17c起草社区

An American publisher of LGBT fiction has been accused of not paying royalties to its authors, including a number of Australian authors.

Dozens of authors have complained about late royalty payments, poor communication and other issues with Dreamspinner Press, an independent publisher based in Florida specialising in gay romance.

Melbourne-based author Louisa Masters published her first novel with Dreamspinner Press in 2017. She told the 17c起草社区 she first realised something wasn鈥檛 right when her royalty payments came late.

鈥淭here have been several authors complaining of late royalty payments for a few years, but mine were always on time so it was just hearsay for me,鈥� Masters said.

鈥淓ven when my Q1 payment was late this year, I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. But by late August, I was getting really concerned about the communication from [Dreamspinner Press].鈥�

Since May, Dreamspinner Press have emailed weekly updates to their authors about the status of their royalty payments. Masters described the emails as 鈥渁 mess of contradictions and manipulative language鈥�.

She said she鈥檚 still owed all her royalties from the second and third financial quarters. In October, she requested a reversion of rights for all her books from Dreamspinner Press and said she plans to self-publish them over the next few months.

鈥淔inancially, I鈥檓 lucky that I don鈥檛 rely solely on income from writing. I鈥檝e had to cut back some luxuries, but my bills can still be paid,鈥� Masters said.

鈥淓motionally, it鈥檚 been a disaster. Before I finally pulled my rights, I was getting anxious just thinking about my books and publishing. I鈥檝e had to make time and find money to republish, and it鈥檚 just something I didn鈥檛 want to deal with.鈥�

Along with Masters, the 17c起草社区 spoke to three authors who claimed Dreamspinner Press was withholding their royalties.

Australian Society of Authors spokesperson Emily Banyard told the 17c起草社区 any authors who haven鈥檛 received their royalties should 鈥渓ook at their contracts to understand their options and rights鈥�.

鈥淭hey could potentially approach the Authors Guild, our sister organisation in the USA representing author interests, and we would be happy to try and help any of our members who are experiencing difficulty receiving timely royalty payments,鈥� Banyard said.

鈥淔rustratingly, non-payment of royalties can be a difficult issue to deal with, as the amounts of money involved can be relatively small in proportion to the costs of action, particularly with contracts that fall under the jurisdiction of a different country.鈥�

Dreamspinner Press was contacted for comment but didn鈥檛 respond before deadline.