writers can just come join our new Trues line at Musa...


Just sayin'.

Exactly. And...there's no pesky 8000-word count limit to deal with at Musa. You can go, say, over 30K words if the story calls for it. Just sayin'. But that's a discussion for a different thread. ;)
 
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Bubastes

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HistorySleuth

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So if they stay on probation or end up blacklisted altogether after January 31st, what would happen to the authors and their work they are newly collecting for their new Trues magazine? (See post #319 above)
 

JulieB

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So if they stay on probation or end up blacklisted altogether after January 31st, what would happen to the authors and their work they are newly collecting for their new Trues magazine? (See post #319 above)

Perhaps this from SFWA might help answer your question. Other organizations may have different policies.
 

absitinvidia

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And here is an update on Dorchester: Chris Keeslar is out, leaving Dorchester with only 5 people on staff, and the trade paperback line looks to be in serious trouble.