***DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE announcement***

As of writing this, I am one step away from filing suit against the publisher for copyright infringement.

Back in May, they failed to pay me my royalties on time. My agent followed up with them repeatedly. We gave them the benefit of the doubt due to covid. We allowed them all of the time that they were contractually owed, and then some, to rectify this breach.

In August, when the publisher remained in breach, we notified them that the rights to publish the book had reverted back to me, per a clause in my contract.

What this means: the publisher, legally, can no longer sell the books. Not the ebooks. Not the hardbacks. Anything already in print has to be withdrawn from shelves. Anything not yet published (this included the paperback edition) CAN'T be published without violating my copyright

For the reader and for me, this essentially means the book goes out of print. Yeah, it sucks. Big time.

But the only thing worse than books going out of print is not knowing if and when you’ll be paid by your publisher.

After we notified the publisher that rights had reverted back to me, they went ahead and released my paperback anyway. You can find it on shelves. You can see it (and ALL the editions they’re not allowed to sell anymore) on every online retail site.

Not only is this a gross violation of copyright, it also hurts my agent's ability to rehome the book at a place that values me, now that the rights are back in my possession.

As a last resort, I hired a lawyer. We sent the publisher a cease and desist on September 24th and gave them 30 days to comply.

They have not complied.

Which brings me here. Should this go to court, I am almost certain to win. The case is clear cut. But I'm not vindictive; I don't want to drag the publisher through this, or myself to a pyrrhic victory. Emotionally, mentally & financially, the last 6 months have been hard enough.

. @AlbertWhitman, if you see this, please comply with the cease and desist. Please acknowledge the reversal of rights, withdraw the copies on shelves and warehouses, and stop printing, distributing, and selling the book.

Please give me the time of day and do the right thing.

FINAL NOTES & HOW TO HELP

All of the above is vetted by my legal counsel, so feel free to share and spread the word. It would help greatly.

In terms of what will be happening to DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE, my agent and I are working hard to rehome it. If you really need a copy ASAP, I recommend going through my UK publisher: http://bit.ly/3oNaDGZ 

In the meantime, I’m really grateful to be with Macmillan now. Pre-ordering my book with them would truly be the best show of support, especially when nothing with DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE’s future is certain. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250258564

Thank you for reading this far. I will keep you posted on how everything goes.

Joan

just to clarify something: after we notified AW that the rights had reverted back to me, they immediately paid the outstanding royalties, and they keep on citing this as the reason why they can't agree to release my rights

sorry but that's not how contracts work