Tag: #NotChilled

Dear Author/Jane Litte Defence Fund & Ellora’s Cave Update

October 5, 2014 / Kaetrin

Most of you will probably already know this. (I haven’t had a chance to get to the computer for a day or two to update the blog.) But better late than never as they say.

Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches Trashy Books has started up a Dear Author/Jane Litte defence fund at Go Fund Me.

Here are the details, from Sarah’s post:

Many people have been asking if and how they can contribute to Dear Author and Jane Litte’s legal defense in the defamation suit filed against her.

Consequently, and at Jane’s request, I have established and am administering The Dear Author Jane Litte Legal Defense Fund.

The Dear Author Jane Litte Legal Defense Fund will be run through Go Fund Me. Any donations made to this fund will be used for Jane Litte’s defense against the defamation suit filed against her and Dear Author Media Network LLC by Ellora’s Cave.

Why a fund?

Because lawsuits are expensive (that’s why they’re so often used as a threat, if you’ve ever wondered).

Because of that, and because the duration of the litigation is undetermined, Jane will need financial assistance. Jane’s attorney, Marc Randazza, is contributing by discounting his hourly rate. Even with a generous discount, it’s still expensive.

Jane Litte has set aside $20,000.00 of her own funds to fight this defamation suit and has paid the large retainer out of that amount, but that money will be depleted quickly as the case progresses.

How do I contribute?

If you’d like to donate to the legal fund, you can follow this link to the GoFundMe site, and make your donation. Please note: these are NOT tax deductible donations, as this is NOT a 501(c)3 not-for-profit
entity.

All funds will be used for Jane’s legal defense, minus the fees charged by GoFundMe, and because Jane does not know what the end result will be, she has no way of knowing what the total amount required will be. If the fees do not exceed $20,000, we will attempt to refund the donations per the GoFundMe policies. Countries with the following currencies are supported: $ USD, £ GBP, $ CAD, $ AUD and € EUR. I also want to make it clear that I will receive absolutely zero money for this project, and other than as administrator, I’m not involved in the litigation of this case. I’m the administrator of the fund itself at Jane’s request, but all donations go to Jane’s legal defense. If there are any funds left over when the suit is finished, they will be donated to the Society of Professional Journalists Legal Defense Fund.

Anonymous donations are accepted, and we will not reveal your identity if you chose to donate anonymously.

It may seem that because $20,000 is an enormous amount of money (and it is), that additional funds are not required. I would not have set up the legal defense fund if that were the case. Any amount that you can contribute is most appreciated. Thank you.

At the time of writing, the fund was already up to more than $44,000 which is AMAZING and AWESOME and shows how passionately bloggers and readers feel about free speech and about Jane’s contribution to the romance community.

Sonoma Lass also has a post about alternate ways to donate if Go Fund Me is a problem for you (and I understand if it is). My understanding is that Go Fund Me was chosen as the best of the practical alternatives for such a large funding goal with the big ticket item being an easy way of refunding the donations if they are not needed. In any event, you can use the PayPal address as suggested by Sonoma Lass or contact Sarah Wendell at Sarah AT SmartBitchesTrashyBooks DOT com.

Also, for some light entertainment (things have been so heavy lately, no?) I present to you this. Get out the popcorn (maybe also really tiny violins) and enjoy the meltdown.

#NOTCHILLED (STILL)

Signal Boost: Dear Author & Ellora’s Cave

October 1, 2014 / Kaetrin

I posted here about the lawsuit Ellora’s Cave and Jaid Black have taken against Dear Author and Jane Litte. Jane has requested assistance from Ellora’s Cave authors, editors and cover artists who have not been paid.

Courtney Milan has also posted about Jane’s request and makes an offer of her own for those who are worried about the confidentiality clauses in their contracts with Ellora’s Cave.

I don’t have any information which will help Jane. Boosting the signal (slightly) is about all I can do, so I’m doing that.

Echoing the Streisand Effect

September 28, 2014 / Kaetrin

As most of you would probably already know, Ellora’s Cave is suing the Dear Author blog and Jane Litte personally over this post: The Curious Case of Ellora’s Cave. Many many people, on various social media, have reported problems with Ellora’s Cave. Authors, editors and artists are reporting they are owed money, there are reports of people leaving the company and other strange goings on. Some authors were afraid to speak out. I guess the latest dick move on Ellora’s Cave’s part shows that to be a reasonable concern.

There’s not much I can do but whatever I can do, I will. And one of the things I can do, is publicise this monstrosity in my little corner of the romancelandia blogosphere. Jaid Black and Ellora’s Cave want to silence their critics. They want to shut down public discourse about their company. They want to scare people into silence. Sometimes, it pays to be careful what you ask for. Because sometimes, what you want is the opposite of what you get. Just ask Barbra Streisand.

I’m one of many bloggers, authors and readers who have come out in support of Jane, Dear Author and the blog post in question.

I won’t be buying, reading or reviewing any Ellora’s Cave books in future. I won’t give them 1 cent of my money. That said, Ellora’s Cave authors deserve our support and I’d urge people to consider buying books published with other publishers or direct from the author where possible. Continue reading