Not.

http://www.lamediaonline.com/index.html

Seems kinda sucky to open a new buisness when you left others hanging.

My work was never promoted as interracial, they were simply out there as erotica.

There’s something in the contract that said the publisher had to have the work out by a certain amount of months/days. I had to threaten to leave before they even made me a cover….

There are many other issues I had, those are just a few. A part of this was my fault because I never asked questions. That’s something I wont be caught dead doing again. Guys its simple, nothing in this business is a sure thing, and we need to open our mouths and ask questions. If things seem fishie chances are, your instincts are right.

Another thing that is bothering me is all the name calling, and the dirty emails etc…I know we are better than this. Sure we were hurt by what MGP (and all the other e-pubs that went under the way MGP did) but we have to stick the blame and anger where it is due and not at people standing on the sidelines (I wont call anyways but I got one really nasty email from a group I was on because of this MGP thing).

And another thing, before you send your work out, please please please please please, research; Ask someone who’s been around for a while if they know who this new publisher is, email them and ask them questions and if they dont answer your questions to put your heart at ease, dont send your work to them. It may seem harsh but us authors really have to protect herselves after this fiasco.

*shrugs* we’ll do better next time, no?

Anyways guys, have a good one, and remember, its about the writing and the art of it all. Our writings are our babies because they came from us, they are a part of us so we have to see to it that they find secure homes.

Hugz
Tigra-Luna

A root issue is that all you need to start an epublishing house is a website and a self-granted title. There’s no standard to meet or tests to take, and it’s the authors who inevitably pay the price.

Some of us are starting to band together to try and change that, so that we become accountable and this sort of thing can’t go on without it coming to light long before it gets to this point.

Situations like this only bring the whole industry down, and it reflects on all of us.

Yes, authors need to treat writing as a business, not a hobby. Yes, your books are your business, not your babies, and yes, you need to read and understand your contract before you sign it.

Yes, authors are responsible for their own careers… I take mine very seriously, as do many of my fellow former Triskelion authors. Many of the Triskelion authors have picked up and moved on with their writing, landing contracts at other publishers, while still fighting to get rights back to their works at Triskelion. Now is the time to quit blaming the authors, and start looking at the genesis of the real problem, which isn’t even the publisher. It’s the law.

We all sign contracts that entitle us to our rights back, in the event of a bankruptcy. This is bogus. The COURTS take the rights, and then decide if they can sell them off… uh, HELLO? To my way of thinking, when I put my name on a piece of paper, agreeing to do certain things in exchange for certain securities, I expect that, as long as I live up to my end of the deal, everyone else should be required to live up to their end, as well. My issue is with the courts, and I’m working to get them to see that by violating our contracts as stated, they violate our basic right to earn a living, because who wants to sign a contract supposedly protecting them, when that protection is nothing more than lip service? It’s like being handed a gun to protect yourself in a lion’s den, only to discover that the damned thing isn’t even loaded.

So, as authors, we all need to quit deciding whether the problem is the author’s or the publishers, and instead band together and confront the lawmakers. Make THEM responsible for upholding the contracts when we cannot (as in the case of a bankruptcy). Authors, artists, and musicians are all in the same tenuous position, and we need to make a united stand to the courts, and the government, and SHOW them we are professionals, concerned with the securities granted to us in our contracts, and the fact that they are trampled by the very courts who should be protecting them.

That’s my two cents worth, anyway.

Esther Mitchell

I’d like to add a codicil, all of us have personal lives which can at times interfere with our perception. When I got involved with Triskelion, I’d just learned my daughter had stage three cancer. My mother had died, and my daughter came with me to the farm. She was pregnant and sick continually. We thought it was the pregnancy. It wasn’t, it was colon cancer. So there I was, mourning my mother, scared spitless about Tiff and without my husband, who stayed in AZ to sell our home. Plus, I suddenly became the primary caregiver to three little ones under five…in my fifties. This went on a long time, and it’s no wonder I couldn’t concentrate on the business aspect of writing. And I’m not alone. Most everyone has crap to deal with. So while it is a business…sometimes it’s a release. After Tiff’s chemo, I’d make my bed with her sock-monkey sheets, and put her in my bedroom so the kids wouldn’t jump on her tubes. Writing kept me sane when my world spun out of control.

Brit Blaise http://www.butterscotchmartinigirls.com

Best of luck always, Linn Random

Brit Blaise

You could have all the clauses in the world in there, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing to U.S. Federal judges. When publishers stop paying on time, this is already a sign things are not going well. That they will likely end up filing bankruptcy. And once that happens, the court can look back up to 12 months, pulling authors who thought they were free and clear right back into the mess.

Until you’re in the situation, I just don’t think you’ll get it.

First, look at the terms of your contract to determine what you have to do in event of a breach. Most of the time, you will need to send a certified letter, return receipt requested. A lot of contracts allow a publisher anywhere from thirty to ninety days to correct the breach; however, I would negotiate that down before you sign the contract.

Once you have sent the letter, calendar the date you sent it plus five days (that allows time for delivery of the letter).

If the publisher refuses to pick up the letter, it will be returned to you and that is the evidence you need to prove you have adhered to the terms of the contract. A publisher can’t refuse to pick up a letter and then state he/she didn’t receive the letter as grounds for any type of defense.

If the publisher corrects the breach, you stay alert for any future signs of trouble. Pour over your contract and make sure you understand each and every term. If not, look them up. Call an attorney in your area who specializes in contract law. Most of them give free first-time appointments.

If the publisher doesn’t correct the breach, you should send another certified letter informing them that the breach has not been corrected, and you are demanding the full return of rights to your books.

On another note, I would urge all new authors (or even those with two or three books with small publishers) to join something like Pre-Paid Legal. For a small monthly fee, you get access to unlimited phone calls to an attorney plus letters sent on your behalf. It’s an attorney on retainer type of thing. If you’re putting any money at all into promoting your book, you should seriously consider putting money into protecting it. (Just FYI, I don’t sell Pre-Paid Legal nor am I in any way affiliated with them.)

There are plenty of things an author can do once a contract has been signed, but most importantly, there are plenty of things an author can do before they sign the contract.

I’m not trying to blame any of the authors here because that would be preposterous. I’m just simply offering some tips on how an author can protect himself/herself from this type of crap in the future. No, we can’t all afford attorneys, but there are alternatives.

There is a lot of trust between a small press and a new author. Some of us waited to submit until we felt a publisher had a positive history. For example, I was a new author with Triskelion right before they filed. I’m no dummy. I knew they had been in business for a little over three years. I knew they were RWA recognized. I had read authors’ successes with this company. I thought I was good to go.

But what can I possibly do when my publisher fails to pay? Please tell me. The only way we can feel comfortable is by looking at a company’s history. That’s about it.

So, please, can we focus on the publisher’s mistakes and problems? The authors are not at fault for this company going under. And there really was very little they could do once the contract had been signed.

I have no legal leg to stand on, with MGP, unfortunately, so for me, this is just a lesson learned.

As to the charges of plagiarism, I have copies of some of the books I proofed and am more than willing to check them against an authors work to see if anything I’ve proofed was non-original’ work. I refuse to let my growing reputation be blackened by things this company may have done.

This is a career to me not a hobby, and being e-published doesn’t make you any less published or deserve any less than an author who has a book in print. I write for both big houses and small houses, and I expect the same treatment from all of them…professionalism, courtesy, and adherence to the terms of the contract at all times. If any of these fall short, I don’t cower from my publisher nor do I vehemently defend any one of them no matter what the situation.

That’s just my take.

Thing is, part of it is loyalty, but part of it might also be fear. I’ve seen some darn nasty mudslinging go on because an editor, publisher, (or even author) felt slighted. Bad form. It’s one thing to tell the truth, another to come out claws blazing. Does this mean a person needs to hold their tongue when being mistreated? No way. They can protect their fellow writers/editors/whatever by voicing the issue in a professional way (assumingly after all other mediation avenues have been tried and have failed)

Just my take on it.

Moondancer Drake