Thursday, January 13, 2011

Your privacy is NOT protected at Decadent Publishing!

We thought this was a dead issue, but **sigh** -- no. Decadent Publishing has sunk to an all time low. They spent yesterday harassing one of their authors who also happens to be an Ender. As you can see by their rebuttal to our original post, they have stupidly assumed there is only one Ender. That this is some form of gratuitous blogspot where this Ender can malign whoever she wants without repercussion. We have rules against such antics here at The End is Not the Final Word. She cannot participate in the book discussion for any story which she authored, nor can she be involved in the debate if it is a story she has edited. This is no different from the other Enders who are also authors or editors.

Since the discovery of this Enders real name, Decadent has spent an enormous amount of time, which we personally feel they have way too much of, hunting and pecking for 'dirt' on this Ender. They have given her real name to their authors during this search. They have called her a coward, maligned her personal integrity, put her through a nightmare all the sake of a poor review in which she actually gave constructive feedback to the author and publisher.

They have come up with what they consider enough to 'OUT' her. She assures us that she has nothing to be ashamed of. Her chosen profession as and author/part-time editor/at-one-time publisher is completely transparent. She has nothing to hide and neither does her daughter whom she writes with. Nor does she let her experiences in the industry tarnish her reviews.

We believe her. Her integrity is not in question.

We have many issues with this incident. At the top of our list is how Decadent Publishing has undertaken this 'fishing' expedition. That they would actually violate this Ender's privacy, which is exactly what they did when they went out to their authors and used her real name, is completely unacceptable. She told them the truth about her relationship with the Enders and was paid back in a day long e-mail rant from the owner of Decadent Publishing. If they hold to this practice, what will they do to other review sites, or for that matter, readers who purchase the book and then give an honest review? Will they e-mail bomb a reader's in-box? Will they malign a review site on facebook or Twitter? Will they go on yet another fishing expedition to dig up 'dirt' on this person, that person, or the neighbor? We wonder.

Yes. Yes. This is over a poor review. Let's not forget that. Our Enders who are also writers assure me that they have received more poor reviews in their careers than good. Most of them said, "It is part of being an author."

I have reviewed the e-mail thread regarding this incident, and believe that our Ender maintained the high level of professionalism I expected from her in spite of being called names, being threatened, and having an extensive amount of vitriol thrown at her.

I extend my personal apologies to her. It was never our intentions when we brought The End is Not the Final Word to the web to have this happen. We are readers, and, perhaps foolishly, thought other readers would appreciate our unbiased reviews.

Let me finish by saying this - Decadent Publishing is absolutely shameful.


 

UPDATE: This publisher has yet again replied to our Ender. They throw around threats as if they are candy.

12 comments:

  1. Well, word is out now. Dear Author has it and twitter is buzzing. I'd say they should have just left it alone.

    Perhaps if they have any business sense, they'll see they screwed up, issue an apology and just STOP.

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  2. Came over from Twitter. Shiloh is right. Word is out.

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  3. I came over from Twitter, too--and I've Tweeted and retweeted regarding this.

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  4. There's a term: the ABM (Author's Big Mistake). It refers to responding in any way whatever to a bad review.Mistake, because most publishers are too smart.

    It looks to me like Decadent has the ABM doubled-and-redoubled in spades.

    That this is a bad idea should go without saying. But it seems like I have to say it anyway: Hey, Decadent. This is a Bad Idea.

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  5. I came over from Twitter as well. Writers be warned. Retweeting right now.

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  6. I came over here from Twitter as well. This is sad. As an author, I have been SLAMMED in reviews. I'll admit that I cried, but then I moved on. For someone to run to their publisher is bad enough, but then what Decadent is doing is way worse!!! To violate the woman's privacy like that is criminal to me!! My heart goes out to the Ender that has been slammed in all of this. And I have to say thank you to Decadent Publishing. With your childish behavior I will be sure to never do business with you.

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  7. This is awful. I came across from Twitter, too, and have re-tweeted.

    Unprofessional and shameful behaviour.

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  8. For what it's worth, your blog just gained a new fan and follower - me =)

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  9. Can you email me jane at dearauthor dot com? I would like to ask some clarifying details.

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  10. This is just...outrageous, and embarrassing. Small presses have enough trouble getting respect without complete jerks like this giving us all a bad name. I own and operate By Light Unseen Media, and I wouldn't even *think* about behaving this way. We've gotten bad reviews, too. In fact, I thanked one such reviewer for her candor and said I was sorry she didn't enjoy the book. Any other response is unconscionable. JMHO.

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  11. Had to come look here again today. Im not a writer-- just a reader. I like a lot of the intnet booksellers/pubs cause they are cheaper that the big name pplz-authors. I know some authors and none of them ever think to wine an cry about someone who didnt like there book. They say no book is perfect and its good to know so you see if you really need to work on the next one being better. If I like a book, I tell everyone. If I dont (shrugs), I will tell my freinds what I didnt like about the story. Does that make me a pirate? no. Just like if I tell my freind nvr wear the yellow shirt again-makes her look sick. Its only if I say mean things about them as a person or the way they write. Just like the reviwers--its my right. Freedom of speech an all that.
    anywayz- thats just my opnion.
    BTW--you authors rock! dont feel bad about ur book being with an intnet company. they are not all bad.
    PINKMARY

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  12. PinkMary:

    It's you, the readers, who keep us rockin'!

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