Publisher behaving badly

[murg]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

What complicates matters is that the author's deal is with Hachette, not Hesperus. The money was supposed to go from Hesperus to Hachette to the agent to the author. The author saw a bit of money in 2012, presumably from the contract signing but saw nothing from the UK english rights since.

It is doubtful Hachette got much upfront money because if they thought it would be a big UK seller they would've published it themselves. They were effectively betting against their own book and when it won the jackpot they not only missed out on what Hesperus earned honestly but on the unpaid royalties.

Bad bets for everybody except the missing execs.

Depending on the contract with the author, Hachette may be on the hook for the missing royalties. If the contract doesn't mention sub-publishing, and since the books sold were at Hachette's discretion, the author may be owed the royalties by the entity they have a contract with, Hachette.