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

How publishing works redux, or pay your damned authors

So many things to talk on today. Let me gather my thoughts.

Ooohhhhhm

Okay, first I want to talk about the EC-like complaining the owners of Torquere are doing. On Twitter, one says: Cont)but I am pretty fed up.I am done playing nice and trying to pacify people.Things are what they are and ARE being resolved.That is all.

The other says: When people are putting all they have in to try & fix things attacking them doesn't inspire a desire to work harder. Just a thought to keep.

Once again, blaming the authors for their failing. You can't misappropriate thousands of dollars of authors' money, not pay the for books you have a contract to pay them on, and then expect them to believe you when you say things are being resolved.

This is not OUR fault as Torquere authors. We wrote books, promoted them, and helped sell them. Kristi and Joanna then took that money, and spent it. There's no, "Oops, I tripped and lost 20K". There's no overhead that should ever spend the money of a press' authors. This was someone taking the money and spending it, and then not being able to figure out what to do when it suddenly caught up with them because authors began to wise up.

In an update to the author list this weekend, the owners said the payment they were about to receive from Amazon was disconcertingly low. Really? That payment is for July 2016, and has been posted in Amazon since the 15th of August in report form. If you're really trying to make things work, make things right, you should be on top of the incoming revenue as soon as you have access to the information. You should also be putting that money aside to pay the quarter it is actually earned in, not to try to pay off debts you owe from third qtr 2015 onward. That's right. At least one author hasn't received a full payment for anything since 2nd qtr 2015. That's April May and June, 2015. On the Torquere site sales. That qtr paid for Jan-March 2015 on distributors.

Asking for payments and demanding rights reversions for breach of contract are not attacks. They are sound business decisions from authors who have been treated at best unfairly, and at worst criminally.

Pay your authors. Then you don't have to deal with all that nasty hand holding and pacifying people who earned money they will never see.

Julia

Update to the TQ debacle

No payment, no emails to tell anyone what's going on, lots of authors saying they're getting no answer while one of the owners bitches on Twitter about having to pacify those pesky damned authors.

Blaming authors for Publishing Failure

Or, how fast can Torquere Press LLC turn into EC?

Pretty fast.

In a statement issued to authors today, owners of Torquere Press LLC Kristi Boulware and Joanna Talbot admit to having financial problems and basically tell the whole of their authors they're not getting paid unless a loan can be procured. Not only that, they blame the authors who pulled their books between January and April 2016 for this failure, saying those authors leaving TQ caused them to not have enough money to pay overhead.

Pardon me? This is not how publishing works.

The simple equation of ebook publishing is this:

An author writes a book. The publisher edits it and puts a cover on it. The publisher lists it on their site and on distributor sites. Sales happen. The publisher promises to pay a % of sales to the author. This is a contractual obligation, not a gift or charitable act. The author has earned this money based on their hard work writing and promoting the book and on their talent. Payment must happen no matter how many or few sales are made. The publisher is supposed to put whatever percentage the author has earned into an escrow account until it's time to pay and only use the publisher's percentage to pay overhead and salaries.

End of story.

Now, unfortunately, due to the delayed nature of distributor payments, many times publishers don't realize they're in trouble until they have a bad quarter and end up not having enough of their money to pay bills or salaries or for that vacation they took, and they "borrow" from next quarter's author money. This is called robbing Peter to pay Paul. If the publisher is lucky, they have a good quarter next time, or their spouse has a day job, or whatever. They can pay the money back and get back on track. That's sadly not the case here.

Here's a timeline for everyone who thinks this is all brand new.

3rd qtr payments for 2015 were due no later than November 30, 2015. At least 3 authors, including TQ's bestselling author of all time, were not paid. Despite repeated email requests for information, two of these authors got no reply until they caught up with the owners on FB. One was paid via Paypal on the last day of December 2015. One finally received a check on Dec 31. 2 weeks later in January 2016, that check bounced for NSF. That was what was marked on the check. Not stop payment. NSF. Despite repeated requests for payment, the author with the bounced check was forced to turn in the owner for check fraud in late February for nearly 10K. Due to this issue, that author pulled her titles. Since mine and my wife's payment was late per the contract, we also pulled our titles because as former publishers and authors who went through the EC collapse, we could see what was happening. That was at the end of January.

The next round of payment owed were for 4th qtr 2015, payable no later than the end of February. I received my payment March 29. 1st qtr 2016 payments were due no later than May 31. I have not received it, despite a statement balance of $1558.41.

Most authors who were paid for that qtr report being paid June 30. 30 days late.

Other authors who were not paid, or who were again paid late, finally pulled their books.

2nd qtr 2016 was due no later than Sept 3rd, even by the newer contract term of 65 days past the end of the quarter. It has not been paid to anyone to my knowledge and now the letter has been issued that overhead takes priority over author payments and that up until "a few months ago" owners were still drawing salaries, which should have been the first thing to go once a check was bounced.

So I ask this. Where is the money? By statements alone, some 30K is owed to a handful of authors who have been repeatedly stiffed. That is 1/3 of what Torquere received in actual sales for THOSE authors alone. So where did all that money go? Why was author money being spent in the first place, no matter how bad the business was being mismanaged?

My advice to all Torquere authors is this: she offered your rights back. Write today and get them. NOW. Run. Write RWA and report non-payment. Write Writer Beware and report non-payment. Go public. This is theft, and it's unacceptable to ever blame authors, distributors, or advertising contracts for author money being spent on anything other than royalties.

XXOO

Julia

Trying to get back in the groove after the Bad Things

I've never been one for writer's block. I can usually plug away, even through life's crises. Some days I might only get 100 words, some days 5K. But usually I get words.

This last month or so, though, every word is a struggle. It's not a lack of ideas or inspiration. I'm just so TIRED.

We've had medical struggles. Both of us. I usually talk more about the wife, but I have a chronic injury condition of the feet where bones break randomly, and have been in a boot for 10 weeks. Again. I hurt all the time.

Then you add in the stress of not being able to pay bills because publishers are not paying. EC has not paid me since December 2015. I only have one book left with them and hope to get it back in November, but come on! The books were still selling well when they stopped paying. They owe me, no doubt, at least a few hundred bucks. Then there's TQ who, at this writing have not paid me for the wife for 1st or 2nd qtr 2016. This is all they would ever have to pay us as we pulled our books. If they would just PAY us. At this point they owe me and BA a combined $3000.00 and the news is not good. Even the authors who defended them when they went 30 days past the payment deadline for 1st quarter are now wondering why 2nd qtr payments are almost week past due. Where's the money? I mean, she had to stop using my money and BA's and Sean Michael's to pay everyone else because we pulled our books... so now who gets the shaft?

Worrying this to death and just trying to muddle through the day has made it tough to write. I think I need cheerleaders. LOL. Anyone who wants to volunteer?

On the good side, Grizzly List 3 will be in at the publisher this week! I hope for a January release.

XXOO. I do love y'all. Thanks for hanging with me.

Julia

All the Books! A Guest Post from BA Tortuga

Hey, y'all!

BA Tortuga here, taking over the wife's blog.

Did y'all know I have all the books out these last few weeks?

I do. I have a lot. So I want to tell you all about them. Come sit close. We'll have coffee and I'll give you the short and dirty list.

I have Mr. Unlucky at Totally Bound.

Addie is a photographer with a past she wants to forget. Bodie is the unluckiest man in love who ever existed. Can they get their shit together?

Buy Link

See what I mean about quick and dirty?

Reclamation 2 is out at Changeling! No Time to Lie

Marshall and Ben believe their mate, Jakob, has been killed. When Jakob escapes from a cult, there is nothing that will stop them from reclaiming him.

Awful blurb. Good book. Werewolves and kidnapping and weird cults! Buy it here.

Real World is out from Dreamspinner. Sequel to Ever the Same

Dan is ex Army and trying to assimilate to the real world. Weldon is bisexual, a widower, and has a ton of kids. Not exactly a match made in heaven, right?

Buy it here!

Then there's the reprint co-write with the wife, who is so kindly hosting me today.

Link to the Crescent. NOLA. Werewolves. Vamps. Sexay!

get it here or at amazon!

Pant pant. I'm exhausted. I hope y'all are reading!

Much love y'all

BA Tortuga

www.batortuga.com

@batortuga on Twitter

facebook!

Firemen! Smokejumpers!

Ex-lovers who meet up again!

Intrigued yet? I am. Oh, wait. I wrote it.

I love firemen. And Colorado. And old lovers with an ax still to grind when circumstances toss them back together.

Get it here!

Smooch

XXOO

Julia

Why it's so hard to move on

So, rather than go to jail, the owner at TQ forfeited her bail and made restitution on the bounced check. At least according to the docket report. Sean Michael hasn't been informed by the court that it's real, but the judge filed the papers.

Yay. Except I heard through the grapevine that she's bounced some paypal payments. I'm still not paid for 1st qtr let alone 2nd. My wife and I have 2 recent hospital stays and a broken foot to pay off and could with the nearly 3k she says she owes us by her own statements.

It's not going to stop even if she pays me. I remember sitting and brainstorming the name Torquere with my wife. We were so proud. I can't be proud of that name anymore.

I am going to try to move away from posting about it here, and go back to being an author on my blog. Y'all are welcome to email/pm me anytime with your own stories or with questions. My comments remain moderated after someone posted an author's real name. Only someone who signed contracts with that person would know their real name, and that makes you pause, too, you know?

XXOO

Thank you so to all for the support.

Julia

Court Date tomorrow for owner of Torquere LLC

Kristi Boulware has her next court date for felony check fraud tomorrow August 4.

A link to the Magnolia Banner News here shows her arrest June 8, 2016.

A temporary link in the Magnolia reporter shows her court date here. This link may disappear as it is only good until the next docket is posted. I'll post a screenshot if that happens.

It makes me sad that something that could so easily have been settled with even an attempt at payment had to come to this.

FYI, despite receiving another statement from Ms. Boulware, I have not been paid for 1st or 2nd qtr 2016. I get no answer when I email. Please don't support this publisher. This is a person who said she told her authors she was having a MRI when she was sitting in jail awaiting bail. Over and over she had proved her intent to defraud, and she had been reported to the RWA.

I'm very sad for all the Authors involved, and for the industry at large when yet another small pub behaves badly.

XXOO

Julia

Historical re-release-- fun, kinky romp

Did y'all see my new cover for Post Obsession?

The amazing Kris Norris did it for me, and let me quibble about historical periods and shit. I love her.

The book is about Markus, a bored Georgian aristocrat who gets involved with the mysterious E via letters hand delivered to him. What they get up to could scandalize the world of polite society.

Find it here on ARE!

XXOO

Julia

Not a family squabble

I'm so tired and worn down by trying to get people to understand that this thing with TQ LLC is not a family squabble. Yes, the current owner is my SIL, which makes this maddening and horrifying. The simple fact that she would screw all these people over when we trusted her is an abomination. But it's not spite that makes me flog it over and over. It's the fact that (with permission from Sean Michael) she owes Sean AT LEAST 25K. Right now she owes me and my wife $3500.00. She hasn't paid anthology authors since January. She hasn't paid at least 3 other authors who consistently made good money at TQ. I'm sure there are dozens more.

And yet she filed for indigent status for her upcoming trial and claimed to be unemployed. http://circuit027.courtconnect.net/docsdms/?A=123/ck_image.present?DMS_ID=35787c6e-6a24-4fa9-9b53-aa4c6200b747

I want to know where the money went. I want to know how this is okay and someone could say this is me being a bitch because I'm spiteful and bored.

What I really want is for her to close the business and stop fucking people I care about and hurting our community. I would do exactly what she wants and leave her alone if she would just do that.

XXOO

The Very Tired Julia

Faster Bobcat re-release-- expanded!

Hey y'all!

A few years back right around this time of the year we released a lovely little anthology called Designated Bottoms. I edited it and was super proud to have Sean, Kiernan, me and BA, as well as Shannon West, Katey Hawthorne and KC Wells do D/s stories for the anth.

When things began to go horribly wrong with TQ (still not paid sigh) I pulled my story out, and Changeling Press has re-released it. It was about 9000 words before. Now it's 12k and a better story, I think! It was Faster Bobcat then but that's the series name now and the story is called Hot Tin Roof.

It's here at Changeling, or you can get it at ARE or Amazon.

Aleks is a dancer at a nightclub. Rafe is the guy who wants Aleks to dance only for him...

XXOO

Julia

Kinky erotica new release

Hey y'all!

Minerva Howe has a new release! It's a m/m space soldier who has an alien probe kink. It also has a romance element, a manmade pleasure planet, and a bit of cock milking and butt probing.

Here is in on All Romance, where it's on sale this week!

And on Amazon.

And here's an excerpt!

“Welcome to Planet Fantasy, sir.” A small, blue-haired alien with the most amazing mottled pink skin smiled at Sgt. John Decker, recently retired from the United Earth Military Forces, and scanned the wristband he’d been given when he'd boarded the transport shuttle. “It’s our pleasure to make your dreams come true.”

“Thanks.” John glanced around the shuttle station, relieved to see it was clean and comfortable and modern. He kinda expected it to be cheesy, maybe rundown. No, this place had it going on.

“The currency for your weekend has already been debited from your account. You’ll be shown to your private room, where you can relax and have a meal, if you like. We also have several restaurants, if you prefer.” Her monitor beeped and booped. “According to your preferences, I have assigned you a steward for the weekend. He should arrive shortly. Would you like to have a seat?”

She indicated a grouping of low-slung seating about ten feet away, so John grabbed his bag and made his way over to sit. His wristband caught his attention because it glowed green now, a little blue light blinking on it, as well. Activated, he reckoned.

Maybe ten minutes later, a young man arrived. Probably Earth issue, a few inches shorter than John, maybe ten years younger than his thirty-eight, this guy was stunningly beautiful. All tanned skin and golden hair. Ridged abs sported a tiny glory trail leading down into an itty bitty loincloth, which was his only covering.

“Sgt. Decker? Good afternoon. I’m Denis, your steward for the weekend. Shall I show you to your room?”

“Please.”

He’d come in early, his long weekend starting on Thursday night so he could have two days of fantasy played out. Sunday he would recover, then leave Monday morning with the other Earth-bound customers. He rose, and Denis grabbed his bag, leading the way. The loincloth barely covered Denis’ tight, hard-muscled ass, and God knew John would follow that anywhere. They really had taken his preferences into account.

“Did you have a pleasant flight?”

“It wasn’t bad at all. Hellacious better than military transport.” John grinned, thinking of his last trip past the moon. They’d hit some bumps when they did a gravity sling around the big rock instead of stopping at the way station there. Planet Fantasy, which was a man-made, terraformed space station more than a planet, was just a short hop from the moon, so they’d done things the easy way on this jaunt.

“I imagine so. How long were you in the military?” Denis had a pleasant, soothing voice, not too deep, and completely unaccented. Vid voice, they called it. Universal and easily understood.

“Twenty years. Just retired. All the guys in my cadre got together and bought me this experience.” He would never have spent the money to do this for himself, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“That was very kind of them. You’re going to love it here.”

XXOO

Julia/Minerva

Out of the Frying Pan is a bestseller!

Check it out here!

I love my firefighters! I do I do.

XXOO

Julia

Still not paid -edited with links

The owner at Torquere said all payments would be out at the end of June. Nope. I'm not paid, and at least 3 other authors are not for sure. Are there more? Feel free to use the contact form and let me know. I don't care what your personal problems are, if you have 60 days to pay and after 92 you still haven't made the payment (and this is not a paltry sum. If my wife and I got paid for our two statements, we could pay off 2 of the credit cards we've had to use for regular bills because we aren't getting paid!) then you're not just behind on things and I'm not a jerk for being upset.

Public record court case info here.

EC has also not paid me, not since December 2015.

I want to thank All Romance Ebooks, Changeling Press, Dreamspinner Press, and yes, Samhain Publishing for being honest, aboveboard, and paying in a timely manner. I have bills to pay just like everyone else, and I need publishers I can rely on.

So do all the other writers I know.

Author beware.

XXOO

Julia

Author stuff

Hey y'all!

Been trying to leave the information posts up because none of the authors I talk to have been paid. But I also know I need to not let the you know whats get me down. I'm still a writer, and I still have stories to tell and readers to make happy (I Hope!)

July 1 I have a story I hope will make my long time readers happy. I have a novella called Out of the Frying Pan coming out from All Romance Ebooks. It's on preorder now. Find it here!

Isn't that amazing?

I also have a few re-releases to announce! Cereus: Opening is back out, as is my novel Perfect, and my Thatcher Brothers series, Jumping, Landing and Taking.

All Romance Ebooks has all my titles

They're also on Amazon and B&N etc

XXOO

Julia

points to ponder if you're an author who hasn't been paid

1. Where is the money?

I hear TQ isn't promising payment until the end of June... Not from the publisher, natch. But to me, this action suggests that the publisher is out of money until the next Amazon payment comes in June 30. If this is the case, where did 1st qtr money go to? Because April, May, and June payments should have been saved to pay 2nd qtr royalties. The State Attorney General has not informed Sean Michael that the hot check has been taken care of, so it didn't go there. This also means payment will be 30 days past the 60 days after the end of the quarter. For lots of folks.

2. What's with the excuses?

Has anyone else noticed how similar the excuses are to the ones used by EC? The person who does the royalties is sick. No one else knows how to do them. Thing is, according to emails, all statements are out . I did receive mine today as I was writing this post, nearly a month after the rest of the statements went out. So if they're all done, why is it so hard for someone else to write checks and send them out?

3. Worth repeating.

As of right now, the state attorney has not contacted Sean Michael that the hot check has been paid. It's been a week since the arrest and since the claim that it was paid in full. The SAG office has sent immediate updates on the situation at all times until the alleged payment...

4.

If you would like to contact RWA and let them know you haven't been paid, please get a hold of me via the contact form here on Blogger or on my website. I have the name of the person who does these investigations and membership in RWA is not required. Sadly, since someone felt it necessary to put an author's real name in the comments here I have had to moderate what comes in, but you're welcome to reply via comment and I will see that as well.

XXOO

Julia

I want to be positive

But it's tough. Between all the rage and hate in the news, the victims of the Pulse shooting rampage, and the situation with TQ, I'm down, y'all.

On the good side, my girl and I are both on the All Romance Ebooks Bestseller list with 3 books each. That's pretty damned good news. Also, my girl had her eye doc appt today, and it's great news. Much improved sight and less bleeding.

Now if I could just get the news I'm waiting for on the other situation, life would rock!

Hugs to everyone and XXOO

Julia

In the interest of transparency about the latest TQ situation

This will be a long one and not fun. Bear with me.

I have been accused, much like authors asserting they have not been paid at EC, of being "One of those people causing trouble" for no reason. It has also been said I have a teeny bit of malice toward my former company so anything I say is suspect. There has also been the assertion that the new owners of TQ can't tell the truth due to a pending lawsuit.

So here is complete transparency from the side of an author embroiled in this mess and yes, a former owner of the company.

The facts: In December 2015, author Sean Michael, who is in no way family to the current or former owners of TQ, should have received her 3rd qtr check. The check had been "lost" for some time. When contacted, the owner of the press claimed she immediately mailed another check. When asked for the overnight tracking number, the author was told the tracking number was in the truck which had been borrowed by a family member. The check was received in the post Dec 31, 2015 cashed and the week before the MLK holiday in January 2016, it was returned to Sean for Non Sufficient Funds. This was clearly marked on the check. Not stopped payment. NSF. The Friday before MLK holiday, the author asked for a wire transfer was told the bank cut off wire transfers at noon. When a bank representative was contacted at 12:30 central time, he indicated they cut off wire transfers at 3pm eastern which would have been 2 hours after the press owner said she could no longer send money. After weeks passed with no forthcoming payment and no tracking number for a mailed check, Sean was forced to decide to turn Ms. Boulware in for check fraud. She issued the complaint to the Columbia County Arkansas Sheriff and State Attorney's hot check office as a criminal matter. They then issued a citation which was sent to Ms. Boulware giving her notice that she pay the full amount or be arrested. When the grace period passed, a warrant was issued. On June 8 2016 at 7pm, Ms. Boulware was arrested for violation of the Arkansas Hot Check Law. She was held until she posted bail June 9 at 3pm.

This is a matter of public record. http://www.vcafe.info/US-Counties/Arkansas/Columbia-County-AR/Kristi-Boulware-talbot.137400556.html

At no time has Sean been notified that the check was paid. The state attorney's hot check dept. communicates with the author every step of the way with all of the information.

As of this writing, at least 15 Torquere authors have contacted me and let me know that have not been paid for 1st quarter royalties, due no later than May 31 2016. I have not received a statement for my 1st qtr sales and neither has Sean Michael or Kiernan Kelly despite a notice being sent out that all statements had been sent.

Regarding a pending lawsuit, if there is such a filing, I have not been apprised of it, or been asked to address it in any way. Nor can I find legal filings on record of such in a public records search. I did not pull my titles out of spite. Trust me, I could happily have lived on passive income from my backlist had I not received late payments and reports with new releases missing or miscalculated. Now I have more than 40 reprints to sell and about a third of my income gone. Tell me I did that out of malice.

So why am I out here talking about it and not Sean Michael? Sean is in the business of writing and of pleasing the fans. This company was not hers. It was mine and I am devastated that someone who was our business manager for 2-3 years took over and then began to not pay authors. Think about this. Sean Michael, who was TQ's major selling author, has not received a payment for sales later that March 2015 save for one partial payment marked for 4th qtr 2015 in a very small amount compared to the total owed. I feel, as an author and industry professional, that authors need to be warned. Where is the money? Why are authors receiving emails saying Ms. Boulware Talbot was in the hospital for an MRI and then at home passed out on pain pills when she was in jail overnight awaiting bond? The lies have to stop, and if I have to be the one to expose them, so be it. I'll take the hit.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Many of Torquere's former payment policies have been misrepresented in recent emails as well, and I would be happy to clear up how I advised Ms. Boulware to proceed, including how putting 50% of all monies in escrow meant authors would never go unpaid. The simple fact is that it's not acceptable to leave authors worried about the status of their titles and their money.

Sean Michael corrected me on some details and now the timeline is correct Julia

the curious case of filtering

I have an English degree. I've been a professional writer for 15 years. I edited for 12. I've never heard the word filtering pop up so much in the world of fiction editing as I have in the last year, and I have to admit, I'm sick to death of it.

There's an article here that describes what filtering is. Linky!

I like this article because it explains what filtering is but it also explains how sometimes "filter" words are necessary. You see, I don't subscribe to the all or nothing rules of writing theory. If you write deep POV, sometimes the only way for a reader to learn something is because the main character heard it or saw it. Sometimes the writer deliberately chooses to filter information because the POV character is unreliable, possibly lying to himself and others. Or sometimes the author just wants you to know that you as the reader and seeing what the character sees not, just some random, disconnected act.

That being said, I do think that an author needs to examine the instances of the words heard and saw and felt, just to see if they're necessary. Sometimes we find we don't need them at all.

Then again, sometimes we really fell like we do (grins)

XXOO

Julia