In a statement released late Thursday afternoon, John Wiley denied accusations leveled against it by the Authors Guild yesterday morning that said letters sent by Wiley to Bloomberg authors misled those authors into thinking new terms proposed by Wiley were better than the royalty rate they earned at Bloomberg. The Guild implication that the Wiley changes will reduce royalties for all or most Bloomberg authors “is simply not the case,” the Wiley statement said. “We believe former Bloomberg authors will be paid higher royalties in most instances.”
Based on the reading of some Bloomberg contracts, the Guild calculated that authors could see their royalties reduced by as much as 50% as Wiley changed from paying authors based on a discount off retail prices to a percentage of net receipts. “The limited number of contract amendments the AG apparently chose to select are not therefore representative; nor are their “calculations” accurate,” Wiley said.
According to Wiley, the response to the new alliance between Wiley and authors has been positive—Wiley bought the rights to the former Bloomberg titles in March. The publisher said authors have been invited to speak to specific publishing officers and that it is happy to discuss individual contracts with all affected authors. “Wiley is committed to the Bloomberg authors and is confident we will provide the best possible working relationships for them,” the statement concluded.
