House of Cards

I've been following the buzz around the net concerning a certain e-book publisher. From what I have gathered, there is a very big stink coming from Red Rose Publishing; a very BIG stink. Seems Wendi Felter, the owner of RRP, is acting like an ostrich and burying her head in the sand, unawares that her big nasty ass is sticking out in full view of the public. Seems she doesn't want to pay her authors their royalties, sighting one excuse after another why she can't get out ACCURATE statements on time. She has plenty of time to go to the computer and bad mouth other publishers and authors and spew out nasty rants, though. Apparently, she hasn't sent out statements to a great many authors in many months, ranging from 9 months to a year. There are authors who come to her defense, though, but they seem to be her favorites, nothing more than glorified ass-kissers. Word has it that she recently tried to publish books without valid contracts, and taking books to print without discussing the matter with the authors beforehand. Recently, Piers Anthony quoted in his blog that this was a publishing house to be avoided; in his words, "stay away."

Red Rose Publishing by all accounts used to be a very nice publishing house; but this was a while ago. From the comments on Dear Author's September post about the situation from anonymous Red Rose ex-staff and authors that are unhappy, there seems to be evidence of:

Micro-managing of every detail going on within the business -
Tirades posted on the author's group -
Failure to pay royalties to Cover Artists and Editors -
Forcing authors to sign an NDA so they can't talk negatively about Red Rose anywhere (aren't we supposed to be guaranteed the right to free speech?) -
And last but not least, a tendency to rewrite wording on contracts without prior notification (ex: 90 days becomes 90 business days).

From contacting some of the past authors, I have become aware of her bad-mouthing authors and staff while talking on the phone and other unprofessional behavior (this I tend to believe based on her rant posted on Dear Author and in the comments of the author's scathing reply).

Now, are these things true? The amount of evidence lends support that they are - however, I have no direct evidence other than the letter from Ms. Felter posted on Dear Author.

I have also been made aware, via individuals who do not wish to be named, that Ms. Felter has repeatedly attacked reputable publishers who treat their staff and authors with the respect they deserve.

Shouldn't Ms. Felter be concentrating on getting her own House of Cards in order instead of blaming everyone but the person responsible for the mass exodus of authors and staff from her publishing house? In other words, herself?

I fully expect to receive the same cease and desist mumbo-jumbo crap Dear Author received. To that, read the disclaimer at the top of the page. Bring it on, bitch.