Ocean's Mist Press is at it again...

Tssk tssk! Hello dear author(s) you can call me Mac. Well I have been listenening to some of my friends gripe about this publisher Ocean's Mist Press and I've decided to check into a few things, ask some questions. It turns out, these authors have NOT been paid royalties in months and no one has contacted the authors telling them anything about what is going on. Emails have NOT been returned from Noemi or whoever is running this sham. As far as I know the following his from the contract...

Royalties will be accumulated and paid no later than forty-five (45) days following the end of each month (31 days) after release of the title. Royalties shall be paid by check, drawn on the company's bank of business, OR through an online payment source. Individual arrangements, mutually agreed upon by the Publisher and the Author, shall be made for payment of royalties to Author if he/she resides outside the USA. Any withheld royalties shall be paid immediately upon contract termination. Publisher will provide a written report of sales with payment and provide any further reasonable information relevant to sales of the work upon author's request.

Publisher will keep accounts of all receipts and expenditures regarding the Work, and these accounts will be available for Author's inspection. Author may, on reasonable notice, through his/her designated representative, examine Publisher's records that relate to the Work. Such examination shall be at Author's expense, unless errors in excess of 5% of royalties or other sums due the Author by the Publisher shall be found in Author's favor. In that case, Publisher shall defray all reasonable costs of the examination and pay Author any sums due, up to the amount owed Author by Publisher, within thirty (30) days.This contract is entered into in good faith, and signatures from all parties named herein indicate acceptance and agreement to the terms described herein.

Now tell me, dear reader, what is going on? Can you guess? It is VERY obvious that Ocean's Mist Press and her owners have violated all contracts with the refusal to pay author royalties and has been incommunicado for months. I have even tried getting a hold of said publisher and as of today, this very moment, my email has gone unanswered. This is what I think...I think that publisher, Ocean's Mist Press is staying open, holding on the rights of their current authors and profiting from the sales from said authors' work without paying the portions stated in the contracts. Then, asking for new submissions so that new authors who have no idea what is going on will submit to them and get pulled into this tangled web that they are weaving for themselves. This is NOT right and is a travesty because somehow or another they should be held accountable.

Authors, read your contracts and see what it says about rights reversals. Then send said publisher and email, clearly establishing that because of this blatent violation of the contract that Ocean's Mist Press (OMP) has signed, your rights are now yours. CC yourself a copy of this email for future proof. Gather up all your royalty statement, be it cheque or paypal and keep them close to you because I have a feeling that very soon the shit will hit the fan with these people. The do not seem to understand that writers are people too. Some of these writers make their living from what little or lot they make from their work and Ocean's Mist Press refusal or whatever it is, to pay is theivery, no matter how they put it.

Another thing is, get a lawyer and examine their records. They said in your contract that you can...then do it! They may be thinking that you wouldn't so prove them wrong....that's the only way you will ever get your money or anything like that back.

To Noemi and Ocean's Mist Press: I know you are probably reading this and to you I have this to say: You should be ashamed of yourselves. People trusted you with their work, you signed a contract with them and then you screw them and take their money and the rights to their work when you have CLEARLY broken the contract by not paying them and don't give me the bullshit that they haven't sold anything. That is what MGP - Mardi Gras tried to pull on their authors. And if you are so in the clear, why the hell is your website still up and selling? You are trying to hook new authors who doesn't know any different and let me tell you, while I cannot legally tell them not to submit to you, I will do everything in my power to make sure that new authors learn about what you have done and are still doing to your authors. And in time, you will all reap what you sow.

Always watching you,
Writer Dish