Beware Raven Tale Publishing

[Raven Tale Beware]

Beware Raven Tale Publishing!

In 2023, Raven Tale Publishing (an imprint of Dusty Saddle Publishing) signed an author to a multi-book contract. Sounded too good to be true. It was.

Red Flag #1: The contract was dated 2022, therefore it was immediately null and void. (Yes, the author should�ve read this more closely, but then again, the publisher should�ve realized this error and updated the contract.)

The author offered the publisher a trilogy upfront, all manuscripts complete and ready to submit. The author submitted the first of the trilogy, which was then published by Raven Tale.

According to the contract, any payment would be:

�{30%} of Royalties received from Client�s outlets, for Contractor�s work only, paid on or around the 4th day of each month.�

Red Flag #2: When the 4th day of the first month arrived, there was no payment in the author�s PayPal account. When the author asked the Chief Publicist why this was, the author was told:

�Paid via PayPal on the 4th of each month after the first 60 days. Please send all enquiries to [email protected].�

Red Flag #3: The mention of the first 60 days was not included in the contract.

Red Flag #4: The Chief Publicist did not want to be contacted directly via his email.

Red Flag #5: The author then waited for the first 60 days to pass, but payment was still not received in his PayPal account.

Red Flag #6: When the book was published on Amazon, the author had revisions for the blurb, which were not implemented. Plus, the author�s name was not as he wished, instead, the publisher chose to keep the blurb they wrote and chose a different version of the author�s name. The author let these two things slide because, well, he was happy to be published, so he compromised and didn�t push back against the errors of the publisher.

The author sent the second manuscript of the trilogy approximately four months after the first manuscript was published.

Red Flag #7: No email was sent acknowledging the receipt of the second manuscript, and no communication was forthcoming from anyone who worked for Raven Tale that they were in possession of the second manuscript.

(When the author asked if the first manuscript had made any money in the first four months of publication, he was told that it had made just over $10. So some money had been made.)

A month after having sent the second manuscript to the publisher and receiving no reply, the author communicated directly to the Chief Publicist about the lack of communication recognizing the second manuscript, as well as the lack of payment for the first manuscript.

The reply from the Chief Publicist was the following:
�Absolutely as soon as I�m back home on Friday I�ll have this fixed for you. Will get the royalties ready for you, and find out the editing progress of the book.�

Later on, when the Chief Publicist returned to his office, he emailed the author, saying:
�You have a royalty check coming on the fourth of September. Just got you added to the list. I have your PayPal on record to send it to.
We would be looking to publish your next instalment this year, absolutely.�

Red Flag #8: None of the above occurred. The author was not paid and the second installment was not edited by Raven Tale staff, nor was it published.

To this date, 2024, the author has still not received any payment for the single published work, nor has any further works been published.

The author�s question to the publisher: why? Why was this done to an author who had no previous dealings with Raven Tale Publishing, who wrote the manuscripts himself (as opposed to having AI do it), and who had a strong CV in writing before contacting Raven Tale?

These dealings with Raven Tale Publishing essentially halted the author�s writing career since he felt all the work he had put into delivering a good product was immediately dismissed, negated, and lied about.

The Chief Publicist lied to and stole money from the author. Is this how Raven Tale interacts with writers submitting material to them?

As mentioned above, Raven Tale is the horror imprint of Dusty Saddle Publishing, which publishes western novels. Their other imprints are Fast Movers Publications, which publishes military historical fiction, and Magnolia Blossom, which publishes romance novels. Perhaps it would be good to be wary of these imprints as well.

You have been warned about Raven Tale Publishing. I can do no more. Good luck with your writing career, and hopefully it won�t be destroyed by, of all people, a publisher.