• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

MoReaLm Publishers, LLC

do you think i have a case to sue for failure of contract ,lack of payment

  • do it!!!!

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • i have been scmmed by her too

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    1

ravenight

hey there i have been a writer for a few years now, trying to get my works done, i sent a short story to a publishers who like and give 'breaks' to no names. Morealmpub.com is the site and the owner monique dasilva/ carter has sent me on a wild waiting line that will never end i fear. Be patient and it will be a win win sit. yeah right:rant:. now i find out that everyone i know who has sent yher a story and sent in her feelance contract have not received any word after that. she claims to be publishing six books in one summer. sent me a email stating she was in england for some stupid book fair and will get back to work after it. well she promised to have our works and books done by end of the summer 07. uuuuhhhh its now novemeber and yet to recieve a word from her or her company. she states in myspace.come (yes type in her name in searchto get to her page.) that she lives in ny ny and has three offices. Dang it people she now preying on others in different countries and that is making us look bad.:Soapbox:. Now i am looking for others who have been scammed by her too. here is the contract for you all to read and tell me if i have a case, besides i have a gentic skin condition that is aggrivated greatly by stress and i have been sick for three months since this crud started. Im not used to be ripped off. if there a way i can find out if she used my story but changed the name or such?:Soapbox:

Hello All:

This is a small note of information. We have completed most of the production process on the Soultruths...and what else is goin'on serial collection (Volumes 1 and 2). At this time we are setting up everyone's payment schedule so that you each will know when to expect your Initial Pay Package (as outlined in your Agreement).

I cannot complete this process until I receive the majority of signed Agreements for a specific publication. All the writers in Round One involved in the first volume have turned in their Agreements. With that we were able to move up the production date for that volume by a month. In other words, the quicker we receive those Agreements the quicker we head into production and hit the shelves.

For those who have returned those Agreements (either by email or regular mail) I thank you. At this time we usually set a deadline for these Agreements. I will accept Agreements from this round (Round Two) until May 15, 07. After which if we have not received your Agreement then your work will be removed from the Freelancers Pool. I sincerely appreciate every person's patience, interest, and talent. We are enjoying this season and want it to be fruitful for all.

This week (April 30-May 4) the company will not be open. This is what is known as "Speed Week". The entire week is dedicated to production. We spend every minute of our time with the printers, distributors, and marketers. In addition to the staff being occupied by the production process, I will not be in the office. I will contact you as to our progress once I return.

Thank you again.

Regards,
Monique da Silva
Chief Editor





MoReaLm Publishers Limited Liability Company
FREELANCE WRITER AGREEMENT


This agreement (the "Agreement") is entered in to by (“Writer"), and MoReaLm Publishers, LLC ("Publisher").

In consideration of the mutual covenants made herein, the parties agree as follows:


I. Parties: Writer is engaged in the business of writing articles and other materials on a freelance basis. The Publisher is engaged in the business of commercial and electronic publishing.
II. Relationship: The parties expressly agree and acknowledge that the relationship created by this Agreement is one of Independent Contractor. The Publisher is not the employer of Writer, and Writer is not, and will not be treated as, an employee of the Publisher for federal tax purposes, or any other purpose.
III. Contract Period: This Agreement will begin on the date set forth below and shall continue until terminated as provided herein by either party. If either party violates a term of this Agreement, then the other party (the "Non-breaching Party") may terminate this Agreement, effective immediately upon delivery of written notice of termination by the Non-breaching Party. Not withstanding the foregoing, either party may terminate this Agreement at any time for any or no reason, effective upon thirty (30) days written notice.
IV. Services to be Provided by Writer: Writer agrees to submit, on his or her sole initiative, written articles to the Publisher. The manner and method of producing these Articles is solely at the discretion of Writer; the Publisher has no right of control over Writer’s manner or method of performance under this Agreement. Writer will submit Articles in accordance with the schedule of copy deadlines being used by the Publishers.
V. Representations and Warranties of Writer. By submitting an Article to the Publisher, Writer represents and warrants that the Article is Writer’s original work and that the Article is not owned by any third party. Further, the Writer represents that the Article is accurate, has not been obtained by unlawful means. The Writer further represents that publication of the Article by the Publisher will not violate any copyright or other intellectual property right of any third party.
VI. Compensation: The Publisher agrees to pay Writer per Article based on a standard scale created by the Publisher. Under no circumstances will Writer be paid on an hourly, daily or other basis that is a function of time. Writer acknowledges and agrees that the Publisher will only pay writer for Articles that are published and the publisher has the sole and exclusive authority to determine whether or not to publish any and all Articles submitted by Writer. (See Appendix A)
The Publisher agrees to pay a photographer per photograph published in Article, conjunction with an Article; however it is the Publishers discretion as to the placement or existence of photography in a project.
VII. Taxes: As an Independent Contractor, Writer shall be responsible for the reporting, deposit and payment of any and all federal, state, and local taxes, including but not limited to income taxes, FICA taxes, and unemployment taxes incidental to the performance of, or payment under, this Agreement.
VIII. Assignment and Ownership of Intellectual Property: Writer hereby understands and agrees that all Articles submitted to, and published by, the Publisher under this Agreement shall be considered works for hire for first nation publication rights. Writer hereby assigns to the Publisher all first national rights to publish the Article, and those articles written by Writer and previously submitted to the Publisher, in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, including without limitation the rights to archive, republish, edit, repackage or revise any Article in any manner as the Publisher sees fit. The rights conferred upon the Publisher by this Agreement shall be exclusive to the Publisher for a period of 30 days after the first date the Publisher initially publishes the Article.






This Agreement is entered into on this ____ day of _________________ 2007.



Writer: _______________________________________
Signature


MoReaLm Publishers Limited Liability Company:
Monique da Silva, Owner and Chief Editor__________
Name/Title






Appendix A: Compensation

The House pays per Article published on the following basis:

Poems, Prose, the Like $5-7 per Article*
Essays, Conversations, the Like $10-15 per Article*
Short Stories $20-30 per Article*
Novellas (up to 35,000 words) $40-70 per Article*
(up to 60,000 words) $75-100 per Article*


*ranges based on content, word count, and House discretion


The above compensation scale is known as Initial Pay.
Continuous Pay refers to the compensation the author receives based on the gross sales of the featured publication. The House defines this as "75% of the gross sales of a distributed publication being divided by the "Freelancers Pool” that participated in said publication.” [For Example, Publication A has 30 writers participating in its "Freelancers Pool". The gross sales at the end of the fiscal quarter total $25,000. 75% of $25,000 will be divided by 30 and distributed evenly throughout the "Pool". **]


**This is just an example. Sales vary depending on publication.


[NOTE: Sign and return to: MoReaLm Publishers; PO Box 1503; Red Oak, Georgia 30272*]


*This address is temporary while we prepare for the move to our larger office.


now her website isnt there anymore. help me please:cry:
 

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
2,719
Reaction score
2,056
Location
GA
If you want to find out if your story is on the web, try taking a string of words from it (the more unusual, the better, ie don't use "She looked away") and running it through google in quotes.

This sounds more to me like someone who simply went belly-up in a very non-professional manner. I'm no expert, but I don't think there's any 'case' here, unless I'm missing where you're actually out something (money, mainly).

If I were you, I'd send a letter canceling the contract and move on. Good luck.
 

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 2, 2006
Messages
2,719
Reaction score
2,056
Location
GA
Oh, and don't sign any more 'work for hire' agreements. Teh suk.

She hasn't actually violated the contract unless she published your work.
Writer acknowledges and agrees that the Publisher will only pay writer for Articles that are published and the publisher has the sole and exclusive authority to determine whether or not to publish any and all Articles submitted by Writer.
 

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,954
Reaction score
1,751
Location
Coastal Desert
Here's the cache of the website. Considering MoReaLm's been around since 1999, I'll wager this is another case where RL issues cause a hobby publisher to vanish without a trace. Unfortunate, but all too common at that level.

Does anyone find the MySpace page? I searched on a few permutations of Monica/Monique Carter-da Silva, but all I found was a Brazilian singer.
 

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,954
Reaction score
1,751
Location
Coastal Desert
Aha, thanks!

No hint of trouble there, though. :Shrug:
 

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess
Kind Benefactor
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
6,704
Reaction score
1,315
Location
Far from the madding crowd
Website
www.victoriastrauss.com
I got a question about this publisher last July. Here's my response:

I've never gotten any complaints about this publisher. However, I have some concerns, based on what I see at its website. It claims to have been in business since 1999, yet its first book wasn't published till 2002, and it has published only two other books since then, one each year. For a publisher that claims to go through 3,000 submissions a year, that's either insanely selective or insanely inefficient, and makes me pretty doubtful that it can, as it claims, put six books into production this year.

The books have ISBN numbers, but aren't listed at either Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble.com. I don't imagine they can be found at bookstores, either, since the company has no obvious means of distribution. I suspect that publishing with this company is a recipe for obscurity.

A couple of other observations:

- As clueless as this publisher seems to be, it was smart enough put a "payment on publication" clause into its contract. As long as no publication takes place, writers are owed nothing.

- The contract says it's work for hire (which means the publisher takes ownership of your copyright), but also claims it's only taking "first nation publication rights," which become non-exclusive 30 days after publication. This is contradictory. If something is work for hire, whoever buys it owns it, so "first nation" rights and nonexclusivity are irrelevant.

The contract gives the writer the right to terminate with 30 days' written notice. That would be my advice.

- Victoria
 

johnnysannie

Banned
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
3,857
Reaction score
435
Location
Tir Na Og
Website
leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogspot.com
I would take Victoria's advice.

I had two short stories accepted early this year by the same company. When I did not hear back after receiving the same message posted above, I tried three times to contact the publisher but when I had no luck doing so, I sent written notice and withdrew my stories.