Being a newly semi-retired, new author of a series of four novels, (since 2023) I was shocked and frustrated at how poor the editing has been, by the publishing company I used. My novel has been for sale for a year and is now progressing to the screenwriting stage for a suspenseful TV romance/crime drama.
I am loving my new hobby, but the bad editing service I received has left me looking to other publishers who don’t change my words to alter the meaning of sentences.
In the meantime, I’d love to be able to warn other people about the pitfalls of a so-called professional editor, who clearly doesn’t understand conversational English and its dialects.
Being at the stage where I’ve shelled-out a small fortune to get my novel off the ground, I realise that under the terms of the contract I felt so lucky to have (at first), that this company have 50% of the TV adaptation rights. I just don’t want them to handle anything else to do with my book, after the dozens and dozens of corrections I had to make so the story was readable.
The worst part- is that I have written to the publisher numerous times about taking up a court case in small claims, for the professional editing service they failed to provide. They replied to say the contract is Business-to-Business and therefore will not be heard by small claims! I am NOT a business! I write because I love my story and my characters. I have spent thousands on developing and advertising the story, whereas zero sales have come from supposed marketing strategy by the publisher. I do not make money from my book - far from it. I paid them over $2,600 to produce my book (and the second one - thinking they’d learned how not to destroy my story - but it happened all over again!). It seems there is no governing body for book publishers, only journals or magazines/newspapers.
Now, I have emailed the publisher telling them I want them to withdraw from the contractual rights for television. I own the copyright. I do not want them involved at any further stage of the process.
Is there anyone out there, who can offer advice on how to proceed under UK law, to take this publisher to task in the courts, under consumer law? I don’t have a business and signed the contract in my name. I feel that I want to warn other people who are looking for a service that has proven inadequate and unprofessional?
Beverly
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Hi, Beverly Thompson. Sorry to hear that happened. You might get more comments in the Authoring & Playwriting Lounge (www.stage32.com/lounge/playwriting).
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Hey Beverly, this is Suzanne from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Anything Goes to Authoring & Playwriting, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!
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That sounds like a really frustrating experience, especially after putting so much time and effort into a four-book series. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with poor editing.
The fact that you’re now moving the story toward a TV adaptation sounds exciting, though. A suspenseful romance/crime series has a lot of potential on screen. As a screenwriter, I’d be interested to hear how you’re approaching the adaptation and whether you’re writing the screenplay yourself or working with someone on it.
Wishing you the best with the transition and hope you’re able to get your publishing situation resolved on terms that work for you.
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You are unlikely to get recourse. Do however warn others about the poor service. What you might do - if you control the money - is put their share in escrow and force them to prove that it should be paid whilst you withhold payment. BUT an argument like you have with the publisher could easily scare off the producers and get your project cancelled so take care.
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"I own the copyright"...did you, register a copyright a British copyright service? Any court challenge will require proof of ownership via a copyright certificate issued in your name. If you publishing contract signed over the rights, that's not good.That should have been done before publishing. Did you use a literary agent? Yielding 50% of film rights seems egregious to me. I doubt a film agent would have promoted that. Fee free to e-mail me directly at gregorj3 at gmail dot com.
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She's in the UK Jeff Gregory.
Robert Zwerneman, yes, hence the phasing "copyright service". There are several with no central repository/control.
Jeff Gregory Muh baad....but I see the .GOV post has vanished, so that's... well, you understand.