Friday, June 29, 2012

Chicken Soup for the Soul Legal Dispute Settled

This morning in the Publishers Weekly newsletter I read the headline "Dispute Over Chicken Soup Brand Settled by HCI, CSSP" .  I became immediately interested and popped on over to the Publishers Weekly site and read the entire article, written by Jim Milliot.

Like me, several of my visitors have had works published in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, so I thought I'd share the above link in case others missed it and are interested in what's going on in the world of chicken soup. The focus of the dispute appears to be over rights to the backlist titles.

16 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting. I'm one of the co-editors for two of the books Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul and Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul. After the lawsuit, healthy royalties paid to us from HCI went away and we were told by the NEW publisher that we had a 5-figure NEGATIVE royalty on the books. It will be interesting to see if this changes anything--but I doubt any of us will ever see another dime.

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    1. Hi Amy,
      That stinks!
      I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes with the lawsuit. Hope you get paid what you're due.
      Donna

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    2. Amy -- we're CSS coauthors, too, and the same thing happened to us. We lost 85% of our income overnight because of the lawsuit. Would love to compare stories with you offline -- Dahlynn@PublishingSyndicate.com. Please contact me. Thanks.

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    3. Hi Dahlynn,
      I'll send Amy your e-mail address so you can compare notes.
      Good luck!
      Donna

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    4. Thanks. We've been waiting for this day for many years...interesting to see what happens. After 10 years with Chicken as a coauthor, I have created a competing anthology -- "Not Your Mother's Book...[subtitle]." It's a new anthology for a new century and I invite you and your fans to submit stories! www.PublishingSyndicate.com Thanks!

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  2. Very interesting. Is nothing calm and easy anymore...smile.

    Stay cool out there,Donna, and have a good weekend ahead.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Claudia,
      Thanks. Who knew this was going on behind the scene?

      Staying cool might not be too easy with temps around 108 yesterday and today.

      Donna

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  3. I had to go check to see if my last check might not clear! ;-)

    Sounds like Chicken Soup will be around for a long time to come, huh?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cathy,
      I think they will be around for a long time as long as their books and products sell.
      Donna

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  4. Interesting - thanks for sharing.

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  5. I had no idea that was going on. Hope the settlement solves the issues to everyone's satisfaction.

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  6. Donna--Thanks for enlightening us...and for creating a forum for some writers/editors to connect.

    As a rather inexperienced writer, with only a few publishing credits under my belt (unlike you, Donna, along and Alice and Linda), I have had a great experience with CS and recently, with the Publishing Syndicate's NYMB series. In fact, one of the NYMB editors for the "On Dogs" book actually emailed me, politely asked if I would make a minor revision (without it, the story would not be considered) and encouraged me to send another story (when I noted I had several dog stories).

    I would strongly recommend that freelancers out there check out www.publishingsyndicate.com because they have dozens of titles--many of them do not even have deadlines yet.

    And thanks, again. This was a wonderful, informative post, Donna.

    This dialogue is eye-opening...

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    Replies
    1. Hi Sioux,

      Thanks for you comment and wise observation.

      My experience with CSS has also been positive. I plan to continue to submit to CSS, and with luck maybe I'll get an occasional acceptance.

      I've also heard good things about Publishing Syndicate and plan to send something to them. Congratulations on your good news from PS. One of these days I hope we will have stories in the same anthology.

      Donna

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