Exactly, Sheryl. The jerk got my blood and sweat. He's not getting my money for returned books too. Like you said, it's not the author's responsibility. I did my part, and some of his too.
I went a step above, and got hold of the corporate office for Hastings bookstores. The lady agreed to take a look at Blu Phier's catalog of books. Said she'd be glad to order copies for all the Hasting stores. Hastings is a growing chain in the US. It meant lots of immediate sales for the authors and Bernoudy himself. Since he didn't have a catalog, I agreed to design it, which I did. All I asked Bernoudy for was the money to make copies of it. Wouldn't have cost him more than a few hundred dollars. I would have even sent them off to Hastings. He never sent me the money to get the copies made. What a shame. It was a golden opportunity.
This experience turned me off to small presses. Even though I know there's alot of them out there that are totally legit. I don't want to go through the hassle again for such little reward. A little bit of help with marketing would be nice, ya know.
Thanks, Tri for your comment. The experience, as bad as it was, did teach me an awful lot though. It gave me the passion to learn the craft even better, and the determination to go after what I want this time around. I have been submitting my second book. I've gotten some wonderful feedback from some great agents, and I have one I'm really interested in who took the time to send me her 8 page editing guide. She wanted me to apply it to the three chapters I sent her, and then resubmit. But even if I don't get a contract from her or any of the others I'm waiting to hear from, it's okay. I'm on the right track and won't quit till I reach my goal. I'm not settling this time.
Oh, I heard you got an agent for one of your books, Tri. Way to go, man.