About my published books...

Those of you who've managed to power through my long-winded news updates over the past several months might have noticed that (1) I've made a few mentions of someone owing me money, and (2) I haven't been talking too much about my Lychgate Series since the release of book 1.

I've requested the rights back to my novel series. The release has been signed, and on 12/13, all rights revert to me.  Art of Death will be taken down, and DSP Publications will not be publishing the remainder of the series. (Yes, these books will become available again in the future - more on that in a bit.)

This has been a disruptive and damaging situation, and it's one of the reasons I'm struggling to get DOTU/Merritt's Story content out at the moment. It's been unusual in the past for me to lose patrons due to low productivity. It's been more common over the past couple of months, and while I'm sorry that I couldn't do more to keep everyone engaged, I'm doing the best I can.

If I can manage not to lose my nerve, a public statement about the publisher situation will go out on Monday. It's aimed more toward colleagues than readers, but it explains the situation. I'm sharing it with you guys first. See below.

One thing I haven't decided yet is whether I'll post Art of Death and possibly Bonds of Death to Patreon while I'm working on getting them available for purchase again. I'm torn. I'd like to offer it to you guys, but I think some patrons are more likely to cancel their pledges over having non-DOTU emails in their inbox, even though I wouldn't be decreasing DOTU production to share it. So, let me know what you think.

Sketch tier sketches are still on the way. Hopefully now that this situation is somewhat resolved, I'll be able to focus more on getting them wrapped up. They're halfway done.

Anyway, here's my full statement on the situation:

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I've parted ways with DSP Publications.

“If you speak negatively of publishers on social media, no publisher will ever want to work with you.” This paraphrased sentiment is what Dreamspinner Press told a room full of their authors this September while in the midst of misappropriating royalties, failing to pay promised advances, and stiffing hired contractors.

I was there. Perhaps it’s a good thing that I’m an indie at heart and that I make most of my living through self-published work. It gives me more freedom and less fear. That said, I don’t believe the aforementioned statement to begin with. Any publisher who objects to an author calling out unethical or illegal business practices isn’t a publisher worth working with.

I’ve chosen to part ways with DSP Publications, imprint of Dreamspinner Press. The rights to Art of Death, Bonds of Death, and Reins of Death reverted to me on December 13.  I don’t believe there’s an ethical way for any author to publish new books with them, and I encourage any authors still with them to consider the implications of staying with a publisher who can’t pay their authors and contractors.

This isn’t easy for me to say. I’ve had a long relationship with DSP, I’m loyal to a fault, and I always want to believe that people are acting with the best intentions. I also always give people a chance to acknowledge, apologize, and make right.  But I’ve reached a point where too much time has passed, too many people are being exploited, and staying silent feels like being complicit. If I’d been warned in 2018, I wouldn’t be in this situation now.

I was first published by DSP in 2011, and I worked with them as a cover artist for several years after.  They were easy to work with, they treated me professionally, and they paid my advances, royalties, and invoices on schedule. DSP built itself a great reputation in the industry, and more and more authors signed on.

Over the following years, I began to focus on a different creative path that served me better, and I fell out of touch with DSP and with other authors.

In 2018, I signed a new contract with DSP for a revamp of my Lychgate novel series and a new book 3. As usual, I did my own cover art. I also took on freelance pre-press work for all of DSP’s graphic novels.

And then the trouble started—at least for me. Others had experienced issues for years before that, and some were owed in the tens of thousands of dollars, but I wouldn’t find this out until later.

DSP is having significant cash flow issues resulting in severely delayed pay for authors and contractors dating back at least a couple of years.  My paid invoices over the past year were all several months late.  My oldest unpaid invoice, for pre-press on the graphic novel adaptation of Tell Me It’s Real by TJ Klune, was issued on June 23 and due within 30 days.  I’m still waiting.

DSP has also failed to pay me royalties and an advance for my own Lychgate novel trilogy. Even though I found out DSP was breaching other authors’ contracts throughout my year working on the series, I had to wait until they’d also breached mine before I could get out of the contract without potentially having to foot the bill for production.  (DSP has stated publicly that, due to the pay situation, they are letting authors out of their contracts with no strings attached, but I’d spoken to many authors who’d found themselves caught in plenty of strings.) Art of Death released on September 3, and, as I’d feared, my earned royalties went toward paying DSP’s past debts instead of going to me.  Soon after, my promised advance for Reins of Death went unpaid.

The question I haven't touched is "Where did the money go?" Much of DSP's past-due payments are for earned royalties after all. But I can't say because no one knows. What I can say is that authors and freelancers haven't been paid on time for years, contracts are being breached, and new author earnings are being used to pay off the publisher's past debts instead of going directly to the author.

Many authors have already left. Some newly signed authors have no idea that this is happening. And some authors have accepted that their royalties will come late.  Some have even opted to defer their royalties to help the publisher.  That’s their choice, even if I disagree with it. I feel it erodes the crucial foundation that holds publishers to a professional standard. But I can understand why authors with a personal stake in a publisher’s success would make that choice.

Far less defensible, however, is the fact that current DSP authors are unwittingly selling books built on the stolen labor of contractors. Plenty of cover artists, editors, narrators and designers are being denied their pay too, and they haven’t all willingly deferred their earnings. Is it ethical for an author to build one’s brand, to gain publicity, to accept awards, and to rack up new royalties on a book made with stolen labor?

“Stolen” is a strong word, but I stand by it.  As a freelance cover artist and designer, I consider my own labor to have been stolen, and I’ll feel that way until I’m paid. In most cases, contractor pay for a given book is due before that book even begins to accrue royalties. I wasn’t told upfront as a contractor that my payments, due in 30 days, would be late. Once the pay issues were revealed, DSP promised that they were being resolved.  But transparency was lacking. I was often told by DSP’s office that my check was sent when it really wasn’t. It would be delayed, then “lost in the mail” forcing me to go through the cycle of asking for another.  When a check finally arrived, its printed date would be long after the date I was told it had been sent.

The information given to authors about the pay situation was never sufficient, but contractors are told even less. I only knew that there were ongoing issues because I’m also an author who’s in touch with other authors.  We can’t take for granted that every contractor knows the full situation. When I found out that people working on my novels had gone unpaid, that was the final straw.

This is the reality that authors need to consider if they’re continuing to put out new books with DSP. Royalties shouldn’t be paid late. But even if, in a misguided effort to be altruistic, an author can accept their own royalties late, no author should feel right profiting off a book when the contractors contributing to it haven’t been paid.

When people aren’t paid for their creative work, creativity becomes a luxury in which only the most privileged can partake. Only those who can afford to wait six months or longer for payment have the option of staying with DSP. I can’t support a publisher that forces out all but the most financially comfortable within its ranks, even if unintentionally.

So I’ve chosen to take my books and walk away. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the only right decision.

It might mean having to wait longer to be paid, having to turn to legal action, or having to watch DSP close down before I’m paid.  DSP has stated repeatedly that the more authors stay and the more readers buy, the faster everyone will get paid.  This is the not-so-subtle guilt trip that’s been placed on DSP authors, and it’s not appropriate.  I can’t accept the notion that, in order to get everyone paid what they’ve already earned—what the publisher has already collected—I should have to stay with a publisher that has exploited my work and breached my contract.  It should be on DSP alone, not on authors, to come up with the money by whatever means necessary.

What does this mean for the future of the Lychgate series?  At this point, I’ll probably self-publish. I’m a little wary of publishers at this point. Art of Death (Lychgate: Book 1) may be temporarily unavailable for purchase from major retailers, but I’ll work to get the listings back up as soon as possible. Bonds of Death (Lychgate: Book 2) was originally scheduled for a January 21 release. It will likely be delayed by a month or more.

Reins of Death (Lychgate: Book 3) is in the middle of edits.  It will be released, but it’ll have to take a back seat for the time being.  I have to prioritize the work that pays the best and the fastest.  That means I’m focusing on Demon of the Underground, my Patreon-funded webcomic, while simultaneously taking all the freelance my biggest regular client is able to offer.

I know some of my readers and friends will want to know how they can help in the meantime.  I’m sure some will ask if I’m available for freelance. Unfortunately, I’m not available for indie or small press freelance, but my Patreon is always open to new pledges, and I also have a Ko-fi account where you can buy me a virtual coffee to help offset the costs of self-publishing if you so choose. Boosts and shares to my webcomic also help it to gain more readers.  The same will be true of the Lychgate series once I’m able to get the self-published editions up for sale.

I still regret having to make this decision. But no one working for a professional entity should have to go unpaid, and I hope that this situation resolves in a way that makes everyone whole.