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Dorchester Publishing / Leisure Books

jana13k

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Thanks for the warning, Michael. My agent said if they're not down by Monday to let her know and she will have her attorney contact Dorchester directly. I am not going to play around. They have already screwed by out of thousands of dollars and are now telling lie after lie after lie to all the other authors trying to get their rights back.
 

peakbloom

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I'm glad for you Jana! Good for you in not playing around. I've been busy lately, but glad I checked back here on your situation. What you are saying about the lies concerns me, of course. Still waiting and wondering if the Dorchester mag writers will ever see a penny. And still wondering about what someone else posted on here about the mag being slow in paying even in the 80s. It was McFadden back then. Sigh. Oh well, thank goodness for sites such as this were people can compare notes on reliability. I'm still confused by what you and the others (who I am not that familiar with) are going through. You don't impress me as a person who would talk out of turn--nor do the few other writers I've read blogs on this subject. IF, and I stress, IF, Dorchester is attempting to retool into a viable e-publishing model--would not their reputation be almost as important as their assets? In other words--I'm sensing it took a lot for you to get to this point of frustration. I'm a no BS person, but also patient. I guess what I'm trying to say in my drawn-out writerly way is: what the hell? Most of the writers are going to go public and their rep will be dirt. I'm not there yet--but will be eventually.
 

victoriastrauss

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If they're up at Fictionwise and/or Barnes and Noble, be prepared for a lengthy battle to get them down. It can, sadly, take months. Amazon isn't much better either. (This is from my own personal experience at all three sites.)

I reverted rights to my OP books last December, but of course the ebooks didn't get taken down. Rather than mess around with the publisher, I sent DMCA takedown notices to Kobo, Sony, Amazon, B&N, and a couple of others that were listing the ebooks. All listings vanished within a couple of weeks. You have to comb the websites to find the proper addresses, but companies are obliged to pay attention to DMCA notices (unlike emails from authors).

- Victoria
 

michael_b

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I reverted rights to my OP books last December, but of course the ebooks didn't get taken down. Rather than mess around with the publisher, I sent DMCA takedown notices to Kobo, Sony, Amazon, B&N, and a couple of others that were listing the ebooks. All listings vanished within a couple of weeks. You have to comb the websites to find the proper addresses, but companies are obliged to pay attention to DMCA notices (unlike emails from authors).

- Victoria

Finding where to send those notices at Barnes and Noble can be fun. They've moved things around to make it hard to contact them... unless it's about the nook. Same with Amazon.

Kobo was a lot easier to deal with, but still difficult to find the right department from the site.
 

jana13k

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peakbloom - I am a no-nonsense person, and I don't lie, ever. I am a huge believer in karma. Asking me to explain the idiocy at Dorchester is like asking me to explain God. I have no answer, it just is.

Victoria - I am attempting to get ebooks taken down right now and of course, cannot find the right people to contact anywhere. Emails shoot off and no answers. Dorchester has nonchalantly said they will take down the ebooks the next time they update their site. So yes, they are PERFECTLY AWARE they are stealing and could care less. My being nice is over. I am about to tell all.

And please, if anyone here would like to spread the word, feel free. I have nothing to hide and the legal documents to back up everything I've said.
 

peakbloom

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Hey Jana. My name is Rita by the way. No sense in remaining anonymous anymore. I'm catching a clue here. I too believe in karma and the golden rule. I'm looking at Dorchester through the eyes of how I would act--not the reality of what they are doing. Apparently their reputation doesn't matter to them. I posted once on True Writers about my concerns that none of us would see any money. Some people are waiting almost a year now. Me, about six months. They'll owe me about $3,500 by the end of the year.

I've stopped submitting even though they were accepting up to three stories of mine a month. It's upsetting me to see the posts over there--a newish crop of writers (like I was a year or so ago) all excited and not quite aware they might not get paid. They might since it's a different division.

I'm small potatoes. Jana, what have you considered about going truly public on this? I notice the Wall Street Journal, etc. covers the publishing world. You get what I am saying. Someone like you who is owed five figures and has several books under their belt is an interview. I used to be a small-town reporter. Even small potatoes, I understand what makes a good interview. Someone owed a few thousand or a group of authors owed LOTS of money? Legal papers to back it up. Hmmm.

From what you are saying you approached them the same way I approach ANYONE (whether business or personal.) If I have a problem I go to them directly before I bring in the legal big guns or media. If they are lying or ignore my gracious request--then all bets are off.

Hoping you and the others go to the media. The book-buying public needs to know how they treat the authors. Most reporters I used to know are pretty good at discerning who has a real case and who doesn't.

When I politely threatened someone (non-publishing related) with exposing their mistreatment and illegal behavior to the media how quickly they settled monetarily. My only regret is I had to sign a document saying I would not speak of it to the media. Sometimes exposing bad behavior to protect others is more important than the money. I'm hoping you and the others don't have to make the choice I did years ago and can expose and warn AND get the money due you.
 

peakbloom

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Couple of questions, Jana.

I read John Prebich quoted as saying he hopes his authors will stay and a new royalty rate for the epublishing was being devised and TBA within a week or so of the Aug. 6 announcement. Did that happen? Did you feel welcomed and asked to stay? I'm not being sarcastic. It's just interesting to note how the media bites don't match the actions. I say they need media bites from elsewhere--like you and others.

I'd have to look it up--but a few weeks back I recall Prebich made some statement to the press and then someone else in the company made an opposing one--and bloggers were going crazy saying they should get their stories straight. I don't even remember what that was all about.

You have your story straight Jana!!!

Did you ever have any dealings with the publisher? If so, did or do you feel it's the publisher that determines the transparency and actions of the company as a whole? In other words, do you feel the lying and run arounds came down from him or someone else? What do you know about Prebich's past career and publishing history? If you know now--were you aware of it when you signed on?
 

jana13k

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I did not sign any non-disclosure agreement, so I am free to speak the truth as I please, but I honestly don't think they care. Have you ever dealt with a sociopath - they create their own lies then believe them.

No, I was not asked to stay, but my agent immediately sent a notice to them for breach of contract when this all started. I had no desire to give them more money and am certain that's all that will happen to the authors remaining. I have moved on in publishing and prefer to work with a house that does not lie and actually pays their authors.

As for the inconsistencies, welcome to the Dorchester author world. IF they had ever bothered to treat authors with respect and not lie, so inconsistently that even a six-year old could catch them, then authors may have considered working with them. But as most everything has been a lie, including my factually incorrect royalty statements, why in the world would authors care to support that? The smart ones don't. Some are desperate to be published and hanging in there hoping for the best. Those fools are exactly why people who treat writing as a business get no respect. If as writers, we don't respect ourselves, no one else will, either.

If the move to digital publishing is really a "industry shift for profit" as they would like everyone to believe, then how come I know NYT bestselling authors who have been told they've had ZERO in digital sales? Does that sound profitable to you? It's certainly not for the author. If the move to digital publishing is a conscience, deliberate move by a business to jump on what they perceive as a trend, then why wasn't the infrastructure to deliver and sale in a digital format put in place before the announcement? I don't think you have to be a CEO or David Copperfield to see the smoke and mirrors on this crap from a mile away.

I'm sorry you're caught in the middle, too, and $3,500 is nothing to sneeze at! That represents a ton of work and you should be suitably angry. I think the worst case I heard is that one author at the board meeting was owed over $100k.

I don't know how any of them sleep at night.
 

jana13k

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Oh, brainstorm, don't even get me started. They were going to include my books in that mess and I had an exorcist moment. Unfortunately, they have a friend's book in it and they no longer own the rights. So now, they're giving away her property.

I have given up on thinking anything fair and equitable will happen on this earth and just moved on to wishing they all burn in hell. I think I have a pretty good chance on that one. (sigh)
 

brainstorm77

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Oh, brainstorm, don't even get me started. They were going to include my books in that mess and I had an exorcist moment. Unfortunately, they have a friend's book in it and they no longer own the rights. So now, they're giving away her property.

I have given up on thinking anything fair and equitable will happen on this earth and just moved on to wishing they all burn in hell. I think I have a pretty good chance on that one. (sigh)

What do you think is the point of them doing this? I am glad that you have found a great publisher but this just makes me wonder what the heck are they doing and if they know what they are doing at all?

Is it some last ditch effort at keeping customers?
 

jana13k

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Yes, I think it's a last-ditch effort at generating ebook sales. You see, they are offering the first book in series books or the first of an author's backlist. That way you get people interested for free and they buy more. It's a solid way to market, but the problem is they don't own the rights to all those books any longer AND they didn't bother to do these things back when they were paying.

And I just found another of my books for sale as an ebook at Borders. It is going to take me a lifetime to get all of them off the net. I am so beyond angry that our government provides no system of relief for artists being used this way. Sure, I can sue, but sue what? They are broke.

I think I need a beer.
 

Axler

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Not to make light of this situation...but expect this scenario to be repeated to one degree or another at number of publishing houses over the next few months...it's like the rule of three. Once Dorchester started the ball rolling, some bottom liners are stroking their chins and murmuring, "And they're getting away with this, hm?"

My money is on a couple of Harlequin imprints going the way of Leisure....Gold Eagle tops the list.
 

jana13k

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Axler - I've never even heard of Gold Eagle and had to go look it up. Is it usually only in Canada that the books are available?

Harlequin Enterprises does very well. It's their parent company, Torstar, that's loosing it's hiney - hence the whole vanity press fiasco with them thinking they could just attach the Harlequin name to it and not cause a fray. The parent company doesn't know crap about publishing.

And you can't just file bankruptcy without needing to. A court will see right through that and order you to pay. Dorchester, being relatively small, does not have the pockets of other divisions to reach into like a Random House. But all of that still shouldn't preclude them from having to follow the law. And right now, they are stealing.
 

Axler

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The Gold Eagle imprint books are available worldwide and have been for 30 years.

I'm not necessarily talking about Harlequin going under per se--but more of their imprints getting the axe.

This situation with Dorchester has been on the wind for at least six months, maybe longer. The wind is carrying the strong possibility of similar situations from the direction of Toronto.
 

michael_b

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The Gold Eagle imprint books are available worldwide and have been for 30 years.

That would make me very sad. I buy a lot of Gold Eagle books, especially the Deathlands series. I'm still trying to get the older books and even the newer ones are hard to find where I live.
 

jana13k

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This situation with Dorchester has been on the wind for at least six months, maybe longer. The wind is carrying the strong possibility of similar situations from the direction of Toronto.
Try two years. That's why I said earlier in this thread, had my last book not been the last in a series, I would never have written it. But I did not want to leave readers hanging. Trust me, I knew it was coming, but I really did not know how impotent the law leaves writers when it comes to their own work. Sad and pathetic and very indicative of the value this country places on art.
 

Axler

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That would make me very sad. I buy a lot of Gold Eagle books, especially the Deathlands series. I'm still trying to get the older books and even the newer ones are hard to find where I live

Eh.

They had a good run.

Karma and all of that.

Jana, I was told back in 2008 that Don D'Auria was cutting way back on buying new books for the thriller and horror lines, but the euphemism at the time was "more selective."

Not to mention that the Hardcase Crime imprint and the Gabriel Hunt series slowed down to a near permanent-stall around that same time period.

But I didn't start hearing specifics until this past February.

However, according to Charlie Ardai who ran the Hardcase Crime imprint, he was as taken by surprise by Dorchester's announcement as most of their rank-and-file writers.
 

jana13k

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Seems everyone who prints horror is getting "more selective." I have a co-worker that writes horror and the available publisher list keeps getting shorter. If you can twist to thriller and pitch it mainstream, you're good, but straight horror, you're very limited.

I cannot imagine how an employee wouldn't notice the problems with payment/etc. especially as I heard even Stephen King had to get his attorneys after them for payment. Didn't he write for the Hardcase Crime line? As a former financial guru, it didn't take but one or two occasions of inconsistency in stories and delays in payment for me to recognize exactly what was going on. Plus, the rumors were floating around about the lost money from distributors filing bankruptcy, then the fire sale of their NYT authors, etc. If people didn't see the writing on the wall, then they do not understand business finance on any level.

I could even see it in my books. The covers kept getting cheaper, despite solid sales, and the marketing money disappeared. How could an editor not notice that? And I've toured their offices. They're about as big as my house (which is small). You could sneeze on one side and hear it on another, so I find it hard to believe that state secrets were kept in such small quarters. Did Charlie office there?
 

Axler

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I have the same doubts as you about Dorchester editors being sandbagged, caught flat-footed in astonishment. In fact, as Martin Prince would say, "Highly dubious."

Yeah, Stephen King did have royalty payment problems with them over The Colorado Kid, released through Hardcase Crime (which is now a SyFy Channel series entitled Haven), but I believe they settled the issues some time ago.

As far as I know, Charlie didn't have a formal office in the Dorchester suite--if it could be called that--but yeah...I'm sure he would have picked up on coffee-machine chatter, if nothing else.

I've noticed a tendency for editors and even writers of specific houses to go into complete denial mode at the first hint of problems...which is understandable to an extent, especially if salaries and/or advances might be at risk.

However, in a couple of recent instances, the denial mode reaches the level of "Bagdad Bob"...i.e., they're still insisting everything is fine while the office furniture is being repossessed.
 

jana13k

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Well, it's hard to hide things like being denied access to contribute to RWA National conference. And RWA was clear on their reasons why. It's hard to deny many authors, like myself and Brian Keene, who are willing to come right out and say what kind of BS is going on over there. They can try to spin it any way they want, but only fools believe it. The rest of us are ducking since we know they're just scattering more crap. :)
 

peakbloom

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Hi Jana,
You were mentioning earlier you are a financial guru. I am good with my own money, but not a financial guru. What's your opinion on this? Weeks ago some True Writers suggested it was rather the writer's ommission for not sending Dorchester invoices and forgetting we were in business for ourselves. OK, I admit I never thought I had to invoice anyone except a private client--which I have none. I bow to folks with more experience than myself. Truly. So I sent off my invoice today--over $2,000 overdue and there's more to come. Someone else sent their invoice last week and was emailed by the gal in accounting. The Dorchester Media gal REPORTEDLY said she got the invoice (not mine yet, someone else's) and said NOW the info. was in the system and being turned over to the comptroller. That sounds fishy as hell to me. Why wasn't the info. turned in months and even a year ago for some folks when our contracts were signed? Does Dorchester even have a comptroller? Most everyone over there thinks we are going to get paid. I have doubts. What's your fix on this?
 

peakbloom

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Here's something else that's bugging me. Some nice Dorchester author explained some things to me about the situation on another blog. I don't want to confuse what's going on at Dorchester Publishing with Dorchester Media. But he made some really good points that no one really cares about all this and writers need to be their own advocates, but it's hard to get them all together. Agreed. He seemed sensible. What's bothering me is some of the confession writers are not warning the newbies about submitting. To me, that's rather irrepsonsible. As is teaching new writers how to write for those markets WITHOUT telling them at this point it's a non-paying, non-byline market. I can go write for no pay anywhere. Writers do need to stick together and all this acting like nothing is going on is ticking me off.
 

jana13k

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If you have a contract, you do NOT have to invoice a publisher. The contract should clearly spell out what payment is and when payment's due. That sounds like one more excuse they hand out. Right now, no authors can get updated royalty statements (very common). The "one" person who can supposedly use their system in the past two years is either pregnant, having a baby, just had a baby, on vacation, sick, quit, rehired, fired, system down, ____________ (fill in your own reason). For publishers of fiction, you'd think they could come up with better lies.

So play the stupid game and send an invoice, but no, I have never, ever sent an invoice for a book under contract and I am certain none of my published friends have either. That's simply ridiculous.

I also agree that it's irresponsible not to warn people about stepping into a black hole, but then I'm also the person who sends photos and letters to wives if I see their husbands cheating. :)

I posted a warning on my local RWA chapter's loop because I know some of them write for the trues. They can all do with the information what they want, but that was a way for me to hit at least 180 people at once who may spread the news. I have also written a (not so complimentary) email to RWA national about the situation.
 

brainstorm77

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I'm still wondering if the company will actually make it...