We are delighted to bring you a charming story of a deal that seems to be a little cozier than appropriate. We are sure that most of you out there are aware that publishers have international units. Not all of those sales to small countries such as Djibouti are done to unaffiliated third parties*. If that were the case, we wouldn’t need to maintain words like “subsidiary” in the English language.
Two authors have sued Pearson for underreported royalties, in the range of of hundreds of thousands, due to apparent lowballing of sales.
As always we remain fascinated but woefully understaffed. If only there were someone out there who had the time and energy to find all the gory details. If there are hundreds of thousands in royalties available in international markets for books on business communications, we are willing to be become an instant expert.
* – Okay, maybe Djibouti is unaffiliated.
3 responses so far ↓
Lorra // Sep 14, 2005 at 7:57 am
Just more proof that the world is full of greedy *#*holes!
David Thayer // Sep 14, 2005 at 9:40 am
We bombed in Djibouti?
Booksquare // Sep 14, 2005 at 10:36 am
Sigh. Greediness is, I believe one of the seven basic human traits (formerly known as deady sins)…
I just love Djibouti — it’s like my favorite country to type because I hear the name as I’m writing it. As for the sales figures (and surely that’s what you’re referring to), I thought we’d agree to keep that a closely guarded secret?