Monica Jackson has blogged about a PW article regarding Genesis Press’ allegedly shoddy business practices, including “failure to issue royalty statements, delayed and missing payments and inaccurate tax forms.” Seems a group of authors have banded together to protest Genesis’ history of unprofessional conduct and breach of contract.
Authors quoted in the article have a long history of problems with the publisher, and Genesis has responded that they’re aware that they are behind but are making efforts to correct the problems. They also place the blame on their previous distributor.
Monica adds her own story in her entry, and it’s sadly similar to the rest: her novella was published, but she received no royalty statement as contracted. Nor did she receive a 1099. Most of the authors quoted, and Monica herself, received no satisfaction for their repeated inquiries to Genesis.
Genesis further insistst that all past problems with authors have been resolved, but those same authors disagree that they were even contacted about their complaints.
Monica’s theory as to why the authors tolerated this treatment from a publisher is that it stems from a mentality among minority authors that treatment like that from a publisher is better than not publishing at all, or self-publishing. She also wonders if romance blogs and authors will pay attention to an issue that affects only minority authors.
While I am less than delighted as a romance blogger at being painted with the white brush of assumed disinterest, I have to say, that freaking sucks, and I’m horrified that Genesis got away with it for as long as they did.
The authors quoted have already written to the RWA and to the Writer’s Guild to alert them to their concerns regarding Genesis’ business practices, particularly now that older Genesis books are being re-released by Kensington. Beyond that effort, what more can they do?
A website that reviews romance novels from a couple of smart bitches who will always give it to you straight. No bullshit. No gushing--unless the author really deserves it. To find out more, read all about us or check out our minty-fresh and funkadelic FAQ section.
Sadly, many of the anthologies with 3-5 authors create short stories or novellas with existing characters. I don’t know how interesting, or how enjoyable they’ll be as stand alones without the requisite background information. I rarely read any novella in…
That’s fantastic!
I was just thinking about how influential your site is to readers like myself. I have picked up several authors and bought their books, when I would have never thought about them before based on your…
From Novak Auction Update
I really think that the cover for The Civilisation Game could be adapted for use for the next Anita blake novel—scantily clad woman with handgun dominates weird beast-man crouching subserviently at her feet. And you know what they say about…
Green Porno is very disturbing. I think what was freaky is she plays all the male insect parts. Or maybe because she is deadly serious… Very very strange
“so I saw all the hand movements and the penis wag at the end.”
That should be “so, unfortunately, I saw all the hand movements and the penis wag at the end without any musical accompaniment.”
…
