How do writers know whether they are getting proper royalties on their books? The complaint for this class action alleges that Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc. hides true sales figures from its writers, telling them that their books have sold only a few copies, and does not pay them the royalties they are due.
The class for this action is all natural persons living in the US who entered into a contract with Dorrance Publishing company or any of its affiliates (I-Proclaim Books, Red Lead Press, Rose Dog Books, or Whitmore Publishing company) and who were due to receive commissions from sales of books, between May 19, 2016 and May 19, 2022, where Dorrance did not pay those commissions.
In 2008, the plaintiff for this class action, Tina M. Lockhart, published her young-adult novel Ten Houses Filled with Leaves with Dorrance. The complaint alleges that the contract said that Dorrance would “publish, print, market and distribute” the book, in exchange for 60% of its domestic sales and 75% of its international sales. Lockhart also paid Dorrance $8,000, the complaint claims.
Dorrance controlled the sales data for the book, the complaint alleges, and did not provide her with detailed sales reports.
In 2015, the complaint claims, Dorrance terminated the contract with Lockhart, telling her that only nine copies of the book had been sold. However, the complaint says Lockhart eventually found an Amazon feature called Author Central that tells authors how many units have been sold.
According to the complaint, when she looked at the domestic sales report for her book for the four-week period of April 9 through May 6, 2012, she “was shocked to see that Amazon was reporting 51,133 copies of her novel sold in that four-week period.” With a cover price of $11, the complaint figures that this amounted to $562,463 in gross sales, with 40% of that, or $244,985, due to her.
“However,” the complaint alleges, “consistent with its fraudulent pattern and practice, [Dorrance] reported zero sales for that same period, and paid no royalties to [Lockhart].”
The complaint reproduces other online postings complaining about Dorrance for similar reasons:
- “ [A]ll I want is proof[,] real proof[,] because on [A]mazon it showed as my books being sold out and restock coming soon…. I want to know why they [can’t] provide paperwork or proof coming from the vendors…”
- “I know for sure the number of books which were sold through Amazon, [Barnes] and Noble, Walmart and in other countries are more than … reported to me.”
- “Rosedog Publishing swears no books have been sold, but I know of so many books being bought… I even had a Melbourne, Australia city library buy the book because I saw it on their shelves myself…”
- “…I bought my own book, so how can they say there were no sales?”
At the time of filing, the complaint claims Lockhart has been paid only $10.20 by Dorrance.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Contract
Most Recent Case Event
Dorrance Publishing Hidden Sales Figures, False Royalties Complaint
May 19, 2022
How do writers know whether they are getting proper royalties on their books? The complaint for this class action alleges that Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc. hides true sales figures from its writers, telling them that their books have sold only a few copies, and does not pay them the royalties they are due.
Dorrance Publishing Hidden Sales Figures, False Royalties ComplaintCase Event History
Dorrance Publishing Hidden Sales Figures, False Royalties Complaint
May 19, 2022
How do writers know whether they are getting proper royalties on their books? The complaint for this class action alleges that Dorrance Publishing Company, Inc. hides true sales figures from its writers, telling them that their books have sold only a few copies, and does not pay them the royalties they are due.
Dorrance Publishing Hidden Sales Figures, False Royalties Complaint