So, in an email to their author list dated Dec 13, 2016, Torquere Press LLC announced they were beginning the process of closing.
Here's where they announce their main point:
While we realize this announcement may not be totally unexpected to some of you I’m sure many of you will have questions. Please be patient with us as we will take some time in getting all of the hundreds of rights reversions together. The process of us wrapping up Torquere will take at minimum 90 days if not longer.
Right. Now, see, I can totally understand taking time to make sure all rights are reverted correctly.
What I can't understand is leaving sales venues up for that time. Make a public announcement so readers can download any files they've bought, give people 3 or 4 days, then shut down the website and distributor site accounts instead of stealing yet more money from your authors.
The only nod at all to the fact that they have not paid anyone since June 2016, and that was for (4th qtr distributor sales and 1st qtr TQ sales-- I did not get paid for that 2K statement thanks) was this paragraph:
We are very saddened that we have to end things this way, but we believe it is for the best for everyone involved. We will continue to support each of you in any way we can when it comes to self publication questions, or even helping you find a good new home for your current and future books if we are able. We are still looking at options on how to get everyone paid and caught up and appreciate your patience while we are dealing with this matter.
You see how they did that? We're keeping your books hostage while we slowly take down the sales areas, but we have no plan in place to pay you the 10s of 1000s of dollars you already earned and we didn't pay! But here's the kicker.
We have done everything we could to turn things around but with the saturation in the industry, the financial hardships we are in, my health in constant decline along with the negativity we have had hurdled our way. We feel like we are currently fighting an uphill battle. We have so many happy memories and will hold on to those as we make our choices for our futures in this industry. It has truly been an honor and privilege to work with each of you.
IOW, we love y'all for making us money, but it's your fault that we failed. Uh, hello! If they hadn't stolen thousands, no negativity would have come their way. No one wants to be a victim of theft. But I'll be damned if I won't expose a thief when I'm faced with one.
So again, I urge the owners, Kristi and Joanna, to do the right thing. Announce to your readers, distributors and creditors that you're closing. Give people 3 days to download any files. Turn off your payment gateway. Close accounts at Amazon and other distributors as those books will remain in people's libraries even when you take the books down. Once you are no longer making illegal money off people, you can send reversion letters over a reasonable period of time. You're done. Stop punishing authors for your mistakes.
Julia
