What bothers me about this is the amount of time and money that went into the pre-promotion for its release, not to mention scheduling book signings, events, etc. I understand there are delays and such, but to have no communication is WHAT disgruntled many of the authors, myself included.

Then there is the pre-order business. Many of us who were scheduled for print releases were not told that there was a minimum pre-sale quota. When we found that out, we tried to get straight answers. I persisted in getting an answer and was emailed and told: We are returning your rights to all your books due to the lack of sales (some of which were due to expire anyway), and your print book is not going to be printed due to the market’s disinterest in that genre.

Can I tell you how much promotion I have done for all my books! I spent countless hours online promoting as well as outside and my sales were entirely poor. I began to wonder if I was just a lacking author and questioned my ability to write. Thankfully with the support of the other authors who recently left as well, I realized that my writing was not the cause of my lack of sales.

IMO Triskelion dug their own grave by treating respectable authors quite shamelessly and without any sense of respect or professionalism. If they had been upfront and organized, many authors would have been more understanding. It was the discrepancies, miscommunication, and blatant pointed remarks by the publisher that left many with a sour taste in their mouth.

Now, I must say though that any author who took the personal messages off the board and posted them to blogs was totally unprofessional. I have received information about Triskelion since I left, and I am thankful someone let me know what was going on. Mainly because I still care about all my fellow authors whom I have come to know over the years. I think it stinks that someone would be so callous. It is one thing to share information about what is going on, but it is quite another to be vindictive.

Am I bitter? Not really. My only concern at this point are the many authors who remain at Triskelion, and I certainly hope they are getting the questions answered honestly, and that they protect their interest.

For asking this in a business like manner, I was told I was a “squeaky wheel” on an open list and insulted in front of my fellow Triskelion authors.

A few weeks later–they handed all my book contracts back to me. I have yet to be paid the outstanding royalties for my print title, either.

These were considered serious enough charges that Allison Kelley told me to make an official complaint to RWA when I called to ask her what legal recourse I had to get my owed royalties.

Did the management of Triskelion wake up one morning and decide they were going to end Ms. Appel’s career at the publishing house on a pure whim? Was she completely innocent, always minding her p’s and q’s, dotting her i’s and crossing her t’s, doing everything that was expected of her as an author representing that company? Or is there something else that we, the prospective author, is not aware of.

I love the show ‘House’ and the one line that rings true in RL as well as in soap operas. Everybody lies. Whether it be in your face or through omission, everybody lies. Until the naysayers are prepared to give substantial, concrete proof of injustices done against them, giving a fair, honest accounting of what happened on both sides, then everybody who hears about these grievances should take them with a grain of salt and do their own independent research.

The company is not run by professionals, IMO. And amateurs are liable to make poor business decisions. I’m only troubled by the fact that the ladies who ran/still run Trisk act so mean-spirited and blame others in their emails about why the company has run into business troubles. If you are a professional businessperson, you take responsiblity for your own actions. You don’t blame your authors or your children for your bad business decisions.

Let this be a lesson to all: If you treat your employees (authors) like dirt, you will be buried alive in your own muck someday.

The market is bad all around for print, whether it's big publishers or small – just check the market figures – but smaller ones can't absorb the losses as well, so Triskelion is cutting back on print until the market picks up.

I guess Lynn hasn’t seen some market reports saying that Penquin, Harper Collins, etc. just had a really really good fiscal quarter recently?