A Warning to Writers: Beware of Small Presses!

Something awful happened to one of our fellow authors. I first came across it on the Passive Voice (a must website for anyone interested in publishing, in case you don't know it). I was shocked. It seems a small press - in spite of the generally good reputation they have - went ahead and applied for the copyright of a book of one of its authors on behalf of itself ! Yes, that's not a typo, you read it right. They want the copyright to a book written by someone else who happens to also be one of their clients.



Of course, it's a complex story. The author, Tricia Drammeh, possibly made the mistake of signing up too quickly with a new press: Iconic Publishing started only two years ago and on their website they only show a dozen published books for 2012 and none (yet) for 2013 - apparently they are slow at updating their site. They have also earned a Strongly Not Recommended listing from P&E in late 2012, enough to turn anyone away! 



Tracie Drammeh's troubles reached a crisis point when she tried to break the contract with them and they retaliated by trying to steal her copyright.



Here's the story as she tells it on her website: click here.



The moral of the story is clear: always file your own copyright, don't let a publisher or anyone else do it for you!



Unfortunately Tracie is in trouble and she hasn't the funds to contract a good lawyer but she certainly needs to be defended. One thing all of us can do, is share the story on every internet forum you happen to be on, from Facebook to Twitter to wherever you are or repost on your blog.



Please support Tracie's case!





Author Tracie Drammeh