100 Meters From Shore, Part 2c: Constant Delays: The Documentary Evidence

In part 2b of this series I ended by questioning if the final two delays were insults.  Indeed they were.  And after you read the email exchanges and my observations and questions concerning them, I think you'll see why and agree. 

So let's get to them.


     Delay 3

On August 21, 2012 I received this email from the PWP lead formatter.  It is cited in a string of emails. 

**********

From: "omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com" <omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com>
To: Lal Wynstrom
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 11:18 AM
Subject: Re: status

Hello,

We had a bad storm a few weeks ago and it affected our servers.

(They) would not have made any changes after the final proofread.

I have a file but because everything was reloaded all the dates are the same. I'm just trying to be thorough and insure I have the most current file. 

(name omitted)
Team Lead
Formatting
Passionate Writer Publishing

--- wynstromword@omitted wrote:

From: Lal Wynstrom <>
To: "<omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com>" <omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com>
Subject: Re: status
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 09:57:00 -0600

Server issues? For how long?

I can send that, however, (name omitted) received the last edit back in March. At that time (omitted) indicated that (omitted) do one last proofread. If (omitted) made any last moment corrections I was not privy to them, nor did I receive a copy back.

Thus what I'm saying is that the final version I have is the last version submitted before (omitted) may have made any corrections before forwarding it to you.

Would (omitted) have made any changes at that point without sending me a copy back per chance?

I'll send you what I have regardless.

On Aug 21, 2012, at 8:20 AM, <omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com> wrote:

Cedric,

Do to some server issues I want to ensure I'm working on the last update file for you. Please email me the final edit you finished. Thanks.

(name omitted)
Team Lead
Formatting
Passionate Writer Publishing

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Mind you that when I first got the 8/21 email I thought it was the formatting team sending me my copy of the format so that I could work on it for the following 30 days; I was eager to get to work, make sure it was flawless, and get it back to PWP so that the last leg toward publication could be accomplished.

Nothing was further from that goal.  Instead, I was told that my manuscript may have been lost or confused with another, previous version of the story due to an Act of God!  That is, because a "bad storm" had affected their systems, their files had been reset with the same dates on them.  This server error caused confusion that further delayed progress. 

This delay is not major because of time, but because of its circumstance and what that circumstance may have meant if not swift action on my part had not taken place.  For you see publication could have been delayed by days, weeks, even a month or more if I had not found a reserve copy of the manuscript on my personal computer and resent it that same day.

However, you can imagine how put out I was after months and months of persistent stalls toward the finish line.  I actually began to wonder if PWP was trying to renege on the contract and back out, but make it look as if these matters were just accidents and the regular problems of a publishing house.  I couldn't prove this thought, and after a while, dismissed it.

But let's go on to the next email which represents the final straw that broke the camel's back, as it were.

     Delay 4

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

7:38 AM

FROM: omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com

TO: Lal Wynstrom

Hello,

I'm giving you a heads up. I had to leave my home due to the hurricane. When I came back the bottom level was had been flooded but is draining. There's been a lot of damage. I need to take care of things and will be off for the next 7-10 business days.

(name omitted)
Team Lead
Formatting
Passionate Writer Publishing

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OK, so the lead formatter had very bad weather damage to their home due to a hurricane. 

Understandable.

It is also understandable that they would've needed to take time away to handle the matter.  However, to keep things going and on track, my followup question came in the form of this email, which was never answered.

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Thursday, September 6, 2012

3:07 PM

FROM: Lal Wynstrom

TO: omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com

 

Forgot to ask: since you'll be away for the next 10 days, how far along is the formatting at this point?

Also, is it possible for me to get a sample of the formatting? I'd like to get a feel for what I'll be looking at once it's all complete and the whole thing is sent for my review.

**********

I believe this question was never answered because the lead formatter had already departed to take care of the personal matter that required their attention.  So be it.  However, the signature below their emails always said "Team Lead."  Therefore, I got to thinking: since they'll be away for 7-10 days, and since that will further push back publication by another 4-6 weeks, can not other team members work on the story while they're away?

An aside: Why did I say 4-6 weeks?  Because the lead formatter was taking two weeks off.  With their return, another 2 weeks would pass while they worked on the formatting.  Then I'd receive it and look over it for another 30 days as was always given.  After that, another 10-15 days would pass before PWP uploaded the finished story to its various distribution networks. 

So in totality we could've been talking about another month to month and a half before publication.  This meant that an early-mid November 2012 release would have been the agenda at that point.  Waaaaay off the mark of a July or August 2012 release I was earlier told would take place.

However, back to the Format Lead's 2-week hiatus and my manuscript's delay.

In absence of an answer from the format lead, I directed my question to Administration.  This was the answer I received.

**********

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

8:13 AM

 

 

FROM: omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com

TO: Lal Wynstrom

Cedric,

Sorry for the delay I've been in meetings. By the way this is (name omitted). (Name omitted) has been promoted.

Because (name omitted) had already started formatting prior to being leaving (their) home no one else can touch the file. It would create a mess as it will be hard to tell where (they) left off and what (they) was going back through to update.

(name omitted)

Client Services
www.passionatewriterpublishing.com

**********

So now I would have to wait an additional 2 weeks while the format lead came back.  And while the above explanation seemed reasonable, surely someone could have worked on the story with the format lead's input/direction, told them where the lead had left off so that the other team member(s) could pick up and finish, and then get the final format to me on time.

But no, that was not to be the case!

This explanation was what got me thinking: Was PWP trying to deliberately stall this endeavor for some reason?  I couldn't have fathomed why that would be, especially since so much time, money, and effort had been put into the story at this point. 

So why was all this happening?

But these constant roadblocks to publication had reached a new level, a high watermark that, to me, were unprecedented, making all these actions, when considered as a whole, very suspect.  There had been so many delays for one reason or another that the reasons themselves had become absurd.  And they long ago began to suggest something to me beyond technical problems or Acts of God.

They suggested that something irregular was happening at PWP itself.  And that that something had nothing to do with me alone, but that I was becoming swept up in machinations that were going on behind the scenes, and which PWP did not want to address with its authors. 

That is, they did not want anyone outside of their inner circle to know just how much (how badly) they were being effected by whatever it was.

But what was it? 

    Financial problems?

    Personnel/employee matters?

    Legal concerns?   

It was at this point that I really started to seriously reevaluate my relationship with PWP and thoroughly reconsider the notion of canceling my contract - whatever the consequences to publication - and just moving on.  It was also at this point that I entertained contacting an attorney.  Trust had become an issue, and this whole thing had become absolutely ridiculous.  And I think you can see why.

A story, a manuscript on which we had begun work in earnest back in August 2011, a work that could have been completed in five, six, perhaps eight months at the outset, had now taken well over a year, and was threatening to stretch into a full year and a quarter, or more!

I'd lost all remaining patience.  And with friends, relatives, and acquaintances (many of whom had been kept in the loop, and who were looking forward to a release) all suggesting that something quite fishy was going on, I was becoming quite nervous.  I asked myself frankly: "What in bloody hell is going on?!" but could get no answers.  I therefore had little choice but to wait in angst for the format lead's return.

On September 20, 2012 that return came.  I got this email.

 

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Thursday, September 20, 2012

7:03 AM

FROM: omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com

TO: Lal Wynstrom

Hello,

Today is my first day back. I'm midway through your manuscript.

(name omitted)
Team Lead
Formatting
Passionate Writer Publishing

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At last!  Hopes were rising again.  We were finally, FINALLY going to get back on track and get this over with!  I sent a reply email to the format lead that same day.

**********

Thursday, September 20, 2012

10:36 AM

FROM: Lal Wynstrom

TO: omitted@passionatewriterpublishing.com

Welcome back (name omitted).  I hope everything is working out for you on your damaged home.

About when should I look to get the finished format?

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This was the final communication I would have with anyone at PWP before the Day of Infamy, the 10/1/12 cancellation email.

The End Dreweth Near

Two weeks of silence passed.  The format lead did not communicate back with me - not on that same day of September 20th, or any other subsequent day after that, until Monday, October 1, 2012.

It was when this Berlin Wall of Silence was thrown up that my heart sank and I knew - I knew - something drastic, monumental even, was about to happen. 

And not for the better.

I waited with concern, consulting my relatives, friends, and trying to figure out what next moves I needed to take.

We are reaching the end of this series of blogs, and I will chronicle those last steps in this (hopefully) final, upcoming blog.

Until then...

To the upward reach of man.