– Feeling abused and cheated – VG

Last week, young debutant writer Rahma Hamed appeared on VG and told about the contract she got with Panta publishing house, which the Norwegian association of non-fiction writers and translators (Nffo) thought was so shockingly bad that they told the editor Alexander Elgurén to be ashamed.

“Overall, this deal appears to be one of the worst we have seen and, overall, there is reason to question whether the financial terms of the publisher’s deal are in line with the law,” Secretary General Arne Vestbø told VG.

Read the case here: – Gross exploitation of an author

Various authors now say that they recognize themselves in the Rahma story. At the same time, the editor Alexander Elgurén retracted parts of the criticism. Read the answers below in the case.

One of Panta Publishing’s biggest bestsellers in recent years is “Understanding Math,” written by Anne Lene Johnsen and Elin Natås. The book was published in 2017 and immediately became a bestseller: the book became the bestseller new Norwegian non-fiction book that year, and the eighth best-selling Norwegian non-fiction book in the last decade, according to Bok365.

– People think we got rich from the book, but instead we are completely exhausted, says author and special educator Elin Natås to VG.

– I don’t want them to be fooled anymore

Instead, the book’s success was the beginning of a two-and-a-half-year battle to get the right royalty payments and information on circulation and sales figures. They say that Panta has printed several new editions without notifying them, and that they still don’t know what the book has sold in total.

Same editor: Used fake dice rolls

– We have requested documentation over and over again. We have hired lawyers for two rounds, but we had to give up because we did not have the strength to stand out. When we saw the case of Rahma Hamed’s experiences with the same publisher, we felt compelled to say: We don’t want him to mislead more people.

Because they think that Alexander Elgurén takes away the royalty from the authors.

Unlike Rahma Hamed, who signed a contract with a very low royalty, the authors of “Understanding the Mathematics” had a royalty agreement under the industry standard contract:

For the first 3,000 books, they would receive 13 percent royalties, for the next 2,000 books 14 percent, and for all sales of more than 5,000 books, they would receive 15 percent.

Stunned by the royalty deal

But when the royalty deal came in in the summer of 2018 (on sale in 2017), math experts didn’t come up with figures to go up.

– I know the simple percentage calculation, so to speak. By my calculation, with the sales figures that were on the royalty statement, we should have had 924,554 crowns. But we got 568,692 crowns, says author Anne Lene Johnsen.

The royalty statement shows that Alexander Elgurén in Panta had reduced the royalty by 5 percent. Totally defenseless, according to the authors.

– Like the explanation that Rahma Hamed received, Alexander Elguren thought that there had been so much extra work and additional costs with the publication of the book so that they could cut the rights. But the publisher’s production manager thought this hadn’t been a more expensive production than usual, and other people in the industry we’ve talked to didn’t understand the cut, either, Johnsen says.

After hiring a lawyer, after a year and a half they were able to get Panta to adjust the reduction by two percentage points.

– We were supposed to get the money in 2019, but we had to beg and beg and we also tried to hire a debt collection agency. Only this year did we get this payment. But it’s still a lot smaller than what we should have had overall, Johnsen says.

He also published a children’s book on Panta the same year as “Understanding Mathematics”, and here the royalty was reduced by as much as 7.5 percentage points, documents that have been given access to VG. From an agreed royalty of 13% to 5.5%.

Panta: – Sad to hear

Alexander Elgurén has received all the criticism, and he thinks he should solve this better.

– It’s sad and sad to hear this. I take responsibility for helping make this more difficult than it should have been. We have learned from that. It is often better to talk to each other, and this issue should have been resolved at an earlier stage, says Elgurén, who does not have the ability to answer VG’s questions about sales figures and circulation figures.

The Norwegian Association of Non-Fiction Writers and Translators (Nffo) believes it is “scary” to see a publisher who is a member of the Publishers Association offer contracts of this type that are now emerging.

– And a publisher cannot, at its own discretion, shorten as it will when the royalty is settled long after the book is on the market as Panta has done here, says Secretary General Arne Vestbø in Nffo.

– Downstream the professional pride of the people

Another author who acknowledges himself in criticizing Panta is Tove Taalesen, who published the detective novel “The Queen” in Panta this summer. Before Rahma Hamed’s case was published on VG, Taalesen says she was called by Panta publisher and told that there was a negative case, but that this was just a fabrication.

– Since VG is calling now, I can say that I recognize myself in parts of Rahma Hamed’s story. Panta tried to cut the last payment on my advance because they thought it was a lot more work with my script than expected. It is reminiscent of the arguments Alexander Elguren used before Rahma. It has also been difficult to get sales figures and circulation figures for my book this fall, says Taalesen.

The experienced translator Erik Ringen also came out and supported Rahma Hamed. He acknowledged himself in the publisher’s arguments to strip the author’s copyright. He has worked with Elgurén as an editor only once when the editor was called Pantagruel.

– When he was going to receive payments according to the normal contract, it was impossible to get money from him. He finally claimed that my translation was of such poor quality that a lot of cleaning work was needed. Here my self-confidence could be seriously shattered, but I knew who had washed the script and they immediately cleared up the editor’s lie. Because according to the sink, the amount of errors and problems was at a level that she considered completely normal.

– It’s one thing to procrastinate with money people have honestly earned, but what it does is also tear down people’s professional pride and self-esteem, says translator Erik Ringen to VG.

The editor of Panta does not recognize himself in the criticisms of Taalesen or Ringen.

– I do not recognize myself in this, Taalesen received an agreed advance, and was continuously informed about the sales and circulation figures along the way. As for Erik Ringen’s claims, I find it difficult to comment on them. Our collaboration goes back many years in time, says Elgurén, who thinks it is difficult to declare total sales before knowing what will be returned.

Tove Taalesen is surprised that the editor of Panta is not recognized and points out:

– I wonder if the editor has forgotten about the unpleasant discussions we have had on the phone about all this. The advance was paid in the end, but reluctantly, says Taalesen.

Panta will clean

The authors of “How to Understand Mathematics” are now working on new book projects, but not with Panta.

– We are shocked and sorry to be treated like this. We are idealists with a message that can help many families. We had plans for many books with Panta, but we just felt abused and cheated. At the same time, we are angry that an editor is allowed to do so. It’s unethical and unprofessional, say Elin Natås and Anne Lene Johnsen.

The authors also think that it is strange that Elgurén tells VG what he has learned from the case.

– The fact that several authors who come after us have similar experiences shows that he simply no we have learned from our case.

Nffo now believes that Panta should review all its contracts again.

– They should offer all authors who have published with them new agreements that follow industry standard terms. NFFO is happy that there is a diversity of publishers in Norway, but not at any price. This is not acceptable, says Arne Vesbø to VG.

Editor Alexander Elgurén dismisses Nffo’s criticism and says Panta will clean up:

As a member of the publishers association, from now on we will be faithful to the negotiated terms of the normal contract. Criticism from the NFFO has been heard and taken into account. We are working on that job, Elgurén tells VG.