When publishing goes wrong…

[cromag]

I'm not a lawyer -- and I'd love to hear from one -- but I do think she has grounds for a civil case. Not "open and shut," but (possibly) worth pursuing.

With regard to the editorial changes to her plot, characters, etc., she is probably out of luck.

On the other hand, in any profession that I've personally encountered, if a person represents themselves as "professional" and turns in sub-standard work, they can be sued. She would probably need to show damages. Since she didn't pay anything, the obvious "damage" isn't there. But if she can convince a court that the miserable spelling and grammar reflects on her and has damaged her chances of making subsequent sales, she might succeed.

If it were me I'd at least look into it.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

That's a pretty messed-up story. Without actually seeing the contract, it's hard to address the specific wrongs done here... but I'd think the author would have retained the right to review the TG's edits before permitting their publish. If she signed that right away, tough luck; if she didn't, and TG didn't seek her permission to edit/massacre, that's grounds for legal proceedings.

At any rate, it's a good lesson to all to PAY ATTENTION to those legal documents... don't just get all starry-eyed over getting published and gloss over the paperwork.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by cromag

On the other hand, in any profession that I've personally encountered, if a person represents themselves as "professional" and turns in sub-standard work, they can be sued. She would probably need to show damages. Since she didn't pay anything, the obvious "damage" isn't there. But if she can convince a court that the miserable spelling and grammar reflects on her and has damaged her chances of making subsequent sales, she might succeed.

If it were me I'd at least look into it.

I've recommended she look into something like that. She's in Canada, and therefore has moral rights unless she specifically waived them--and I suspect this publisher is oblivious to that, and thinks the "conflicts will be resolved in my state" bit in the contract overrides other nations' laws.

I suspect she's got reasonable grounds to at least get her name pulled from the book so it won't damage her future publishing career. Also, if she thinks she's got a good case for breach of contract, the publisher is distributing her works in violation of copyright law, which means she can file a DMCA takedown notice on the book.

[QuantumIguana]

Having no clearly defined definition of what "edit" means isn't quite the same as saying that "edit" means whatever the publisher says it means.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Having no clearly defined definition of what "edit" means isn't quite the same as saying that "edit" means whatever the publisher says it means.

Gotta agree with that.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The author seems to be unaware of what the word "Edit" means. The spelling mistakes are inexcusable but the story changes... that's what editors DO.

But surely Editors do this with the agreement of the author? Or at least have the courtesy to inform the author of the suggested changes before publication? The publisher does indeed appear to be hugely unprofessional.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by orlok

But surely Editors do this with the agreement of the author? Or at least have the courtesy to inform the author of the suggested changes before publication? The publisher does indeed appear to be hugely unprofessional.

The "company" seems to be one guy, who is publisher and editor. (I wonder if he's incorporated or even filed a DBA?) He can't competently wield an apostrophe.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

The "company" seems to be one guy, who is publisher and editor. (I wonder if he's incorporated or even filed a DBA?) He can't competently wield an apostrophe.

".... wield an apostrophe...."

[orlok]

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by orlok

Surely it should go before the s?

[andyh2000]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Surely it should go before the s?

There's more than one pedant.

Andrew

[altworld]

Simple solution to this.

1. Wait out the rights of the story in this case one year.
2. Warn everybody on in the Indie circuit about the publishing houses issues, if possible name the primary contact
3. Step back

In the long term Undead Press or whatever they will be called next will lose out. In the short term the Author has lost out.

Just play the long game.
Nick

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by altworld

Simple solution to this.

1. Wait out the rights of the story in this case one year.

Publisher sent her an email releasing her rights. It's not clear if he expects to keep publishing the book after the year, though; she'd given him *exclusive* rights for one year, and no idea how much longer he'd have non-exclusive rights.

2. Warn everybody on in the Indie circuit about the publishing houses issues, if possible name the primary contact
3. Step back

In the long term Undead Press or whatever they will be called next will lose out. In the short term the Author has lost out.

There's a long thread at AbsoluteWrite Water Cooler about Living Dead Press / Open Casket Press (Anthony Giangregorio), now also "Undead Press," that goes back to 2009. The new info has been added to the thread.

[David Munch]

While I'm not in a position to argue for or against her case, it is a good read for those hopefully-soon-to-be published authors.

[Penforhire]

Nasty cautionary tale!