Why I’m boycotting my own book: A warning tale for all authors.

 

As the title of this blog suggests, yesterday I took the some might say, crazy step of asking my readers and those who support me NOT to purchase my very first novel, Dark Corners (December 2012) in any format or the audiobook edition of my bestselling book, WHISPER. This isn’t because I don’t want people to read my work. I do, it’s because of a dispute with the publisher of said titles and the rights of them which I have requested back only to be met with a firm and resounding no. The publisher in question posted a link to a blog he had written on my facebook author page about his take on the situation( https://medium.com/@edrenehan/of-literary-licenses-and-copyrights-and-wrongs-86de577461b2#.wmu3kirxq), so i felt it was only right that i should respond and tell mine. Let me explain.

Back in 2011, I finally decided to take the plunge and turn my hand to writing fiction.  There was no natural decision to try horror, it was simply that I grew up reading and watching it, and so writing it was the next natural progression. As anyone who has written before knows, there is a very real sense of dread as you take those first steps into the unknown. I wrote a short story or two and tentatively submitted them to a couple of publications. Within a couple of weeks, both had been accepted. Hell, one even paid me! (A whopping $10!). With a spring in my step, I turned to my wife and told her I planned to write a full length book and try to get it published. She admitted later she had reservations about this, but as always gave me her full support at the time. With my newly acquired $10 sitting in my PayPal account waiting to be spent, I started to put the idea I had in mind down on a fresh word document. A few months and lots of frustration and rewrites later, I had a finished product. Just over 104,000 words of a book I titled Dark Corners, which is essence was a collection of short stories which were told in a non-chronological way and all interlinked in some way.  As you would expect, I was really proud of it and started my search for publishers who might want to take a chance on my newly crafted work.

Of the half dozen publishers I submitted to, the first to respond was a small company based in Rhode Island called Dark Hall Press, who expressed an interest in taking the book on.

Yes! My first book was going to be published!

They sent me a contract which I saw no issue with. Worst case scenario, according to how I saw the contract, I could revert the rights after a set period of time if I was in anyway unhappy. Fantastic. That gave me a little security, right?

Wrong.

Initially, everything was great. The company were courteous and communicated well. I provided the cover art myself (more on this later) and they tidied up the manuscript and published it.

Boom. It was done. I had been published for the very first time. As per the terms of my contract, I would be paid royalties twice yearly (January and July) and receive semi-annual statements of units sold. I received statements up until january 15, and then nothing. No way of verifying the amounts I was being paid every six months (between $100 and $150) were accurate or correct for the entirety of 2015 and 2016 to date. I had to just assume the funds that were being paid to me were correct. In hindsight, I should have resolved it at the time but I had already moved on to other things and the book that would go on to be my best selling title, WHISPER, was making waves and getting a LOT of sales, so I let it slide. Later, Dark Hall press got in touch again to enquire about the audiobook rights to Whisper. I agreed, not knowing at the time that audiobooks were something I could easily arrange myself via ACX and didn’t see another way of exploiting those markets. The deal was done, and Whisper was going to be an audiobook. The only issue was that a few days later, I was contacted by Horrific Tales publishing. They were a company on the rise and I was (and still am) a huge fan of the owner Graeme Reynolds and his High Moor series of books. (Highly recommended by the way if you love werewolf horror). I explained that I would love to sign with them (it would go on to give me my very first pro paying advance) but the audiobook rights would be unavailable. Like the true professional he is, Graeme had a revised contract with me within the hour with the audiobook provision removed and we did the deal which went on to prove a great call as they pushed the book right to the very summit of the amazon horror charts in both the UK and the US.

A couple of weeks later, Graeme drew my attention to the fact that the whisper audiobook was on sale and using their cover art (which had been commissioned from an external artist) for the audiobook without permission.  This was put down to an error or oversight, and after intervention from Graeme, the cover was eventually removed after a lengthy period of stubborn refusal by DHP to change the artwork which was being used illegally, a situation which was only resolved when Graeme threatened legal action (does anyone see a theme here?) if the cover wasn’t  removed. I provided an alternative audiobook cover to Whisper at my expense so we could get the audiobook out and in the public domain. Another red flag but I was looking forward to new projects, and so for the second time let things slide.

Fast forward to 2015. I was still receiving my payments from Dark Hall Press every six months but without any statements or proof of how many sales I was making or that the numbers were even correct. However, by this point, I had just quit my day job to write full time and was (and still am) making a good living from my work.  As a hybrid of traditional and self-published author, it’s important to make sure all sales are tracked and logged for every title. Of all the publishers I work with this isn’t a problem as I receive regular itemized statements from them. All with the exception of one.

Dark Hall Press.

Knowing I need to file accurate tax and income reports as one of the responsibilities of being self-employed, I knew that remaining with Dark Hall Press was just no longer viable. I had a huge gap in my income reporting which I needed to plug.  As the three-year minimum term had long gone to activate my release (the book was published in December 2012), It should be easy to get my rights back, relaunch the book myself (the sales for it under DHP are my far the lowest of any title) and try to give it a new lease of life. I sent an email explaining my position and that I would like my rights back, thinking it would be a swift and easy process and I would be able to plug that sales reporting hole in one swoop.

Not exactly. The email response I got was baffling, to say the least. Here. See for yourself:

 

Let’s break this down. Time and money for promotion. Where? When? Sharing a link on Facebook is free and was done a couple of times since release then never again. NO other promotion ever took place. As for money, I don’t see where. I paid for and provided the cover art for both Dark Corners and Whisper. The audiobook was likely produced on a profit share scheme with the narrator which means no money is exchanged up front.  Other than the edits for the initial book, I see ZERO cost or outlay that wouldn’t have easily being recouped by DHP in the almost 4 years since release. Undeterred, I went back again, bringing  up the issue with sales statements (or lack of) and that I wouldn’t change my mind, and, if need be I would be taking legal action via a publishing rights lawyer to enforce the break and raise the issue in the public domain to avoid other authors falling foul of the same situation.  Hoping that would do the trick and express how strongly I felt about the situation, I was confident the matter would be resolved with no further drama. After all, who wants an unhappy author on their books who has made it clear he wants out as is his legal right? Right? Right?

Not exactly. This then came back.

Okay, so it seems that in their own words, they are using this situation to set an example to other authors who ‘might have a similar request down the road’ Is that not an admission of deliberately deceiving authors into signing contracts they have no hope of ever getting out of? What kind of professional company would do that? The sad part of this is, that they have a point. The terms of their contract are heavily weighted towards the press and give the author little to no rights. See this clause which I had interpreted at the time (remember I was new) as giving me a get out clause.

 

See the problem? This is all weighted and leveraged towards the publisher with no provision for the author. Sadly, due to my inexperience, this means that on this technicality I will likely not get my rights back despite having no wish to further deal with a company who have said, in their own words that this clause is there to prevent other authors doing the same.

Wow.

To me, that is awful business practice and I could see why such an email might frighten a less experienced writer into sitting on their hands and allowing themselves to be taken advantage of.

True enough, the version of me who signed this contract might have been frightened into silence by such a strongly worded response. Unfortunately for Dark Hall Press, I am NOT that same wet behind the ears author anymore and as a result, don’t fall for scare tactics. I have been doing this long enough to know how this business works. I have gone on to publish multiple titles with several quality publishers all of which provide both regular statements of sale and fair get out clauses to the author should the relationship not work out. The email above suggests that I am the one at fault for not requesting statements which by the terms of the contract should have been provided to me on the dates agreed! I should not have to chase these up and request them as providing them is the absolute minimum a publisher should do as part of their side of the agreement. (see contract excerpt below)

As these have not been provided for the last year, are they not in breach of their own contract terms? As far as making an example of me goes, I encourage them to try. The truth of the matter is that I can live without the income from Dark Hall Press. I’m not going to lose sleep over a couple of hundred dollars a year, as my other titles more than afford me a decent living. What I REFUSE to accept is to be bullied.

As of the time of writing this, DHP is still digging their heels in and refusing to grant the return of my rights. I have neither faith or trust in the company anymore and do not want my work with them, but the clause in their contract leaves me with little choice.  The above email is nothing less than an attempt by the publisher to try and scare me into submission, and the sad thing is that a lot of new authors would have done exactly that. I know the 2011 -2012 version of me would have.

Unfortunately for DHP the 2016 version of me has a thicker skin and knows the business.  Despite their claims of time and money spent, I think it’s clear enough that neither has happened. A handful of social media posts and running of Amazon promos does NOT qualify. Covers were also provided by me free of charge so there is no cost there. The only conclusion I can draw is that the reason for refusal to grant rights back comes down to the age-old subject of money. With the claws in, it seems they are reluctant to let go and by the tone of the response I received looks to be their business strategy going forward. (After all, I am an example they are making. It says so in the email). Interestingly, I know of at least a couple of other authors who have or are currently trying to get their rights back from DHP and there has been at least one other grievance filed with the Horror Writers Association (Mine will be going in today) as well as other proposed legal action in relation to their unreasonable stance on rights reversion. I don’t know the ins and outs of those particular cases so I can’t comment. Simply knowing they exist, though, is enough to raise yet another red flag.

I think it is only fair to make people aware of what they will be getting into if they sign the current form of contract with Dark Hall Press. In their own words, they want a backlist and so don’t want you to get out once you are in. According to them, this is the industry standard, but I disagree. My other contracts with professional companies have provision to mutually end the relationship after a set period of time. The days of old fashioned no get out contracts is over and with the rise of self-publishing and the tools it provides there is no place in the horror community for such behavior.

As to what happens next, I really don’t know. If there is any justice, DHP will realise that I’m not a ‘new’ or young writer that is just going to go away. I’ve been doing this for almost six years and have over twenty titles in print with a multitude of publishers. What might wash with others won’t wash with me.

Until my rights are returned I will continue to boycott the books in question (and hope everyone else would do the same). I would also suggest DHP evaluate the terms of their contracts and offer the author a revision or rights clause which is standard in the industry now instead of quietly hoping to snare unwitting authors into a position where they feel they have no options.

For me, life goes on regardless. Sales are good and the future is bright.  Until the rights are reverted, please keep boycotting those titles and every other Dark Hall Press release until they give fair terms to the authors they sign. Nobody should be tied into a contract which, by their own admission, is designed so that authors simply cannot leave. No matter how you look at things, that is plain wrong.

The age of old fashioned, old school mentality like that displayed by DHP simply has no place in the modern writing world. With luck, this, and your help to spread the word alongside the various complaints and grievances currently under investigation by the Horror Writers Association in relation to DHP and their business practices will hopefully bring about change so that nobody else falls foul of such a situation.

Fear not, though, as there is a solution.  I intend to rewrite the book (the 2011 writer has come a long way since this was first created), rework the stories, add new content and re release under a different title which has nothing to do with the current version of the book.

TO CLARIFY:

I will no longer acknowledge ever writing the DHP edition of Dark Corners. I will not promote it.

I will NOT feature it on my bibliography.

I will remove all mention of it on all my social media profiles and websites.

That book is officially dead to me.

Don’t buy it. Don’t share it. Don’t acknowledge it.

Do, however, look out for something else.  DARK CORNERS REDUX, a collection of interlinked horror stories is coming early 2017.

After all, there is always a way to see justice done. It may already be too late for me to do anything about my situation but hopefully, if you are reading this, you will share it far and wide so that nobody else falls foul of the same issues in the future. If you are a writer new or old and are reading this, i can’t stress enough how important it is to read your contract and make sure you understand it.  The sad fact of the matter is that there are a lot of presses out there who use these old fashioned contracts, which for me, outside of the big 5, is both unreasonable and unrealistic, and those publishers go on to exploit new writers and get them to sign their rights away with no hope of ever getting them back. I was one of them and paid the price. I just hope you fare better!