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Remember that there's stuff they can sell without selling the company. If they are not in bankruptcy they can sell assets, such as publishing contracts (subject to the terms of those contracts, of course) and inventory.

The "Dear Valued Authors" bit is particularly charming ...

Hmm...I could see Amazon buying up the company, paring it down, and moving it to Seattle to bolster their foray into the publishing industry.

Indeed, that's the UPS Store.

What a horrible mess.

Yes, what a terrible, horrible financial mess. Makes my head spin. If I thought about it long enough, it'd probably give me a headache. I doubt they'll find a buyer, but, they might sell bits and pieces of their assets as somebody already suggested...

Oh wow. Interesting.

Hope you have a fabulous time in Italy! I hope I read that right. If so, that's so exciting!

Nothing says 'sincere' like 'Dear Valued Authors & Agents.' *I'm* convinced.

Must be really cramped, in that UPS mailbox where they're holed up.

Kind of ironic that you’re leaving a city called Bologna while Dorchester is trying to unload itself on people.

Kristin, Thank you for your continous insights and commentary. As a "newbie" I learn alot about the literary business by reading your blog. Keep 'em coming. You are much appreciated. *smile*

Yes, that's so true the creditors won't force a filing unless it's to their benefit. I'd imagine that might be even more expensive.

I'm trying to find out exactly who purchased DM. Is it FAA Investments or FAA Investors? And which state? Dorchester might have been in a precarious financial state, but John Backe is not--nor are his many other corporations. I have a suspicion also.

I think bankruptcy courts have the final say on dispersments. It then behooves all those owed money to file a claim in time. You can usually find out if a bankruptcy has been filed by checking the various courts (no one stop shopping here.) The information should be free along with the drop dead claim file date.

I don't advocate force. But if things were done now like they were in the old days, Dorchester would be begging for mercy. They are only getting away with all this because they know they can.

For your writers who got their rights back, have you been watching to make sure Dorchester isn't selling copies or e-copies without the rights? Because I hear of writers who find exactly that going on.

I'm one of the authors who can't get paid and can't get rights back (on numerous books), in spite of working with my agent, and contacting AG and RWA for advice on resolving the issue. I am currently working with an attorney and have a forensic accounting in hand (on my dime, of course) but the situation is beyond frustrating.

So glad your clients made out better. It amazes me that there are so few real, legal protections for authors if publishers simply choose not to honor their commitments or return rights when they can't.

I'm glad for those authors you listed. They're able to move on with their works. But it seems others aren't making out so well. I'm just so speechless about this whole debacle.

Just..Wow.

That's terrible that the authors aren't getting the money that they're owed, especially since they're the ones who wrote those books in the first place. I had no idea that that was happening. Is this something that happens a lot? There's still so much I don't know about the industry.

So awful for those who weren't able to get their rights back. I'm so glad for those who did! They are so lucky to have you.

What a great thing to do, fighting so hard for titles that you didn't represent at the time. Shows what a generous a goodhearted soul you are.
Very awesome!
Congrats.

I feel so sorry for those who couldn't get their rights, it's just not acceptable.

Dorchester has been the dirty little secret of publishing for YEARS with failed payments, creative bookkeeping, abusive behavior toward their authors, and other crappy behavior.

I know I've been warning my writing students away from them for over eight years.

Meanwhile, they've been the darling of RWA with full publisher status and any author who stood up against them was vilified.

There's a lot of blame to go around, and it's yet another example of why authors should ask around before signing up with a publisher.

No bankruptcy filing because they have plenty of [others'] money but they just won't let it go...?

No silver platters here Kristin. Thanks for posting the Dorch paperwork. I've been doing the work and can guess. But let me ask you and others on here if they know who John Backe is? The answer to that might answer a question I had. I contacted 60 Minutes and the NYC CBS affiliate in NYC and many others--well over a week ago. And no response. Is anyone aware of all the corporations involved and the amount of money involved? I'm not saying right now--but it's massive.

I hadn't been following this. I do personal, not commercial bankruptcies. The secured creditors get paid first obviously. So sadly the unsecured creditors, which I am guessing are former clients, get paid really little whether there's a bankruptcy or not..

Too bad. Though anyone filing bankruptcy is in a sad, sad stage financially. I've seen many people who worked all their lives, made good money at times, and have nothing. Saddest when you see it with seniors.

I think I do vaguely remember reading a blog post about this before.

Because publishing contracts state that the contract is terminated and rights revert automatically if the publisher files for bankruptcy?

(not that a bankruptcy court would necessarily uphold that, as those rights are assets)

Does one have to send a termination notice in any case, to the official Dorchester address, in order for the author to move forward to their books elsewhere?

Sounds like the good old "midnight move" to me. (I'm a landlord)

I was one of the authors caught up in the Triskelion bankruptcy.
At least with formal bankruptcy, it puts a formal end to the business and gives the authors their rights back, eventually. The bankruptcy clause in an author contract is worth nothing, because the bankruptcy people are federal, and the contracts are signed under state law. Federal trumps state. So contracts are counted as assets, and are treated accordingly.
Kudos to Siren who bought our contracts at auction and immediately reverted the rights, otherwise we'd have found our contracts sold to the highest bidder.

But when a company just disappears, it's much harder, because the onus is on the writer to prove the company doesn't exist any more. And that can take years. Management should do the honourable thing and give authors their rights back, free and clear.

It's such a shame. I can remember Dorchester being such an exciting company, one that launched the careers of people like Jade Lee and Christine Feehan, and now they are behaving so badly, it adds a black mark to everything they've done.

According to their latest Facebook update, the radio silence is because they've moved to new offices...

See Brian Keene's comments here:
http://www.briankeene.com/?p=10803

Thanks for the warning, Kristin. I left a link to your post on my blog.

I think you were the one who said that Dorchester’s romance line was undermined by e-books. A lot of women love reading romances, but don’t want to be caught dead with the trashy covers. They’re buying romance e-books from all sorts of publishers.

So if you see a professionally-dressed woman in an airport or business lobby reading something on her data device, it might not be a spreadsheet.

I can't imagine how hard and frustrating that must be for you and your clients. Knowing you can put in so much hard work, only to not get paid is the worst.

I didn't know that SFWA puts publishers on probation. I've learned something valuable today besides avoiding Dorchster.

I hadn't heard of any publisher being on probation before either. Sounds like these guys need to stay that way, for sure!

I've known to avoid them for a couple of years now, but it's refreshing to see an agent be so open about the reasons why Dorchester should be delisted from SFWA.

Gee, another reason why I'm looking at agency representation before I submit work directly to e-publishers. I can't be on top of every controversy, but a great agency will know far more.

Thanks for voicing your concerns, Kristin.

At what point can/will anyone take Dorchester to court?

The path to publishness isn't exactly covered with rose petals and scented with potpourri. There's work involved...a lot of it. It's sad that good faith was put into this company and they are refusing to reciprocate good business manners and proper recompense as they should.

Pretty serious stuff there. Thanks for the warning, Kristin.

I would NOT like to be one of those authors not getting paid properly right now...

I interned at Dorchester before moving over to Random House children's, so whenever I hear about all this craziness...Wow. I agree with your stance, Kristin. If tDorchester is still not fulfilling their obligations, they should remain on probation.

http://bklovin.blogspot.com/

I'm curious how many lawsuits are pending against them, or other legal means. If I were a roofer who never got paid for a job by the homeowner, I would at a minimum file a lien against their home and possibly consider small claims court.

Are the Dorchester authors just being quiet about what they are doing, or is everyone settling for writing angry letters?

Thank you for your personal update. This isn't good news but I'm glad we know it.

M. and Trisha,

SFWA has put at least one publisher on probation before, Night Shade Books. They quickly got their act together, and the probation was dropped. Night Shade is, in my opinion, now a top rate outfit publishing some of the best fantasy around and was number 2 on my list of publishers to read in 2012. Too bad Dorchester is not responding in a like manner.

This sad tale is just another piece of evidence why authors in the modern age need to abandon publishers for being the tyrant dinosaurs they are.

Yikes. Given your experience and this I'd be skeptical too.

Whew! I'd need to listen to some Chill XM too after that conference call....

Uh, don't you mean "Who's Got Problems?" As in "Who Has?"

I find that story truly startling. Thanks for elaborating.

I think Dorchester has many more issues then simply paying their authors royalties. I have purchased books directly from Dorchester which unfortunetly caused way much more of a headache then it should have. i.e. They didn't send all the books and when trying to either get the books or your money back, being brushed off by some massively rude customer service people. I think the unfortunate thing is that Dorchester is going to end up going out of buisness. You can only mess up so much before people start suing you like crazy.

Exploit them? Kinda harsh don't you think? Makes business sense though to get caught up with current authors first. They're barely treading water, and I'd guess it won't do them much good to lose more authors.

I'd be frustrated and upset too, if I were in some of those author's shoes. Not a good situation. That said, I don't think that boycott thing is useful or productive. All that tells me is that you (meaning those who choose to boycott) want Dorchester to fail, because given their situation, they can't afford to lose sales. That certainly won't help them pay people off any quicker.

More importantly, at least from my perspective as an author, is that it hurts Dorchester's current authors. Basically, it's making them suffer to make a point with the publisher. Which, in my opinion, justified or not, is not a very cool move. Mostly though, it makes me sad. I like Dorchester. They took risks on books that other pubs wouldn't. I hope they can crawl back out of this hole they're in. For their sake and their authors.

Thanks Kristin! As always, your blog is a wealth of information and an inspration to me. As an aspiring science fiction writer who is conflicted on what course to take to publish my work, you're blog and website have proved invaluable to me.

I am a current author with Dorchester who had a book released in Oct. 2009 and an eBook released in Jan. 2011. I check the mail everyday to see if I've received a royalty check from my 2009 book and I'm hoping and praying that my latest eBook release will be successful so that I might make some money from that book. I work two jobs and my dream is to make a living as a writer...I realize this will probably never happen. But, if Dorchester is boycotted, so am I and all the other Dorchester authors, and I don't think we deserve this. I signed with Dorchester 3 years ago believing I was making a positive move that would help me reach my ultimate goal. If there is any hope of any of the Dorchester authors receiving the money that is owed to us, that hope is completely ruined by a boycott.

I'm torn. A boycott won't help Dorchester make the money so they could pay these authors, and in the end the authors would get double-slammed, losing potential sales on their current books with Dorchester if the company fails and losing the royalties they're owed for past sales. Most I can do is cross my fingers and hope they get their act together, I guess.

I haven't purchased a Dorchester book that I'm aware of, so it's not hard for me to boycott them.

However, I support the boycott. Honestly, if authors haven't been getting paid since 2009, I fail to see why a boycott would hurt the authors. They're already hurting. Dorchester, until now, has had no true incentive to pay anybody.

But suddenly Keene calls for a boycott, the news gets everywhere, and now Dorchester says, "Oh, we'll make it right." Why weren't they trying to make it right two years ago?

Hmm...

Dorchester has for years selectively paid its authors, choosing not to pay those they had no further plans to publish, those who had no agents, and those they just plain felt like they could get away with stiffing. They have blatantly ignored the very contracts they've signed and totally deserve to be put out of business. In fact, I'm wondering why the NY attorney general hasn't done something about them before now.

Wait, I know why. Authors, most of whom live outside of NY and nearly all of whom can't afford to engage NY lawyers on the chance of reclaiming moneys that were never properly or honestly accounted, haven't been fighting them in court. Dorchester counts on their inability to do so to allow them to continue their dishonest and dishonorable business tactics.

As a "still current" Dorchester author (meaning that they still have my rights, not that I'd ever write for them again) I've collected more money than most, albeit often late and subject to amending after I caught them failing to pay me for any e-sales over several years, I've heard all kinds of excuses and promises they would straighten up their acts and fly right. But they've gotten away with murder so far. How can any author really imagine they're going to willingly change their pattern of wantonly, repeatedly ignoring their contractual obligations?

I'm sorry for all the authors (myself included!) who have been hurt, but this is one company that richly deserves to go under.