Earlier this year, my former publisher, Dorchester, was caught illegally selling digital editions of books they no longer had the rights to. I was not the only author whom this happened to. We called for a boycott. Amazon, B&N, Sony, and Apple were quick to remove the illegal e-books. But that hasn’t stopped Dorchester, who in conjunction with for-side.com are releasing the books as iPad Apps, rather than via the iBooks store.
Last month, Dorchester’s CEO Bob Anthony responded to our boycott via Publisher’s Weekly. From that article: According to Anthony, after being notified by Keene that some sites had been selling e-books for which Dorchester had reverted the rights back to Keene, Dorchester sent suppression notices to the vendors. After Keene reported that some sites were still selling the e-books, Anthony said they sent another suppression letter telling the vendors they expected the e-books to be removed from sale. “We expected the vendors to act accordingly,” Anthony said, adding that “we respect the right of reversion.”
Apparently, Mr. Anthony just forgot to send a suppression letter. Yeah, I’m sure that’s it…
Fuck! Will they just close their doors and give it up? How much worse can they possibly make themselves look?
Seriously can’t someone just shut this company down? This is just getting beyond ridiculous.
One title? Why would they purposefully try to sneak in one title? That doesn’t make much sense. Sure this isn’t a screw up on the vendor side of things?
It’s not “one title”. Of my work, it’s Ghost Walk, Dark Hollow, Castaways, The Conqueror Worms and a half-dozen more. There are also works by other authors whose rights reverted back to them. As for a vendor issue, it doesn’t matter. That vendor would have had to obtain the files from Dorchester.
This is just getting pathetic. Really sorry that you, and the others, have to keep dealing with this corrupt company who is obviously trying to get every penny they can out of the rock before imploding.
Perhaps the money they use to pay their spin doctors to clean up their mess time after time would better be utilized paying off their debts owed. Hey if they did that, the right thing, they wouldn’t need spin doctors!
I would have commented on the IPad store site, but you need to have purchased the book in order to place a review. Hope for-site.com gets your message soon and does the right thing.
The link seems to go nowhere?
Troy
Troy: What link?
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>.<* God I hate when stupid people don't accept reality! Gah they are screwed they need to stip trying to screw everyone else in the process of failing!
Fuck them trying anything to take advantage of such good writers. I still see some of there stuff on the racks at Hastings Book and Video.
Hi Brian,
Can you do a DMCA takedown against the books to Amazon, Apple and anywhere else they’re selling your content?
- Dave
Looks like the app is not available anymore or any other works by Mr. Keene on for-side.com / smarteBook.com (and that the eBook site *just* changed their name too!) I don’t think this site is legit actually.
So, was this a case of an illegal book site putting out books across the board it had no rights to be selling?
JN: I’m not sure why you keep restating that (here and on Twitter) when it has been explained and proven that Dorchester partnered with this company to release the books as Apps. Dorchester is responsible for their vendors.
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This was first I’d heard of that particular site, so was curious. Still just makes no sense to me that, after all of this crap that’s gone down over the past couple of months, that they would just say, “Ah, screw it, let’s just keep doing it.”
And I keep bringing it up, because I know there are people who work there who are trying to get things set right, and want to (whether they’re actually capable of doing it is another matter), and the whole jump on the bandwagon and demonize Dorchester thing is kind of annoying to me.
There are people who have worked there for years, long before there was an ever an issue, who have done and still do good work, who are getting lumped into this “everyone at Dorchester is a lying douchebag” mentality I’ve been seeing. So, while I know you’ve got legit complaints and reasons to be upset with them, I think this rallying cry of “down with Dorchester” has drawn a lot of unsavory bandwagoning from people who are just jumping on the opportunity to bash a publisher and relishing the thought of watching them go down in flames.
Don’t get me wrong, Dorchester screwed up in a big way, but I don’t believe for a minute that everyone there huddled together one day and decided to start screwing over authors. Most of those there have also been screwed by what was likely very corrupt management/ownership, and now they’re paying the price as well with loss of jobs and reputation. Those still there love the work they do, and what Dorchester has been over the years for authors. They hope (in vain perhaps) that they can recover from this debacle. They aren’t still lingering on in the hopes of bleeding out what they can from authors.
Again, my irritation at this isn’t directed at you, Brian. You’ve got every right to be pissed about what’s happened, as do many of the involved authors. It’s what’s come along in the wake. Anyway, I’ll stop bringing it up here.
“Don’t get me wrong, Dorchester screwed up in a big way, but I don’t believe for a minute that everyone there huddled together one day and decided to start screwing over authors.”
No one has said they have. Go back to the very beginning of this saga. Click all the links. Granted, it’s several hours worth of reading, but you’ll see the entire history lain out (like Nick Mamatas and JF Gonzalez tracing the 70′s Mafia ties, mid-listers from the 80′s whoi had this same thing happen, previous class action lawsuits, etc). Most of the things you’re taking issue with have been discussed and examined in detail.
“the whole jump on the bandwagon and demonize Dorchester thing is kind of annoying to me.”
Then this is not the site for you. Seriously. I don’t mean that snarkily. But you’re only going to get more and more annoyed, because we have legitimate gripes, and we do not intend to shut up. Yes, these problems started with the former staff and former management. But it has been my experience (and the experience of others) that the current staff has been slow to act and less than helpful in resolving anything or “turning anything around.” Case in point: legitimate requests from dozens of authors for reversion or rights that are being outright ignored by current management. If they want to prove they are interested in turning things around, they can start by answering correspondence. Or, if you want to make it all about me (as so many people have incorrectly done) — they told publisher’s weekly I’d be fully compensated for those e-book sales. That has yet to happen, and nobody has contacted me regarding it.
I understand you have friends there. I do, too. I think Chris Keeslar, for example, is a good guy in a bad spot. I have nothing but respect and love for Diane Stacy, whom I’ve known for years. But while it may sound trite, it’s true: This isn’t personal. It’s business. And I’m pretty sure Chris and Diane know that our collective argument isn’t with them, but with those above them, both current and former.
It should have never come to this. But it wasn’t our choice to get here.
Good points, Brian. I don’t believe this is a personal vendetta. I honestly hope you and other authors can get things resolved and situated in the end (and yeah, I understand that may not ever happen). I hope that my babbling rants haven’t come across as thinking this issue isn’t really an issue, because it is.
Honestly, I think Dorchester is probably trying to bail water out of a sinking ship with a handful of dixie cups. Too much money owed and not enough coming in to ever catch up. It sucks. It’s sad, because those still there, regardless of wanting to make things right, likely have no ability to do so. Even if they could in the long run, the publicity of this catastrophe probably won’t let them be viable ever again. Authors won’t want to risk it, and nobody will recommend them to anyone, not to mention those that now will never buy a book from them again.
Given that worse case scenario happens, nobody gets paid and Dorchester disappears into the black hole of bankruptcy, I really hope that those there like Chris and Diane who have worked so hard over the years and have been trying to put out this fire with squirtguns, don’t end up with ruined careers because everyone brands them with the capital “D”. I cringe at the thought that down the road here writers are going to be saying, “ewww, I’m not going to work with him. He used to work for Dorchester.” That may seem like an absurd thought, but that’s the feeling I get from a lot of this.