Last week at BookLocker, we processed the first set of files from one of defunct Tate Publishing’s victims. On the copyright page of that book, Tate had added this text about themselves:
“Tate Publishing is committed to excellence in the publishing industry. The company reflects the philosophy established by the founders, based on Psalm 68:11, “The Lord gave the word and great was the company of those who published it.”
First, they used religion to promote themselves over the years, which I find abhorable. Second, that they also used a Bible quote to call themselves “great” was just completely over the top.
Ever since we announced our program to help Tate authors get their books back on the market for only $78, and within about 2 weeks, we’ve received numerous inquiries from Tate’s victims.
BAD NEWS
The files the author obtained from Tate had significant errors:
1. One of the interior pages had two headers, one appearing on top of the other (the actual title of the book appeared to be superimposed over the word “title”), on one of the pages. It’s still not clear if Tate actually printed the author’s book with that error. We were able to use some creative Photoshopping to fix that problem.
2. The second (and most disturbing) problem was that the Tate cover had no bleed on it. Without bleed, there is no wriggle room whatsoever for a printer during the cutting/binding process. Our printer (and every other printer I’ve ever known) requires bleed as part of a cover file. We lucked out. The author’s cover had a solid black background around the edges so we were able to add bleed. Authors whose books don’t have a solid background would have challenges overcoming this problem using a flat pdf file (which is what Tate provides).
3. The text at the bottom of the barcode on the back cover was very pixelated and so was text at the top of the back cover, appearing under the author’s photo. The rest of the text on the back cover was fine. We were able to fix these errors in Photoshop as well but the quality of that text on the Tate version of the cover was truly awful.
WHAT AUTHORS NEED TO DEMAND
If you are a Tate victim and if you choose to send Tate your $50 for the production files, DEMAND they give you the files they used to print the cover and interior, and INSIST the cover have bleed included on it.
IS TATE PUBLISHING ABOUT TO DEFAULT IN A BIG LAWSUIT AGAINST THEM?
According to THIS ARTICLE:
“On Dec. 1, Ramey & Tharp submitted an application to withdraw from the case as Tate Publishing’s representatives, as well, saying the Mustang publisher had failed to meet its financial obligations with the law firm.”
This week, Victoria Strauss reported that Tate failed to respond to a summons they were served in January. That means Ryan Tate could actually lose personal assets because he signed a personal guaranty agreement with the plaintiff in that suit.
“The entry of default clears the way for Vincent and his firm’s client, Lightning Source LLC, to ask a federal judge to grant a motion of default in the case and to award Lightning Source the $1.845 million, plus interest, it seeks from Ryan Tate and his firm.”
Of course, if the Tates are truly broke, printers, authors, and other victims aren’t likely to get a dime out of them. If Tate Publishing no longer has attorneys, I predict they’ll be ignoring court summons in the future. Nobody online seems to be talking about any assets the Tates have, which may need to be sold to repay any damages awarded in the lawsuits filed against them. They had more than 39,000 authors and many paid them upwards of $3,000 or more. That’s a lot of dough! Where did all that money go?
RE: THE “CONTRACT TERMINATION DOCUMENTS” AUTHORS MUST SIGN TO GET THEIR FILES – CAN TATE STILL SUE AUTHORS?
Another thing nobody is talking about is that the official “contract termination paperwork” Tate is requiring their authors to sign to obtain their production files does not state that Tate is releasing authors from their obligations to the company nor does it state that Tate can’t sue the authors for any reason. In fact, these releases appear to be 100% written for Tate’s benefit. I urge authors to consult with their own attorneys before signing this.
Here, see for yourself:
I, the undersigned, hereby terminate my contractual agreement(s) with Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC and its subsidiaries, successors, and heirs, for the above listed work effective as of January ____, 2017. I agree to indemnify and hold harmless Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC and its subsidiaries, officers, executives, employees, and any such heirs they may have. I understand that termination of these agreements does not entitle me to any refund or monetary compensation whatsoever.
TATE’S BOOKS ARE STILL FOR SALE ON AMAZON – BUT, WHO’S GETTING THE ROYALTIES??
According to Tate’s website, they are “currently in negotiations with a number of publishing houses to find the best possible new home for all clients and titles we represent.”
However, there are been reports that Tate hasn’t been paying authors their royalties.
Searching Amazon for “Tate Publishing” reveals 25,257 results. There are still numerous print and ebook editions for sale. Who’s getting the royalties on these sales? I imagine Tate is. Is Tate sending the authors their portion? Note that signing the contract above appears to waive ALL monies you feel you are entitled to from Tate, including royalties. Based on the contract above, does Tate get to keep selling their authors’ books on Amazon without paying royalties to their authors? I’m not an attorney but it sure looks that way to me. And, how can authors stop them from doing so?
One author reported contacting Amazon about it but Amazon said there was nothing they could do because their contract for that book wasn’t with the author.
If you are another Tate victim, read about how BookLocker can get your book back on the market fast RIGHT HERE.
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Angela Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the author of 19 books, and the co-owner of BookLocker.com (one of the original POD publishers that still gets books to market in less than a month), PubPreppers.com (print and ebook design for authors who truly want to self-publish), and Abuzz Press (the publishing co-op that charges no setup fees).
Angela has lived and traveled across the U.S. with her kids in an RV, settled in a river-side home in Bradenton, FL, and lived on a 52 ft Irwin sailboat. Angela now resides on a mountaintop in Northwest Georgia, where she plans to spend the rest of her days bird watching, gardening, hiking, and taking in all of the amazing sunrises.
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