I'm trying to find out if those of us that gave Hill House Publishers money to preorder The Martian Chronicles have any options.

I understand Subterranean/PS won’t have anything to do with this & I have no complaints with them. I’m also not sure how many folks on these boards are in the same position I’m in.

Without taking up too much time explaining the story, I was told by Hill House Publishers that I would be receiving a copy of The Martian Chronicles. I paid Hill House Publishers. Now, I won’t be receiving a copy of the book unless I purchase it again.

Anyone else here in the same boat? If so, does anyone have any good ideas regarding compensation from Hill House?

being discussed on another thread:

Posted 04 February 2009 02:49 PM
We’re in the final stages of negotiating the rights to co-publish (along with PS Publishing) the limited edition of Ray Bradbury’s THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES. This has been complicated, given that a previous prospective publisher accepted preorders for this title. We cannot make any promises yet — as certain details are fluid — but Peter Crowther and I are making every effort to see that those who paid the other publisher for the book are not shut out. If you prepaid for a copy of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, please drop me an email at subpress@gmail.com. You should include your name, address, the version you purchased, and at what price.

Again, we can’t make any promises at this point, but we’re going to try to reach a solution that will satisfy as many of Mr. Bradbury’s readers as possible.

All best,

Bill

Subterranean Press
www.subterraneanpress.com
Posts: 1 | Registered: 04 February 2009

gguthrie Posted 05 February 2009 07:21 AM Hide Post
Thanks Bill, I hope things work out for the best. I think many of us have been waiting for this book for a long time, and are glad to see someone issuing it.
Posts: 35 | Registered: 03 August 2007

Ignored post by gguthrie posted 05 February 2009 07:21 AM Show Post

Richard Posted 13 February 2009 06:37 AM Hide Post
The latest news, from the Subterranean Press website, on the (former) Hill House edition of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, which it appears now will be co-published by Subterranean Press and PS Publishing:

More on Ray Bradbury’s THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES
February 13, 2009

As we announced recently, we have acquired the rights to co-publish the limited edition of Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, and we said we would do what we could to help those who pre-paid the previous publisher who offered this special edition but never delivered it. We regret to inform you that we will not be taking over the other publisher’s pre-orders.

While we are not required to fulfill the pre-orders taken by this other publisher, when we announce our edition of The Martian Chronicles for pre-sale, we intend to offer a substantial discount on the numbered version for a short period of time. (Please sign up for our newsletter to make certain you don’t miss the announcement.) We’re sorry to report that given our costs involved, we will not be able to offer a discount on the lettered edition.

We certainly wish we could do more; this is what we can do.

More information, including an order page, will be posted to the Subterranean Press and PS Publishing sites within the next few weeks. We intend to have TMC out this year, and are already at work to see that there are no delays.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at subpress@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Bill Schafer and Pete Crowther
Posts: 574 | Registered: 26 January 2003

Thanks Mr. Dark, but I'm actually asking about the money people sent Peter Schneider at Hill House for The Martian Chronicles & the fact that those people will neither be receiving a refund, nor a copy of The Martian Chronicles.

I understand that the rights to publish the book have changed hands & that a "discount" will be offered to those who already purchased or pre-ordered the book.

My question remains, are there any board members that paid Hill House for this book & might have an idea how to recoup any monies previously paid to Peter Schneider?

This question has been going on for some time on other boards. The Hill House site is now off the net, and Hill House seems to be completely defunct. Outside of filing in small claims court there is probably nothing you can do. He owes a LOT of customers money it seems.

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew:
Thanks Mr. Dark, but I'm actually asking about the money people sent Peter Schneider at Hill House for The Martian Chronicles & the fact that those people will neither be receiving a refund, nor a copy of The Martian Chronicles.

I understand that the rights to publish the book have changed hands & that a "discount" will be offered to those who already purchased or pre-ordered the book.

My question remains, are there any board members that paid Hill House for this book & might have an idea how to recoup any monies previously paid to Peter Schneider?

If you purchased the book through a credit card, go through your credit card company and state you never got the book that you paid for. This is your best chance. If you paid by Paypal there is no way to recoup the loss (a big reason not to use paypal).

What is this?

Hill House Publishers, in Ossining, New York

Same place, but in different hands?

Ph: 914 945 0667

I've been following this debacle as an interested observer for some time now. Thankfully, Hill House didn't get my money for CHRONICLES, and I was lucky enough to be able to recoup what I had sent them for a different book.

Though generally I'm more of a reader than a collector, I certainly know a bit about becoming hypnotized by an irresistible item and going over and above my budget to plunk down for it.

To their credit, Subterranean/PS are doing an honorable thing with an inherited problem that is neither their doing nor responsibility. But I wonder if we'll ever know the whole story about who's actually responsible for this mass bilking of customers who paid their money in good faith and now have nothing to show for it. Small presses may be small, but they don't operate in a vacuum. Who exactly ran Hill House? Why exactly did this project fall apart? On whose desk does the buck stop?

It seems the very least that is owed to the folks who paid hundreds of dollars is a full explanation, and I think it's pretty disgusting that the responsible parties appear to be slinking away from this in relative anonymity without being called out on it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: speedlace,

quote:

Originally posted by gguthrie:
If you purchased the book through a credit card, go through your credit card company and state you never got the book that you paid for. This is your best chance. If you paid by Paypal there is no way to recoup the loss (a big reason not to use paypal).

I don't know what PayPal's official policies on this are, but I used PayPal to pay Hill House for a collection of Bradbury's poetry that they never delivered, and after several unsuccessful attempts to get the book (or a refund) from Hill House, I contacted PayPal, who reversed the charge.

I paid in June 2008 and was refunded in August 2008. The name on the Hill House account was Peter Schneider, and he was listed as "verified" - which I believe is supposed to ensure some kind of "buyer protection" by PayPal.

Good luck to all trying to get their money back!

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
What is this?

Hill House Publishers, in Ossining, New York

Same place, but in different hands?

Ph: 914 945 0667

At least they have an answering machine!

Wow...it's nice to see all the responses above. I haven't been on the boards for a while due to my wife giving birth to our first child!

I didn't pay for the book with a credit card, so that option is out. I did use PayPal, but it was 4+ years ago so I'm not sure how far I might get with them. It's a good suggestion though & I think that's where I'm going to start.

I'm in touch with some "industry insiders" in the publishing business & it seems that Schneider took money for the book, never published the book, ignored his customers for years & is presently nowhere to be found.

Thanks again for the suggestions. Hopefully PayPal will be able to help out.

How DOES the guy sleep at night?

I'm thinking he is buds with Chris Dodd?????

biplane1, you will notice that as far back as September, 2006, Pete Schneider was troubled by other episodes at Hill House.
See Posting dated September 15, 2006, at 3 57am.

http://neilgaimanboard.com/eve...996141/m/37710640631

We’re all probably on our own in this situation, but I’m hoping there may be a lawyer somewhere that preordered this book from Hill House & can offer some advice regarding filing criminal complaints with the New York Attorney General (fraud). If just a couple people do this nothing is likely to happen, but it appears that anywhere from dozens to 100 or more people paid Hill House for this book and that's a lot of money. The purpose would not be to prosecute Schneider, but to scare him enough (out of fear of being prosecuted) so he will refund the money he bilked everyone out of.

The most discouraging thing is that Peter Schneider's wife is Bradbury's editor at Morrow, his mass market publisher. This is clearly a conflict of interest. Bradbury's agent did nothing to reclaim any money from Hill House because he didn't want to alienate the editor of his mass market publisher.

Ray's agent may very well not be in the position to lay claim for the money Schneider stole, but the point is that he has done NOTHING to help the people Schneider defrauded. One might logically assume this is because Schneider's wife is still involved with the publication of Ray's books & to raise a stink over this situation would potentially jeopardize that relationship. If Ray's original agent was running the show this would have been taken care of, or never happened in the first place. Unfortunately this is not the case.

As far as my comments being "kinda dumb" and "a bit off base to say the least"; I'm not one to view this situation from a strict internet/message board perspective. I am in direct, frequent contact with publishers of Ray's books that are feeling the same pinch that the ret of us are experiencing and are in complete agreement.

Lastly, despite your thinly-veiled insults, it's ridiculous to suggest an author & his manager/agent have "little to say" about arrangements with the publisher. What do you think an agent is for? I'm not sure what your experience is in the world of publishing, but I think your post speaks for itself.