For a complete accounting and timeline of Dorchester Publishing’s malfeasance, as well as links to other sources, click here.

Update #3: A spokesperson for Amazon states, “The metadata error was not in any way related to the announcement this week that Amazon Publishing has acquired certain Dorchester titles. No metadata changes were made prior to or in anticipation of this announcement.” Amazon is working on correcting the metadata errors now.

As previously reported, Amazon made a bid to purchase Dorchester’s assets. Today, it was announced that Amazon has indeed acquired the publication contracts of over 1,000 Dorchester titles, including romance, horror, western, and more. What is not being reported yet is which titles were part of the deal. As I and others have previously reported, Dorchester was including books for which they did not own the rights to as part of their intellectual property and assets while seeking a buyer. Could it be possible that either due to a mistake in due-diligence on the part of Amazon or continued malfeasance on Dorchester’s part, some of those titles were included in today’s deal?  Continue reading →

Today is Independence Day here in the United States. I like the not-so-subtle irony of giving you (as I promised) my full thoughts on the latest Dorchester twist today of all days. And here they are, after the cut. Continue reading →

For a complete accounting and timeline of Dorchester Publishing’s malfeasance, as well as links to other sources, click here.

After I reported earlier this week that Dorchester had closed its office and were still selling works to which they did not own the rights, Dorchester stated via their Facebook page that they were merely moving to a new office on Park Avenue. This turned out to be just another falsehood. Continue reading →

For a complete timeline of the Dorchester saga, click here.

A number of troubling reports are surfacing just one month after Dorchester closed its community Blog, was officially disqualified by the SFWA, and told Publisher’s Lunch (via company representative Hannah Wolfson) that the recent news I (and others) reported was nothing more than “propaganda” and that things were “business as usual”. Continue reading →

For a complete timeline of the Dorchester saga, click here. Issued today by SFWA:

As many of you are aware, on December 10, 2010, the board of SFWA voted unanimously to place Dorchester Publishing Co, inc, on probation following an inquiry after we became aware of several instances in which Dorchester acted against the contractual and legal interest of authors, specifically by not paying royalties when contractually specified, or distributing books in a medium for which it had not legally secured rights. Continue reading →

For a complete timeline of the Dorchester saga, click here.

Following December’s ouster of Dorchester Publishing’s Senior VP Tim DeYoung, Chris Keeslar assumed most of DeYoung’s duties. Today, word comes from multiple sources that Keeslar himself has abruptly departed the troubled company. At press time, it is unclear if he quit or was terminated. Indeed, as a matter of record and on a personal note, I just spoke with him via phone and email yesterday regarding an ongoing rights issue, and he’d given no indication that it was his last day. Several sources close to the situation tell me it was not his choice to leave, but that has not been confirmed. What has been confirmed is this email Keeslar sent to colleagues earlier today, which states: Continue reading →

Reminder: For a complete accounting of Dorchester Publishing’s ongoing malfeasance, as well as a timeline of events and links to other sources, click here.

On Dorchester Publishing’s masthead, Tim DeYoung was listed as Senior Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, but anyone with insider knowledge of the company knows that he was much more than that. DeYoung was Dorchester, and that was never more true than in the wake of last summer’s events. A summary of DeYoung’s job description can be found on his LinkedIn profile, and while that list is considerable in size and scope, it’s merely a fraction of what he was responsible for. It cannot be stressed enough that regardless of his title, DeYoung was the key decision maker for the company. About the only thing DeYoung didn’t always seem capable of doing was responding to requests from authors and vendors regarding late payments or demands for reversion of rights.

Now comes word that DeYoung’s almost seventeen-year relationship with Dorchester is at an end. Today, one of the many writers whom Dorchester has not paid sent an email to DeYoung regarding unpaid royalties and received the following automated response (I have deleted the author’s name and email address at their request):

From: Tim DeYoung <tdeyoung@dorchesterpub.com>

Date: December 22, 2011 4:17:34 PM EST

To: Deleted To Protect Author’s Privacy

Subject: Automatic reply: Unpaid Royalties

Hello,

This is the e-mail of Tim DeYoung who is no longer at Dorchester Publishing.

For any questions or inquiries, please contact either Chris Keeslar (ckeeslar@dorchesterpub.com) or Kelley Allen (kallen@dorchesterpub.com).

Thank you.

DeYoung’s LinkedIn page also confirms his departure from the company, as did two insiders, one of whom told me on condition of anonymity: “Things are worse than ever. Imagine coming to work and not knowing from month to month whether the doors will still be open.”

Last summer, Dorchester CEO Bob Anthony told Publisher’s Weekly that they were committed to solving the problems, resolving the concerns of the authors involved in the boycott, and treating all authors fairly, including paying them back royalties. Unfortunately, this simply has not happened. While some authors and vendors have indeed received partial or token payments, there are still a vast number who have not received anything. Worse, many authors who have sought legal reversion of their rights report the requests have been ignored or outright refused. And DeYoung’s departure indicates to me that this won’t change. If anything, it’s going to get worse. Tim DeYoung was a man who gave almost seventeen years of his life to Dorchester. He was well respected by his employees and his authors (including myself). He chose to remain at Dorchester and serve the company well after many of those former employees and authors got screwed. The fact that his loyalty to Dorchester now seems to have run out indicates to me that the sinking ship may be about to submerge beneath the waves.

Merry Christmas…

You remember the saga of Dorchester Publishing. How they ripped off their authors and vendors, including myself, in a variety of ways, including non-payment of royalties and publishing and selling books they no longer had the rights to. The entire sordid tale is documented here, along with plenty of links to everything else. Last I reported (back in May), the new CEO promised everyone would get paid. Seven months later, dozens of authors and vendors report that hasn’t happened.

But Dorchester did send a digital Christmas card to their former authors and vendors yesterday, including ones they still owe. Perhaps the most egregious example was that of former copy editor Dave Thomas whom Dorchester still owes for 17 jobs. He received a card, and promptly Tweeted “Christmas cards are now considered legitimate currency in publishing. Wonder if BoA will accept a card in lieu of my mortgage payment?” Dorchester did not respond to my multiple inquiries, nor explain why I was one of the few who didn’t get a holiday card.