Rumors sometimes have a way of being true

And everyone in the industry has heard the rumors but not one author at Silver Publishing has the guts to stand up and say something. Not a single one.

For the record there are so many upstanding publishers. So many. Publishers who bend over backward for their authors. Publishers who recognize their authors and do every thing in their power to lift their authors up so that we can do what we do best. Write.

Silver Publishing is not one of those publishers.

It's probably the most offensive publisher I've ever had the misfortune to work with.
The owner Lodewyk Deysel has used royalty money that is supposed to be held in trust for his authors to fund the expansion of his company. This is his admission, I would say presumably but his admission works fine. Last week he issued a letter to the authors who have not jumped ship admitting as much. In October it was a simple confession of bad book keeping. And that he'd planned to hire an accounting firm to help him get the books under control. Now we've moved to the confession that the money that is owed the authors has been spent. I'll post the letter below, in it's entirety.

In October his assurances began to read like a man who had no idea how to run a business and there is every reason to believe that the business is failing just by looking at Amazon. One year ago Silver Publishing books were well represented on the Kindle gay and lesbian bestsellers chart. Today, there are only three books. By the same author, and lower on the chart. Hardly the wide range of success seen just one year ago. But Silver continues to contract new books. First time authors over joyed at selling their first book clog my Facebook page. I want to scream at them don't do it don't take it, run. But they won't listen. Why should they run? Because I'm still waiting for royalties owed from the first quarter of this year. Because what little I have been paid for a book that sold in the top ten on that same gay and lesbian chart at Amazon for 90 days straight has come in small doses. Money has gone missing. The only reason I was ever paid it at all was confrontation. When you have to send a letter every quarter asking where your money is, money that was confirmed in an invoice that you never recieved, there is a problem. I knew there was a problem in February. In May I was convinced. In August disgusted. The reply letters were always so nice and so apologetic and I'm going to get right on that, and I would never hear from Mr. Deysel again. 

In October, it became clear that Silver is hemorrhaging money. In October, Mr. Deysel offered anyone discontent with the company their rights back no questions asked. I was granted mine immediately. I have placed one of those books at another publisher and am waiting to hear back on a second, the third I am self publishing. The authors who stayed have done so out of the misguided assumption that it will get better. It will not. Mr. Deysel has stated that he has no intentions of securing a loan to cover the funds he has used to fund his expansion. He intends to handle the repurposing of royalties from future royalties. In essence he is robbing Peter to pay Paul because he has no intention of paying those of us who jumped ship. Or as a new email has stated, that he will pay those of us who took our rights back no sooner than 90 days after our original contract was to expire and then at the rate of 10% per month.

I'm sorry, Mr. Deysel, but this is not acceptable. Just because I took my rights back does not negate the contract as long as you hold funds that were gained from the sale of my property. I will hold you accountable for every penny that you owe me. And not in two years or at ten percent a month. 

So yes, I am angry, but I realized when I took my rights back that I would probably never see another penny. What bothers me, I think, is that the remaining authors have no problem with this. If it saves the company then that is for the best. 

Little business tip, you can't replace royalties already spent with future royalties and hope to ever pull yourself out of debt. You have created a vicious cycle of debt to the people you are using to fund your company. When others cry foul and pull their rights to their books based on fraud, breach of contract and a host of other reasons you can not keep the money you owe them. It does not work that way. There is a name for that, Mr. Deysel. And we have discussed what the name is.

So yes, from a former best selling author with Silver publishing I am saying what you've all heard. Silver Publishing is not paying their authors. Silver Publishing is bleeding money. Staff is rumored to not have been paid. People are jumping ship faster than they did from the Titanic. And all Mr. Deysel  can say for himself is that a group of contentious authors may force him into bankruptcy. Mr. Deysel it is not a group of contentious authors whom you have not paid attempting to force you into bankruptcy. Spending money that you don't have and then not being able to meet your obligations is what is sending you into bankruptcy. Bad business decisions with no clear idea of what the market in which you work is sending you into bankruptcy. And you will not be able to drag yourself out of the hole by depending on future royalties from your remaining authors.

I have documents including letters written to me in reply to my personal queries. My real first name is Marcia....there I outed myself. And no Brady bunch jokes. These letters are addressed to my real name and I feel no need to hide. I have the super secret to loyal authors only letter that Mr. Deysel sent out last week. New information came via a personal facebook post that I will not reveal the name of the original sender. I will not reveal any names but my own....because what are they going to do? Sue me? Then they better make sure they are without any more damaging offenses, like theft and fraud.

I have documents. I have a lawyer. I have no fear of my place in the publishing world disappearing. I will stand up for those who won't. 

Mr. Deysel, you owe me $3500 for third quarter royalties with February, March and April Amazon royalties included in that and I believe second quarter numbers from other distributors. My May, June and July numbers should match those and we haven't even begun to talk about the other two books which I haven't seen a penny in distributor money. Three books worth of money that you used to fund your failing expansion.

Thank you,

Marcia J. Colbert

writing as Mercy Celeste


The following is the letter posted for remaining authors. I have highlighted the juicy parts. Aww heck I gave up highlighting since it's all a load of horse malarkey anyway, the main point I want to get across is in red.

Following this is the last correspondence I had with Mr. Deysel in which he attempts to reassure me that all is well. Please read from bottom to top...I have only removed my personal email address.

With payment dates coming up soon, we need a structure in place to be sure that all Silver authors and staff are paid as timely as possible and that we're moving Silver to a better place on the whole.

As most of you are probably aware, accounting firms do not work with the speed of light and it may be a while before they make any concrete suggestions. I was hoping they would step in a little more quickly than they are, but that's not been the case. That means we will all need to continue to work together to see that Silver positions itself in the best interest of all staff and authors.

We cannot take a wait and see attitude on this. This is a bump in the road of our growth and we've been able to resolve other issues by working together. There's no reason to believe this is any different. It's time to band together to accomplish this now.

I appreciate everyone's continued support of Silver.

As you are all aware we've had increased expenses this year due to unprecedented growth and have a deficit when it comes to paying our royalties. It can be corrected and we have every intention of doing so as quickly as possible. I want to be very clear that my goal is to see Silver succeed and to be sure all authors and staff are paid in a timely and appropriate manner. Working together will make that happen.

Our options were to get a loan to cover the financial deficit and repay the loan over time or to create a payment plan for authors to bring Silver back to balance. I've gotten a shockingly large amount of feedback that the idea of a loan makes authors nervous and that the authors would rather handle things internally. I agree that an outside creditor wouldn't have the same type of vested interest in Silver's success (other than their own debt base).

We currently have no credit lines outstanding, which means our sole source of debt going forward is to authors and staff. I've taken everyone's concerns into account and have decided that we'll handle this internally. Considering our outside-debt-free status, this is simply a matter of using our incoming resources to bring everything back into alignment.

During this transition period, what I'd also like to accomplish is moving to a monthly payment system (royalties paid 30 days after the end of the month). It'll be easier to manage in the long run and it'll be better for authors as well (paid more quickly). My two intentions with this new plan: Work toward catching up all the outstanding royalty payments and move toward a monthly system. We should be able to accomplish this and be well situated once again within a year.

My aim is to impact authors and staff as little as possible. One challenge, because of the nature of the business, is that we do not know for certain what our income or expenses are for any given month in the future. That means that while we've developed a plan for a long range solution, we will need to revisit the plan every month to be sure we're still on target with actual numbers. We are using projections based upon past sales data. I want nothing to fall through the cracks with this plan so we are attempting to take into account every possible situation.

This initial plan is sound from an accounting standpoint, based upon estimated future figures, and will move us consistently on track with our royalty payments. The most impacted quarters will be Q3 and Q4, of course, since those are occurring now, but we will move more quickly toward our goals thereafter. Actually, once Q3 payments are handled we will be well on our way to meeting our goals.

The accounting firm may wholly endorse our plan or they may have tweaks or adjustments to assist us in obtaining our goals more quickly. Time will tell on that. I'll let everyone know what they tell me, when they do so.

I'm inserting a chart below that will explain the percentage payment for each royalty grouping. This chart will apply to all continuing Silver authors as they have priority payment status (we will develop a separate independent repayment plan for any authors who choose to withdraw their titles). Quarter 3 royalties will be paid as a combined royalty group, but after Q3, starting with October royalties, we will pay monthly royalties in the percentages listed in the chart until we reach an equilibrium point in the coming months.

It is highly possible we'll be able to increase the relative percentages in the coming months, but again, time will tell. I've used estimates based on past data, and we will know more once we have actual data to work with each month. I would rather err on the side of caution and have to increase percentages as necessary to use all available capital for payment of royalties, than to overestimate our potential at this time.

I anticipate quite a few questions based upon this new plan. Many I'm sure we can answer now with the list below of answers to anticipated questions. When additional questions arise at a later date, we can address those then.

If you have questions specific to you, please do not ask them in the forum. This is a generalized discussion about the plan going forward. Any specific questions should be emailed directly to royalties@spsilverpublishing.com.

Also, the forum isn't a place for hostility or scorn. We recognize that an issue was created. We're taking steps to correct it as quickly as possible. Silver has always been a tight knit family and I believe we're strong enough to weather this storm in fairly short order. Please keep your comments on the forum on the topic of making Silver the best publisher possible as negativity is not helpful. Also, though I think this should be easily obvious all around, please do not share this information with outside sources as it will weaken Silver's standing in the community, which could have a deleterious effect on our efforts for all authors.

Thank you all again for your continuing support to make Silver great for everyone.

---

QUESTIONS:

1. What about Payment Date?

I know it's a very important issue to everyone. Typically the inflow of money occurs, by and large, at the end of the month. That means first of the month payments will be standard course. However, I don't ever want to run "late" on any payments to anyone with this new payment plan. That means I need to be cognizant of any potential delays that could happen. To that end, I'm setting the payment date as "BY THE 15TH" of the month. My intent is to pay earlier than this and that is what I will work toward every month. However, the extra leeway will allow for potential delays with PayPal, banks and any needed transfers of funds. I'd rather account for that here to avoid the potential of having to post about a delay later due to conditions outside my control.

2. What about royalty reports?

You will receive your quarter three royalty report by Nov 15. You will receive your monthly royalty reports at the end of the month, then every month thereafter. These reports will be fully detailed reports instead of summary reports.

3. What about the online royalty system?

The author-side of the online royalty system needs work.

I understand the frustration that changing figures in the author-side of the system could cause. The figures do adjust when new data is added, but part of the problem is also in the coding for what the system pulls over for the authors to see (and when it pulls it). That all needs to be fixed, and clearly, fixing it while it's active is creating too many problems. The publisher side of the system is correct, but having fluctuating numbers in your system doesn't give you confidence in it, which is understandable.

The little bit of added information you get by knowing what the Silver sales are isn't mitigating the potential downside of wondering if your information is correct. It will be much more efficient and less stressful on all authors to have your final full royalty report to review. Any questions can be addressed from one document at one time rather than dealing with a system that needs adjustment.

You will receive a PDF copy of royalty reports going forward (detailed report instead of summary report) so that you can keep track of your sales data and the amounts that will be paid to you. Keep in mind that in the transition to a monthly system you'll receive reports more frequently as well.

I don't want you to feel like I’m pulling this system out from under you, so I won't deactivate it until Nov 11. However, it's in everyone's best interest if we deal with the potential coding issues before reactivating it at a future time.


4. What royalties will be paid in which month?

Please keep in mind that the chart will indicate when payment will occur and in what percentage for any royalty month. The listing below gives you information on what will be included in that month of royalties, but not an indication of payment time frame.

Quarter 3 Royalty figures include:
Silver – July, Aug, September
Amazon – Feb, March, April
BN – April, May, June
ARe – April, May, June

October Royalty figures include:
Silver – October
Amazon – May
BN – July

November Royalty figures include:
Silver – November
Amazon – June
BN – August

December Royalty figures include:
Silver – December
Amazon – July
BN – September
ARe – July, Aug, Sept

And so on…


5. What about expenses?

We still have expenses that will be due to be paid in Nov and December that are a bit larger than they will be going forward. We are streamlining our staff, cutting back on editing expenses, implementing strategic sales for previously released title (will increase revenue and your royalties as well), and investigating any other functioning expenses that can be reduced at this time.  



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From: Marcia Colbert
Date: Sun, Nov 11, 2012 at 7:00 PM
Subject: Re: royalties
To: Publisher <publisher@spsilverpublishing.com>


And when a business puts it's growth ahead of it's obligations to pay it's authors and then takes the money owed its authors to fund that growth it's called what exactly?

I've read the letter. I know what you wrote. Reverting my rights was appreciated. I would have preferred to stay with Silver, but having owned my own business for five years I do recognize a bad business model when I see it. I wish your company all the best but not at my expense. You have money listed as owed to me that you received in February, March and April (or whatever corresponding months you claim this month). How you don't have that money now is what concerns me. If this money has been in your account in trust for me and my book then why is it not available now. I've watched the amount in distribution go up to $3800 then drop to $3500 and now again to $3200. I tracked the royalties shown back to October and it shows that I have earned $16,000 but have only received $12,000 to this date. (all amounts rounded to the zero)

I suggest you take the loan that you so adamantly don't want to do and make right with your authors first. I suggest that you suspend submissions until you are caught up with your obligations. Continuing to throw money that you don't have at an expansion you can't afford, should be where you do serious soul searching. You expanded too fast, your sales are down, I see maybe four or five Silver books in the top one hundred gay charts currently when there was always considerably more than that. It's too many books, and your reputation for bad editing is only getting worse. Readers are responding with their money.

Any hostilities from disgruntled former authors is not your biggest problem. It's the result of your problem.

I have done nothing at this point. I expect the $3200 shown in distribution to be paid to me this month as per the contract I signed. I have every piece of correspondence between us, as well as that letter, which by the way is very damning, and screen captions of the author login page and conversations on the forum. My lawyer is waiting for me to send him this to proceed.
I am waiting for you to right by me.

Marcia

On Sun, Nov 11, 2012 at 12:24 PM, Publisher <publisher@spsilverpublishing.com> wrote:

Marcia,

Nowhere in the letter to current Silver authors did I state that you would not be paid. Those that have pulled their rights do not have priority payment status. You are owed money that will be paid to you as soon as possible, but you will be paid out of overages in royalty receipts going forward. Royalties earned will be paid first. There has been no embezzlement or grand theft. This is a business that grew too quickly and our expenses exceeded our income. It's a simple fact that it happens to businesses all the time in their formative years. We are getting back on track as quickly as possible and will repay any outstanding amounts due as that occurs. Keep in mind that if Silver closes there will be nothing for anyone. If we close today, the company will enter bankruptcy proceedings. Since the income will cease upon closure, there will be no payouts possible. 

Continuing Silver as a going concern is the only viable option for repayment. Continuing hostility by current and former authors will do nothing to ensure their eventual payment from this corporation.

You have chosen to have your rights back, an option that I granted in good faith. It was not required of me at that time. You are no longer a current Silver author. Your debt will be paid in full as soon as Silver is able to do so. There are no other reassurances that I can give.

Regards,

Lodewyk Deysel

CEO / Publisher

Telephone: +1-888-608-0471
International: +1-313-444-2091
Fax: +1-313-486-9109

http://www.spsilverpublishing.com

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-----------
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this e-mail or any action taken in reliance on this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.

From: Marcia Colbert
Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2012 1:41 PM
To: Publisher
Subject: royalties

Hello,

I have been made aware of an email sent to authors who have not pulled their rights to their books concerning royalties owed. Stating that you only intend to pay still existing authors and will eventually get around to those of us who pulled our rights.

I am assuming this is a rumor. I am assuming that the money you owe me for first and second quarter will be paid. I made you a lowball settlement offer. And yes I believe that it was lowball. You chose not to accept it. You owe me royalties through October and I expect to be paid.

I am assuming that you are not interested in dealing with my lawyers. Because I took back my rights does not release you from your financial obligation to me, if this is the case then that's called stealing and in this case it's called Grand Theft and embezzlement.

Marcia J Colbert