Don't Buy Anything From Iris Print. EVER.
As you may have heard, rwday and other writers (Caroline Monaco, Chrissy Delk, Mia Paluzzi and Tina Anderson) have not been paid royalties by Iris Print for the past two quarters. Kellie Lynch, the editor of Iris Print, and her husband have been uncommunicative, not answering their authors' letters, making excuses for nonpayment of authors--not even making token payments.
After writing Lynch four times in April and May and not getting even a shadow of response, rwday recently got a check from Iris Print. It bounced.
So far we've got lack of communication, failure to pay royalties and kiting bad checks. This is bad enough. But it gets worse.
From Tina Anderson's blog:
...Yaoi Jamboree seems willing to allow Iris Print to continue selling our books [the books by Anderson, Day, Delk, Monaco and Paluzzi], when it’s public knowledge Iris Print hasn’t paid us for books sold for the last two sales quarters.
So the books are being sold. Not on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble.com--they haven't been restocked there. But at a convention, at least. And the authors aren't making any profit from the sales. Not one thin dime.
I checked Yaoi Jamboree's website and found a list of vendors. Iris Print is definitely listed.
ETA: An English friend checked with YJ. Their response:
The fact is, we doubt very much that Iris Print will be showing up. We're leaving them up on the dealers [sic] list because they have not canceled as of yet. They did not answer our email asking for confirmation either.
And where is the money going? I don't know. But Mister Lynch posted recently in his own LJ that he and his wife just bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner, and Kellie was vacuuming their bedroom with it. In case he decides to friends-lock it, I'm quoting exactly what he said on 6/13/2008, not adding or omitting a single word:
We have bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
Kellie is vacuuming our bedroom. I hear loud whirring noises, and occasional screams of "this is SO AWESOME!"
Here's a list of prices for Dyson vacuum cleaners from Dyson's online store.
The uprights start at $399.99. The most expensive model goes for $599.99.
The canister sells for $499.99.
The Lynches have bought a Dyson. But they don't have the money to pay the people who wrote the books that they're selling. Of COURSE they don't.
And what do the authors want people to do?
R.W. Day says:
So here’s what it comes down to - I wrote Kellie probably 4 times in April and May and finally, on May 22, got an answer that said that she was shutting Iris down and would be announcing that officially ‘next week.’ It’s now mid-June and there’s been nothing official. My rights, such as they are, are in limbo until she does something, and now I’m not even being paid royalties on the books that are selling through Iris’s site (or wherever - not Amazon or B&N as they’re not being restocked).
At this point, I feel that I have no choice but to officially ask people not to buy new copies of Thaw. I hate to do that, as I want my book read, but a writer is entitled to a reasonable royalty on the sale of her work, and until this situation is resolved, I can’t support Iris’s efforts in any way.
Tina Anderson says:
Last week R.W. Day informed fans that her check bounced, and that she sent an email to Ms. Lynch and asked to be paid via Paypal-this email has not yet been answered.
Iris Print’s scheduled appearence in the vendors room at Yaoi Jamboree, and the sporadic re-stocking of my titles at Amazon, seems to suggest that they are in fact, still making sales.
So… I’m asking everyone - please do not support Iris Print by purchasing Only Words. Caroline Monaco and I aren’t making any money off this book, nor have we been contacted about the state of the books current sales figures.
I'll add my voice to those of the writers. DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM IRIS PRINT. The money is not going to the authors.
Oh, and by the way--link this everywhere.
After writing Lynch four times in April and May and not getting even a shadow of response, rwday recently got a check from Iris Print. It bounced.
So far we've got lack of communication, failure to pay royalties and kiting bad checks. This is bad enough. But it gets worse.
From Tina Anderson's blog:
...Yaoi Jamboree seems willing to allow Iris Print to continue selling our books [the books by Anderson, Day, Delk, Monaco and Paluzzi], when it’s public knowledge Iris Print hasn’t paid us for books sold for the last two sales quarters.
So the books are being sold. Not on Amazon.com or at Barnes & Noble.com--they haven't been restocked there. But at a convention, at least. And the authors aren't making any profit from the sales. Not one thin dime.
I checked Yaoi Jamboree's website and found a list of vendors. Iris Print is definitely listed.
ETA: An English friend checked with YJ. Their response:
The fact is, we doubt very much that Iris Print will be showing up. We're leaving them up on the dealers [sic] list because they have not canceled as of yet. They did not answer our email asking for confirmation either.
And where is the money going? I don't know. But Mister Lynch posted recently in his own LJ that he and his wife just bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner, and Kellie was vacuuming their bedroom with it. In case he decides to friends-lock it, I'm quoting exactly what he said on 6/13/2008, not adding or omitting a single word:
We have bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner.
Kellie is vacuuming our bedroom. I hear loud whirring noises, and occasional screams of "this is SO AWESOME!"
Here's a list of prices for Dyson vacuum cleaners from Dyson's online store.
The uprights start at $399.99. The most expensive model goes for $599.99.
The canister sells for $499.99.
The Lynches have bought a Dyson. But they don't have the money to pay the people who wrote the books that they're selling. Of COURSE they don't.
And what do the authors want people to do?
R.W. Day says:
So here’s what it comes down to - I wrote Kellie probably 4 times in April and May and finally, on May 22, got an answer that said that she was shutting Iris down and would be announcing that officially ‘next week.’ It’s now mid-June and there’s been nothing official. My rights, such as they are, are in limbo until she does something, and now I’m not even being paid royalties on the books that are selling through Iris’s site (or wherever - not Amazon or B&N as they’re not being restocked).
At this point, I feel that I have no choice but to officially ask people not to buy new copies of Thaw. I hate to do that, as I want my book read, but a writer is entitled to a reasonable royalty on the sale of her work, and until this situation is resolved, I can’t support Iris’s efforts in any way.
Tina Anderson says:
Last week R.W. Day informed fans that her check bounced, and that she sent an email to Ms. Lynch and asked to be paid via Paypal-this email has not yet been answered.
Iris Print’s scheduled appearence in the vendors room at Yaoi Jamboree, and the sporadic re-stocking of my titles at Amazon, seems to suggest that they are in fact, still making sales.
So… I’m asking everyone - please do not support Iris Print by purchasing Only Words. Caroline Monaco and I aren’t making any money off this book, nor have we been contacted about the state of the books current sales figures.
I'll add my voice to those of the writers. DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM IRIS PRINT. The money is not going to the authors.
Oh, and by the way--link this everywhere.