January
8, 2008
Textbook
authors allege Pearson Education manipulates royalty accounting
Courtland
L. Bovee and John V. Thill, authors of Excellence in Business
Communication and Business Communication Today, filed suit
on January 7, 2008 against Pearson Education, Inc. and its subsidiary
Prentice Hall in the United States District Court, Southern District
of New York alleging that the company has systematically breached
its contracts with the authors and acted in bad faith in order
to minimize the royalties it pays them.
"Ever since
Pearson Education became the corporate parent of Prentice Hall,
we have noticed changes in the way in which our royalties are
paid," said John Thill. The suit alleges that there is a pattern
of misstating and miscategorizing sales so that Pearson can maximize
its own profits at the expense of its authors.
The lawsuit
alleges, among other things, that despite specific contract provisions
related to sales by Pearson Education subsidiaries, the defendants
purport to license Bovee and Thill's works to its foreign subsidiary
companies for sale in foreign markets in order to pay royalties
based upon on a much lower license fee rather than upon the volume
of sales.
The suit
also alleges that Pearson engages in the systematic discounting
of Bovee & Thill LLC works. Rather than calculating royalties
on the "single copy price" of plaintiff's textbooks, Pearson Education
arbitrarily sets an unreasonably high "list price" for plaintiff's
books in order to take advantage of contractual royalty provisions
related to "high discount sales." Finally, Bovee & Thill take
issue with Pearson Education's treatment of "custom published"
editions of their work. Resembling allegations that have been
made by other authors against Pearson and other publishers, Bovee
& Thill's lawsuit alleges that Pearson Education reduced its
royalty payments by categorizing custom published works as "abridgements,"
in order to apply a lower royalty rate to their sale. Said Thill:
"Everyone knows that custom published works are not 'abridgments.'"
The suit alleges that Pearson Education ignores such accepted
industry definitions so that they can retain more profits for
themselves. "In our case, this practice results in the reduction
of our royalties by about one third," he said. Bijan Amini of
Storch Amini & Munves, the firm representing Bovee and Thill,
said: "Adding insult to injury, Pearson Education has consistently
refused our clients adequate access to their books and records.
While the lawsuit currently alleges a breach of contract, Pearson's
secrecy raises a distinct possibility that there is more lurking
in their books than meets the eye. We look forward to helping
our clients uncover any and all wrongdoing and to obtaining their
bargained-for earnings."
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2008 TAA
Conference presentation on writing a 'cross-over' book
Lawrence J.
Mullen, associate professor in the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism
and Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and
author of Las Vegas: Media and Myth (Rowan and Littlefield,
2007), will share strategies for writing a "cross-over" book:
an academic but highly readable book marketable to a much wider
audience, with his 2008 TAA Conference presentation, "Orientation
to Las Vegas' Most Colorful Characters." Mullen will share the
book's genesis as well as a candid assessment of how conducting
the scores of interviews reprinted in the book (of media, political,
and entertainment personalities) changed him and his understanding
of Las Vegas, a place he calls home. He will also share whether
he feels he succeeded with his cross-over book, and whether such
an undertaking can hurt or help an academic's career. Learn more
about this session and the 2008 TAA Conference: Click
here
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Breaking
Writer's Block: How to overcome the psychological inhibitions
that keep you from writing
Dr. Erin Oksol,
a licensed clinical health psychologist from the University of
Nevada, Reno's Student Health Center, will discuss the possible
causes of writer's block and share strategies to minimize and
move through it, during a 2008 TAA Conference session on writer's
block. Learn more about this session and the 2008 TAA Conference:
Click here
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Members
share sample textbook proposals
Not sure what
information to provide in your textbook proposal? View these sample
textbook proposals submitted by TAA members: Click
here (members only)
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Want to
expand the scope of your writing? Write outside your discipline
Nick Sciullo's
academic work has taken him outside of his study of law. He has
studied feminist theory, critical race theory, rhetorical theory,
literary studies, urban planning, and more. Says Sciullo: "In
order to keep people questioning and pondering, encourage broader
discussion of relevant issues, and develop an increasingly interested
and literate public, we must be able to do more than write inside
our comfort zone." Visit the TAA website to read his five suggestions
for making the process of writing outside your discipline easier:
Click
here
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How
to cut the clutter from your writing
Authors share
their methods for cutting clutter, wordiness, jargon, etc. from
their writing in a new Q&A in Authors Asking: Click
here
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How
to identify the right research topic for a dissertation
Authors share
their advice for how to identify a compelling research topic for
a dissertation in a new Q&A in Authors Asking: Click
here
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2008
TAA Conference Roundtable discussions
Four TAA members
have volunteered to moderate Roundtable Discussions at the 2008
TAA Conference: Mathematics author and former editor Don Collins
will moderate a Roundtable on K-12 Authoring & Publishing;
Authoring Attorney Michael Lennie, with Lennie Literary &
Authors Attorneys, will moderate a Roundtable on Contracts; Karen
Morris, author of "Hotel, Restaurant, and Travel Law", and " New
York Cases in Business Law", and a former TAA President, will
moderate a Roundtable on Self-Publishing; Michael Spiegler, a
successful textbook and academic author for more than 35 years
with several leading psychology textbooks, and presenter of the
conference workshop on Thursday on Authoring Textbooks, will moderate
a Roundtable on Working with Co-Authors. Roundtable Discussion
moderators are still needed for "Creating a Successful Author-Editor
Relationship" (how to form a good relationship with your editor
and why that is important), and other academic-related discussion
topics. What discussions related to academic authoring (writing
journal articles, book monographs, dissertations, etc.) would
you like to participate in? Send your ideas to Kim Pawlak at kmpawlak@centurytel.net
or call (608) 687-3106.
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Take
advantage of members-only editing discounts
Several editors
have agreed to provide up to a 20 percent discount for TAA members.
AuthorAssist, a boutique firm, tailors its services to client
requirements. They offer critiques, editing (copyediting, developmental
editing, substantive editing, proposal development, query development/agent
search, memoir writing, and individual coaching via e-mail.) They
have 15 + years of experience. Their fees are based on the status/length
of the material and type of services sought. Their specialty is
helping clients achieve clarity in their writing. The company
is offering a 20 percent discount to TAA members. Contact: Patricia
Benesh, 1109 Oliver Ave. #1, San Diego, CA 92109. Phone: (858)
483-7900. E-mail: pbenesh@authorassist.com
Website: http://authorassist.com
To view a
list of other editors offering discounts to TAA members: Click
here
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New
members can learn more about TAA by reading history, newsletter
archives
Are you a
new member who wants to learn more about TAA and its history of
assisting textbook and academic authors? TAA is celebrating its
20th year! Read about TAA's history, and the people who have made
it what it is today: Click
here. Visit the PDF archives of TAA's print member newsletter,
"The Academic Author": Click
here
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TAA
welcomes new members
Anthony Buffa,
Elizabeth Emery, Andre Gallardo, Anne L. Swigard
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TAA thanks
contributing member
John M. Ivancevich
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