Things are about to change...I hope. And the authors need YOU

By Bianca Sommerland - October 06, 2014

Ellora's Cave vs Dear Author

So, I didn't jump on writing a post right away because there are so many others who are well informed and can give you the dirt. And seriously, that's what it is. I've been through this before when Noble was going under and I can tell you, there's no worse position to be in when you're an author.

Now, I can't say for sure it's exactly the same, because many EC authors are afraid to speak up and tell anyone how bad it really is. I'm doing my best to support them anyway because I can imagine what they're going through. For myself, since I became a full time author, late payments, or not getting payments at all threw my whole world into chaos. Suddenly money I was depending on to pay my rent, my bills, and food for my kids, wasn't there. I wasn't sure if it would ever come. Talk of bankruptcy filled me with dread because all my hard work, my books which are my babies, could be trapped with everything else the publisher 'owned'. Just another asset.

That's some scary shit. But in the end, I got lucky.

I don't know if the EC authors will get lucky, but I do know they've got some wicked support with big steel cojones. Dear Author, who I wasn't a huge fan of because they were mean to some of my favorites--gotta be honest here--is part of that support.

You might wonder how, and might even ask yourself WGAF about headbutting between a big pub and a big blogger. Well, it's simple. If the pub wins, and bloggers are afraid to report the truth--or share information in a way that makes it easier for people to LEARN the truth--then you won't see much of it in the future. You'll see exactly what the pubs, the powers that be, want you to see.

I could get into this, but instead, I'm gonna share some links and let you read more if you're interested. The point is I see a change coming. A lawsuit like this has never happened before. Authors, industry professionals (editors, cover artists, etc) and readers alike have put their money where their mouth is in standing behind Dear Author and raising enough money for a strong case with a damn good lawyer.

My biggest concern while all this is going down is how the authors are fairing. So I'm going to continue to share non-EC books by the Ellora's Cave authors and welcome them to share their books in the comments. PLEASE consider looking through the comments if you're looking for something to read.

There's also this list if you feel like adding a nice pile of books to your TBR: http://tinyurl.com/q8v8vhy

We're calling it The Blacklist. Some of the authors there aren't EC authors, but they have donated to the defense fund for Dear Author and have their fellow authors' backs! <g>

Before I share the links for info on everything, here's a pic I think is very fitting. Shows how many of us feel about how things were gonna turn out when EC tried to silence DA!