Hey all.
Obviously, I’d rather be working on other things behind the scenes – writerly type stuff – but as September 24th, 2024 would’ve been the three month anniversary of when my novella “When I Look…” should’ve been released through DarkLit, I messaged a few folks from the former DarkLit family to ask if any progress had been made, and as none had, I decided it was a solid time to once again remind folks that the authors remained in the dark on a lot of things with what was actually happening behind the scenes. I posted a social media post – factual again, as that is key when dealing with issues of business – this isn’t, nor ever was a personal thing. The authors signed a contract with DarkLit to have their books published and as such would be compensated accordingly. With almost every author that I reached out to telling me they’ve still not received sales data, or any follow ups, I posted that. As well, a number of the DarkLit books were still listed for sale on Amazon and Ingram, which had many of us question just where were those royalties going for those books? There were still the ongoing questions regarding the refusal to pay Austrian Spencer his editing fees owed. The questions posed online about why Hedone had taken over the DarkLit Kickstarter. There was much unanswered and the piece that Publishers Weekly had originally posted – but was later edited with no posted notice of correction – changing the entirety of the piece – didn’t do anything to draw things to a conclusion.
So, on the 3-month date, I posted this;
Later that evening, Caitlin Marceau emailed some of the DarkLit authors. I read the email, messaged a few of the other authors to get their takes, and then formulated a reply, which I sent on the morning of September 25th, 2024. A few hours later, Caitlin emailed me back directly. Originally, I stated in my reply that I wouldn’t post the emails publicly. After reading Caitlin’s reply, I reached out to a few of the DarkLit authors again, and seeing as how there was still some factual inaccuracies within Caitlin’s reply to me, we took a vote and decided to post the entirety of the three emails – Caitlin’s first email to five or six of us, my reply, and Caitlin’s reply to me. As the screenshots are small, I’ve decided to copy and paste the text here, for ease of reading, but have included them at the bottom, so that full transparency can be seen that nothing between the emails and what was posted have been altered.
Caitlin’s email to the group;
Tue, Sep 24, 8:07 PM
‘Hello all,
It was brought to my attention that there was another post made on social media about DarkLit Press today. The post mentioned that there was a lack of transparency concerning important information pertaining to authors, despite this same information having been sent to everyone via Discord, mentioned in author meetings, flagged as an important announcement, and sent via email back in July during the rights reversal process for each of you. Despite this, I thought I would reiterate this information one final time.
As previously mentioned, the payout periods are once every three months to account for the payment delays from both KDP and Ingram (which are 60 and 90 days respectively). As the last royalty payment was made in early July, the next one is this October. If you didn’t receive a payment with a statement in July, then it’s because we had no sales information or royalties for your book at that time. This is either because there were no sales for your book or, a more likely scenario, because your book wasn’t released during the royalty period that had been paid out. (For example, if you were an author who had a book published in June and KDP takes 60 days to pay royalties out, while Ingram tkes 90 days to pay royalties out, then you wouldn’t have received anything in July.) Additionally, as the books were all taken down from KDP and Ingram at the end of June and July (depending on the title), the final payment for these royalties is this October.
Again, as mentioned several times across multiple channels, the KDP terms of service clearly state that any returned stock, pre-printed copies, or inventory they ordered from Ingram can be sold even after the title has been removed from all sales channels. Furthermore, Ingram has a legal obligation to fulfill any open orders from before the books were taken down and they have 180 days to continue displaying these titles in their catalogue (even if they’re not possible to be purchased). Again, unfortunately there is nothing we can do about these terms of service.
For anyone who is not sure what to do about the remaining stock being listed on Ingram, please know that I’m happy to call KDP to see if there’s any way for people to purchase the remaining copies of their work as author copies, or to see if there’s a way for them to discount the books to try and liquidate them. Again, because the books are being sold as limited stock by Amazon and NOT as print-on-demand titles available from DarkLit Press, there’s no guarantee that they will be able to accommodate these requests but I’m willing to call for anyone interested. But please know that beyond this, there’s nothing more that I can do to help.
I also wanted to mention that I know some of you have reached out in the last week or two to ask if we can remove DarkLit Press as the co-author on your books. Unfortunately, because the books are unpublished, any edits we make to their metadata won’t be reflected in the listings unless we republish the books themselves. And, understandably, that’s not an option I’m entertaining. Additionally, even when the books were actively being published we struggled to get the DLP co-author title removed despite changing things in KDP. I believe the best solution is to call Amazon Author Central and see if they can remove DarkLit Press as an author. It should be easy enough to prove that DLP was the former publisher of the work, not the co-author, and they should hopefully be able to make the necessary changes.
Lastly, I would like to remind everyone that Andrew is still the legal owner of DarkLit Press and responsible for all matters relating to your books. Despite resigning from my position as EiC back in July, I’ve remained available via email and made sure funds were paid out to authors despite no legal obligations to continue assisting with this publishing house. Please note that once the final payment has been made next month, I will no longer be responding to questions or requests pertaining to DarkLit Press and strongly encourage people to reach out to Andrew.
Regards,
Caitlin’
My reply;
Wed, Sept 25th, 2024, 10:08AM
‘Caitlin,
Your email arrived last night, which I read, and full disclosure – a few messages were sent around between those who received it and a DarkLit author who did not. As is often the case, especially on social media, there can be a knee-jerk, reactionary response and I work hard to not do that. I’ve seen it time and time again, where somebody flies off the handle and gets worked up, when really some communication would’ve resolved the matter far before flames were stoked.
Such is the case with the email that was sent.
I’d like to note a few things here, as I believe they’re worth noting, and stood out to myself as well as other authors who have echoed the same sentiments online, or as you called it ‘another post made on social media.’
I’ll actually begin at the end of your email for this one, where you state that Andrew is the legal owner and you won’t be responding after October 1st, and that you resigned as EiC.
I understand you don’t want to accept any accountability or responsibility in what’s happened, it’s evident from the few responses we’ve all received and the online posting. The reality is – there was a big, massive press release posted in Publishers Weekly and across social media that indicated Andrew had handed the reins over to you and that you and your team had taken over. Additionally, the KDP accounts and Ingram accounts were handed over to you and your team. That act there is enough to ensure that you are responsible for DarkLit. There’s no formal paperwork showing that Andrew ever legally made DarkLit a company or a corporation. If you have the monetary accounts and the publishing accounts – even if DarkLit is closed and you’ve decided to not publish any more books from DarkLit – if the funds are flowing to you, you are responsible, not Andrew. Just because you state one thing, doesn’t abscond you from your fiduciary duties and your legal liabilities.
Every single author that worked with DarkLit knows how KDP works. We know how Ingram works. It seems to be your go to with re-iterating how they work, and we get it, it fills up a word count and gives the email bulk, but the fact is – several authors have never seen a single statement about sales or page reads since you and your group took over. I understand there’s missing months from when Andrew handed things over to you. But since that date, which is either March, April or May, depending on which email we’re to believe or comment in the former Discord group, several authors – myself included – have asked to see reports of sales and nothing has been delivered. I can log onto KDP right now, see how many books I’ve sold today, yesterday, this month, last week, the last three months or a custom time period, and within seconds a number pops up. You can see why, when asked, some are upset that nothing is delivered, other than the cut and paste KDP policy which is posted in their FAQ section online.
I also understand that based on when my own book was released, I’ve not yet hit the royalty payment time. But others have and though you stated in your email about when they were paid out, there are still authors messaging myself, others and posting on social media about not being paid. I’ve seen you claim that you also were missing royalties, and in that case, that’s 100% on you for not doing your own due diligence before agreeing to take over EiC responsibilities. But the authors who signed a contract and within that contract it was stated when they’d be paid, still haven’t been paid, that still falls on you for responsibility, as you have the accounts. Not the author who has to chase after what’s rightfully theirs. Those contracts became your responsibility when you took over from Andrew.
From the beginning, a number of us have been openly frustrated at the lack of communication and lack of transparency. This was heightened even more by you, personally, blocking a significant amount of us across social media. While that is your prerogative, I would also hope you see it as an inflammatory reaction and why some of us would be frustrated.
Within your email, you didn’t address that, nor the accusations you made in a previous online post – which I only saw through screenshots because of you having blocked me – where you labelled a number of us misogynists, which is very, very, very far from the truth. This might have been a reactionary moment on your part (see above), but it is also slanderous and should warrant a public apology at the very least. A number of us have day jobs that have professional codes of conduct, codes of ethics we must abide by and are put in positions of trust with individuals at risk and/or youths. Statements like that, online and for the wider population to see, can have long-lasting, real-world consequences, when there’s not a single shred of proof to substantiate such baseless claims.
The email you sent was also incredibly condescending in tone and at a few parts downright rude, which truly speaks to the lack of professionalism we’ve been dealing with since we started to ask for transparency and straight forward answers. We are not children. We are adults, who have contracts, who are looking for answers and responses. To have you claim that after October 1st you’ll no longer communicate about any of these matters is simply another way of you trying to put distance between yourself and your responsibility for the DarkLit books.
Going forward, it would be prudent for you to, at the very least,
– Issue a public apology for your mishandling of this situation – including, but not limited to, the naming and attempted shaming of Yolanda Sfetsos.
– Issue a public apology for calling a number of us misogynists.
– Send out statements for each author showing how many of their books have sold through Ingram up to and including current date, how many KU page reads, ebooks and physical books have sold through KDP/Amazon, how many audiobooks have been purchased through ACX.
– Release a dedicated statement regarding the path forward, including how those DarkLit authors who’ve been too afraid to speak up and/or email can be in contact with someone to get the answers they’re looking for.
While you may consider this specifically as a ‘Steve being a jerk’ issue, I assure you, it is nothing personal, purely business, and a number of the items above were presented by fellow DarkLit authors who do not want to go public for fear of losing writing opportunities. I have no problem being considered the ‘face’ of this group, as somebody needs to speak up and make sure those who are unable to have their say have a voice.
Do know, while I won’t publicly post screenshots of this email, I will be sharing that you have sent an email, and a response has also been sent. Transparency is crucial to having this process come to a conclusion, and while the conclusion of it will be welcomed, much like the ChiZine incident, this will be something that isn’t soon forgotten by many.
Steve’
Caitlin’s reply;
Wed, Sept 25th, 2025, 12:21PM
‘Hello Steve,
I received your email and wanted to address the key issues you brought up in it.
Any author that has asked for a sales report has been given them or shown them, as per their request. Additionally, everyone who was paid during the first week of July was sent a report pertaining to their sales data. If there was any confusion as to why someone didn’t receive a report, it was mentioned in their email that it’s because no sales were made. I apologize for any confusion that may have caused.
When it comes to my responsibilities pertaining to the closure of DarkLit Press, I’m responsible for making sure that the books are removed from KDP and Ingram (which they have been since June/July, depending in the title) and ensuring that everyone is paid for works sold between May 26th and–for titles that remained active–July 31st. We have paid out all authors for royalties earned last quarter during the first week of July and, as previously mentioned, will be paying out the balance for this quarter by October 1st. I would also like to reiterate that none of the DarkLit Press authors have had to hunt the previous editorial team down to collect royalties, as we’ve been extremely clear about quarterly payout dates. Any royalties earned while DarkLit Press was solely operated by, and paid out to, Andrew are his responsibility to pay.
I would like to reiterate that all contracts with DarkLit Press were signed by Andrew and the parties involved. With the exception of a book contracted for Dark Sails, no contracts for DLP were signed by me. As I’m sure you remember from the Discord that Andrew was a part of, he acknowledged and claimed responsibility for missing royalties predating the KDP merger and all existing contracts.
You also mention in your email that you “know how KDP works,” yet continue to make inflammatory remarks on social media that we’re distributing your work without consent, despite me sending you proof via email on July 30th that your book was successfully removed from KDP as well as a followup email on July 31st confirming that the book was taken off of Ingram. You continue to make false claims about us knowingly selling paperback copies of your work via Amazon and so, as mentioned in my previous email, I would encourage you to review KDPs terms of service as they pertain to stock and returned manuscripts.
You mention wanting sales data for work sold through ACX. As mentioned repeatedly, we do not–nor have we ever–had access to DarkLit Press’ ACX account. Although you routinely mention the preemptive public announcement made by Andrew about the transfer of DLP’s ownership, no paperwork was ever signed to confirm this transfer of power and accounts that were needed to fulfill ownership–including that of ACX–were not sent. The only thing we were able to do on our end for authors impacted by this issue was confirm the reversal of rights so authors could request their audiobooks be removed. Regrettably, you will need to reach out to Andrew for all sales data, royalties, and additional information pertaining to work sold through ACX.
You mention a lack of communication and choosing to block select DarkLit Press authors in your email and I feel that it’s important to address this. Firstly, email communication was–and continues to be–made available to all DLP authors. As I’m sure you’re aware, I have a job in addition to editorial work, so while it may take a little time to reply to all queries, they have all been replied to. Secondly, the DarkLit Press Discord server was made immediately available to all authors so that we could efficiently communicate important information (such as payout dates, events, author meetings, etc.). To say that communication hasn’t been open and transparent is demonstrably false. Additionally, we were advised to hire a social media manager to filter content and alert us to important information, and we were also encouraged by a mental health professional to block anyone who made/shared/replied to inflammatory, false, and vitriolic posts about us online (including, but not limited to, people who created posts, engaged unknowingly with misleading posts, retweeted content, etc.). Lastly, I would like to stress that I’m allowed to set boundaries on how I interact with social media. This includes unfollowing and blocking accounts I do not feel comfortable engaging with or seeing in my feed.
Lastly, you’re correct. Please note that as of October 1st, I will no longer be communicating with authors about DarkLit Press as I will have fulfilled all of the responsibilities I took on as editor for works sold from May 26th to July 31st and will no longer have access to these accounts.
Regards,
Caitlin Marceau’
**
Throughout this, we’ve come to see a lack of accountability and responsibility, and this was on display in the email originally sent out and the email received in response to my reply. Still, no apologies have been made, no acceptance of responsibility and a continued passing of the buck while trying to control the narrative is taking place.
The labelling of being misogynistic hasn’t been addressed, nor has the missing reports, or the willingness to apologize.
Instead, it’s a continuation of Caitlin stating – I’m not responsible, I’m not in charge, you signed a contract with Andrew, not me, and I want nothing to do with my duties and liabilities that were handed over to me when I took on DarkLit.
If the frustration level we all collectively had was at a 100/10 previously, we’re now at a 1000/10.
Not a single thing any of us has stated since we publicly voiced our concerns has been false. I still have not seen a single report detailing any accounting of what my novella sold while with DarkLit.
It also appears at this stage that the HWA will not have any involvement in this, so we will continue looking into the legal actions available, as well as connecting with the Author’s Guild and Writer’s Beware.
At the time of writing this, most of the DarkLit books are now no longer available through Ingram. The disclosure that there was a social media manager being paid definitely raised some flags.
We still would like to see the following;
– Issue a public apology for your mishandling of this situation – including, but not limited to, the naming and attempted shaming of Yolanda Sfetsos.
– Issue a public apology for calling a number of us misogynists.
– Send out statements for each author showing how many of their books have sold through Ingram up to and including current date, how many KU page reads, ebooks and physical books have sold through KDP/Amazon, how many audiobooks have been purchased through ACX.
– Release a dedicated statement regarding the path forward, including how those DarkLit authors who’ve been too afraid to speak up and/or email can be in contact with someone to get the answers they’re looking for. An October 1st date to no longer deal with any of this is pure deflection and is instead a kid taking their ball and going home.
- As for legal options – a lawyer within a cross Canada firm – who also has offices in Quebec – has been contacted and has informed me that this communication IE this blog post, suffices as fair warning to the involved parties. Due to the nature of the online content, as well as the contractual breaches, online defamation and cross-Canada/International locations of DarkLit as well as the authors involved, October 1st has been stated by Caitlin Marceau representing DarkLit as the royalties payout date. If said date and action is breached, the lawyer will instigate a class-action lawsuit, at which time information will be sent out to the DarkLit authors involved, as well as the acting parties for DarkLit. Access to the DarkLit accounts – both financially and including KDP/Ingram etc, will be subpoenaed to ensure that accurate remediation for each included author is met.
- I will add this – I take the misogyny statement/claim very seriously. A number of us work in professional jobs, in positions of trust, as I stated before. With that in mind, if Caitlin is unwilling to put forward a sincere, thorough apology, I will begin the process of having libel charges against Caitlin Marceau about the patently false defamation that was previous made online. That it wasn’t addressed in Caitlin’s email reply back shows there’s no concern on their part for the flippant nature of their accusations. But people need to remember there are consequences for actions, and in this case, it is not something lightly brushed aside.
*Screenshot showing one of two instances of misogyny being claimed in a public post by Caitlin Marceau*
Truth be told, myself, and the former DarkLit group of authors who’ve been discussing things behind the scenes feel that it is highly unlikely at this point.
As always, updates will come when we have them. If you’re a former DarkLit author or a current Hedone author who is struggling to speak publicly, please, feel free to DM me on any of my social media pages. If you are a Hedone author, you may want to read and re-read your contract thoroughly and know what your rights are going forward and when you’re payout dates and statement dates are, as those seem to be moving goalposts for the former DarkLit author group.
Screenshots;
Caitlin’s initial email;
My reply;
Caitlin’s email reply;
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