Ebooks, epublishing, erotica and literary effusions

I just finished the contracts for the acquisition by a European investor of controlling interest in a U.S. publisher. Normally my attorney partner does the writing of those, but he got the flu just before Thanksgiving, leaving me to hold the bag (fortunately for me, not literally, but figuratively). The contracts turned out to be an interesting job, involving the creation of an LLC to absorb the assets of the Sub-S publisher, infusion of capital from London to  the U.S. publisher's new bank account and issuance of new stock giving the European investor a controlling 55% interest in the LLC, which now owned the rights and obligations to all the old corporation's titles. That job finished, I have a little time for something I left unfinished before going on to deal with a British professor who wants 60 copies of one of our books for his class.

I thought a few people on this list might be interested in the Southern Review story that invoked the Liz Bruton comment, made before I got into the contracts hassle. So here it is:

5. The perils of epublishing: Silk’s Vault defaults on author royalties

The first thing a visitor is likely to notice when visiting the Web site of Silk’s Vault is the warning in the upper right hand corner of the page that says “Please bare with us as we are experiencing some techical difficulties.” The misspelling – it should read “Please bear with us” – in this case might be an appropriate Freudian slip. Silk’s Vault is a primarily an epublisher of erotica. So getting bare might be the convenient thing to do when reading one of their works.
Silk’s Vault publishes “sensual to erotic romantic fiction, be it mainstream romance or pure erotica,” preferring “boldly written stories that contain content both sexual and explicit.”
Many of the epublishers of erotica have been experiencing financial and other difficulties. Some have simply disappeared. Triskelion is in receivership. Mardi Gras Publishing has removed its presence from the Web, and its principal says she’ll file a bankruptcy action in January. In both of the latter cases, the publishers began defaulting on royalty payments to authors before admitting to financial problems.
Among those with the harshest criticisms of epublishers who fail to pay royalties due has been Nora Roberts, who has one of the most loyal fan bases among romance readers and writers. Roberts, the winner of a 2007 Quill award for Fallen Angels, has sold more than 280 million books over her career. A disciplined writer who spends at least eight hours a day on her craft – even when on vacation – Roberts hardly needs worry about being paid royalties. Her criticisms on listservs frequented by romance writers have been on behalf of unpaid writers just starting to make a name for themselves.

Silk’s Vault, established in 2004, is among the publishers that are struggling, and have a spotty record of paying royalties due. As early as June 2006, some Silk’s Vault authors began complaining that the Milwaukee-based publisher was defaulting on royalty payments. Authors have been leaving the publisher in droves as a result, says the most prominent of the epublishing monitors, Piers Anthony.
Other complaints, many of them first revealed at the Web site of sci-fi writer Anthony, are that Silk’s Vault promotes only the authors who market their book the most, leaving other authors in the background; that it promises to assign ISBNs to books, but applies them only to new releases, not older ones; has editorial and cover art problems; fails to promote books, relying instead on authors to do their own promotion; promises in its contract to pay a royalty of 40 percent of cover price, but actually pays 40 percent of net; and that editors and models for covers have not been paid.
Owner Sarah L Tiller, who declined to comment for this story, told Anthony that Silk’s Vault does pay their authors on time, and tries to make sure all authors get the same publicity.

Romance writer Camille Anthony recently went public regarding the non payment of royalties for books she contracted with Silk’s Vault. Since the publication of her novels, she has never received her royalties on time, she says. She said on her blog in August that she hadn’t received royalty payments for any of her sales in 2007. The first quarter royalty statement sent to her (without the accompanying payment) did not show 506 copies sold at Fictionwise. And she told the Southern Review on Oct. 19 that she had yet to receive any of the royalty payments due her for 2007.

When she confronted the owner of Silk’s Vault, Anthony says, she was told that she would be paid when the owner was able. That, she says, is a contractual violation. Her contract requires payment of royalties no later than 45 days after the end of the quarter. 
Sarah L. Tiller lists herself as owner, CEO and publisher at Silk’s Vault Publishing, LLC. The staff includes Heather Wright, vice president and editor in chief; Pauline Hom, customer service coordinator; Angela Queen, acquisitions editor; and Tania Harris, promotions coordinator and chat room moderator.
Camille Anthony (no relation to Piers Anthony) says Tiller told her the reason for the default in her royalty payments was that Tiller was in the military reserves, and reserves training was the reason for the nonpayment of first quarter royalties to authors. But a week or two of reserves training does not explain failure to pay royalties for almost a year.
Camille Anthony, who writes under the pen name Aline de Chevigny, told Piers Anthony that the staff at Silk’s Vault “are not professional, don't keep their word and breach their contracts without a second thought." 
Another author who has gone public about the problems at Silk’s Vault is Frankie Belville, who reluctantly came forward to share her issues. 

Belville is grateful that Silk’s Vault took a chance on her work, but shortly after her books were put online for sale, payment of royalties became an issue. Ms. Belville takes partial credit in the mixup. She says that when the owner said that her checks were in the mail, she failed to follow up soon enough to report that she had not received the checks. She subsequently received one payment, but was not paid in full. The failure to provide payment caused Belville to join with other authors who have severed their ties with Silk’s Vault. 
Belville now says of Silk’s Vault, “I do not recommend (them). They are a struggling publisher (that) does not have a good track record of paying their authors. I'm also having a difficult time getting my books back. I like the owner a great deal, but I would not recommend sending anyone… their way.” 
End of story.
We're not crusading against erotica or soft porn in the Southern Review. We've commented in the past on some of the well written material by D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller and Anais Nin. We're currently promoting a new English translation of two major works by Pierre Louys, in Pierre Louys, Aphrodite and The Songs of Bilitis: Two Erotic Tales from the Fin de Siecle. We think the $50 paperback edition of the latter is well worth the price.
That said, we're not averse to being critical in our reportage of ebook publishers devoid of ethics, or to poking fun of some of the badly written ebook pap being peddled by some of these purveyors - ebooks that easily fit Coleridge's comment in Biographia Literaria, that read "with the grace of a ship afloat on a warm, moist sea of glue."  We think these publishers are an embarrassment to the ebook industry. If that offends a few of the errant purveyors, so be it.
For anyone still interested, the December issue of the Southern Review of Books newsletter has been posted and may be accessed at http://www.anvilpub.net/southern_review_of_books.htm. 
  
Stories in the issue include:
 
   1. Oprah in new controversy over cookbooks
   2. Living in male-dominated society drove her insane
   3. Selling your book business? Don’t forget a ‘sales by title’ list
   4. These 15 links led author to $40,000 in foreign rights for self-pubbed book
   5. The perils of epublishing: Silk’s Vault defaults on author royalties
   6. Breaking news from the book barons
   7. Spring Book Show space nearly sold out; CIROBE attendance down 
   8. Abebook visitors select 10 scariest characters in world literature
   9. Useful information and free services for writers
 10. Pastor’s account of 90 minutes in heaven has 2.5 million copies in print
 11. Ploy helps to boost author’s Amazon.com ratings
 12. There be sharks: Be careful of where you’re swimming in the book biz
 13. Britney's mom writing book for Christian publisher Thomas Nelson
 14. News about bookstores, publishing, marketing and promotion 
 15. Inside story: Blair lands book deal with pledge to tattle on Bush, Clinton
 16. News about how marketing and publicity sell books
 17. Ebooks gaining in popularity with youthful iPod and iPhone market
 18. Milestones: Records and news of note in book publishing
 19. New York Times revises best-seller list, still impacts industry
 20. News of chicanery, dishonesty and tort-feasing in the book business
 21. Five authors sue Regnery Publishing, alleging diversion of sales
 22. Court supports Penguin in Dorothy Parker poem case
 23. Time-Warner, J.K. Rowling file suit to halt book based on Potter Web site
 24. Chuckles: Finding humor amid the stacks and shelves
 25. Fellowship of Southern Writers elects first board 
 26. Media dunces just don’t get it: Ann Coulter offends to generate publicity
 27. Upcoming book fairs and book festivals
  
Noel Griese, Anvil Brokers/Anvil Publishers, Inc., Atlanta, GA
custserv-RDlVp+BSfMBWk0Htik3J/[email protected]
www.anvilpub.net, www.anvilpub.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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