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Watch Out For The Penguin

May 01, 2015
by Caroline Miller
Gothic Spring, Heart Land, Penguin publishing, Sage Adair mystery series, scams of publishers, Susan Stoner, Trompe l'Oeil
4 Comments

My friend and colleague, Susan Stoner, Sage Adair mystery series writer, sent me an article the other day with an “I told you so,” message.  Stoner self publishes her work and uses a distributor to make her series available in bookstore.  For some time, she’s encouraged me to do the same, but I’ve been disinclined.  Self publishing involves technical work and record keeping and buying print runs of your book that sit in the basement until they are sold.  But, I’ll confess, working with a publisher can also be tricky.

 The release of my first novel, Heart Land, a coming of age story about a boy growing up in the Midwest after the depression, is itself a cautionary tale and explains why I’m bringing out a revised edition with a new publisher. The story begins in 2008 when I signed my contract with a small company in England.  Communications went well in the beginning.  A year later, however, conditions changed when the company sold out to a self-publisher.  Unfortunately, a clause in my contract made my book the property of the new enterprise. When a year passed and I’d received neither royalties nor sales statements, I asked to be released from my contract.  “Come to England and sue me,” the man in charge replied.

That wasn’t going to happen and he knew it, so I stopped promoting Heart Land and never mentioned it  in my blogs after our fallout. 

How much money the publisher earned from my book, I don’t know. I was cut off from any information. Then the good news hit.  The company was drummed out of business by unhappy clients and a looming criminal investigation.  Heart Land, was mine, at last.  Happily, my publisher for Gothic Spring and Trompe l’Oeil has agreed to bring out a revised edition of this first book soon, complete with a new cover and illustrations.   

I shouldn’t be surprised that the world of small publishing is fraught scammers.  I’ve written on this subject before. (Blog 5/23/2010)  But who would have thought a large company, like Penguin, would be up to the same tricks?   Stoner’s article opened my eyes. The company’s subsidiary is in trouble for failing to pay writers their royalties and for sloppy production errors.  Adding insult to injury, authors are expected to pay to have those error corrected, which means Penguin reaps a tidy profit from its mistakes.  (Click)   

 If a large company like Penguin can operate unscrupulously, who’s a writer to trust?  (See blog 3/16/15)   Stoner feels she has the answer: publish your book yourself. 

Penguin

Courtesy of background-pictures.fedio.net

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4 Comments
  1. S. L. Stoner May 1, 2015 at 10:45 am Reply
    Self-publishing is also no easy path to getting your work to readers. I do want to say that Caroline definitely sold some copies because I was able to buy one. If you enjoy this blog, you will absolutely love Heart Land. Every chapter in it has one of those straight-to-the-heart zaps you find in her blog.
    • Caroline Miller May 1, 2015 at 12:29 pm Reply
      Thank you for your kind words, Susan. And, you're right about publishing. People who go into writing should suffer rejection well and be willing to lose money.
  2. Pamela May 4, 2015 at 1:35 pm Reply
    It's unfathomable to me that someone would publish someone's work and not PAY an already severely underpaid profession's writers for their work. I am so sorry to read about what happened to you, but am grateful you wrote this post so that I may someday be extremely cautious/vigilant if I ever sign a contract. I hope karma is visiting upon the jackass that arrogantly taunted you with the "come to England to sue me" comment. I hope he experienced precisely what you did. Sheesh. :-(
    • Caroline Miller May 4, 2015 at 2:49 pm Reply
      I can only say, Pamela, he was hounded out of business by his clients. Do you see my smile?

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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