Whelp. I’m going to say it, and I don’t care if it makes me look like a fucking bitch.
See, I told you so. (I’m pissed off friends of mine are getting screwed, so I’ll be a bitch if I want to be.)
Starting waaaay back in August of 2012, when quite a few authors (and editors) were coming to me individually and asking about Silver Publishing. All told similar stories about being due payment and getting the runaround. I went to the forums at AbsoluteWrite.com and posed a question about Silver in their forums. The publisher responded with some bullshit that oh noes, everything was fine.
NOT.
http://www.ajllewellyn.com/site/2014/04/10/2170/
A.J. Llewellyn has done an amazing job of laying it all out there. MEGA kudos for all that hard work and research.
I think there are some former Silver loyalists, who I recall attacked Silver authors and editors who publicly came out about the problems years ago, who owe people apologies now. I hope they man (or woman) up and do so. Because they picked the wrong horse and not only screwed themselves in the process, they hurt people who were trying to sound the alarm and warn others. Ultimately, they helped contribute to Silver being able to fuck more people over by their loyalist attitudes.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
FYI, Liquid Silver is NOT the same publisher. Don’t be confused, and please do NOT go after Liquid Silver.
This is why I do things like run the publishing contract deconstructed series. This is why I push for newbie authors to do their research and not be afraid to say NO to a contract if they aren’t sure.
This is why I’m a bitch when my friends get fucked over by some lowlife fucking douchnozzle scumcunt of a dick cheese ASSHOLE.
Because I’ve seen it happen before. I’ll unfortunately see it happen again. I’m currently seeing it happen with a few people in various small houses.
If there are questions about a publisher that make you uneasy and you aren’t getting answers… If you’re seeing unexplained discrepancies between rankings and sales (as in you have a bestseller and supposedly sold NOTHING)… If you are with a publisher who uses intimidation to shut you up (or down) when you question them… GET FUCKING MAD. LEAVE. DEMAND YOUR RIGHTS BACK.
Then talk about it. EXPOSE THE CROOK. Because if you don’t, they will KEEP DOING IT TO OTHERS. The crooks never take responsibility. They always blame the whistleblowers. DUH. The whistleblowers fucking BLEW THE GODDAMNED WHISTLE.
Do. Your. RESEARCH.
UPDATE: There is discussion that a company that popped up last year, Gia Press, is using the same address put forward as the “new address” for Silver. In other words, suspiciously might be connected to the same crook. They haven’t appeared to put out any books yet, and their Facebook and Twitter accounts are strangely silent, so I would be HIGHLY suspicious of them and NOT submit to them.
Tymber, let me be frank and say THANK YOU! Not many dare to go against a publisher. I love the way you do it! I admit I laughed because I’m the same way! A friend once said the way I combine insults is worthy of the title “Wordsmith” and I think he’d agree that you’re one as well.
It’s a shame that these days people almost expect to be taken, and when they are (among being hurt and devistated) they simply accept it as the norm and do not fight for their rights. Even more so when it’s something like this, when creative license was taken for granted, trust was abused, hell even a damned contract voided out of stupid greed. It’s honestly one of the reasons why I’ve been too scared to write, although I do write for friends and family. I pray that the friends you refer to grow a pair, step up and stop the madness and expose them.. hell even if they just take them to court for breech of contract!
I respect you so much more for this posting! And I hope they know that others will hav their backs when needed!
@Heather – Thank you. 🙂 I appreciate that. I caught some flack (I heard about it second-hand because the cowards were too chickenshit to say it to my face) about the contract series from some loyalists for small publishers who are now staring at their future in this post. Because a crook is a crook is a crook. I’ll be the first, when those small publishers eventually go under and screw them over, too, to say see? Told you. Not out of spite but out of sheer aggravation that they IGNORED blatant red flags and instead decided to stay and not rock the boat.
In today’s age, there’s no excuse for a writer to be in such a hurry to sign a contract that they don’t do their research first. There are quite a few venues now, in addition to using good ole’ Google-Fu, that it’s easy to find good publishers. Yes, some publishers will still fall through the cracks as crooks, but something as simple as a poor contract is easy to figure out.
@Tymber They’re idiots then. If they can’t see that you’ve only got their best interests at heart then they need to remove the social blinders and pull their heads out of the sand. I don’t see you as a person that willingly and mindlessly attacks someone or something; instead from what I’ve seen you are like so many others aren’t, you gather facts and then come to a basis of opinion about something. And then attempt to protect and warn; where as others would just sit down and let the shitstorm happen without an ounce of self respect, allowing it to happen to others and themselves so they can just bitch and moan and do the entire “oh woe is me” bullshit.
@Heather – Thank you. 🙂 Unfortunately, some people make decisions based on fear and the path of least resistance instead of doing what’s best. They listen to bullshit of their “careers being ruined” by some crook if they dare speak up. Any other industry, crooks would be rooted out on a regular basis, but for some reason, writers have an overall poor sense of self-preservation and will tolerate behavior they’d never stand for in real life at any other profession.
thanks for sharing this! there are pubs who want you to trust them. not ask questions and if you do, get very rude back and blame you! If we don’t share info with each other as authors, we’re letting the pubs screw other authors. it’s sad that people who tell the truth and ask questions get labeled difficult or a bitch. but this is a business, not a tea party.
@Cheryl – Exactly! The publishers I’ve worked with have not operated like that. They were always professional, including Siren, whom I’m now exclusive with. I want my publisher to be professional, NOT my buddy. When I have questions, they get answered. I see people say they’re “scared” to email their publisher with questions, and I’m like WTF? It’s a BUSINESS. Are you scared to ask your cell phone carrier or cable provider questions? No? Why would you be afraid to ask your publisher questions? If you have a fear of your publisher, you shouldn’t be with them. I get that newbie authors are shy, I was there once, too. But get over it. When you see that a publisher is a business, like any other business, that shyness goes away. This is a business, not a beauty contest. No one’s running for homecoming queen here. But from the way some people act, you’d think it was high school. Especially loyalists. Again, I’m not talking when people have personality differences because that’s just life and every business will have a small percentage of that going on regardless of the industry. But it’s the financial end of things I’m talking about.
Absolutely! It’s a business. If they’re friendly and nice, great. But it’s a business and if they bristle at answering questions or expect blind trust…um no! don’t drink the Kool-Aid!
*Nods all the way through the blog post* Yep. Yep. And yep. Publishing is a BUSINESS. Not a family or a sorority. There are plenty of places to research one before you sign. A “friend” in cyber or real life who promises you the moon at a publisher without a proven track record is *NOT* a reason to do sign with one. If other authors are unhappy, find out why because chances are there’s a very good reason for their disgruntled rumblings. If a publisher sounds too good to be true, it is. If your gut tells you something is off, it is. Once those rights or your copyright are gone, they are likely gone for good. And when scumbag publishers like this one take off for foreign countries or simply disappear off the grid, you have very little recourse for recovering royalty money owed you, or your hard work in the form of those books. It’s not worth it. Not in the long run. Do your research FIRST and listen to your gut.
@Tara – Yep. Reminds me of those V8 drink commercials where people get smacked on the forehead. LOL
LOL!! 🙂 I could’ve had a REAL publisher! *smack*
@Tara – LOL Exactly! 🙂
Kudos to Tymber and everyone who raised early questions and stood their ground regarding problems at Silver. One very kind author warned me away from Silver as far back as summer of 2011.
I have always felt bad for all the authors who got stiffed. When you are a reader and you have been careful to only purchase legal copies of ebooks and left reviews to support authors you like you feel uky for your unwitting part in cheating some very nice authors.
I know I dodged a silver bullet when Silver Publishing rejected my novel In about September 2012. A colleague had urged me to go with them rather than any other LGBT publisher but as the editor I dealt with said that my two characters were entirely unlikable they said no. I then went with Dreamspinner Press and it’s been great ever since. The editor there loved the characters, calling one of them elegant and delicious. So as I say, I dodged a bullet.
It wouldn’t be the first time I got screwed by a publisher… back in 1990 I published LOVING THE GODDESS WITHIN with a brand new Pagan/Wiccn/Goddess Publisher called Delphi Press. After my second royalty check I never heard another word. The owner did this to everyone of her authors.. I was only the second she took on. She kept taken on new authors for a few years.. I talked to one who just plain wouldn’t listen to me when I warned him. Imagine my irritation when I heard years later that the Chicago Goddess community gave the woman an award for her contribution to the community. Someone said, “Well she made up for her mistakes.” A simple freakin’ apology to me in all that would’ve been a nice touch.
Great post, Tymber!
Back when Leland first started this venture, I got email from him asking me to publish with him. I turned him down. Later I got another email saying he’d pay me 70% royalties if I would publishing with Silver. I turned him down. I stood there amidst all these other authors I know who were selling at the same level as me or more and watched them stampede toward the money. And I knew…just KNEW…it was a BAAAAAAD idea. It was a bad business model for crissakes! How people didn’t see that…I don’t know.
And then when he started picking up authors who had no business being published yet (authors I and others who were doing submissions for other publishers turned down!) I knew it was only a matter of time. When I went to GRL and saw the money put out for it by this publisher…I knew the matter of time was closer at hand than most people thought.
I feel bad for the authors involved, even the ones I warned away who still went there. Authors trying to get published for the first time should always aim high. If you aren’t good enough, publishers will tell you why. You should take that information and use it make yourself better, not get pissed off and go find some other not very well known house to sub to. And remember, just because a publisher has a pretty site (Leland has great coding skills) with pretty graphics (how he got Reese Dante still amazes me) doesn’t mean it’s a viable, strong business with a strong business model and financial backing AND EXPERIENCE. Unfortunately, this publisher didn’t have strong experience in publishing. The rumor that he started the pub because others wouldn’t publish him…meh, might be true. I don’t know. But his lack of experience in this world was the main reason, along with the bad business model of bribing authors with 70% royalties, that I refused to hook my wagon to such a shaky train.
I wish all the authors who pubbed there much luck and better publishers in the future.