A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran

None of this will make any sense unless you read the previous installments at the Very Bad Publishers Page.

Nice recommendation from Tom Spurgeon over at The Comics Reporter:

Colleen Doran is detailing one of those protracted publishing horror stories that has to be read to be believed and that everyone should read before fully committing to making comics with any sense of professional devotion.

Thanks.

Most of these posts originally went up nearly ten years ago, but today’s is new. I pondered a few days before uploading, then edited the heck out of it. You don’t need more of the wacky, and I don’t need to relive it anymore.

Man, reviewing all of this was draining…not nearly as draining as living it, though.

I appreciate the letters from Son of Tom, because they validate some of my memoirs, even though he disagrees on the role of Tom in the development of GN’s. As I said, didn’t really know the guy, and never worked directly with him.

One thing I did learn from all this explains the puzzling problem of people who bubble up from the oubliette to raise a stink now and then: they are frozen in time, and think you are, too.

Not necessarily referring to Tom here, but…

If they met you when you were 21, starting out, broke, then in their minds you are always there. No matter how much time goes by, how much you accomplish, they will assume you can still be had on the cheap, will sign crap contracts, have never done a thing with your life since they saw you, and have never learned a damned thing, either. They never do, that’s for sure.

Nothing is stranger than dealing with someone who saw you at a convention and can’t forget the sight of you in your Galadriel costume.

Just because they never change, don’t let that stop you from moving on, no matter how much they whine when you do. If they can’t keep up, tell them to enjoy the slower pace, and leave them behind.

I appreciate the internet, because back in the day, I couldn’t point you to this.

About a year ago, a case law website posted some documents from the lawsuit.

I’d say this pretty much backs up what I remember about it all. Keep in mind, the lawsuit was settled, so none of these people were found liable for anything. Our settlement was confidential, and not only have I never revealed it, I spent so much time trying not to remember it, I forgot what it was, except I was very happy about it.

Moreover, I haven’t a clue who most of those people are, and don’t know what role they played in all this. I suppose they could get mad at me for these posts, but in ten years, no one bothered to come to me directly about them, except for the Son of Tom. I sincerely doubt any of this could damage the principal players, since the imprint is gone and everyone associated with it is, too. Harming a dead imprint is not the purpose of these posts.

I have no hard feelings toward the company as it exists today. Those people didn’t do anything to me, and these posts aren’t about them. None of the people I once knew are with the company any longer.

The date here is later than I recall: 1992. Yet one more reason why my early years self publishing were particularly stressful. I started self publishing in 1991. This legal snafu ran on for nearly four years.

I also have no recollection of the court’s decision to split the suit between matters which required arbitration, and those which went to court.

A minor point; some of us had books reprinted with improper copyright notices. The book was published with an incorrect birth date in the copyright info. For years, someone spread the rumor that I changed my birthdate in a scheme to trick everyone into believing I was years younger than I actually am. Here are the court documents which show that not only did I have absolutely nothing to do with the edition of A Distant Soil that has my incorrect birth date in it, but I sued its publisher. (UPDATE: and because there are a lot of whackjobs out there, I no longer give out any private info. Including my real name or birthdate.)

It’s odd that some see a conspiracy in a typo. Stop sniffing the loser dust, people.

I also want to emphasize that Tom was gone from the publisher years before the suit, and is not named in this document.

Reading the letters from the Son of Tom, I am happy to know this kid didn’t have a clue what was going on. I repeat, his dad had nothing to do with the legal stuff.

A lot of the treatment I received at the old publisher was bizarrely unprofessional in a FAN FROM HELL kind of way. I’ve said over and over that real fans are never a problem, it’s the pros (including aspiring pros) you have to watch out for. It is highly doubtful your editor at Harper Collins (I know, I worked there, too) will induce you to draw slash porn for them on the sly in exchange for food, or will publish and sell fanfic, but Starblaze was that kind of place.

It’s not that I’m close-minded, it’s just that I subscribe to the wisdom of the Five Geek Social Fallacies, which should be required reading for anyone who comes anywhere near fandom. Just because I don’t want to draw slash for my editor for food does not mean I am making a judgment on people who enjoy kinky manga…except for the Loli and tentacle stuff. Ew.

My connection to this publisher came about in part because the man who created the Starblaze line was my mentor, Frank Kelly Freas. Kelly was discreet to a fault. Though he had a bad split with Starblaze and another Very Bad Publisher, he barely mentioned them until after I had signed on with them. Then he couldn’t shut up about them. Too late!

The Woman waged epic battles with fellow employees that were so hideous and personal I won’t go there. Let’s just say that at the moment we begin the sex change operation adventure – EDIT: which I decided not to elaborate upon, but cannot resist a momentary mention of, because that place reached stratospheric heights of uberdrama, and that should give you some indication of same – the whole epic jumps the shark and I don’t want to ski with the Fonz. I have decided not to link to blogs that do because they don’t address issues about contracts and publishing that will be of any use to you. However, I admit it was strangely comforting to discover that I was not the only one revolted by the personal dramas.

The Woman is not named in any court documents, though she was to be a witness against the authors. I leave it to you to decide whether or not it was ethical of her to stand by the publisher in this contract dispute.

Rus Wornom contacted me to let me know details of The Woman’s dismissal, from his perspective. I’ve heard various tales over the years, and have seen written accounts which conflict on all points. The untold back story of her dismissal is for Rus to relate in his own good time.

The letters by her which have been forwarded to me over the years repeatedly stress that I “overreacted”, “misunderstood”, and did not appreciate all the wonderful things she did for me at the company. I also leave it up to you to decide whether or not a professional artist is better served drawing porn for their editor in exchange for food, or if I would have been better off seeking more meaningful work that also allowed me to keep my original art.

The Woman, despite her whining that my Teh Evil ruined her creativity, has held on to every piece of art she could grab of mine like a stack of papery totems. She even has the original art to the cover of the GN I illustrated. I got the interior art back.

In an orgy of catharsis, one day I gathered it all up, went out to the back yard, and struck a match.

Ashes to ashes.

It is highly doubtful most people who read this would have a clue who she is. I doubt I would recognize her if she were to walk up to me. It would be a mistake were she to attempt to seek me out again.

From this adventure, I learned the difference between objective reality and emotional reality: there are people out there who, despite all evidence, will insist that everything they ever said and did was absolutely right and true. They really need to believe that. After lying to themselves long enough, the lie becomes real. And they seem very sincere, because they are. And that makes them difficult, indeed.

A very important reminder: the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

Read those court documents and decide for yourself.

Over at Facebook, WH Rauf wants to know who the FIRST worst publisher I ever worked for was.

I signed a confidential settlement with these goobers over 20 years ago. The settlement agreement was breached by them within a nanosecond of my signing it, and has been breached time and again. The obvious question: why don’t I just sue them and have it out?

When I made my lawyer aware of what the ex publisher was doing (ten years after I had last dealt with them), he said: “Check back with me and let me know if any of it sticks. If it does you any harm, we’ll act. If not, let it go.” My lawyer was not the only attorney whose assessment of their behavior boiled down to, “They’re crazy.”

Before you get into any conflict, ask yourself “What is my outcome?”

The last time I had a serious problem with Teh Crazy was some years ago. My team had a look at their finances to consider whether or not there was any chance of getting a return on a lawsuit for libel, slander, breach of contract, breach of confidentiality, and all that.

Teh Crazy was $300,000 in debt to their printer alone.

Never sign a confidentiality agreement with Teh Crazy. In Crazy Land, they will expect you to fulfill the terms of every agreement (especially the confidentiality clause) no matter how much Teh Crazy lies, cheats, or steals, even if the US Supreme Court informs them that slavery is dead, and copyright squatting does not make them a creator. That said, my lawyer advises me to take the high road with them, and that is easy enough, for they are so low.

Five years after we last did battle with lawyers, Teh Crazy boss asked me out to dinner (!?!?!?!)

Damn crazy.

You can read of another crazy right here over at Bleeding Cool, where the tale of Rick Olney is sadly similar, though I never worked with the guy.

There is absolutely no reason a creator needs to sign a standard publishing agreement which contains a confidentiality clause that covers anything but trade secrets. Trade secrets are things like plot points, marketing plans, etc. You shouldn’t blab about those whether you sign a confidentiality agreement or not. It’s just bad form.

Any publisher who wants you to sign a blanket confidentiality clause should be avoided at all costs. This publisher is attempting to silence you in advance of their screwing you over in future.

Some publishers will attempt to silence you with threats of lawsuits if you inform others of failure to pay or to fulfill the terms of your agreement. Don’t be intimidated. If they owe you $1500, and they claim they are going to sue you for talking about it…dude.

Clue stick…beat yourself with it.

No publisher files suit across state lines over $1500. Seriously, that’s daffy.

While it may not be worth your time to chase after and sue Teh Crazy yourself, don’t be afraid of coming right out and telling others Teh Crazy is Teh Crazy. Let others know what landmines to avoid. You may save another creator’s career.

And for God’s sake, stop worrying about being blacklisted. If anyone would have been blacklisted for squealing about publisher naughtiness, that would be me. And I’ve got more work than I can handle.

There is no blacklist. There is no secret cabal. This industry will hire drug addicts and wife beaters, and creepy men who stalk underage girls at conventions. They are not going to avoid you because you squealed on Teh Crazy. All they want from you is the money you can make for them.

Stop being scared. You have nothing to fear but some flabby guy on the cusp of senior citizenship who is still fuming because he did not get picked for volleyball in high school.

You’re not dealing with Alexander the Great. These people do not command armies, control nations, or even build roads. They take stuff you make up, print it on paper, and put it in stores. Big deal.

If they deal with you fairly, they deserve your respect. If they don’t deal with you fairly, they are not worthy of your fear. The only power they have over you is between your ears, and that is territory you cede yourself.

Anyway, I leave you with this spin on the cosmic wheel:

Because it’s a small world after all, the author who decided to dump my new publisher – from whence came the lawsuit over the definition of reprint edition – was also an ex-publisher of mine. If my ex-publisher had not sued my new publisher, my new publisher would not have approached me about getting people to define reprint for them.

When I went into that deposition years later armed with reprint edition info, my ex-publisher’s lawsuit gave us the ammo we needed to fight the new publisher.

Wait! My ex-publisher made my happy ending possible?

Not on purpose!

In the end, I earned three times what I would have earned from both publishers in the first place.

Strange how things come around, innit?

Outside of this odd circle of people and circumstances, I have never even come close to being in another lawsuit.

So, here’s a final lesson, one you probably already know:

That which does not kill you only makes you stronger.

And that’s a great place to end this.

Thanks for reading. Take care out there.

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Good luck.