Calling all Sports Publishing LLC authors

Sirs, Madames,

The sportsjournalists.com imprint, I can see it now.

Just need to find the right writers for:

Hot, Flat and Crowded: Inside the Nascar Infield

The Four-Hour Workweek (with time to spare for radio hits)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Gamble

The Audacity of Cope: Myron's Story

YD&OHS, etc

 

I've gotten official word that SPLLC has foreclosed.

 

I found out yesterday from one of the only two people left in the company that the Chapter 11 filing is moving forward, perhaps as early as next week. I am one of the unlucky ones (idiots, if you like) who delivered a mss without getting paid and now my work is their property. They say I will be able to get a favoring ruling with the bankruptcy court but quite frankly I wouldn't believe them now if they said the sky was blue.

 

How can your work be their property if they didn't pay you? Wouldn't that constitute defaulting on the contract, which would void the whole thing?

Who's to say you can't just proceed as if they don't own it? Are they really going to sue you?

 

Having been through this bullshit with another publisher, I can tell you that their bankruptcy alone does not mean the book reverts to the author. You can go after them for breach of contract if they haven't paid you, but don't assume the manuscript is yours now. You need the court to give it back to you, just to avoid any pitfalls when you try to sell the book somewhere else.

Make sure you get it back, though. Think of how much work it was to write it. It's a lot less work to own it again.

 

My expertise is journalism, not the law, but I'm getting a quick lesson. Because I signed a contract and delivered a finished manuscript, the book is looked upon as one of their assets as far as the bankruptcy court is concerned. That sucks, of course, but most of our judicial system does. I even offered to waive the money they owed me if they would waive rights to my work. They said their lawyers have advised them not to do that.

Believe me, I will do what I can to get the rights to my manuscript back and then try to peddle it elsewhere.

 

I need to understand this.

You grant the book rights to a publisher, in exchange for certain compensation spelled out in a contract.

If they don't fulfill the compensation obligation, that would be a material breach of a contract. They can't own what they didn't buy.

I suppose it comes down to the language of the contract. I'd sure as hell get a lawyer and secure those rights. I can't imagine they have a legal leg to stand on.

 

21 -- you're not wrong. It's just that it has to be sanctified by a court -- otherwise, the book is considered part of the assets of the bankrupt company, which might or might not still be rescued. My book hung in limbo until someone bought the publisher. They still owned it. And eventually I got paid.

Here, it doesn't sound like someone is going to save the company. Which means, OSU:

You were supposed to get an advance, right? Or was all of your money coming in the form of royalties?

If you were supposed to get an advance, no matter how small, there should be some pretty specific wording in the contract about when it was supposed to be paid. (Just like 21 said.) If it wasn't paid on that date -- probably something like delivery -- then they've breached the contract. But again, you need the bankruptcy court to agree and to void it.

And I know this will make me sound like an asshole, but I can't stress this enough, and here is as good a place as any: Publishing is a business, not an artform. Don't sell a book without the help of an agent. They might take ten or fifteen percent, but they're invaluable in a situation like this.

Good luck, OSU. Fight fight fight.

 

Doesn't make you an asshole at all. Not using an agent is like cutting your own hair. You can do it, but it never turns out right.

 

Yes, but don't discount the possibility you can wind up with an agent who is barely competent, especially if you're a first time/unknown author. Beware of agents who take walk-ins.