[EDITOR’S NOTE]
This post comes from a difficult time. There were many misunderstandings, none of which were helped by the geographic distances between all the parties involved. Anchorage – New York – Seattle isn’t always the best route to anything.
The good news is that everything was resolved quite to the satisfaction of all parties. Please see Getting to Go for the latest update.
[Ed. note: Flip Todd is a great guy, actually. You just have to get to know him, as I had the chance to in November 2013.]
Deprecated Stuff
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The following is the text of a letter sent to Philip Todd of Todd Communications in Anchorage, Alaska, by our literary agent. Mr. Todd took the liberty of republishing “Butcher, Baker” without permission. Of course we know why: he wanted to take advantage of all the publicity surrounding the movie, “The Frozen Ground,” and the fact that the movie and book deal with the same subject, serial murderer Robert Hansen. For him, it was apparently a quick buck. For us, it was more like a quick f**k. At this writing, Todd Communications has yet to pay us a dime.
[Ed. Note: This was happily resolved in November 2013, with a payment of back royalties.]
Dear Mr. Todd,
This letter, written on behalf of my clients Leland Hale and Walter J. Gilmour, the authors of Butcher, Baker, is to inform you that they find your Letter of Intent, dated November 8th, 2011, expressing your desire to continue distributing their book, entirely unacceptable. I must advise you that you have no right to print or distribute the work and you are in violation of the authors’ copyright. I must demand that you cease your publication and distribution of their book, and I would appreciate your letting me know that you have done so.
Sincerely,
Robert Lescher
I am, of course, monitoring things on Amazon. One of the great services Amazon has on offer is called “Author Central” and it lets you track book sales across a number of criteria. It’s a great tool. I’m tracking it daily.
BTW, at last look (January 4, 2012) the book is still available on Amazon.
[Ed. Note: The books on offer from Amazon are all from wholesalers who purchased the book from the publisher, Todd Communications. The publisher no longer controls sales once the wholesaler makes the purchase.]
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