Latest News:
May 16,
2013: Inheritance, part one of the Heir to the Blood Throne
duology for younger readers looks like it'll be out early. I'd
planned to release it on June 1st but everythign has come together
nicely, so I figure I'll put it out as soon as the formatting is
done. Looks like that might be as early as next week.
May 3, 2103:
Damnation Books on Notice!
After filing a justice court suit against Damnation Books on November 15, 2012 for
multiple counts of breach of contract, I won a small financial
judgment against the publisher on April 26, 2013. The judge,
however, did not feel it was within his power to rescind the
disputed contracts despite finding in my favor, referring me
instead to a higher court. (
My previous post on the subject can be found
here.)
However, as of my Q1 2013
royalties, I have met and well exceeded the contract terms set by
Damnation Books regarding the early termination of my works,
Resurrection and At the Gates.
As per Damnation Books' contract
terms (bolding is mine):
Once a work
has gone into editing and forward and the Author wishes to
terminate this contract prematurely, a
penalty shall be charged to the Author to cover costs of staff and
artists for work already performed. This
fee shall be at a minimum of $50.00 to a maximum of $1000.00 to be
determined by the time spent on preparing the work for publication
and money recovered from sales of the work.
On June 6, 2012, after receiving my
request for termination on April 14, 2102, the lawyer for
Damnation Books set the fee for each of my contracted works
through Damnation Books. He stated (again, bolding is
mine):
"The Company
has calculated the costs and time spent which the termination fee
is intended to cover and in each instance the termination fee is
$1,000."
As of February 28, 2013,
Resurrection has earned Damnation Books (per their official
royalty statements less 10% editing fees deducted by contract
terms) a total of $2682.02.
At the Gates has earned them $2257.60.
Both amounts are substantially over the $1,000 termination fees
set by Damnation Books, effectively paying above and beyond the
requisite (and excessive) fees for release. (These numbers do not
reflect profits from March or April 2013)
As such, the rights for both
Resurrection and At the Gates should be returned to me, effective
immediately, as the thresholds for release have been exceeded (all
associated costs paid) and my request for termination
persists.
Therefore, I file this notice
publicly as a statement of intent. It is on Damnation Books to do
the right thing and release the rights to these two books, per our
signed agreements, or I will take further legal action against
Damnation Books to force them to abide by their contract
terms.
(Damnation Books has been notified
of this privately and has chosen to ignore my lawful
request.)
April 23, 2013: Here's a sneak
peek at the cover for my upcoming middle grade/young
reader release, Heir to the Blood Throne. More info on the
book soon. The groovy cover design is by J.M. Martin over at
Nine
Worlds Media.
April 23, 2013: Here is the
first look at the Manifesto cover, the urban fantasy anthology
through
Angelic Knight Press,
edited by myself and the talented
Tyson Mauermann. The artwork and design are by
the incomparable
Carter
Reid.
(I'm honored to have both Carter and Joe
making me look better than I deserve to be. And for the authors
out there, both of these guys take commisions for covers. Give
them a shot. You won't be disappointed.)
April 23, 2013: I'm a handful of updates behind
due to a computer crash, so I apologize, folks. Seems Windows 8
doesn't like the forms on my web page.
Mar 6,
2013: Amazing day! Beyond the Veil is #20 in Amazon's Top 100 list and is
#10 on the Amazon Hot New Release
list.
