Let Me Be Clear

As news of the circumstances at AMP spreads, there have arisen some conflicting opinions. A ‘very’ few voices have made noises to the effect that the writers at AMP should have more understanding and sympathy to the health of Ms Hicks, owner of said publisher. I wouldn’t be surprised if there have been some mumbles whether authors should speak out at all.

I want to be clear. The authors at AMP *have* been understanding for many weeks…months, leading into over a year in some cases. Some of the writers were personal friends of Ms Hicks, and the downfall of AMP or its owner is the last thing they wanted to see happen.

Ms Hicks’ emotional and physical health has suffered and may have had some significance in the current situation — that is not and never has been in question. And I, for one, certainly won’t divulge the details of her personal ailments. However, as I and many others have tried to point out to Ms Hicks, a contract goes both ways. A business has contractual obligations, and if ‘for any reason’ — including health — that business cannot meet those contractual obligations then the contracts are void.

Authors cannot be expected to wait beyond the terms of their contracts for their work to be edited, published, paid for, or released. For many this state of affairs has severely affected their incomes and their own health. There are books held in contracts for which there is no cover art and no editors. There are authors awaiting royalties who have no idea when, or if, they will be paid, and there may even be questions as to the accuracy of those payments — I won’t say more on this because I don’t have the paperwork to neither prove nor disprove: that is for the appropriate authorities to determine, and it certainly seems as if legal action is now beginning. I can say for months there have been few if any statements of sale issued with payments…or there have simply been no payments or paperwork of any kind.

There are authors awaiting release letters and the removal of book covers for expired works — in some instances the product page has disappeared from the AMP website, but not the details and covers, and until this happens and release letters are issued those works are effectively left in limbo. This applies to one of my own titles. According to Ms Hicks those with the product page ‘missing’ can expect release letters, but until the covers are down new publishers will continue to be wary.

Others have already reported that Ms Hicks stated she has ‘upped’ her working day to two hours. She has since said she finds it difficult even to face her email, but Ms Hicks cannot expect her writers to wait for some indeterminate duration for her to get well and ‘catch up’. She has no staff — their leaving and reasons for doing so may have triggered this, but a bad situation was already building. Again, those reasons have been stated elsewhere for public viewing, and I will not comment on them.

To my knowledge none of her writers wish to remain in their contracts, and in many cases those contracts have expired, yet Ms Hicks makes little effort if any to release them. Her statements change sometimes daily so that no one can tell what might be deception or confusion. The writers are confused by the publisher’s reactions — surely Ms Hicks understands that she has no writers, that none of them will sub new works to her and the only works she has are those she currently holds illegally or under duress. What is the point of continuing?

The authors have tried to make statements of the truth as they see it, as it pertains individually to them, and to some degree to others in that if one person has a book out of contract it may be an oversight — when many of the 40+ authors mired in this mess can report similar (in some cases books MONTHS out of contract), then it cannot be viewed as mere error. In those instances, yes, our claims back up each other, and cannot be questioned.

To address the subject of whether writers should speak out at all, I have to refer to what one of my writer acquaintances and colleagues said so eloquently on my Facebook page the other week — “speaking out is the only honourable thing to do.” Writers need to protect each other and in so doing they help to protect the industry. If one wonders why that can be — how revealing the bad practices of one publisher protects others — it’s simple: it sends a clear, direct message that such practices cannot and will not be tolerated. That publishers and writers are in this together and that none of us can afford to allow the industry to be tarnished.

I am truly sorry to see AMP come to this, for Ms Hicks, the company, and the writers, but it really is time to close the door for everyone’s sake. All the writers have ever wanted to do is to be able to walk away without bitterness, and to be able to wish Ms Hicks all the best.

NOTE: As of now the AMP website is down with this message:
The Aspen Mountain Press web site is temporarily suspending operations.
Over the past five years we’ve demanded high standards in all areas of the company from authors to editors to administrators.  Due to the current health of the owner these standards have not been met.
We’d like to thank you for your support and patronage over this past half decade and apologize for any inconveniences this decision causes.

I don’t personally like the ‘temporarily’ but we shall have to wait and see what happens.