Ridan Publishing

If the author has exhausted all their options as per their contract, then I would say its time to seek legal advice, remedies.

As to readers who have paid for but not received a product, they have the option of reversing the charges through their bank or credit card company.

The sad thing is that I'm still seeing RS signed up for panels on self-publishing and speaking engagements galore for her "success" story with Ridan. Her husband's blog details holidays and so forth without any mention of Ridan's problems.

I wonder if all these supporters will continue to fly her flag when it comes out she's ripping off a renowned author who's dealing with major health issues and NEEDS the money RS is keeping for herself?

*shakes head*

The only word I can use is "sinful". It's the only one that seems to apply in this situation.

shadowwalker said:

Maybe this is covered in another thread, or could go in one - but how long should an author give a publisher in this sort of situation before going to an attorney? Loyalty issues aside, when do you (anybody) think they should have sought legal remedies?

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It depends on the contract. I had a clause in mine that stated my publisher had 90 days to remedy a situation after I notified them of any breaches. If they didn't take care of it during that time, my rights reverted back to me automatically, which is what happened.

Hazcat said:

Good day, authors.

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Hi. Although you only registered to post this, you shuld stick around, it's a great place.

Ridan is, simply put, scamming their authors. If you visit Nathan's site you will discover that Ann Crispin has terminated her relationship with Ridan. Hopefully Nathan and the other authors will follow her lead. Nathan has a large following, and we will happily support him - if we are able to do so. Ridan is not selling or producing his books, however. So we can't.

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I'll admit that I had my concerns back at Christmas when Nathan was posting about missed deadlines and lack of contact etc. It's kinda scary that it's still going on this long though.

The post was not "kicking him while he was down," as one of you stated. Unless said kick was aimed at his posterior, to encourage him to move on so I and his other fans could enjoy his work.

As a reader, thank you for your work. You enrich my life through your writing.

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That is possibly one of the nicest things anyone could say to a writer. As a reader I feel the same way, my life has been made infinitely better by other people's words. As a writer I feel a tremendous fear of letting people down.

Sheryl Nantus said:

I'm so sorry about Ann Crispin. She didn't need or deserve this and I do hope she recovers from this boot to the head.

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Agreed. She said on the post that she would have more updates come October 5.

Ann, you about for some clarification?

Old Hack said:

Ridan's blog, Ridan's Twitter feed, Ridan's Smashwords profile, Ridan's website, and Robin Sullivan's own Twitter feed are all dormant. If this dormancy also applies to the publisher it's very sad for the authors who signed up with them.

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It;s been that way for a long time. Hell, a year and a half ago I was commenting on how the Ridan website hadn't been updated in months, but this last year has been scarily quiet. If I were an author signed with them, I'd be worried too.

thothguard51 said:

As to readers who have paid for but not received a product, they have the option of reversing the charges through their bank or credit card company.

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See, this is a huge issue - at best it's theft, at worst it's fraud. Either way it could end up with Ridan having their vendor status revoked by the major credit agencies - this wouldn't be good news.

I feel sorry for the writers, but I feel more sorry for the readers who have paid for something from a favourite author and waited, and waited, and waited.....

Sheryl Nantus said:

The sad thing is that I'm still seeing RS signed up for panels on self-publishing and speaking engagements galore for her "success" story with Ridan. Her husband's blog details holidays and so forth without any mention of Ridan's problems.

I wonder if all these supporters will continue to fly her flag when it comes out she's ripping off a renowned author who's dealing with major health issues and NEEDS the money RS is keeping for herself?

*shakes head*

The only word I can use is "sinful". It's the only one that seems to apply in this situation.

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You can't see it, but I'm wearing my 'I told you so' face.

I don't like to use the word "scam," which requires intent and deliberation on the part of someone. Lots of things happen that don't require scamming that are still bad news.

James D. Macdonald said:

I don't like to use the word "scam," which requires intent and deliberation on the part of someone. Lots of things happen that don't require scamming that are still bad news.

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Agreed. From everything I've heard recently about Ridan, it sounds to me as if they got in over their heads, either logistically or financially or both--and that, combined with various personal problems, created some sort of implosion, which they have proceeded to handle in an extremely unprofessional manner. I also think that Ridan's early success caused Robin to become overconfident and/or complacent, and she's reaping the fruits of that now. But I don't think there ever was, or is, a deliberate intent to cheat authors or readers.

One of the things that (to me) demonstrates Ridan's lack of real-world savvy is a clause in at least some of their contracts that allows authors to terminate the contract with 30 days' notice. I'm all in favor of author-friendly contracts, but that skews way too far in the author's direction--publishers need to take care of their own interests in order to remain healthy, and allowing your authors to kick you to the curb at will, at any time, is not good business practice.

- Victoria

Although that clause must be useful for the authors who find themselves abandoned by Ridan now.

I suspect Robin felt too confident in her successes to worry that any of her authors would ever invoke that clause.

Old Hack said:

Although that clause must be useful for the authors who find themselves abandoned by Ridan now.

I suspect Robin felt too confident in her successes to worry that any of her authors would ever invoke that clause.

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No kidding.

This is a thread that has made me sad. Ridan had such promise. To see it fall apart?

*flashes back to AMP*

I hope not. I truly hope not.

bearilou said:

No kidding.

This is a thread that has made me sad. Ridan had such promise. To see it fall apart?

*flashes back to AMP*

I hope not. I truly hope not.

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Sad, yes. But all too familiar if you've been hanging around AW for a number of years.

The honest truth is that NO publisher can stay a one/two person outfit these days. There's just no way that you can run a publishing company without a staff that can step in and pick up the slack if something happens that draws attention away from putting out the product - and keep on making the authors and readers happy.

There might be other problems with Ridan and I'm sure those will come out as this thread goes on but the first danger sign I saw was that the single-owner aspect. Robin did/does EVERYTHING.

That's just not healthy nor is it sustainable. We've seen outfits like this go down every year where the publisher, full of enthusiasm, rocks it out until something hits home - an illness, death in the family, economic problems outside of the publishing industry that drags the business down.

If nothing else maybe people will slow down and think about giving their hard work to a one-person show. It never turns out well.

From what I've seen here and elsewhere, warning signals include not only the new and the small staff, but if the first book(s) published are their own or family member's, or where a couple of friends form a company and publish their own books; add in the experience level of the staff (I've seen so many where the 'experience' is that they love reading). Even being a published author isn't enough to run a successful publishing company in and of itself.

This is where I've learned that once the book is written, authors have to quit being authors and start being business people. Look at publishers like you would a housing contractor - are you going to go with someone who had their own house built ("I watched everything they did"), or someone who worked their way up through the ranks?

Old Hack said:

Although that clause must be useful for the authors who find themselves abandoned by Ridan now.

I suspect Robin felt too confident in her successes to worry that any of her authors would ever invoke that clause.

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Yes, she was:

I can't think of anything more a writer should want from a publisher...no money coming from them, selling thousands of books, giving them 70% royalty, and a contract that let's them leave at any time and yet still I have to defend myself? Really I don't mind but it perplexes the heck out of me. I think it is people genuinely thinking "what's the catch". The only catch is...you have to be really really good for Ridan to take you on.

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http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6168447&postcount=204

As of yesterday, I have terminated my contract with Ridan publishing. If you have been thinking of buying any of my StarBridge novels, please do not, at this time. In particular, please don't purchase them from the Ridan website, because I have received complaints that Ridan is not filling orders for my books.

When I signed on with Ridan, it was a thriving company. I checked out their bottom line, and investigated them thoroughly. Their authors spoke enthusiastically about the company and its owner. But in the past six months or so, Ridan has pretty much stopped communicating with me. My last two certified letters, which included the contract termination letter, were never picked up at the post office. Even though StarBridge came out on December 5, 2011, I have never received a royalty payment from Ridan.

I know some of you were waiting for books 6 and 7 in the StarBridge series. Those books were turned in months ago, edited and ready to go, but they have never been released.

It's my understanding that the CEO of Ridan had some serious personal problems last winter. I am sorry for that. But I have to think of my co-authors, and my series. In my opinion, Ridan has not, so far, acted in good faith. I wrote to them one last time yesterday, advising them of the steps they must take and reminding them that they no longer have the right to sell the five StarBridge they have released or the two they have not.

I hope that my email will be read, and all of this can be resolved in a civil fashion.

If you are interested in the StarBridge books, please know that I am not abandoning them. I plan to re-release them myself as soon as I can commission cover/graphic art, and we re-convert the files. Those who have purchased the Ridan titles should not be affected by this change. I'm very sorry it has come to this.

The Amazon Stub In Question

I confess a certain trepidation in posting but since I'm the subject of the conversation (at least tangentially), I feel obligated to weigh in.

FWIW, that Amazon stub is, technically, correct. I have not sent Ridan a final manuscript. What I sent -- last June -- was my final draft for them to edit. They need to edit and submit their changes to me for approval.

So far, the edits are still in their hands, so I can't approve any manuscript. Since I haven't approved one, they can't publish it.

Somebody would need to check the wayback machine or something but I believe that stub has been in place in its current form since they placed it in late June/early July. It's possible that Ridan added that description recently but I really haven't paid that stub any mind since it went up. The good part about it is that readers frequently contact me about that statement and I'm pleased to tell them just what I know -- which is just what I've posted here -- and ask them if they'd like to subscribe to the mailing list so they'll be notified when there's news.

I'm also pleased to see that Hazcat stepped up to explain his response. I'm grateful for his efforts on behalf of my work. I've asked his help in editing my self-published works. I figured if he was going to take the trouble to point out all the flaws, the least I could do was have him do it before I published them. I count him a friend and supporter.

As somebody else pointed out...it's my blog and I *could* disable comments at any time. The fact that I haven't is significant. While some might see it as airing dirty laundry, I see it as being transparent in my process. Yeah, I make mistakes. I figure the least I can do is own them.

Should there be fewer mistakes? No doubt, and I'm making different errors now than I did when I started. I count that as progress. Some day, I'll be perfect, and I hope I'll get a nice eulogy that day.

As for any insight into what's going on with Ridan, I'm no more in the loop than Ann Crispin.

I can confirm that readers are complaining about lack of response. Evidence is on my blog. This is a regular occurance, and one that I have brought to Ridan's attention in the past.

I will not comment on the financial dealings. That's privileged information.

Sorry for all those who have had trouble with this. Hoping for a happy ending for all.

Nathan, thank you for the response and update. I look forward to when you next book is issued, no matter if published by Ridan or elsewhere. You have a very loyal following, I am just sad to see them being taken advantage of by Ridan...

I don't get worked up like this much, and Ann's health problems shouldn't be pushing me over the edge, but I've experienced Cancer, and I'm sorry but I am just so angry right now. Ann, my heart goes out to you. My heart goes out to all of Ridan's authors. You all deserve better, but especially you, Ann, because I know what stress can do when you're fighting this kind of battle.


Have you guys seen these links? Read the comments, follow the links in those comments. It seems very clear that Robin Sullivan is vacationing and living it up on the money brought in from her authors. There's a word for that, I think. Oh, ya, thievery. She's also touring around speaking at conferences and workshops about self publishing, as if she is still a respected member in that community. But she doesn't have time to respond to her authors? She doesn't have the money to pay her authors? Wow.

Maybe it's time people contact the organizations inviting Robin and Michael to talk and inform them of the kind of people these two really are.

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,128742.0.html

http://nycc12.mapyourshow.com/5_0/sessions/sessiondetails.cfm?ScheduledSessionID=1BA0C9

http://riyria.blogspot.ca/2012/08/vacationing-under-yellow-umbrellas.html

Update on yesterday's post: I got a phone call from Robin Sullivan of Ridan about an hour ago. We spoke cordially, and are attempting to work things out regarding the reversion and other aspects of my StarBridge books. I'll keep you posted regarding progress. Thank you to everyone who shared my original post or offered help, particularly to Jim Hines. Thanks, Jim!

I hope this is all resolved swiftly, Ann. It's good that Robin is onto this now, but she should have dealt with it much more promptly and there's no reasonable excuse that I can see for her having failed to pay you, or having ignored your attempts to contact her.

I think Robin is scared. She's going to resolve things with the authors who have the means to fight her, I predict the others she goes back to ignoring. She didn't say a word until kindleboards and AW and other bloggers got involved. Did she just finish unpacking from her last vacation? I hope all the support Ann got carries over to help the other authors too.

Edit: I still say that if enough of us contact the people inviting Robin and Michael to self publishing conferences and direct them to the various links around the web to where they are being discussed, she might start paying attention to what really matters and not just stroking her ego.

Evidently it was Jim Hines threatening to drop the Internet on her head that prompted her to act.

I'm very glad for Ann if this means she's going to get paid (and the other Ridan authors too). But it's pretty sketchy that it took someone with a big soapbox (I suspect Jim could have gotten John Scalzi in on the Internet-dropping thing) to get some action on this.

Amadan said:

Evidently it was Jim Hines threatening to drop the Internet on her head that prompted her to act.

I'm very glad for Ann if this means she's going to get paid (and the other Ridan authors too). But it's pretty sketchy that it took someone with a big soapbox (I suspect Jim could have gotten John Scalzi in on the Internet-dropping thing) to get some action on this.

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When I read Jim's post, my thoughts immediately went to 'and when John Scalzi gets a hold of this...'

I want to hear that Ann's got the money and the rights back before I get too excited. Saying it's going to be resolved is a first step, but Robin can get a lot of traction with just saying "I'm making amends and everything is going to be okay now".

It's easy to say the check is in the mail.

twiharder said:

Have you guys seen these links? Read the comments, follow the links in those comments. It seems very clear that Robin Sullivan is vacationing and living it up on the money brought in from her authors. There's a word for that, I think. Oh, ya, thievery. She's also touring around speaking at conferences and workshops about self publishing, as if she is still a respected member in that community. But she doesn't have time to respond to her authors? She doesn't have the money to pay her authors? Wow.

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I too am very concerned for AC and the fact that Robin went on vacation without taking care of her authors first troubles me. It shows what happens when a business operation is a one person operation...

But I would not accuse Robin Sullivan or Ridan Publishing of thievery. Carelessness and lack of business ethics perhaps, but not thievery without proof that was her intent.

Besides, Robin has other means of income other than Ridan. Who knows, maybe Michael paid for it from his 6 figure advance from Orbit.

As to Jim Hines thread, I loved how direct he was, no beating around the bush. Well done Jim...