Dead Reign: Author Credits

[Misfit KotLD]

To the Mods and Admins: You can lock posts and you can ban posters but the truth will get out and the truth is that Josh wrote this book and Kevin is taking credit for it.

You can beat dead horses, but admin won't let you play in this playground. So please, take this elsewhere. We like kids playing in this playground.

[Misfit KotLD]

To the Mods and Admins: You can lock posts and you can ban posters but the truth will get out and the truth is that Josh wrote this book and Kevin is taking credit for it.

You can beat dead horses, but admin won't let you play in this playground. So please, take this elsewhere. We like kids playing in this playground.

So this whole situation doesn’t bother you?

I did not say that. I said grousing about it here will get you bannedwhere.

[The Galactus Kid]

To the Mods and Admins: You can lock posts and you can ban posters but the truth will get out and the truth is that Josh wrote this book and Kevin is taking credit for it.

You can beat dead horses, but admin won't let you play in this playground. So please, take this elsewhere. We like kids playing in this playground.

So this whole situation doesn’t bother you?

No this situation doesn't bother me. The book needed to be rewritten, and it was. The words that are published will be mostly kevins with some additional material by Josh Hilden and Josh Sanford. Kevin doesn't long for his name to be on every book that they put out, even though it SHOULD BE since he's paying for it to be edited, rewritten, printed, copywritten and published. I, for one, think that this is crazy, especially since both JOSH and KEVIN have come to terms with this.

[cyber-yukongil v2.5]

it might not be fair, and I say might, because I don't know the in's and out's of their arangement, but that is the price you pay for being a freelance writer. Josh's book may never have been able to see the light of day otherwise, so he took this opportunity to put it out there.

As far as I know, Josh isn't spewing fire about the situation, so I must assume that it's good enough for him.

[Braden Campbell]

Honestly, it all comes down to how much was changed from submitted manuscript to final product. If that ended up being more than half... well, then the credit gets spread around a bit.

[The Galactus Kid]

You say the book needed to be rewritten? Who told you that? Oh, that’s right, it was the man who rewrote it. I can completely believe that the occasional book needs severe editing/rewriting but with Kevin it’s more than half of them, including books by authors that publish elsewhere without someone deciding that they need to rewrite their books. It only happens at Palladium. It’s a shame at best and skirting the line of plagerism at worst.

It's Kevin's company. He fronts the money and gives many authors an opportunity to showcase their work. Any publisher worth their salt will have an editor, sometimes many that will edit your work. Heck, many companies have TEAMS of editors to go over a manuscript, and often will have an author do multiple copies of a draft. Also, in ANY (and let me emphasize this word...ANY) of the freelancer agreements that Palladium sends to its freelance authors, the contract dictates that we are effectively selling our intellectual property to Kevin and Palladium in order to have our publication see the light of day. I personally keep every one of my contracts in case something arises in the future and this is a problem. If the Josh Hilden and Sanford did this, then it's not their property anymore, and Kevin can do whatever he wants with it. If this is something that they wanted to do anyway (after reading the contract, talking with Kevin, their lawyer etc.) then they knew the risks and weighed the benefits of having some of their work being published with Palladium (a company that Josh Hilden admitedly sill loves) or not being published at all, then the issue is closed. As you can see, Josh isn't raising a stink about this...OTHER people who for some reason feel a sense of entitlement or think they have been slighted are.

Of course Josh has “come to terms with it” otherwise we’d all suddenly hear how he was “hard to work with” and “couldn’t produce the agreed upon material” and “wasn’t professional”. You know, all the stuff we heard about Bill Coffin.

A difference of opinion is just that. Everything I've heard come out of Kevin's and Josh's mouth was that they just had different ideas, and wanted to work together,but decided to go seperate ways. Not like the Bill Coffin incident, where Kevin gave every opportunity for his EMPLOYEE to do what he, THE BOSS, told him to do and Bill refused. Oh, and Bill Coffin has since appologized for bashing palladium here and on RPG.net, as well as other places.Thats not someone who was in the right usually does.

Continuing to pretend we don’t know what’s going on is the biggest disservice we can do to both Josh and ourselves.

I am lucky enough to count both Josh Hilden and Kevin Siembieda as personal friends and people whom I admire tremendously. Some of us do know what is going on (a lot moreso than many people who pretend that they do) and think that the disservice is being committed by people who 1) haven't seen a product 2) havn't discussed the topic either party involved and 3) think they know what they're talking about based on a handful of partial threads in an internet forum.

[The Galactus Kid]

it might not be fair, and I say might, because I don't know the in's and out's of their arangement, but that is the price you pay for being a freelance writer. Josh's book may never have been able to see the light of day otherwise, so he took this opportunity to put it out there.

As far as I know, Josh isn't spewing fire about the situation, so I must assume that it's good enough for him.

I’m sorry but I don’t know of any other company where the price of being a freelance writer is having your ideas taken away from you by not crediting you as the author of said ideas. If Kevin wrote parts of the book I have no problem with him being credited as being a co-author, but for him to take a completed manuscript, a manuscript that was written to specification and then change things so that he can take credit for being the author, that is unacceptable.

How many comanies publishing standards are you familiar with? That information could change the tone of the argument right there. Significant portions of Madhaven had to be rewritten and edited, and added to, ut the overall theme was the same. Taylor White and I were listed as the authors of the book. I don't know how much has been re-written, and i assume that only Kevin, the Palladium crew, and the Josh's will know. But as I said earlier, after the contract was signed kevin could easily say that Zombies are made of fairy dust and published it because it's HIS property now.

[The Galactus Kid]

You say the book needed to be rewritten? Who told you that? Oh, that’s right, it was the man who rewrote it. I can completely believe that the occasional book needs severe editing/rewriting but with Kevin it’s more than half of them, including books by authors that publish elsewhere without someone deciding that they need to rewrite their books. It only happens at Palladium. It’s a shame at best and skirting the line of plagerism at worst.

It's Kevin's company. He fronts the money and gives many authors an opportunity to showcase their work. Any publisher worth their salt will have an editor, sometimes many that will edit your work. Heck, many companies have TEAMS of editors to go over a manuscript, and often will have an author do multiple copies of a draft. Also, in ANY (and let me emphasize this word...ANY) of the freelancer agreements that Palladium sends to its freelance authors, the contract dictates that we are effectively selling our intellectual property to Kevin and Palladium in order to have our publication see the light of day. I personally keep every one of my contracts in case something arises in the future and this is a problem. If the Josh Hilden and Sanford did this, then it's not their property anymore, and Kevin can do whatever he wants with it. If this is something that they wanted to do anyway (after reading the contract, talking with Kevin, their lawyer etc.) then they knew the risks and weighed the benefits of having some of their work being published with Palladium (a company that Josh Hilden admitedly sill loves) or not being published at all, then the issue is closed. As you can see, Josh isn't raising a stink about this...OTHER people who for some reason feel a sense of entitlement or think they have been slighted are.

Of course Josh has “come to terms with it” otherwise we’d all suddenly hear how he was “hard to work with” and “couldn’t produce the agreed upon material” and “wasn’t professional”. You know, all the stuff we heard about Bill Coffin.

A difference of opinion is just that. Everything I've heard come out of Kevin's and Josh's mouth was that they just had different ideas, and wanted to work together,but decided to go seperate ways. Not like the Bill Coffin incident, where Kevin gave every opportunity for his EMPLOYEE to do what he, THE BOSS, told him to do and Bill refused. Oh, and Bill Coffin has since appologized for bashing palladium here and on RPG.net, as well as other places.Thats not someone who was in the right usually does.

Continuing to pretend we don’t know what’s going on is the biggest disservice we can do to both Josh and ourselves.

I am lucky enough to count both Josh Hilden and Kevin Siembieda as personal friends and people whom I admire tremendously. Some of us do know what is going on (a lot moreso than many people who pretend that they do) and think that the disservice is being committed by people who 1) haven't seen a product 2) havn't discussed the topic either party involved and 3) think they know what they're talking about based on a handful of partial threads in an internet forum.

There is a HUGE difference between editing and taking credit for someone else’s work. I’m well aware that Palladium owns the manuscript when it is turned in. I’m also aware that they still need to give credit to the author of said manuscript. Oh and the fact that it’s Kevin’s company has NO bearing whatsoever on whether it is Kevin or Josh who wrote the material.

going back tou your original post...

Written and Developed by: Kevin Siembieda
Concieved by: Josh Hilden
Additional text and ideas: Josh Hilden and Joshua Sanford
Some additional text and ideas: John Cooney

I don't see how this isn't giving credit to the people who conceptualized the book. The ideas are theirs, but the main bodies of text are (more thank likely) kevins.

[NMI]

This is a "Dead" issue and an off the table for discussion. Any further discussion of this matter will result in the user being warned and/or banned.

The exception will be Palladium Books Staff and the forum Administration.

[NMI]

This thread is remaining open for Kevin Siembieda/Palladium Staff to respond to this situation.
Any replies into this thread by anyone else will result in a 1 week ban.

[Kevin]

Dead Reign Controversy Stopper

I take no pleasure in writing this post, but I feel I must address the lies leveled against me. I suspect other Palladium detractors may have similar things to say elsewhere and I want to set the record straight.

General_Sarkfoff posted:

Dead Reign
Written and Developed by: Kevin Siembieda
Concieved by: Josh Hilden
Additional text and ideas: Josh Hilden and Joshua Sanford
Some additional text and ideas: John Cooney

So in other words the freelancer (Josh) turned in a manuscript that Kevin then changed just enough to be able to take credit for? It’s getting ridiculous. I hope that Kevin knows he will start running out of people who are both A) talented and B) willing to work for him.

Everyone knows Josh wrote the book just like everyone knows Kevin has an unstoppable desire to see his name on every Palladium book as the author so he changes things around to the point where he can do that.
It’s a freaking outrage that back in August he at least called Josh a co-author (in this Murmur http://forums.palladium-megaverse.com/v ... 49&t=94614) and yet when it came time to publish the book the best thing Josh is credited with is “additional text”. I’d keep going but words fail me at the depth of this outrage.

To the Mods and Admins: You can lock posts and you can ban posters but the truth will get out and the truth is that Josh wrote this book and Kevin is taking credit for it.
________________
"It is one thing to suspend your disbelief.
It is another thing entirely to hang it by the neck until dead."
50 "Well Said" Points courtesy of cornholioprime

General_ Sarkoff

This is a classic example of someone who has absolutely NO IDEA about what they are talking about stating assumptions and outright lies as if they were fact.

I don’t like to air business in public or say harsh things about people I like or who work for Palladium Books in any capacity. Josh Hilden falls into both of those categories. I like him immensely and I believe he is a diamond in the rough when it comes to writing, and I hope he keeps writing.

Despite what some people claim to be fact, I never want to have to rewrite or heavily rework a freelancer writer’s manuscript. I hate having to reject people’s work even more. I know how much work goes into writing and how much a chance to get published means to people. And I sure as heck do not need to see my name on more books.

The situation behind Dead Reign was a disappointment for everyone. Despite Josh and Joshua’s extensive knowledge and fondness of the zombie genre, when I reviewed the manuscript in September, I was deeply disappointed with it.

It was my decision as Publisher and Game Designer to rewrite this book substantially (80-90%) – something General_Sarkoff and others like him making snide and outrageous accusations could NOT possibly know.

I have no intension of going into all the details of the situation or my decision, because would be unfair, unkind and inappropriate, especially in a public forum. Josh Hilden and Joshua Sanford put their hearts into their manuscript. They did their best. Unfortunately for them, "I" deemed it was not acceptable. They are already aware of my thoughts on the matter. Sadly, I fear the final published book may be a further disappointment to them.

I had no intention of writing Dead Reign, but felt I had no recourse but to do so. I sure didn’t want to delay it several months, so I dived into writing it myself.

The end product is NOT Josh Hilden and Josh Sanford’s manuscript “changed just enough to be able to take credit for it.” That would be crazy, mean and pointless. I dream of getting manuscripts that need little or no rewriting. That was not case, here.

I took what I thought were the best ideas from Josh and Joshua’s manuscript and built on them. The rest of it was written from the ground up. I did a ton of my own research, spoke to numerous individuals about zombies and spent six weeks writing 12-18 hours a day, seven days a week to get this book finished.

Fate was kind to me: I had a blast writing this book. The ideas and words poured out of me like water. The work load and schedule was brutal, but it kept me focused, and I am very pleased with the end result. Heck, I think it may be one of the best things I have ever written. I would never have guessed that zombies are in my blood.

The decisions I made were as the Publisher and the Chief Game Designer for Palladium Books. I’m sorry the expectations of Josh and Joshua may have been dashed by my decisions, but I had to do what I believed was best for the product, the company and the fans. That’s what I did. It is my job and responsibility. I have no regrets.

I have given credit, where credit is due. Josh and Joshua’s names are on the cover, spine and credits page. I rewrote almost every word of the book. I took the RPG in a different direction, changed the emphasis, gave the book a different voice, expanded on zombies and the setting ten-fold and I’m proud of the work “we” did to create an excellent new role-playing game. The Dead Reign RPG is a fun, intense, fast-paced game about zombies and survival. Enjoy.

I apologize to Palladium fans for the rancor of some people looking to create controversy where there is none, and cause pain where it is not warranted.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer & Game Designer

© Copyright November 13, 2008 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.

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