I was recently released. There was no gag order, just a letter stating that all rights were reverted.
Our first action: We (I have a co author) started off by mailing a certified letter requesting release, saying that we were unhappy with the pricing, the distribution practices, and their reputation. We said that we could not and would not continue to market under such circumstances.
Their response: Don't communicate with us by letter but by e-mail. No mention to the request for release.
Our response (by e-mail): OK, we would rather work by e-mail as well. How about releasing us?
Their response: Nothing. Nothing.
Our response was to step up the frequency of e-mails, at which point the exchange became very interesting. We discovered that you had to be very firm with them. Anyway, I've posted the exchange below (which many AWers have already enjoyed) but in case you did not see it, here it is, including below the text of our original certified letter requesting release:
Dear Ms. Grossack:
>>We will keep reminding you of this until
>>we receive some sort of response
No, you will not keep reminding us. If you do, we will file a complaint of
harassment with your local law enforcement authorities.
Victoria: Now that you have acknowledged the content of this, it is not necessary. And I think one or two e-mails a week, asking to take care of something, could not possibly constitute harassment under any circumstances. That is ridiculous and contacting my local law enforcement authorities would be the most absurd waste of your time. But go ahead and do it if you like.
>>We would generally prefer to work with e-mail as well, but
>>unfortunately there have been occasions in which our e-mails
>>and letters and phone calls to you were all ignored.
No, no email received from you has been ignored. We will expect your
apology for such a bizarre suggestion.
Victoria: E-mails from me certainly have been ignored. A while back, Ms Prather agreed to enter our book in a contest for us. I sent her papers, e-mailed repeatedly, and we even called, only to be told that no message had ever been received. I will not apologize.
>>As this issue is particularly important - we want to
>>terminate our contract with you - we needed to make
>>sure that we had proof of delivery.
Proof of delivery will not expedite anything at all. We will consider your
request at our next contract review meeting, to be held at our leisure.
Victoria: I needed legal proof that you had received it – especially as we have had the experience of being ignored. I also suggest that you do not take such a negative tone with me, and do what you can to expedite our release. That is all we want.
Have a good day,
PublishAmerica Support[email protected]
>> >From: "Victoria Grossack" <
[email protected]>
>> >To: "'PublishAmerica Author Support'" <
[email protected]>
>> >Cc: <
[email protected]>
>> >Subject: Victoria Grossack: email please - repetition of request to
>> >terminate contract
>> >Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2007 13:44:21 -0700
>> >
>> >We will keep reminding you of this until we receive some sort of
>> >response, either by e-mail or by snail mail.
>> >
>> >We urge you to hurry up and terminate our contract.
>> >
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >From: Victoria Grossack [ mailto:
[email protected]]
>> >Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 12:14 PM
>> >To: 'PublishAmerica Author Support'
>> >Cc: '
[email protected]'
>> >Subject: RE: Victoria Grossack: email please - repetition of request
>> >to terminate contract
>> >
>> >Dear PublishAmerica Support:
>> >
>> >We would generally prefer to work with e-mail as well, but
>> >unfortunately there have been occasions in which our e-mails and letters
>> >and phone calls to you were all ignored. As this issue is
>> >particularly important - we want to terminate our contract with you - we
>> >needed to make sure that we had proof of delivery.
>> >
>> >Here is the text of the letter we sent to you (dated January 12 on our
>> >end, received by you on January 16, 2007):
>> >
>> >* * *
>> >
>> >Dear PublishAmerica:
>> >
>> >We want to terminate our contract with you with respect to Iokaste:
>> >The Novel of the Mother-Wife of Oedipus as soon as possible.
>> >
>> >It has been nice to see the book in print, but your distribution
>> >system makes it impossible for us to get Iokaste into bookstores.
>> >Although we have had a few positive reviews, we have found it
>> >extremely difficult to get other reviewers to even look at a
>> >PublishAmerica title. And because the book costs three times the
>> >price of a regular trade paperback, many libraries and reading
>> >circles have reluctantly declined to consider Iokaste. Our sales have
>> >fallen from their initial low level to essentially nothing in
>> >recent months.
>> >
>> >We cannot continue trying to market the book under these conditions
>> any longer.
>> >
>> >We are aware that you have released a number of other authors from
>> >their contracts early, and we respectfully request that you
>> >release us as well, returning full rights immediately.
>> >
>> >Please do not send back a standardized letter full of reasons why
>> >Publish America is a great place for an author. We have seen
>> >these letters (often with our names in them) before, and they are not
>> >convincing. All we want is your agreement to terminate the
>> >contract.