I’ve parted ways with Dreamspinner Press
This is a story about a publisher of LGBTQ fiction that was once reputable but is unfortunately no longer running in a professional manner. Full post here.
I’ve chosen to part ways with DSP Publications, imprint of Dreamspinner Press. The rights to my Lychgate series (Art of Death, Bonds of Death, and Reins of Death) reverted to me on December 13.
I don’t believe there’s an ethical way for any author to publish new books with them, and I encourage any authors still with them to consider the implications of staying with a publisher who can’t pay their authors and contractors.
I was first published by DSP in 2011, and I worked with them as a cover artist for several years after. They were easy to work with, they treated me professionally, and they paid my advances, royalties, and invoices on schedule. Over the years, DSP grew and built itself a great reputation.
In 2018, I signed a new contract with DSP for a revamp of my Lychgate novel series and a new book 3. As usual, I did my own cover art. I also took on freelance pre-press work for all of DSP’s graphic novels.
And then the trouble started—at least for me. Others had experienced issues for years before that, and some were owed in the tens of thousands of dollars, but I wouldn’t learn this until later.
DSP is having significant cash flow issues resulting in severely delayed pay for authors and contractors dating back at least a couple of years. My paid invoices over the past year were all several months late. My oldest unpaid invoice, for pre-press on the graphic novel adaptation of Tell Me It’s Real by TJ Klune, was issued on June 23 and due within 30 days. I’m still waiting.
DSP has also failed to pay me royalties and an advance for my own Lychgate novel trilogy. Even though I found out DSP was breaching other authors’ contracts during my year working on the series, I had to wait until they’d also breached mine before I could get out of the contract without potentially having to foot the bill for production.
The question I haven’t touched is “Where did the money go?” Much of DSP’s past-due payments are for earned royalties, after all. But I can’t say because no one knows. What I can say is that authors and freelancers haven’t been paid on time for years, contracts are being breached, and new author earnings are being used to pay off the publisher’s past debts instead of going directly to the author.
Many authors have already left. Some newly signed authors have no idea that this is happening. Some long-time DSP authors are trapped by a massive backlist of books they don’t have the energy and funds to re-home or self-publish.
And some authors have simply accepted that their royalties will come late. Some have even opted to defer their royalties to help the publisher. That’s their choice, even if I disagree with it. I feel it erodes the crucial foundation that holds publishers to a professional standard. But I can understand why authors with a personal stake in a publisher’s success would make that choice.
Far less defensible, however, is the fact that some current DSP authors are unwittingly selling new books built on the stolen labor of contractors. Plenty of cover artists, editors, narrators and designers are being denied their pay too, and they haven’t all willingly deferred their earnings. Is it ethical for an author to build one’s brand, to gain publicity, to accept awards, and to rack up new royalties on a book made with stolen labor?
This is the reality that authors need to consider if they’re continuing to put out new books with DSP. Royalties shouldn’t be paid late. But even if, in a misguided effort to be altruistic, an author can accept their own royalties late, no author should feel right profiting off a book when the contractors contributing to it haven’t been paid.
When people aren’t paid for their creative work, creativity becomes a luxury in which only the most privileged can partake. Only those who can afford to wait six months or longer for payment have the option of staying with DSP. I can’t support a publisher that forces out all but the most financially comfortable within its ranks, even if unintentionally.
So I’ve chosen to take my books and walk away. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was the only right decision.
It might mean having to wait longer to be paid, having to turn to legal action, or having to watch DSP close down before I’m paid. DSP has stated repeatedly that the more authors stay and the more readers buy, the faster everyone will get paid. This is the not-so-subtle guilt trip that’s been placed on DSP authors, and it’s not appropriate. I can’t accept the notion that, in order to get everyone paid what they’ve already earned—what the publisher has already collected—I should have to stay with a publisher that has exploited my work and breached my contract. It should be on DSP alone, not on authors, to come up with the money by whatever means necessary.
Details of the pay situation have been opaque at best, dishonest at worst. But this post is already long. You can read my full statement here for all the details. I also talk about the future of the Lychgate series there.
I still want to give my absolute, unconditional thanks to everyone who shared my book posts or bought Art of Death. You were awesome and supportive, whether I ultimately get paid or not. I wanted you to read and enjoy the story. The paperbacks currently listed for sale won’t get me paid, but I’ll be sure to let you know when the series becomes available again from a more reputable source.
