There’s lots of buzz around the blogs about Heather Armstrong’s disclosure that she settled a lawsuit against her by Kensington Publishers.
In a nutshell, negotiations began in 2005 for her to write a book for Kensington. They dragged on and on and ultimately there was an oral alleged oral agreement with and an informal go-ahead from Dooce via email to put together the final paperwork for her to sign.
Time passed. Lots of it. By the time the formal paperwork was prepared and sent to her, the editor she had been dealing with had left Kensington. The bottom line was that in May of this year Heather pulled out of the deal because she would not be dealing with the person she had been working with and because of the delay in finalizing the deal.
It seems like that should’ve been that, right? She hadn’t written anything for them; they weren’t invested (at least monetarily) in it. But they sued her, citing breach of contract, relying on her [alleged] oral agreement and informal go-ahead to hammer down the paperwork.
If you haven’t been sued, you’re lucky. Litigation is the most exhausting, expensive, life-sucking experience there is. Suddenly your life is no longer your own. It belongs to lawyers and every word you say, every word you write, everything you DO is overshadowed by the possibility that it will find its way into your next deposition. Dooce describes it as “the most traumatic, agonizing, demoralizing experience of my life.”
She, like many people, has lost faith in the system.
I have no faith in our legal system, one that guarantees victory only for the party who can afford to pay for it, one that would allow a large company to bully a private citizen because it knows that she has no money with which to defend herself. I am angry and bitter and feeling all sorts of unbecoming emotions. More than that, though, I am afraid that these people are watching everything I say here, ready to pounce on a single word, twist it, manipulate it, and then sue me again.
I sympathize with her. I’ve been in her shoes in business a few years back, and represented clients in my business 10 or so years back when the IRS decided to bully doctors and other professionals who dared to maintain pension plans under the parameters of the laws in effect at that time. It sucks. It sucks so bad that I sent a donation to her via the Paypal link on her page.
Jay Allen (The Zero Boss) writes:
All she attempted to do was strike a publishing deal that would benefit her and her family. Instead, it debilitated and drained them. It’s a frightening lesson for the rest of us: when publishers come waving money and opportunity in your face, you ought to be damn careful.
And that’s my advice to anyone contemplating any kind of deal involving their blog and publishing. I just finished reading the lawsuit court filing by Kensington and have some suggestions for how Heather and other bloggers can protect themselves from descending into that lower circle of hell known as litigation. Stay tuned.
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