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Mundania Press...apparently, still around?

This comment was posted yesterday to this (very old) thread:

It would be nice to have received at least one royalties statements in the last 9 years. Additionally, I’ve never received a royalties check, although their records indicate I have royalties due me. Any attempt to contact them has been ignored. One must presume that they receive so many complaints they do not release their phone number. The only way to get a local phone number is to contact the Better Business Bureau and that number they do not answer. Meanwhile, no allowances have been made to leave a message.

I have been with Mundania since 2008/2007. I first contacted them about a U.S. reprints of a trilogy originally printed the U.K. At the time, the contracts covered not only the fantasy trilogy, but one additional horror novel. Books 1 & 2 of the trilogy were released. The third book in the series never was; neither was the one stand-alone novel published. I contacted them again in 2014 to try and get the rights back on all books since the third in the trilogy and the singleton were never released. They apologized profusely and said they would re-release the first two in the series, and those that had never been released. The first two appeared in 2015.

They have never released book three and the one horror novel. Their editing is abysmal. The editor deleted 29 pages of one book and then said the books (all reprints of books successfully released previous) needed to be rewritten. I pointed out that the books were contracted as reprints and reprints required no revision unless a typographical or spelling had escaped the Pocket Books editions. Since then they have stonewalled me. E-mails go unanswered.

I personally believe a class action lawsuit should be brought against them. I contacted them because I support small press, but what I have received is equivalent to “restraint of trade.” I cannot sell these books elsewhere. No reader will buy books 1&2 of a trilogy if book three will never appear. Book three of the trilogy is so rare that it has been selling for hundreds – thousands of dollars (pounds), but my hands are tied.

Please note that I cannot vouch for what Jessica says there, but both Absolute Write and Piers Anthony (you gotta scroll down a fair bit), have been reporting on issues with this press for years.

Leap Year One Day Sale at Samhain (and other important PSA)

Today only, everything in digital is 40% off at Samhain Publishing. Go here and get something good to read!

Remember: Samhain announced on Friday that they are winding down–it will be months before they shut their virtual doors. In the meantime, all those authors who have books out, or slated to be released, will still get royalties for every copy sold. Go complete your library of favorites. Go try new to you authors–who may have long backlists, either with Samhain or elsewhere.

Compare and contrast 2.0

Oh my good lord, can Jaid Black be any more delusional?

JBdelusionalagain

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Compare and contrast: Samhain is closing its doors.

I just saw a couple of tweets about Samhain Publishing that confirmed what some people read between the lines in a news bits posted a while back at Dear Author; they had closed submissions at the time, and now they have confirmed that they are closing their doors.

The email is here, but I’m keeping screenshots at KKB for posterity.

This news hits me and many other readers hard, for many reasons. Samhain Publishing has always had a stellar reputation, and people like Angela James (Carina Press editor) started there. Best wishes to all the authors, editors, staff and all subcontractors at Samhain. May you land on your feet, at a good place.

edited to add: Bree Bridges (writing half of Moira Rogers and Kit Rocha) has stepped up with this offer:

For those not aware, most epublishers, and at least one traditional publisher, that have gone out of business in the past decade or so, do not, by far, do it in so professional, classy, and direct manner. If I started listing publishers who have imploded in disgraceful and hateful ways, on the way to shutting down, it would take a long while.

The opposite list only has one name: Samhain.

Full text after the fold (bold emphasis mine, red text from original) (more…)

Amateurs!

Amateurs!

Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks
Tags:,

Some of our readers may know that Torquere Press LLC is having…issues *cough*

However, when I saw this tweet:

my first reaction was, “Amateurs! Ellora’s Cave owes several authors royalties from the beginning of 2015

 

And baby girl makes three!

And baby girl makes three!

Saturday, January 23, 2016
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks
Tags:, , ,

I don’t know any details, but here’s what popped up in Karen’s twitter account a bit ago:

Huge congratulations and best wishes to the family!

Finally! (aka, Bill Cosby charged with rape)

It’s taken decades, and the outcome is still uncertain–despite Cosby own words in a deposition, juries and the public tend to blame rape survivors for their attackers actions–but finally! Bill Cosby has been charged with rape.

Cosby has sued several of the dozens–dozens!–of women who have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, and his lawyers are fighting a subpoena for his wife, who has publicly supported him.

I wonder how many more women have yet to speak up…

Yet another update - EC v DA

Brief comments, some numbers, and a couple of links in the comments, here.

Also,  I recommend checking out this post at Zenobia Renquist’s blog. I hope she continues to update with more links–I’ve seen at least two more requests in that vein by EC authors.

EC v DA: it's over--for Dear Author and Jane Litte/Jen Frederick

Ellora’s Cave settled with Dear Author and Jane Litte, on the defamation suit the former brought against the latter.

The suit, you may remember, came about because Ellora’s Cave’s principals didn’t much like the fact that The Curious Case of Ellora’s Cave put together, cohesively and succinctly, the many bits of evidence, statements, and rumors, that have been hinting at deeply troubling going-ons at the company for the last decade or so.

I have thoughts on this, and go on and on about them here.

Good luck to all the many authors who are still owed royalties, and to those who only want to finally be free of their contracts with Ellora’s Cave.

EC v DA: I now direct your attention to...

Things have been quiet on this issue for months. Basically, litigation in the US moves at the speed of frozen molasses, and a lot of the minor stuff that does happen does not get filed, so this was not unexpected.

What was rather a surprise is to have Ann Jacobs, one of EC authors who’s stated that there are hinky goings on with the publisher, to file a motion to intervene in the EC v DA lawsuit, and a counterclaim to EC’s defamation suit. Please note that EC’s contract is part of this longer document. All sorts of interesting shit in there.

Courtney Milan is hosting both filings, and has posted a brief, yet pointed, update on the case, here.

Deirdre Saoirse Moen’s take is here.

Now I have a helluva lot of rather interesting stuff to read before I post anything more.

Because they are white.

I keep seeing this ridiculous headline:

Why are “Oath Keepers” allowed to be armed in the middle of Ferguson protests?

The article goes on and on about how they are “exercising their rights” and about gun laws, and other related bullshit, but the reality is that these assholes can roam the streets of Ferguson, armed with fucking assault rifles, because they are white.

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An Unwelcome Sisterhood

An Unwelcome Sisterhood

Monday, July 27, 2015
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks
Tags:, ,

I didn’t know that so far there are thirty five forty six women speaking up about surviving sexual abuse at the hands of Bill Cosby–abuse that spans decades, and has been covered up by using money, influence, and implied threats.

Via CNN, this cover from New York Magazine is breathtaking in its graphic representation of the routine violence against women, that takes place in plain sight, yet hidden from mainstream consciousness, every. single. day.

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Whoopi Goldberg finally gets it...Kinda. Sort of. Not quite.

I used to admire Whoopi Goldberg. She is a really good actor, and she participated in Comic Relief with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams for years. She couldn’t be all bad, right?

Then I learned that she actually thought that Roman Polanski, convicted rapist, was innocent–she doesn’t believe it was “rape-rape.”

Because…what? What is needed to make a 43 year old man having sex with a 13 year old girl “rape-rape”? I mean, besides the simple age of the victim. The use of drugs? Apparently not, because Polanski used drugs, and there was enough evidence against him that he took a guilty plea to one of the charges, and yet, Whoopi Goldberg is not convinced.

After that, I basically started to ignore anything coming from her. (more…)

It's finally happened!

It’s finally happened!

Friday, June 26, 2015
Posted in: Azteclady Speaks, Gay Marriage
Tags:,

First Ireland, through kick-ass popular vote.

Now the US, through a Supreme Court decision.

May the rest of humanity soon follow suit.

Pot, meet the ugly kettle

For a number of years now, I have loosely followed the “poor me, I’m a victim of discrimination” act that is Jaid Black.

By this I mean, I notice when things reach my ears/eyes during my usual online rounds; I don’t spend a lot of time hunting comments down, I don’t follow her in any social media platform, and I don’t go looking for things said about her.

Frankly, I do have better things to do with my time.

Every so often, however, I’ll see commentary about how whenever there’s a dust up at or around Ellora’s Cave, Jaid Black has a health crisis.

Which is reminiscent of what has happened with any number of epublishers behaving badly, right around the time the implosions begin. (You are free to extrapolate at will, by the way.)

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Carina Press turns FIVE!

I’m seeing this everywhere, and I thought some of you lurkers may be interested:

Carina Press is celebrating its fifth anniversary (cue confetti and cheers), and it’s offering a flash sale (read: valid until 11:59 pm Eastern Time today, June 8th). Use the code HAPPY5 to get a 55% discount on your order.

Yes, that’s 55% off your order.

Go read something good today!

Psy/Changeling Giveaway!

I have been posting reviews of the Psy/Changeling books in a hurry in the past few weeks, playing ‘catch up’ to be ready for the release of the fourteenth novel in the series, Shards of Hope, on June 2nd. This is the one series I still pre-order the moment the links go up–even though it’s released in hardcover. In my opinion, it’s just that good.

Some readers may feel a little intimidated by the length of the series–particularly because there is an overarching plot that means that reading from the beginning is definitely recommended.

Well, here’s a chance to make your risk smaller: a giveaway of the first five books, along with a book tote by Penguin, the publisher of the series. It’s open internationally, until May 31.

The giveaway is being held to celebrate the re-release, with a new cover, of the book that started it all back in 2006. Behold, Slave to Sensation:

Slave to Sensation re-release
The new blurb:
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Finally, an update in the EC v DA vexatious defamation suit.

(Even though I’m not on twitter, I monitor #notchilled pretty regularly, because it’s the only way I have to get updates on the case, not having a PACER account or the like.)

Today, Courtney Milan posted a quick update/analysis of the latest happenings in the case.

Using a few more characters: judge John R Adams denied TiNut’s motion to quash the subpoena, in a rather snarky manner too.

I can’t copy and paste directly from the document, but the judge basically¹ says, “you claim that your identity should not be made available to the defendants, because you know nothing about the case; however, both in your letters and in your tweets, you have proved without a doubt that you know all parties involved, and all sorts of facts of the matter at hand, intimately. Your not-quite-a-motion to quash is hereby denied.”

The moral of the story: don’t brag about all you know and can prove, and above all, don’t offer to testify in favor of one of the parties, lest you discover the legal system is not that easy to manipulate.

*

¹ I think, for an extrapolation, it’s pretty close.

Out today: Clearer in the Night, by Rebecca Croteau

Coming out today from Penner Publishing, this is the first installment in a New Adult romantic fiction series, Meredith Falls.

 

Clearer in the NIght 
 

Clearer in the Night, by Rebecca Croteau
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Any Ellora's Cave authors who are publishing elsewhere...

If you would like some free promotion, here at the blog, at my blog and at MyMedia forum, leave a comment and I’ll contact you for details and scheduling.

This offer is only for non-Ellora’s Cave books, self-published or published elsewhere, and it’s not a quid-pro-quo type thing in any way, shape or form.

As I said on my blog, this is about helping out those authors who have been left out high and dry to whatever degree, due to ongoing shenanigans within Ellora’s Cave, as well as due to any involvement with and/or support of Jane Litte and Dear Author during the vexatious defamation lawsuit Ellora’s Cave filed against them.