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Aspen Mountain Press

Bubastes

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This is so sad, and I hope you prevail. However, AMP appears to hold those rights, regardless of their current status. Unless you can prove your print rights have been reverted, vendors' hands are tied.

My understanding is that without documentation showing reversion of rights, like a letter from AMP, vendors won't act. Is this correct?
 

Bubastes

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Absolutely correct, Bubastes. Vendors don't establish relationships with authors - only the publisher. Unless an author has a letter from the publisher verifying that all rights have reverted, vendors can do nothing.

Thanks for confirming. Since getting my book back requires action on the publisher's part, I'm not hopeful. There's zero communication as it is.
 
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jupitergardens

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This is so sad, and I hope you prevail. However, AMP appears to hold those rights, regardless of their current status. Unless you can prove your print rights have been reverted, vendors' hands are tied.

When another publisher released new versions of my books after they'd reverted rights all Amazon wanted to see was proof that those rights had reverted. In AMPs case I have the contract that says it expires at the end of three years, and the certified letter which came back unclaimed, plus the email from Sandra saying she'd return my rights by the end of August (not that it ever happened). I figure it's worth a shot. All I have to lose is a bit of time.

And thanks, Stacia. I will definitely start a thread if I start getting positive nibbles. *crosses fingers*
 

William Weldy

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Author rights

I received an acceptance email and publishing contract from AMP in July. I signed the contract and sent both copies back. I filled out the worksheet for cover art and sent it to the address given. A few days later I received an email from the cover artist stating she had forwarded the worksheet as she no longer worked for Aspen Mountain Press. Since then I have sent several emails to Sandra Hicks but have not received a reply. My question is: Since I have never received a signed copy of the contract from AMP, am I free to submit the manuscript elsewhere. Or do I have to go through the precess of getting my rights back
 

jupitergardens

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I noticed my book was down at the third party sites I checked. When I went to AMP's website, the cover is still there, but the book is not available. So I am considering the book down and moving forward. Thank you to everyone for your support and help!
 

William Weldy

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That's just it Priceless 1. I have tried numerous times to contact the publisher and I get no response. I'm hoping someone here can tell me is I'm under obligation to AMP or how I get out of that obligation.
 

jupitergardens

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That's just it Priceless 1. I have tried numerous times to contact the publisher and I get no response. I'm hoping someone here can tell me is I'm under obligation to AMP or how I get out of that obligation.

If you've signed the contract, then I'm afraid most publishers would consider the work contracted even if you don't have it back from the publisher.

Does the contract have a "must publish within X months" clause? If so, simply wait until that timeframe is passed and then the contract could be considered null. Though you may still want to contact the publisher at that time and see if you receive any response.

You could send a certified letter and once it's returned keep that as proof of publisher non-communication.

But really, I think if you were to shop the work around, most publishers would err on the side of caution at least until several months have passed.
 

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That's just it Priceless 1. I have tried numerous times to contact the publisher and I get no response. I'm hoping someone here can tell me is I'm under obligation to AMP or how I get out of that obligation.
I understand your frustration, but the truth of the matter is that you signed a legal document. They should absolutely be in touch with you, and the fact that they aren't portends trouble. I imagine you've tried calling them as well, right?
 

jupitergardens

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I understand your frustration, but the truth of the matter is that you signed a legal document. They should absolutely be in touch with you, and the fact that they aren't portends trouble. I imagine you've tried calling them as well, right?

The sad thing is, Priceless, the publisher isn't in contact with ANYONE. She doesn't reply to anyone's emails/phone calls/certified letters, etc.

But yes, that poster did sign a legal document, so may have to wait for it to expire in one way or another.
 

Bubastes

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The sad thing is, Priceless, the publisher isn't in contact with ANYONE. She doesn't reply to anyone's emails/phone calls/certified letters, etc.

Exactly. The publisher refuses delivery of certified mail (a few have managed to get through, but with no acknowledgement by the publisher) and fails to respond to e-mails or phone calls. No new books have been released since late August, so the publisher has already blown several weeks of release dates. No editors are being assigned to books under contract. Unfortunately, my copy of the contract only obligates the publisher to publish X months after final edits. If the manuscript never even reaches the editing stage, the publisher technically hasn't breached that portion of the contract.
 

jupitergardens

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Exactly. The publisher refuses delivery of certified mail (a few have managed to get through, but with no acknowledgement by the publisher) and fails to respond to e-mails or phone calls. No new books have been released since late August, so the publisher has already blown several weeks of release dates. No editors are being assigned to books under contract. Unfortunately, my copy of the contract only obligates the publisher to publish X months after final edits. If the manuscript never even reaches the editing stage, the publisher technically hasn't breached that portion of the contract.

Does the contract have an expiration date? I'd need to get mine out of the filing cabinet, but generally it's in the first section, grant of rights, that the contract is good for three years (as mine is, they may have changed it. I know they were talking about going to seven years for books that might make it into print and for the series in which mine was a part, but even many years ago I got the run around on contract stuff so never contracted the sequel to the book I have with them.). While it's still good to have that final release, that would at least be something, especially if you keep all correspondence to prove that the book never went to edits/never came out in the first place.
 

Bubastes

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Mine is a seven year contract. I signed it this past June. I'm not waiting seven years. AMP will likely either breach or go under way before then.
 

Romantic Heretic

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All my AMP work has disappeared from third party sites and AMP's home page. I was not alerted of this fact. Neither were my rights returned to me.

Sigh. :(
 

mscelina

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Rob, your work disappeared--as you specifically asked for in June, as I recollect. Remember? When you were sending demands to me to take the Covenants books down?--because all *your* work at AMP is also *my* work. In order for AMP to get paid for the Aurora Regency imprint, my rights to all my books had to return to me. It was AMP's responsibility to inform you of that.

Now, on to more important matters--

AMP defaulted this morning on its contractual responsibility to have all Aurora Regency and Aurora Regency Historicals book down from the third party sites and also on turning over the website, email and blogger accounts to Musa. Our contract with AMP stated specifically that these events would take place BEFORE September 20, 2011--an allowance we granted to AMP in order to give the owner the necessary time to remove the books.

This was not done.

The owner of AMP had no trouble rushing to the bank to cash the check, but couldn't manage to fulfill her contractual obligations after that. Despite numerous phone calls, emails and text messages warning her of the impending breach, the owner refused to respond.

In addition, the paychecks for the staff--editors, artists and administrative staff--which were due on August 25 were never paid. In five days, AMP will be two months in arrears on those paychecks. Here, too, despite repeated efforts to assist the owner in getting these royalties paid out on time, the owner either neglected to show up at appointed times or conveniently 'slept through' appointments where I was going to teach her how to do the royalties.

When the senior staff left AMP, we left the owner with the following: over a month and a half of books ready for formatting; all cover art for those books; a full staff; a release schedule set with multiple releases for each week through 2012; multiple email accounts that were all up to date; authors, editors and artists who'd begun to believe in AMP again; royalties and royalty statements provided correctly for the previous month and in progress for the current month; a brand new website with a shopping cart that was up to date; a tracking system where she could see the progress of each book within the company; a system for reviews in places and already active; the additional interest that a successful promotional campaign during AMP's anniversary week had generated; a historical fiction imprint that released over forty books in its first year that never garnered anything lower than a four star review, an imprint which, in its first year was responsible for more than forty percent of AMP's income--an imprint I built without any support, assistance, or financial input from AMP that I subsequently had to pay money to free from AMP; a new speculative fiction imprint ready to launch with releases set for frive months in the future; two new head editors a the imprints who were capable of running those imprints independently of AMP; and a group of loyal authors and staff who were willing to forgive her any small mistakes right at the beginning. Even more importantly, in the two months we took over AMP, we posted sales increases for the company in double figures--the first of those two months was never paid; the second of those two months is due to be paid on the 25th.

This is what she did with all that.

She released two books. Two. Both of them were released late. One was formatted incorrectly. Neither has been sent out for review. One was subsequently purchased in the Aurora Regency buyout by Musa.

AMP has continued to sell books that are out of contract, thus violating the authors' copyrights. AMP has continued to NOT pay earned royalties, both to the authors and the editors. AMP has defaulted--quel horreur!--on its contractual obligations in the purchase of the Aurora Regency imprint to Musa Publishing. AMP is no longer responding to any phone calls, text messages, emails, certified letters or snail mailed demands for information or satisfaction.

A plethora of authors are trapped at AMP as well--having sent in signed contracts to the owner and then never receiving a signature page back. They're trapped in limbo--no signed contract, no release date, no editing, no contact, no book. Despite numerous please to just release all those authors from contracts AMP obviously wasn't going to fulfill, the owner has refused to consider the release of anyone.

Some authors are begging AMP to let them PURCHASE their rights back. They, too, are ignored.


AMP had been given a second lease on life in the late spring and early summer. My only hope now for the authors and books still trapped at AMP is that the company closes, does not declare bankruptcy, and releases all those authors and books from contractual purgatory. There are a lot of people out a lot of money.

The senior staff that resigned? AMP owes them collectively for back pay, services (like website construction and design), etc. over six thousand dollars. My editorial royalties for the hundred plus books I edited while at AMP runs into thousands of dollars more. We were willing to forgive every cent of that money in exchange for as many contracts as possible, but AMP preferred to remain indebted to us and hold on to those increasingly bitter and angry authors and their books.

This demise is not pretty, it is no longer avoidable, and scores of people are suffering financially from the owner's continued ability to stick her head in the sand and avoiding the cold, hard facts that she's not only ruined her company, but the lives of people who just a few short months ago thought she was one of the good guys in epublishing.
 
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Romantic Heretic

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Rob, your work disappeared--as you specifically asked for in June, as I recollect. Remember? When you were sending demands to me to take the Covenants books down?--because all *your* work at AMP is also *my* work. In order for AMP to get paid for the Aurora Regency imprint, my rights to all my books had to return to me. It was AMP's responsibility to inform you of that.

I asked for the reversion of rights to one of my books, one that I solely wrote, because the contract had expired. I also asked for reversion of rights for the ones we worked on together when their contracts expired. I did not ask for those contracts to be nullified.

I know there is a lot of bad blood between us but I was not talking to you so I don't understand why you had to insert a personal comment here. I was just noting problems with AMP and alerting members of AW to that fact.
 

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RH, I hope you get what you need from AMP. And that other authors who happen to post in this thread don't have their concerns written off as less important than the details of the dramatic demise.
 

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I asked for the reversion of rights to one of my books, one that I solely wrote, because the contract had expired. I also asked for reversion of rights for the ones we worked on together when their contracts expired. I did not ask for those contracts to be nullified.

I know there is a lot of bad blood between us but I was not talking to you so I don't understand why you had to insert a personal comment here. I was just noting problems with AMP and alerting members of AW to that fact.

Yes, and I was informing you that your books didn't just up and disappear for no reason. There was no personal comment involved. Since AMP and its publisher didn't bother to inform you of what happened weeks ago, I thought I'd inform you as a courtesy. I'm very sorry you were left in the dark, Rob. You actually are one of the lucky ones. You're no longer entangled in this horrific mess.
 

BenPanced

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Earlier this morning, I mailed a formal letter demanding my signed contract page and MIA royalty statements by October 31. We'll see where that lands.
 

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Unfortunately this situation also shows the loop holes in the contracts in situations like this. If one of the two refuses to open mail, etc, how can the contracts be honoured? This applies to both sides obviously.

I'm lucky I only have one book involved and am not owed money(it would have been my first published novel. It hurts already having lost one book 3 years ago to mishandling by a publisher, now I feel sick it's happening again with another...

I am working on the next and have at least 5 others planned. BUT, I can say this has affected me, as it has many others. I have suffered a mild depression over the last weeks and am now getting over it by working on the new novels...

I wish all those affected luck and hope that it does not last too long. But I won't hold my breath.