After more than 30 years, Creative Arts Books—a small Berkeley, Calif., press that published poetry and fiction by writers such as Gertrude Stein, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William Saroyan and Al Young—closed last month and is headed for bankruptcy, though not as fast as some of its authors would like.

"I'm quite concerned that he has not declared bankruptcy yet," said Scott Hogan, who put up $13,000 of his own money to copublish his first novel, Jackson's Gambit, with Creative Arts last year. "If he doesn't declare bankruptcy, there's going to be an uproar with these authors from whom he's taken anywhere from $5,000 to 15,000 in the last year."

Creative Arts founder and publisher Don Ellis said that the company would file bankruptcy soon, but that it was in the process of reverting all rights and materials to its authors so that they are not considered assets that a bankruptcy trustee could claim. "There's no way out of bankruptcy," he explained. "I mortgaged my properties to the hilt."

Hogan, to whom the publisher owes $13,000, is among a large number of authors who contend Ellis took their money in copublishing ventures when he knew he would be unable to fulfill the agreements. The authors are impatient for Ellis to file for bankruptcy so they can go after his assets in court. Some of the authors told PW that they filed complaints of fraud with the Alameda County district attorney's office, although the DA would not comment on any action under consideration.

Ellis said being an independent publisher has always been a struggle, but that recent events made it financially impossible. "I've fallen into this thing like everyone else in this industry when 9/11 happened. It was like somebody turned a switch off," he said. "I am one of those guys who always thinks I can pull it off—and I have in the past. This is not the first time in this country that we've had tough times."

In November, unable to pay his mortgages, he knew he would have to close the business. In December, he sent letters to the authors to inform them. Ellis retained Berkeley attorney Matthew Spielberg, who told PW that the publisher would file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in about 90 days.

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Jeff Green, author of A Line in the Sand and one of the informal leaders of a group of disgruntled authors who have been comparing notes on Creative Arts since December. Green called Creative Arts' business practices "suspect" and said that letters reverting the rights back to authors were deliberately vague. Green had his own lawyer send Ellis a letter reverting rights back, which Ellis complied with.

"Several of the authors have come up with their own letters," said Ellis. "I'm trying to sell the properties to get more assets in the pool."

Many of the authors PW spoke with told stories like Green's: he paid $8,000 to co-publish his book. He signed an agreement in May 2000 that stipulated a 2,500-copy printing, but Creative printed only 250. He said there was almost no editing or marketing for the book.

Ellis told PW that he had borrowed some money recently to pay Green the last $2,000 he was owed. Others will have to wait until the bankruptcy court acts to get their money back. Hogan said a $6,000 check from Creative Arts bounced last year.

"I thought I could pay Scott Hogan and it just turned out that I couldn't," Ellis said. "It's really a horrible situation. I really believed in what I was doing. I may have fallen behind on some of the books this last year, but I did everything I could to catch up."

At its peak, Creative Arts published 50 books annually—about half as copublishing deals. Some of its successes include Barry Gifford's Wild at Heart, which David Lynch made into a movie in 1990, and last year's Boonville by Robert Mailer Jackson. Ellis is currently trying to sell his properties, which include his family's home and also the building in Berkeley that houses his publishing company. "It's disheartening," he said. "I literally put my whole life into this business."