In Jan, I downloaded and signed Weyant Press, Inc's contract and mailed it certified. I sent my manuscript via e-mail. They agreed to publish my book, but never sent me a signed copy of my contract, which I never received. They agreed to register my copyright. I never received a certificate proving such.
My book was released in August. I STILL, to this day, get e-mails from disgruntled customers who have YET to receive their book! This may have been a blessing and here's why: My first copies were garbage - full of spelling, grammatical, and spacing errors. (I did all of my own editing, as I was an English minor in college, but what I sent them was not what was used.
I sent them the final proof, but they used the galley proof instead). WPI claimed their outsourced printer used the wrong diskette and printed from a galley proof. (Well, who sent them the wrong one, hmmm?). Although they wouldn't say who their printer was, they agreed to
rescind all the bad copies and not print any more bad copies. They have done neither. When I ordered my own book through Amazon just last month, it was the bad copy that arrived.
WPI agreed in an e-mail to their authors and in their "Author's Packet" that they would set up an account for all their authors so we could track our sales. I never received this, either.
The final straw came when in Nov., I received my first royalty check, which promptly BOUNCED. When I contacted WPI about it, their response was to be offensive. They claimed I was being a hostile troublemaker, and immediately dropped me as one of their authors. However, they are STILL selling my book via their website and the online retailers as a "closeout", making profit off of my book.
I sent WPI a severance letter via certified mail in January breaking contract because of the bounced check, and asked for my past due royalties along with my copyright certificate and copy of my contract.
I also filed a report with the Better Business Bureau of Huntsville, AL. They sent an "invalid" notice to Weyant Press, Inc. Regarding my complaint because I did not receive the BBB's request for my rebuttal in the allotted time (Their material was dated Jan. 20, but I didn't get it until Feb. 17, and they required a 10 business day reply. Blame poor mail service between the USA and Canada, I suppose).
When I contacted Ms. Cole at the BBB on Feb. 17 and explained that I had not received her time dated material until just that day, she gladly reopened my case. She reported that several other complaints against WPI had come into her office recently as well.
I also filed a complaint on a website for writers called "Writer's Weekely", who posted it online and asked WPI for a rebuttal. Ms. Weyant responded, claiming that THEY dropped ME as a client because of threats of legal action against me for plagiarism, for which they offered no proof in the form of documentation.
It was the first I had heard such nonsense. However, it is my belief that WPI is making libelous and false claims such as these out of spite, so I will nt be able to have my book reprinted with another publisher.
Because of the actions of Writer's Weekly and the BBB, Ms. Weyant finally paid me all royalties due for the last two quarters of 2002 and the first quarter of 2003 in a package I received dated Feb. 13. I have not cashed them yet, so time will tell if they are good or not.interestingly, there was nothing mentioned or included in Ms.
Weyant's recent package regarding my copyright certificate nor a copy of my contract or ISBN number. Therefore, I have been paid off, but still do not have in my possession what is rightfully mine as far as my paperwork. A search in the Library Of Congress's online database shows nothing was registered in my name. It would appear that although promised, my work was never copyrighted on my behalf by this disreputable company, which might explain why I never received a copy of it.
Weyant Press, Inc.'s web site is no longer functional as of my search on Feb. 13. The home page appears, but states "We are not accepting any new manuscripts at this time". None of the links work. I find this to be very ironic and timely, considering the actions Writer's Weekly and the BBB have done on my behalf.
While I am satisfied that I finally have my past due royalty checks, I am still entitled to the copy or original of my copyright cetificate. AND, I would like an apology from Weyant Press, Inc.in WRITING regarding the false claims of undocumented legal threats of plagiarism against me unless they can produce written proof of a pending lawsuit, which I'm quite sure they cannot, since neither myself nor my attorney has received any such legal claim from any person, plaintiff, or attorney.
Julie
Newmarket, Ontario
Canada
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