blaming authors for publisher failure part 2

Two separate publishers in less than a week, y'all. Two. Both owe me money. One in the thousands. One I have no idea because they never sent statements, but even if I go with the lowest amount they paid me monthly, I guess around the 500.00 range or more. And both have blamed authors for their business issues.

Now, think on this. That 2.5K is my 35-40% net. That means they made twice that as a publisher on my sales alone.

Publisher 1:

"We are just as stressed as [sic] when you aren't making money we aren't either. We have none coming in personally either. We haven't had a paycheck either."

Publisher 2:

We're not swindling money from anyone.For God’s sake, we wouldn’t be closing to begin with if their titles were making money!

Both of them seem to forget a major point. Regardless of their personal or professional debt, THEY HAVE TO PAY ME FOR ANY SALES I MADE! This is not a charity. They signed a contract saying they would pay me and then took my money. Period. There is no excuse or plea for patience that makes up for that, and yes, it is a swindle. No doubt about it.

Don't lie. Don't make excuses. Pay us what you owe.

NO xxoo

Julia