I hope that this is a cure for blinding greed.

God bless Miss Snark, and the folks at Writer Beware, because otherwise young whippersnapper writers like me would go broke. ^_^

Le mot juste might be liable as: AuthorHouse found liable.

If Brock had gone to Lulu, could they have been held liable?

where are the lines drawn for liability between publisher and author? I thought publishers were exempt from getting sued if their bomb-building book contained an incorrect formula and a reader blew their arm off. Did I miss something?

I'm sure that Patrick and Teresa can tell us more than anyone needs to know about the liability of US publishers for defamation, but it seems to me that Autrhorhouse walked right into this one, in what might almost be a Wile E. Coyote moment. Publishing a book the author tells you another publisher suspected of being libellous is like strapping JATO rockets to your roller skates.

Yup. We can't be sued for giving bad advice, as Greg London observes; but it's easy to make a case for libel. Cases have been successfully pursued when all the house did was send out a half-dozen copies of the manuscript to solicit advice about whether the contents were actionable.

The law hasn't yet gotten around to addressing the fact that it's now possible to publish a book without reading it. I don't believe printers and binders are liable for the content of the books they manufacture. I find it very amusing that the basis of AuthorHouse's liability (and possibly PA's as well) is their claim that they're real publishers.

Loath though I be to contradict our hostess (and willing though I be to contradict everybody else) one of the leading cases is Chilton - once upon a time Chilton Books as publisher advised using a screwdriver as a prybar to remove freeze plugs. Of course it was held out to be a book of expert advice by experts on how to do things with substantial puffery. Still I'd expect the precedent to be solid where applicable.

As I trust everyone knows a screwdriver should never be used as a prybar - ranks right up there with hitting one hammer face against another hammer face as hardened parts are more brittle. Chilton lost

See also Paladin Press on how to be sued for selling a book on how to be a hitman.

The Poor Man's James Bond is of course full of bad advice - I'm pretty sure the whole question of whether some authority sought to poison anarchists with the Anarchist's Cookbook has been discussed hereabouts.

Man, talk about the best of all worlds. You get money for being the victim of libel, AND the libel is vanity-press published, so nobody's actually even seen it.

This is a bad precedent that threatens First Amendment rights.

You may not like vanity publishers. Still, if a publisher's business model is that they will print whatever someone wants as long as they get paid the materials cost, distribution cost, plus a profit, then shouldn't they be treated as a common carrier? Do you think an ISP should be able to get sued for libel because of statements made by one of its subscribers? I don't see how this is any different. The law should not encourage people to be spies, especially where it would have a chilling effect on free speech.

I'd just as soon junk libel laws entirely. It's so difficult to win a libel judgment in most cases that it's virtually a crap shoot. Rush Limbaugh has the dirtiest mouth on radio - how many times has he been sued for libel? Most libel cases I see involve rich and powerful people who want to shut up their critics.

Firebug, the business model you describe isn't publishing, it's printing. If AuthorHouse hadn't claimed to be a publisher, they wouldn't be liable for issues related to content. My understanding is that AuthorHouse's mistake (legally) was in purporting to be a publisher - i.e., to exercise some selection about the content printed - while behaving as a printer.

Rush Limbaugh hasn't been sued for libel because libel is only written slander.

I think that, so long as we have free speech, we have to allow people to seek redress for speech that is false and harmful.

Many of those individuals do get sued for libel or slander as the case may be. Many of them lose or settle out of court. The problem is that the damage has already been done by the time the courts get involved. If there were no libel or slander laws, the media would be safe for virtually no one.

I love Ms. Brandewyne's name, it suggests whole realms of possible pen names. I shall be Gwathló Lune, or perhaps Ringló Morthond.

Niall McAuley: How about Tharbad Greyflood?

Tinfang Warble?

/*I thought publishers were exempt from getting sued if their bomb-building book contained an incorrect formula and a reader blew their arm off. Did I miss something?
*/

the hitman affair

*splrt*

When Teresa jests, keyboards die.

Martini deWinter
(Sophisticated tales of the poorly imagined rich, like "Footballers' Wives" but, you know, hot.)

Maxine Ginsling
(Exoticish-locale adventures featuring two-bit Bogarts, one-bit Bacalls, and debituated Lorres.)

Danvers* Fabrique-Chaudiere
(Decadent stories set, as the cover says, "on the very fin of the siècle," in a Paris as real as any in Nevada. Phantoms optional.)

Scrumpy Manderley
(Clean but honest peasants doing clean but honest things amid the manicured fiefs of the suburban Middle Ages. Magic depending on which way the wind is blowing.)

*pron. "Dahn-VAIR."

Nicole: Does this mean you hadn't heard of Tinfang Warble before?

AuthorHouse is nothing BUT a bunch of Predators and they deserve every lawsuit against them that anyone could EVER file. I had one book with them mistakingly once. They were TRULY all about getting the money. They lied to me about having read mine before publishing it, although mine contained nothing that would hurt anyone in a lawsuit, but it was selling just a FRACTION of what it sells now. Authorhouse cancelled my contract on a DIME, when I questioned them about my royalties in 2005. I had sold over 1,000 books this one week when a school ordered them. The books were $26.00 a pop, and Authorhouse sent me a check for only $98.00. When I asked them where was the REST of my money, their story was that Authorhouse was NOT set up to pay me what I was "supposed" to get when it was supposed to. They cancelled my contract, send me an additional $100.00, and I never heard from the assholes again. I am GLAD to hear that they lost $200,000.00 to that writer JUST last year. Happy for "everyone" who has the opportunity to sue this messed up place. They have hid under more names than the law allow. I have NEVER received the full royalty checks that I were due. I have a different Vendor that puts my books out there now, and I am making ten times the amount that I was with Authorhouse. I recommend these VAMPIRES to No One. As a matter of fact, I spend my days telling this story and advising everyone I come across NOT to utilize these people. That woman sued the right people. Sue them again, and bring their asses down!

Sounds as if the DC author did not understand the agreement. I have published with Authorhouse and they have been very dependable for me. ALL publishers are in business to make money. If not why would they still be in business?
At the end of the day you find that many authors on these sites that complain about their book NOT selling is typically because of 3 reasons:

1. The book is crap.
2. There is not a marketing plan in place.
3. Lack of funding for marketing.

Unless you are able to show you have a market for your book you will never receive substantial support of any publisher.
Also I hate it when folks say that Authorhouse is not a publisher, because it is and it is NOT a printer. If you look at the definition of both terms you would be pressed to define them as a printer.

I have not read the case notes from the judge....has anyone? I do know that Kansas has an odd tort law in place about libel. So if the case was not in Kansas would the outcome be different.

Re. 21: You know how when you wash a bunch of socks and the number you take out of the dryer at the end is never equal to the number that went into the machine at the start?

I think I've figured out where they go.

In case Move on isn't some kind of footware, if condition 1 is the reason the book isn't selling, the publisher needs to hire a better editor either to reject the crap or to improve the manuscript before it becomes a book. In cases 2 and 3, they just aren't doing their job. So if we accept your assertion that AuthorHouse is a publisher, they clearly are not a very good one.

I agree with the last person, AuthorHouse is actually one of the few publishing houses that is not just a printer, they are run by authors, who understand the writing business.

This has been very interesting. I have not had experience with AuthorHouse, but have read about them. It is in the same boat as PublishAmerica, which I have dealt with in recent years. (Currently, they agreed to revert all rights back to me, the author)

A vanity publisher is a vanity publisher regardless what they claim to be. Self-publishing should never require an author to "sign away their rights" with an authentic publishing contract! Publishing Houses are not vanity publishers.

Preditors & Editors is a great source for learning the good, bad, and the ugly about publishers, editors, agents, etc. They give great advice and links to find your way around in the dark world of publishing.

After many hours (years actually) of researching while completing my novels, I have boiled the cabbage down to two options:

l) Seek an agent and thus if good enough, shoot for the stars (REAL Publishing Houses)

2) Become a publisher - pay a printer to print your book; retain all rights; learn how to market, sell and distribute your book. Spend all your time trying to sell the first novel and forget about ever having the time to write the next one.

(just a note on the second choice: better begin putting away every dime you can because it is NOT a cheap choice)

In response to comment #22- AuthorHouse is a SELF PUBLISHING COMPANY. They do not help authors improve their manuscript. They do not market the book. It's a publishing company for people who feel like actually doing the leg-work to make their book a success. So, in other words, if you're looking to partake in a get-rich-quick scheme and think "hmm, self publishing, that'll be easy" and slop together some awful children's book, thinking the public won't know the difference between a good children's book and garbage, then yeah. You'll hate AuthorHouse. If you've spent more than a month writing something you're proud of that can appeal to the public, know anything about marketing and can actually invest your time and money into marketing it, then you'll love this self-publishing company.

People just expect the publisher to carry them through the process and hold their hands until their book is a best seller. Some traditional publishers do. AuthorHouse doesn't. If you're not serious about actually devoting yourself to a quality book and to marketing, then do not choose a SELF PUBLISHING company.

WTF indeed, matey. No editing, no marketing, why on earth would you call that a publishing company? Writing is not so easy a job that I would advise people to take on marketing, proofreading, editing, and accounting as well, on the same book.

You may not realize it, but there are actual professional writers hanging out here; they know what publishing companies do, and it does not involve the publisher holding their hands and magically making it a best seller.

It's kind of suggestive how this ancient thread keeps drawing in pro-Authorhouse comments, explaining how it isn't a bunch of crooks.

Yes, self-publishing is a lot more work for the author, and there can be a bit of vanity in the author's motives. But self-publishing doesn't require you to do business with crooks.

I'm tempted to get a printed copy of my NaNoWriMo book, just because I can, but it'll be an honest print-on-demand deal, for printing something that I hope is half-way competent.

And the only way I'd want to touch Authorhouse with the proverbial ten-foot pole would be by dropping it from orbit.

I've had a contract with authorhouse for a while. Short and sweet advice for anyone looking at self-publishing: avoid AH!! They are fantastic before you sign your contract, but have the amazing skill of being hard to get in touch with once they have your money. The quality and attention to detail of their 'designers' is beyond a joke. Save your money. Go with Lulu or someone else instead!

A lot of you have bad things to say about Author House, I'm glad I did my research before signing up with them. Can anyone give me some advice on where to actually go to get a children's book published? I have no illustrations at all. While I can write, I am not gifted in the art department.

Can anyone give me some advice on where to actually go to get a children's book published?

Go to a bookstore. See all those books on the shelves? Find ones like yours. See who published them. Get those publishers' guidelines. Follow the guidelines to the letter. If the guidelines say "agented works only," find out who represented those books and submit your work to those agents, following the agents' guidelines to the letter.

I have no illustrations at all. While I can write, I am not gifted in the art department.

That's good, because usually the publisher wants to pick the artist. NOTE: You do not pay the artist, the publisher does.

Meanwhile, you might want to hook up with SCBWI, and you'll definitely want to start working on your next book.

Can anyone give me some advice on where to actually go to get a children's book published?

In addition to what Jim posted (he's a published author, I'm not) your local library should have a copy of Writer's Market for recent years.

Check it out from the library - or buy a copy if you're so inclined - and you should find in it specific sections on a wide variety of genres, who publishes them, and how best to submit manuscripts to those publishers, including (I think) a section on children's books. You'll find that a much cheaper and more useful investment of time and money than getting pulled into a fraudulent vanity publishing house.

Thanks guys, that's a great way to start. I have 2 books to be what I consider completed and am working on a third now. I've been writing them for my daughter and she loves them so I thought maybe other children would as well. Hopefully you'll see me on the shelves at some point!

Remember, from an author's point of view, publishing is a long, slow, and frustrating process. Don't get discouraged.