The back-and-forth between the Authors Guild and John Wiley is continuing. In the wake of John Wiley issuing a press release late yesterday afternoon denying accusations leveled against it by the Authors Guild regarding letters sent by Wiley to Bloomberg authors about new terms, the Guild is now telling its members, “We stand by every word of our alert, and we again call on Wiley to start over.”
Newly inducted president Scott Turow put it bluntly: "Wiley should knock it off and do the right thing." The Guild's alert to members called Wiley's April letter to its Bloomberg Press authors "deceptive" and "misleading." Now, the Guild has elaborated, with a statement that notes, “No sensible Bloomberg author with a contract providing royalties based on the retail list price of their book would have signed Wiley's amendment if they were fully aware of its effects. Wiley should send Bloomberg authors a new letter, informing the authors that they are disregarding any previous consents to Wiley's proposed contract changes and clearly explaining how the new terms they're suggesting differ from the authors' existing contracts.”
The statement (which may be read in full here) replies to five different assertions from Wiley, and ends with advice for authors to not sign “Wiley's misleading letter” or send it back to the publisher. “First consult us or your agent or your attorney,” the statement reads. “If you have signed the letter, we urge you to contact us immediately.”
